Laurence Lake, Kittens, a Puppy and My Favorite People

 

A few weekends ago I spent my millionth summer weekend in Hood River and it was magical. I got into town Friday evening and headed to the Sandbar Cafe with Beth to meet Sarah stare at the above scenery, drink a beer and listen to some live music. It was the perfect welcome to town.

 

(get ready for some crappy iPhone photos...) 

^^Sarah, Beth, Laura and Launa making dinner^^

After the sandbar café we headed to our friend Launa's house for a girls night. We walked up to the Farm Stand (side note: I wish the Farm Stand was in Seattle, swoon!), bought some fresh ingredients and made a delicious dinner complete with wine and chocolate gelato which we ate with spoons straight from the carton while chatting around the table.

Saturday Josh, Sarah, Marissa, Zara, Kiva and I headed up to Laurence Lake for a few hours of relaxing by the water.

^^Kiva at Laurence Lake^^ 

 

After we left the lake I dropped Marissa and Zara so Zara could nap, picked up Beth and she, Josh, Sarah and I headed up to my parents' house to play with kittens and my parents' puppy (read: giant, 9 month old German Shepard). 

 

 ^^Me, Josh and Beth at my parents' house with kittens^^

 

^^Blaze and Snack (dog and cat) playing^^ 

^^After Sarah tamed this giant dog and we became friends^^ 

After getting our fill of Baby Animals on the Farm (was that anyone else's favorite book growing up?!) we left and headed to the Crazy Pepper for Mexican food and margaritas.

After we were full we relaxed for a while before heading to the pub to meet up with some more friends. The usual: drinks and chatting ensued and Beth and I ended up dancing our little hearts out at Jack's.

^^Tall Paul checking out Sarah's new tattoo at the pub^^ 

^^Josh, stylin' (per usual) in Beth's glasses^^ 

Sunday I met Sarah at the local juice truck (genius, they need one of those in Seattle too!), before we headed to North West 23rd Street in Portland for some shopping at Sloan. After I procured some new booties, a dress and a coat I headed back to Seattle. There was crazy traffic and it ended up taking 2 hours longer than expected to get back, making me an hour and a half late for dinner at Katie's with her dad (the latest I've ever been to anything, ever). Luckily she saved me a plate and I was early for dessert.

Even though I feel like I've been to Hood River a million times this summer, I'm still not over it. I want to go back ASAP. I foresee some amazing fall visits to my favorite place in the near future.

Alki Beach Labor Day Staycation

Remember how my BFF, Katie, got married back in May at the courthouse? Well this weekend her and her husband, Josh, rented a house on Alki Beach in West Seattle and invited some of their besties to spend the weekend with them celebrating.

Friday after work I headed to West Seattle to claim a bedroom and hang out with everyone for the night. We chatted, walked down the beach to find some dinner, failed miserably, admired the sunset, took bowl-sized-shots of warm Patron at El Chubacabra, then ordered pizza back at the house. We played Taboo and chatted until bedtime.

Saturday morning I woke up early thanks to the sunlight coming through the blinds in my bedroom, opened the window and took a deep breath of the air that smelled like the real beach. It was magical. After I got out of bed, Katie, Kelly and I took a walk down the beach to get some coffee and check out the picnic shelter where Katie and Josh would have their reception/BBQ later that afternoon. After we got our coffee we walked over to the shelter to find some people had already set up a party at the same site. Katie decided she would go talk to them and let them know that she had booked the shelter and surrounding tables starting at 3pm. I was terrified to go over and talk to these people (who we later decided were likely gang members, no joke) so I, being the best BFF ever, let Katie go by herself. When I saw things weren't going so well for Katie I walked over and discovered that the parks department had double booked the space. It turns out the people already there were having their annual picnic and Katie was having her wedding reception. We eventually worked out a compromise and they agreed to move to two tables and a big grassy space Katie (but not them) also had booked on the other side of the sidewalk, which was super considerate of them. But gang confrontation at 10am on the day of her reception wasn't really what we had hoped would happen, ha! But thankfully it all worked out fine.

  I took this while avoiding confrontation like a good bestie ;)

We spent the rest of the day grocery shopping, prepping food (I got put in the basement with the guys making coleslaw, we crushed it!) and getting ready for the reception.

The wedding reception/BBQ was awesome. About 60 people showed up, we sat in the sun, admired the view, and ate pulled pork sandwiches. It was low stress and perfect.

 

After the reception was over, we spent the rest of the night at the house with a bunch of our friends catching up, listening to music, and of course taking more Patron shots.

Sunday, everyone but Katie and I were wanting to stay at the house and nurse their hangovers, so Katie and I bought some snacks and headed to the Colman Pool in Lincoln Park.

The pool is a beautiful, heated, salt water pool that looks out over the Puget Sound and the Olympic Mountains. I was so happy to be there. We jumped off the diving board, perfected underwater handstands, saw some of Katie's old preschool students and Katie taught me to swim. I actually swam (without freaking out, and without dogpaddling) for the first time ever. It was the most amazing thing. I was the happiest! So nostalgic.

