Good-bye Belltown, Hello Ravenna

I truly cannot believe Dan and I moved to Seattle two years ago.

These two years most definitely moved faster than years past.  I'm almost sure of it.

Microsoft packed up our stuff, shipped our cars and we flew the 3,000 miles to our new city.

We had no idea what to expect.  Would we like our jobs?  Would we be incredibly homesick?  Would we make any friends?  Would we kill each other living together for the first time?

I mean, moving in together, in a new city, far from home, after dating just 9 months is normal, right?

Eeeeek.

Luckily for us, these 2 years could not have been better.

Great jobs, amazing friends, a great apartment and we both figured out how to live with one another.

(Only a few hundred beers and wine bottles later)

Look, we're both still smiling!

As I pack up lots and lots and lots of boxes, I started reflecting over the two years and thinking about all the fun things I got to do and all the great things I have learned. 

taught how to make a mean risotto

the space needle

the killer

dance until 2am

late night Belltown pizza 

the Frontier room

skinny jeans

own my first cowboy-like boots

LOVE the lack of humidity

shock and awe

troll bridge

the Today show, pajamas and coffee

the neighborhood

Puget Sound sunsets

Japonessa

 live downtown, in a city, for the first time

use fresh herbs and know what to do with them

Pike Place Market

sport my Boston sports wear in every bar

Hawaii with MegO and the girls

the mountains

mornings listening to the train whistle and sailboats cruising the bay out our window

appreciate red wine

Mad Men

ugly sweater Christmas parties

the gum wall

hot tub talks with the ladies

ladies' nights

hiking

night shift and day shift rotations

the concierge

AMAZING food

happy hour

fifty shades of grey

Golden Gardens

themed parties

blogging

cooking lessons with Brittany

living like college roommates in a dorm with great friends

walks along the bay

Leavenworth

ski trips (even if it rains every time I go)

carpooling

cardiac intensive care unit

Queen Anne pool

rooftop cookouts

sampling Brittany's sweet treats

and most importantly of all

live with Dan, pick up his clothes, cook him dinner and greet him with a cocktail daily!

We're off to one of the neighborhoods, which is still full of fun bars, restaurants and parks.

And University Village which could really break the shopping bank!

Oh, Olympus apartments and Belltown, we sure will miss you.

Ravenna has a lot to live up to!

Can anybody just find me a boat?!

I moved to Seattle 2 years ago and had a few goals.

One extremely important one was to "find a friend with a boat"

because let's be serious, who doesn't love a good boat?

Especially surrounded by not only the ocean, but some lakes, too.

Clearly, I had the same goal as a 2 year old.

"I WANNA GO ON A BOAT NOW!"

I was even ready to head out in my winter hat

AND wear a life jacket.

Just to go on a boat.

I must have known at a young age where the party was at.

I think I stole some lipstick just to prove my point!

Luckily for me, through some amazing persuasion and fabulous parents, I finally got on a boat!

They even let me drive it once in a while.

Happy Summer 2012 people! 

 Let's make it one to remember.

P.S.  I am still on the hunt for friends in Seattle with a boat.  Your people call my people.

You can't win 'em all.

Raining Gifts

Katie's Bridal Shower!

The day was finally upon us.

Seemed like we had been planning for months.

Oh yeah, we sure had been.

The guest list was made, the invitations sent out and the goodies created.

Wow, were there some goodies there.

I'm not just talking about delicious, melt in your mouth cupcakes from Newbury street, or fabulous tea-pot shaped cookies, or homemade chocolate dipped spoons.

No, those were the edible goodies.

Let's talk about the GIFT goodies.

KATIE & BRIAN SHALL NEVER HAVE TO KITCHEN SHOP AGAIN!

Katie is one lucky girl.  

So many gifts.  SO many smiles.  So many great family and friends.

Everyone looked adorable on a sunny (but cool) Spring day in May.

This is one damn fine looking wedding party if you ask me!

Although I won the "Who Know's the Bride the Best" game (scoring 29 correct points!) I couldn't take a prize.  

That's not incredibly fair.

And I try to play by the rules.

Who am I kidding, I hate rules.

