Weekend Fun

This weekend was action packed and amazing! I drove up to Lynden on Thursday afternoon to visit my Grandpa and prepare for my big babysitting day with Rian. My mom and I prepared a delicious meal of "Pan-Seared Fillet Mignon with Cabernet Sauce." (Recipe HERE), complete with fresh herbs from her garden. Nothing better...Yum.

I arose bright and early and began a fun yet exhausting day of playing with blocks/various toys, reading, singing, diaper changing, and all the other things too numerous to count that mothers and fathers do each and every day. It was truly a joy to get to spend the day with my niece. She is growing into such an amazing, fun little girl!! And of course... a day with Rian would not be complete without some pictures.

After my day with Rian, my mom and I drove back down to Seattle to prepare for the Susan G. Komen: Puget Sound Race for the Cure. Linda and Lauren Eguchi ran the race with us. They (along with Julia) have been running this race for years in honor of my Nana, Jeanne Robins, among others. I've never been able to participate with them since I lived out of the area, but I finally got to run it this year. The rewards of being close to family just keep coming! It was a lovely day, and we all felt like Nana was with with us the whole way.


During our celebratory meal at Macrina Bakery, Lauren informed us that she would be attending the Solstice Festival at the Fremont Fair. Among other things, this event includes what could only be described as a naked bike ride, where the participants paint their bodies (some more than others) and ride through Fremont. Much to our delight, we discovered that the staging area for said bike ride was right across the street from the restaurant. Not wanting to miss an opportunity to preview the parade, we scrambled (legally) across the street and discovered this:

Some of the body paint was really inventive, some was not. All of it seemed to me to be a rather uncomfortable non-outfit to ride a bike in. They make those bike shorts padded for a reason don't they?

After the event, we said goodbye to Linda and Lauren, picked up Brian, and headed off to Woodinville Wine Country. We stopped at JM Cellars, where we are members, and can always count on some yummy tastings and appetizers. We hit up Des Voigne Cellars and Cullin Hills as well...and then popped in to a new winery called Senoj, which I thought was awesome, though we were a bit too early for the big opening night party. Saturday night was spent with Bo, Kim, & Rian, who had drivin to Seattle to buy a new computer.

We capped off the weekend on Sunday with our first day of serious house-hunting. We're finally in the market to buy, and it was pretty interesting getting out there and seeing what was available.

So...action packed, and filled with family and friends!! A nice start to the summer!

-Jen

The sun is shining!!!

I think this bad week is finally turning around! What do you call that big yellow glowing ball that is in the sky again? I can't seem to remember, it's been so long since I've seen it!



Yes, the sun is shining, AND I got some gorgeous flowers from Brian that is making my day even brighter!

Happy Thursday!

-Jen

and so the training begins!

after taking a few months off, it's that time of the year again: marathon training time!
jen, along with a few family members [jani, her aunts linda & jean, + her cousin lauren] will be running the nike women's half marathon in october, and i- a non-woman, will be running the whole shibang!

so after kicking it into gear a bit early, to build my base mileage base and speed back up to respectable levels [starting @ 22 miles a week, with a few 5-milers and my first 7-miler this morning], we got some mixed news. i also was one of the lucky ones chosen in the new york marathon lottery, just a month later... but jen missed the pick [note: it's very tough to land a spot- jen's aunt jean missed out 3 years in a row- eeg!].

so... now it's decision time. we either have to a] see if we can get her in using a yet-unproven connection or b] land one of the charity spots, and raise 2500$ for charity- which might actually work. we've both been dying to run new york, ever since we started with the marathon business, so cross your fingers, and wish us luck!

... brian

Is this really what June looks like??

Until I saw the temperature emblazoned upon a building during my drive in to work, I didn't realize that it was 47 degrees this morning! That's way too cold for June...WAY TOO COLD. I know Seattle's supposed to be gloomy, but come on! I need a break...The rain is relentless.

So...I thought the best way to brighten my mood was to walk over to Pike Place Market and admire the flowers, produce, and fresh fish! I picked up some fresh halibut cheeks for dinner, veggies for a salad, and a gorgeous bouquet of flowers to brighten up my office.

Have a great weekend!

-Jen

My Garden is Actually Growing!

So I know it doesn't look like much now, but as of Saturday, this was a weed infested patch of useless soil. On Sunday I planted a bunch of herbs and veggies. Cilantro, parsley, sage, thyme, basil, tomatoes, watermelon and green beans have officially lived three entire days under my care. The constant rain is helping irrigation, but now they need a little sun too! Come on Seattle!!


Jen

At long last...A new book by David Sedaris

Finally, a new book by my favorite author, David Sedaris. "When You Are Engulfed in Flames" was released yesterday, and I purchased it as soon as the bookstore opened!! I'm only three chapters in, and it has not disappointed! READ THIS BOOK!

... jen

Bad Pictures of my New Office

Since some people were interested, here are a couple of pics of my new office in Downtown Seattle. Sorry they are so lame [no they're not;)], they were taken on my IPhone, and the subject matter is boring [nope], at best.

... jen [edited by brian;)]

Boxing Day

Tuesdays at lunch I take a boxing class at my gym. Nothing complicated, no sparring, just a good honest workout where you get to take out some of your agression on a poor blue punching bag. I don't take it too seriously, unlike some of the others at my gym. I am usually the only, or one of the only, girls in the class...and today was no exception, I was surrounded by about six guys who seemed to take their boxing workout a tad too seriously. After 5 minutes jumping rope our instructor told us to go right into the "classic" 4 combination on the bag. Since I couldn't remember what that was, I just started punching in a seemingly organized fashion, while simultaneously shuffling around the bag like the other guys were doing. Since my arms felt like they were going to fall off and I was sweating profusingly, I wasn't terribly concerned whether or not I was doing it correctly. Unfortunately, the guy next to me was in fact concerned about whether or not I was doing it correctly. He asked me on numerous occasions whether or not I had taken a boxing class before, I answered yes each time, but I don't think he heard me over his loud grunting and yelling. The instructor proceeded with the class and gave me a bit more guidance, so I got the combination down to some degree. Really, all I cared about was getting a good workout, which I did, and since I don't plan on getting in the ring with (insert champion boxer here), I didn't really care about the strategy and all the manuevering. Why in the world do some people take things like that so seriously. I mean, if we were in a boxing gym, that'd be one thing...but this uncoordinated fellow next to me seemed almost offended at the fact that I was having fun.

My workout tonight will be a polar opposite to the one today. I've signed up for an upper level four week workshop at the Yoga Institute in Seattle. Hopefully it'll be less competitive.

Jen

testing, testing, one, two...

am going to be doing a little testing to see if we'll be able to achieve a nice clean look for a blogger site, like that of the original.

... brian