Roadies in the boat taxi.

Having enticed my parents with the idea of throwing a party out at the farm last fall, only to make them really sad when I decided it was too much work, I decided to host a small gathering out on Big Island last Friday. My papa was proud to be the boat taxi driver and made several trips back and forth from the Excelsior dock to tote friends to the island. People lugged on their coolers and most trips included things like, "Get the driver a beer!" and "Who needs a roadie?" Interesting how this activity in a car would never be welcome, and yet, somehow on a lake anything is fair game.




It was so good to see all of my friends! So so good. Kridi brought her famous puppy chow. And it was fun to have them all intermingling with my family. My nephew, Matthew sat with most of my friends at a picnic table eating dinner and making them laugh. Crow and my mom caught up. I watched Art and Ang get to know my brother, Brian, at the grill. Pete talked extensively with my mom about wine and pretty much everything as she just adores him. We all had a few brews and laughed around the fire.

Soon the night came to a close. I was so happy to have so many great people around me that I think I tipped a few too many back. Whoops. And as friends slowly started to leave, I began to cry.


Tyson decided to go fishing with Brian around 2am and my mom and I sat around the fire talking. Eventually I headed off into the cabin to use the restroom telling my mom I'd be back. Nope. I went to "sleep". And sleep I did. In my clothes.

Lake Minnetonka: Big Island.

Thursday night late, Tyson and I were dropped at the airport for our red-eye flights to MN. Both booked for Thursday, my flight was at 11:55pm, his at 12:15am. Notice that mine was in the evening and his in the morning? Yeah, his was in the morning on Thursday meaning we had already missed his. Crap! Tears. Bawling. Feeling horrible as I was the one who booked the flights. Soon I had to board and left Tyson in the airport trying to clean up the mess. Eventually, it seemed the mess could only be cleaned for an additional $250 and wasn't even really guaranteed. He eventually took the bus home at 1:30am and went to bed sad. I was sad. The weekend was to be so fun and so important. A significant amount of quality time with family and friends. After talking about it with Crow and Noles the following day, I eventually caved at their insistence that money should be no object in this scenario. I got on the horn with nwa.com, clicked here and there, and soon Tyson was on a 10:30am flight bound for Mpls arriving at 3:30pm.


Meanwhile, I played around in paradise on Big Island with my family. I spent the day with my parents, brothers and bro's girlfriend, nephew, and Grandma.


The cabin was perfect. Rustic, cute and had all the amenities that a cabin should have: fishing poles, water bikes, a box full of flip-flops, games, toys, a hammock, picnic tables and a fire pit. True relaxation was acheived. And connection: My mom and I took the water bikes out cruising along while we chatted. Then my grandma and I took them out and also had some solo time to just catch up.



I played with Matthew. We sat as a family eating and tipping back a few beers. No TV time. No one else to entertain. It was so absolutely perfect. I've decided cabins are the catalyst for this type of bonding and connection for families and friends. Buy the cabin, mom and dad!

Matthew montage.

I had so much fun with my nephew this weekend. Matthew is hilarious in every way and so much fun. I love him and miss him!

Winding up to smack the ball off his homemade t-ball stand courtesy of grandpa Greg.


Auntie "Iowa". This was my name when Matthew couldn't actually say Andrea. It stuck.


Flexing his huge man muscles.

Discovery Park.

I was able to get out of work for a few hours on Sunday and bike over to Discovery Park. Someone described it to me as feeling a little bit like being in another country while there. I'd been there before, but I dunno, maybe wasn't totally paying attention or something. Anyway, this time I was somehow fortunate to stumble upon this tiny little, sandy spot in the bluffs overlooking the sound. I was the only person there. The sunny afternoon was beautiful. I watched the sailboats, ferries and cruise ships slowly roll by and I took deep breaths. I felt really lucky to be right there relaxing even for just a few hours last weekend.

Now I want to go back with cheese, wine and probably a decadent dessert with friends to watch a sunset.

70.5

Hours. Worked.

That's how many hours I've worked this week so far. 52 of them in the last four days. The key is that it's really true when I say "so far". Its currently 11:49pm on a Saturday night. I've been here since 9:30am and I haven't been outside for more than the two mintue walk to pick up Subway sandwiches for the whole team working back at the agency. It was beautiful today. Sunny. Blue skies. Mild tempuratures. Perfect for a great run and some coffee while relaxing outside with a book. Nope. Not me. I was inside. Working for a crisp dollar bill.

On account of the anticipated long day, I decided to dust off my overalls circa 1998 this morning. They proved to be a fantastic outfit. Comfy. Nastalgic. I used to run around Lottie Hall in these bad boys all sophmore year at CSB. I can even put my hands entirely down my pants at any moment for warmth and its cool...because I have overalls on. I'm tempted to accept a bet with a co-worker to see if I can wear these overalls every day for a month, earning me a cool $50. Taking him up on it would mean constant comfort and absolutely no effort in choosing outfits. Hmmm.

I went through multiple stages today from nose-to-the-grindstone worker to raging/almost-on-the-verge-of-tears scatterbrain. On the plus side, at least my co-worker, Sean, shares an appreciation/affection for lubricant. Lubricant in the form of a delicious margarita. We've been drinking while we work tonight. Much like whistling while we work only 1700 times better.

Tyson is backpacking with Josh right now. I am realizing more and more the importance of time. I will never get this Saturday back. Ever. I wish I'd spent it in the mountains backpacking. Food for thought I guess. I work very hard. I just like to work hard during the hours of 9-5:30 M-F.

Anyway. Cheers with my second 'rita. I head to MN next weekend and plan to spend as many hours as possible on Lake Minnetonka gabbing with my family. Life is short. I wouldn't want to spend time anywhere else and I can't wait for the trip.