But let's give much deserved credit to Laura Kubica and Alicia O'Brien for coming in first and second place.

I suppose it seems pretty fitting that her best friend and cousin would win.

And let's also Katie is gaining some pretty awesome cousins from the McNamara side!  

These girls are so sweet.

Mom and Mother-in-law to be

And the Dad and Dad-to-be showed up, too.

To carry the gifts of course.

Thank you to everyone who came out to celebrate Katie's Bridal Shower.

And a special thank you to Brian for cooking all their future meals.

Eat Cake!

"Happy Birthday to US, Happy Birthday to US, Happy Birthday to

MEGHAN, ALLISON and BRITTANYYYYYY

Happy Birthday to US!"

It's sort of weird really.  3 months in a row, 3 days in a row, 3 years in a row for 3 friends.

Funny how our Birthdays just happen to fall this way.

Allison - April 10, 1984

Meghan - March 12, 1985

Brittany - May 11, 1986

Only I celebrate my Birthday in elephant scrubs.

Because I can.

It's just a damn good thing we love to celebrate.

Oh, and celebrate we did, for certain.

Retro Ski trip Surprise Birthday Party for MegO at our Crystal Mountain house!

Cocktail Hour and Dancing at the Frontier Room for Allison!

And we finished off the Birthday season with a

Hiking, day-drinking, Sushi-eating, Neon Boat Party kind of Birthday for Brittany!

I'm not quite sure we can top this Birthday season next year.

The 3 of us will have our work cut out for ourselves!

If all else fails, we'll still have each other.

Welcome to the Hotel California

Rain, rain, rain and more rain.

Dan and I both said, "We just need a little sun!"

So, why not plan a trip to the sunshine capitol of California?

SAN DIEGO!

And the bonus?  Ready?

We got to stay with Tara (Dan's sister) and Mike AND Oblio.

(Okay, Oblio is a cat, but we bonded, so just go with it).

We started off the weekend with a little Patsy Cline, obviously.

and then went and got burgers and beers and THE BEST PLACE EVER . . . 

ROCKY's!

OMG.  This burger is like gold.

And we even met a Ginger who kindly served us our burgers!

We all needed a night to recover from those above burgers and beer, but then it was off to the beach

for a little hike, cool breeze and SUNSHINE!

Beautiful.

Tara and Mike . . . LOVE them!

Me and the soon-to-be hubby.

Found some seagull poop in La Jolla.  Yum.

And a few hundred seals just sunbathing!

Then we headed to Gordon Biersch Brewery for some beer, snacks and to meet up with 

Karen & Rich!

Then I got to have a reunion with Christy AND her crutches!

Hip surgery and narcotics just a few short weeks earlier and she was such a trooper - 

they even managed to come out with us downtown later at night!

We took a little stroll along the boardwalk in Ocean Beach.

Pink Camp Ingersoll sunglasses and all.

Don't be a hater.

A brother and sister reunion!

Dan was super excited about the ice cream cone from the gas station market.

I was more into my Red Bull and figuring out how I was going to stay awake all night to party!

Playing some Dominos with Oblio.

Well, we were trying to play and Oblio was trying to cat nap.

Then we shined our shoes, threw up our hair, had a few adult beverages and were ready to hit the town!

Tara, show me your moves!

Things started to get a little crazy and we hadn't even left the house yet . . . 

Tara then brought us out for our Engagement dinner to 

Urban Solace

and it was AMAZING.

Seriously, hands down, some of the best food I have ever eaten.

I'm still trying to button my jeans.  Mmmmm.

and to top off dinner, we all got a picture with THE Ron Burgundy.

It was almost time to head back to the rainy Pacific Northwest,

but not without a stop at

In-N-Out Burger

For the FIRST time ever!

Mmmmmmmm.

Yeah, so what?  We basically just ate amazing food the whole time!

Until next time San Diego . . . keep it real.

28 Candles . . . it's the new 16

4 night shifts and lots of crying babies to celebrate my Birthday

AND, still pretty excited I got to blow out candles on my tiny Birthday cupcake.

In my elephant scrubs.

Some things will never change.

And to top my Birthday week off, my patient cried when I told him I had to go home this morning.

ADORABLE

This is why I love my job!