After a few hours at the pool we headed back to the house, cleaned up a bit and went to dinner at Duke's Chowder House. Afterward a few of us grabbed a beer at a bar on the beach before heading back to the house and going to bed.

Monday was all cleaning up, me convincing the apartment garbage truck man to let us stick our rental trash in his truck after we missed the regular trash man (because it was Labor Day and we didn't think they would be working), heading to our respective homes, and me laying on my couch finishing the last episodes of Orange is the new Black for the rest of the day. It was a really wonderful, relaxing weekend with good people. Staycation success for sure!

Summer in Seattle and a Cautionary Tale

 

I've been feeling in a bit of a funk lately. I've been unsettled or something. It's never a pleasant feeling, especially in the middle of summer in Seattle which has been unseasonably long and wonderful this year. So, this last weekend I decided I should get out of the funk and spend some time with some of my favorite Seattlites, because my favorite people are my favorite thing in life and spending time with them makes me the happiest. Saturday I had a delicious celebratory bacon jam, grilled cheese sandwich and a kale salad at Skillet Diner followed by a ladies' night in Ballard. I deemed Sunday a Sunday-Funday and spent the afternoon on towels next to Greenlake with friends. I'm feeling much more settled and happier this week.

That being said, I do have a cautionary tale: never ever get lime juice on your skin and then proceed to sit out in the sun (with or without sunscreen), it will result in a crazy lime-burn (no jokes - it's a severe chemical burn) which might be hand shaped on on both of your sides where you put your hands on your shirtless hips while taking a rest from playing Frisbee. It will be incredibly red and blistered and make you miss work because of it's severity. Then you will have to call me and I will come over and pop your huge blister with a syringe and suck the blister juice out and you will record it and we will both hate it. Also, I promise never to make any of you peel a lime for me in the sun, ever again. #chemicalburnfail #nursebekie

And now that I've sufficiently grossed everyone out with my cautionary tale, here's a picture of Seattle for you, because, I mean! Summer in Seattle is really good.

Some Wednesday Afternoon Randomness

Shirt (Gibson), Jeans (Citizens of Humanity), Pumps (Nine West), Watch (Michael Kors)

I know you've missed awkward bathroom selfies! Or maybe you haven't, in which case you can go ahead and pretend I didn't post that.

Long days are making my brain mushy and all I can think about is how badly I want a doughnut. One of those old fashioned, cakey doughnuts. A girl can't eat super healthy all the time, am I right? This craving probably means I'm missing something crucial from my diet. FroYo would also likely satisfy the craving. Maybe I'll get FroYo for dinner after Zumba (probably I'll be more healthy than that though)? By the way, have we talked about how much I love Zumba? Does anyone else do Zumba? Guys, it's so good!

A bunch of my Hood River friends are going to the see the Yeah Yeah Yeahs play at Edgefield tonight and I'm super envious. I wish I could be there. I'm having a serious case of FOMO today, which I'm sure will only be worsened when I see all of their instagram pictures and snapchats I see later while I'm sitting on my couch working away. #firstworldproblems I love how connected social media makes me feel when I'm physically separated from people I love. That connection is totally worth the FOMO in my opinion. Do you get FOMO? I can't be the only one, right? I also recently read about FOMD which is Fear of Missing Documentation which I may have experienced once or twice ("hold on, I need to take a pic!" "OMG I'm totally putting this on Instagram" "are you going to blog about this?" #guilty).

And, just for good measure, a few pictures from a thunder/lightening storm in Hood River on Friday night, which was accompanied by sudden torrential downpour, crashed our plans of going to see live music down by the water and was followed by FroYo and martinis with some of my favorite ladies #sogood:

Some Tuesday Afternoon Thoughts

Well, somehow it's already mid-August and I'm sitting here thinking surely I have not experienced all the things I love about summer yet, right? Surely this isn't the tannest my skin will be all year, right? Surely summer is not almost over, right? Wrong? What? Well, I'm vetoing. Maybe I need to move to SoCal? But no. Soon the rain will be back and I guess that 10 months of rain is what makes me love the summer so much, isn't it? Also, let's be honest, I'm trying to move closer to Hood River, not further from it!

I've been working a lot and subsequently I've also been stressed out a lot lately. And I've been complaining about it to anyone who will listen, but I think it's almost all out of my system. This is how I know I could never work in a big firm. I'm just not cut out for all the yelling and stress and long hours and things. On a related note, I'm now seeking a professional mentor. And maybe a life mentor too? But maybe that is just called a therapist? Ha.