30 of'em.

My friend Suzie turned 30 yesterday. She was the first of my CSB girls to cross the threshold of a new decade. 7/18.

What's interesting for me is when I think of Suz, certain thoughts come to mind: Brave, Independent, knows what she wants, Beautiful. And I'm sure she turned THIRTY with all of the aforementioned adjectives and even a bit of Grace...as I get nervous for October and my own inevitable wave goodbye to my 20's. She and I are in a much different place. Pysically, she lives on the East coast and I live on the West coast. And specifically, she is a wife and mother while I'm dating and not yet sure where the next 5 or maybe even ten years of my life will go. We couldn't be more different and yet when I talk to Suz, the specific circumstances of our lives fade away and we catch up like all friends do.

Suz never tries to be anyone but herself. She has an amazing smile. She loves awesomely bad TV (and I love that because I do too). She loves to read books. Her husband rocks, and he actually brought me to tears once with his kind words. She has a beautiful daughter, Grace. And now she is thirty. That wasn't so hard now was it. Thanks for always paving the way and making it look easy, Suz. Love you. Happy Birthday.

old school.

After throwing a small tantrum, I convinced my oldest friends to board a plane and visit me in Seattle. I had been looking forward to Kes and Jora's visit for some time, and before I knew it, they were here! Jora and I met in the second grade having both been placed in Ms. Camerote's class, and were instant friends. Kesney added her amazing flavor to the group in fifth grade, with a sweet red outfit and "new concept" hair: one braided piece swept in the front. The rest is history. We've been through so much together. First kisses. 5th grade plays. We danced and played sports together. Our families know each other. We visited each others' colleges. Now we visit each others' cities. Years and years of stories.


I picked them up around midnight on Thursday. We stayed up late into the night talking. 4am. Lots to catch up on considering the last time the three of us were together was Thanksgiving 2007. Friday I went to work, but they came to meet me and we had a lovely liquid lunch + salads. After work, and some quick advice from my boss, we headed out on the Seattle Duck Boat tour! It was so effin great! Never in my life have I experienced such fantastic kitsch. The duck boat goes from the Space Needle down to the warf, through Pioneer Square and over near Fremont. From there the duck goes from land to water and enters into Lake Union with great views of the city, Gasworks Park and all of the houseboats including the one from Sleepless in Seattle. You sing songs, including YMCA and many other "pump-you-up" 80's tracks. Hilarious. People honk at you. And the whole time learning cool things about Seattle. We loved it.



After the tour, Jora and Kes finally met Tyson. The four of us headed out to Oaxaca for tapas in Ballard. Margaritas + great, great food, then down the street to Madame K's for two Orgasm orders. Yep, the Orgasm is their famed dessert - one that my mom was also happy to sample when she visited. I told them all they'd be scraping with their spoons and literally, they were.



Saturday we slept in a bit and then headed out of town to hike Little Si. The weather was perfect. The hike was tough, but luckily pretty short and sweet. We ate lunch at the top and then headed back to the car, bound for the closest place that would serve us ice cream items.


Saturday night we stayed in and grilled ourselves a feast! Chicken, steak, shrimp and corn with rice pilaf. We sat on the roof of my condo and watched the sunset and gabbed. I miss those moments of unhurried time with friends. I'm at a place in life where usually now its a quick dinner or a few drinks after work and then friends all go back to our respective places. We just sat there. And enjoyed each others' company.


...until a cake craving sent Tyson to the grocery store. Cake and movies.

Sunday we headed out to several neighborhood markets and finally enjoyed a beer and some tacos from Malena's on Queen Anne hill. Later, when I dropped them at the airport, I was totally sad. These women have been such a huge part of my life for so many years. I wish I was able to spend more time with them. I appreciate the fact that we all have our own lives and whether we talk every week or every other month, we will always be incredibly important to each other. But I really do miss them.


Thanks for visiting, J & K. Love you!

dinner party.

I had some girlfriends over the other night to ring in my new grill + deck enhancements. We grilled chicken, prawn and veggie kebabs. Chatter, reaching deafening decibels at one point, filled my condo. I love having people over!

We missed Bess.

Not much.

I've been sorta lame. No posting. Been relaxing. The holiday weekend was good. I'd really wanted to get out of town, but alas the daunting task of fighting crowds and hoping for a campsite ultimately brought me back to the reality that staying in Seattle would be cool. Lisa threw another fab pool party. Who knew that even on a semi-warm day, with partly cloudy skies, a diving contest-ish activity would rock so much. Grilled corn and burgers. And about twelve Sessions. A group of us biked over to Gasworks park to watch the fireworks show over Lake Union. I like this activity a lot. Dubbed as "Night Ridin' " by Haley and I back in oh, 1999 -riding bikes at night has become a new favorite pastime.

On Saturday, Tyson and I went camping in an attempt to combat the early morning start-time for his sister Tracy's Half Ironman. 6:47am. It was still early, but it was awesome. So many amazing athletes having spent months training and quite possibly just using this event as a stepping stone to their next goal: a FULL Ironman. I can't help but get a little choked up at events like this. A 73 year-old woman competed. When she finished the bike and started on her final leg - 13.1 miles of running - the crowd roared. You should have seen her. Raising her fists and giving people high fives. It was really incredible. A man crossed the finish line and fought back tears so hard until he just couldn't do it anymore and started crying. A fellow finisher walked over and hugged him.

Tracy wanted to finish in under six hours. Her time: 5:59:59. Congrats, girl ;) Pictures to come.

Yep. Now I want to do one. I have my eye on a Portland Triathlon but we'll see if there's enough time to train.

Anyway, Happy 4th America.