Apt. + some furnishings.

At the request of Yoshi, here are some photos of my condo with a few more items in it.




At some point I'll photograph the bedroom. ...which would require me to clean it up a bit. For now, here is the first pass at putting some furniture and life into my space. Still need to paint. Still need to get some things on the walls. Definitely need some window treatments. Mostly though, I want to swap the current deck door for one that's glass = more light.

Under the stars @ Snow Lake

Last Saturday was an exceptionally beautiful Seattle day. Sunny. Golden leaves all around. And a forecast of zero precipitation. Zero. Very odd. A much anticipated hike + camp was planned. Bess, Josh, Tyson and I set out for the Mt. Baker-Snowqualmie National Forest only to find the original destination's trail head access closed. A quick phone call to a friend and we were on our way to another nearby hike, Snow Lake. The hike was beautiful...except for the giant blisters on my heels (new boots) and the fact that it seemed as though all of Seattle decided to be on the hike too. Even Elsie (doggie) pulled her weight with a small dog pack. After scouting for a campsite we liked, the usual preparations took place: off with the pack, find a nice, flat spot, put up the tent. Somewhere back in Seattle a little sack of tent poles sat. No poles! Alas, the four of us slept under the stars. It was cold but our sleeping bags kept us warm. And amazing: no Seattle rain.

sushi creations

We were invited to make sushi with Bess and Josh. Here is a small piece of evidence. Very fun. And delicious.

called in sick..

Sneaky Tyson flew in from Aspen and surprised me. Naturally I was "sick" after my birthday so we drove out to Mt. Rainier and hiked around. The weather wasn't great but we had fun. Driving along we watched the beautiful forests and fall trees fly by. Slowly the temperature began to drop and the rain turned to snow.

UPDATED!:::Twenty Nine.

Sometimes its hard to believe I'm actually 29 today. I just talked to my dad. He said the day I was born he was on a tractor out in the fields on their farm. They had recently moved from the city to start a life as farmers. From Edina to Corcoran. What a different landscape I was born into vs. my older brothers. He said my mom came running out of the house around 9am and he lost a whole day working in the fields as I didn't actually enter the world until about 7pm. As the clock approaches 5pm here in Seattle its minutes away from that same moment 29 years ago.

So many delightful, loving messages from people today. Thank you! I have the best family and friends and I'm so happy you're all in my life!

****************updated portion**************

Heading out for my birthday. Our cab driver even gave me a present: an orange!


Josh ordered me some pecan pie. YUM.



All my loving friends. In one room.

fringe

I cut bangs. Again. I'm not sure I like them. Crap! But alas they will grow out. They always do.



I used to cut my hair all kinds of ways. I was always trying something new and it changed as often as the seasons. And I was never scared to cut it. However, since growing my hair out long, I feel very protective of it. The woman was cutting away today and I almost grabbed the scissors and threw them outside! "What is she doing!?" I kept thinking. Let's be honest, I can sometimes be dramatic. Give it a few days and I'm sure it will be fine. I posted the only picture I liked after multiple macbook camera poses. We'll see.

Itinerary progress.

Tim has been calling me seventeen times a day. "Should we book it? Let's fly here! I just pulled the trigger!" We are slowly nailing down the Thailand timeline of events.



So far I know we'll be staying in Bangkok for six nights at the "fancy" (per Tim) Dusit Thani hotel. I'll be flying in three days earlier and probably staying in a not so fancy place...but I haven't booked that yet. Yikes. I'm anticipating sensory overload :: backpackers, a boxing match, the river, tuk tuks, shopping, temples, eating, drinking, spas, celebrating Christmas.




After leaving Bangkok we fly to Krabi and hop over to Railay Bay. Photos of this area are absolutely stunning. Literally type those names into Google, click images and prepare to view paradise.





BUT, we've decided to take it one step further and we're taking a boat to Phi Phi island two hours off the coast of Railay Bay. Six more nights. Remote. Climbing. Elephant trekking. Relaxing paradise. This is also an area that was used to film some of the scenes in the movie The Beach.