Earlier today I was walking to Café 4 to get a sandwich and some nice middle-aged gentleman struck up a conversation with me. His name was Steve and he was telling me about Microsoft in the early days, circa 1990. I wanted to be all, Steve, I don't even think I was in pre-school in 1990, but I bit my tongue because I've found that people don't really like it when you say things like that. We got to the café and said goodbye and it was nice to meet you and then I ran into my co-workers and told them that I met a friend and they were like "Rebeka, did you just meet Steve Ballmer?" and I had this moment of panic. And then I did some internal Microsoft stalking and no, it was not Steve Ballmer (because oh my word how embarrassing for me to have met him and not know - I would have known), but he is the VP of LCA. And that's pretty cool, I think. But maybe it's not a very blog-worthy story? Probably. Sorry about that.

Other things that probably aren't very blog-worthy that are about to happen anyway: some pervy mosquitoes got up inside my dress at Kylee's wedding and had a feast, so itchy; I forgot how amazing match making is, I love seeing other people in love (or something like it) and being able to take a little bit of the credit; I'm ramping up my coffee intake lately and oh, how I've missed it; and last of all, I would very much like to watch another amazing thunder and lighting storm in Hood River with my favorites. The end.

work from home is the best kind of work

Since Hood River is basically the only thing I blog about anymore (I definitely blame work for the lack of blogworthy things, and my general lack of a life, while I'm in Seattle) I should probably keep the ball rolling, right? Right...

 

If last night wasn't just the best then I don't know what is. Work has been a lot lately. High stress, and just a lot of hours. So, in an attempt to return to some normal, low-stress version of myself I decided to drive back to Hood River yesterday afternoon to work remotely for the rest of the week and also to help Beth house/dog sit. Pop Tart and I are chillin' tough today.

 

But last night. Last night was good. I got to sit at a café by the river drinking a beer, listening to my handsome friends play music, chatting with my friend Gaby who I haven't seen in forever, and being a happy, low-stress version of myself. It was much needed. 

 

 

^That up there, was the view from the Sandbar Café last night. Prettiest thing ever? Probably. I never want to leave, but I've definitely already told you that. 

 

^That up there is me, Gaby and Andrea (from left to right, naturally). We used to work at Ground together. Ground bonds you for life. #truth.

After the sunset faded into night and the sprinklers turned on next to the café we decided to head to Double Mountain for a beer, and then to the Pint Shack to listen to our friend Tall Paul play some sweet jams #DJtallpaul - it was great. Other highlights of the night included meeting Kurt with a K, who I've been hearing about for years, dinner at 6th St. Bistro with Sarah, and chatting/laughing/loving life with Hood River friends.

Guys, I kind of went out on a Wednesday night. Who am I? That 8am conference call this morning might have been a little brutal. But totally worth it.

A certain line from GIRLS comes to mind "CAUSE IT'S A WEDNESDAY NIGHT BABY, AND I'M ALIVE!"

^Gaby and I loving life. On a Wednesday night. Bring on Thursday and Friday! Working from (the) home(land) is the best.

Things are looking up.

A Weekend of River Floating, Wine Tasting and Friendship

This weekend I went to Hood River in an attempt to make it down there as many times as possible both before summer is over and just in general. Friday night Beth and I had crab legs and filet mignon at her parents’ before meeting friends for sunset drinks at the Columbia Gorge Hotel and then a night of high-stakes jenga, mingling and dancing. We ended things with a post-2am-hot tub sesh and it was all just really great.

Saturday morning Beth, Greg and I ate bagels and drank coffee downtown and then met a group of our friends, piled into the back of a van (I got to sit in a camping chair in the van, very safe, obviously but also very awesome) and drove to the Klickitat River which we then proceeded to float down on inner tubes and air mattresses. I had never floated a river before and inevitably flipped over navigating some rapids, immediately after which my friends were there to pull me, the non-swimmer with the life vest, out of the water, back into my tube and then hold on to me through the rest of the rapids. It was a really great time and I’m so thankful to have such wonderful people looking out for me.  

When we got to the end of the river we loaded back into our vans and headed to a few wineries to do some wine tasting. At the first winery Beth and I broke a chair we were sitting in together and then I made Dave laugh so hard he fell on the ground after hitting myself in the face with a wine bottle. At the second I ate cherry tomatoes and basil out of the garden and saw some goats. After wine tasting we all went to dinner at Henni’s and then had a low key, early-to-bed night.

Today Beth and I visited with Marissa, ate breakfast, shopped for bras and undies, napped and walked Pop Tart the dog. Then I proceeded to have a minor emotional breakdown when it was time to head back to Seattle. Work has just been so stressful and busy lately and a few other pieces of the puzzle have been less than amazing too. Not to say everything is awful, because it’s not, it was just a hard transition back to reality. There are just so many good people and good things in Hood River and I wish I could move there. It kills me that I can’t, yet.

 The view from Syncline Winery  Dave LOLing at my clumsiness The grounds at COR Winery I missed the memo, or maybe they did?   One of us was more excited than the other to be taking a picture together :) It was so good to spend some quality time with this kid for the first time in too long – don’t let the face fool you, he’s stoked.