My birthday karaoke

The pictures and videos say it all. Hilarious. Totally entertaining. A fight for the mic.








Claudia shaking it:


Aylin in a sweet rendition of Hey Jude:

My birthday dinner

Friends gathered in the Seattle International District in what could only have been described as a Mall. Without scoping out my dinner reservations in advance, I had no idea what to expect. But it was great! Kitschy and strange and perfect for turning 30.


Then they told us they didn't serve any alcohol as they were waiting for their pending permit to be granted. Record stopped. Crickets. Many of us had small coolers in tow, prepped for the second destination of the evening = a rented karaoke room where bringing in your own alcohol was permitted. So with a nod from our waiter, we cracked open our coolers and ate, drank and were merry.




Thank you to great friends who braved the wet weather and a school night to come and wish me well.

International District-y

30.

So here it is. I officially waved goodbye to my twenties and stepped, lightly trying not to wake the world, into my 30's yesterday. Emotion report: completely effing mixed. On the one hand, I look back on my life - which I feel is inevitable anytime one reaches a milestone, to look and see how we got to the milestone - and I've had a pretty, SCRATCH THAT, absolutely incredible life. I mean, its certainly not a perfect history or ideal. Its not like I haven't worked really, really hard for everything I've done, I certainly have. Its not like I haven't gone through life-changing-ly awful times. Or wished I'd done some things differently. But when I mix it all in the pot o' life and sample the outcome, its pretty awesome. So then there's that other hand. The other side of my effing mixed reaction to turning 30. I feel a little lost. I feel a little like, 'Where the hell am I going?' Most people my age are having families and trading, in a lot of ways, their own selfish experiences for their childrens'. Me, I'm still selfish. So in that case, what is my next selfishly exciting experience? I watched Motorcyle Diaries the other night. As the story goes two friends decide to travel by motorcycle across Argentina, Chile, Peru, Colombia, and Venezuela before graduating from medical school and having to grow up. Maybe I need to do something like that. I'm not sure what it is, but I'm itching for a new experience.

And as I sit here at my favorite, little coffee shop reading Harper's Bazaar magazine, I just realized when they give you "tips for great-looking skin at any age!" I'm suddenly not in the 20's section anymore! Ha! No more photos of Kate Hudson or Lauren Conrad, traded instead for Gwyneth Paltrow. Which I guess isn't so bad considering she's pretty great.

I guess more and more I'm just thinking about how I want to make my mark. Where is my legacy taking me and how will I carve it out to mean something? Until I figure it out I guess I'll simply keep checking ticket prices to S. America.

puppets are cool

So I sit next to a 23 year-old guy at work who is a bit shy, but usually witty and smart when engaged. These are the people with hidden secrets and talents! He makes puppets in his spare time and today he sent us all a link saying "I finally did something with my McCain puppet."



He built the puppet. He wrote the lyrics. He sang the song himself. He filmed it (with a friend and his awesome wife). And he edited it. Why are some people so cool and how do they have such vision? Totally, totally impressed.

Girlies and Bikes.

I realize that women relationships can be complicated or difficult, but I feel like my relationships with girlfriends - maybe because I don't have any sisters - are incredibly important to me. More recently, my female relationships here in Seattle have been shifting a little, and I find myself missing my MN ladies more than ever. While I was home for my dad's 60th birthday party, I was grateful to be scooped up from the airport by Haley, taken to Figlio's and joined by Kridi and Jora. We sat there for the entire evening chirping like little birdies and laughing. Then, remembering the good old days of Lotti Hall and St. Bens, Haley and I dug her bikes out around 11pm and went "night riding" around Lake Calhoun. Ahh, I miss that.

More recently, my girlfriend Claudia invited me out for an evening with her visiting girlfriend, Carrie, from NYC. Grateful for the invite, I biked from my condo down to the Pink Door in Pike's Market to meet them. It felt great to just laugh and hear stories and sip Prosecco the bubbling, delicious wonder.

Every time I read other peoples' blogs I think to myself, "My next post will be witty and light." but alas, I always come back to thoughts and ramblings. I guess its just whatever is going on in my brain or the recent experiences I've had. And recently I've just been missing that girl time. I miss having really good girlfriends to call at any time and to sit with ease and just be myself.

Lately.

I don't know if its because the days have become shorter or my life has just calmed down a bit more lately, but I've been cooking a lot. And I love it. Eating is always enjoyable, but there's something to be said for eating something cooked from scratch, when you know where all of the ingredients came from.

Potato soup with Kale and Chorizo

Slow-cooked Carnitas

Leek, potato and Tarragon soup

But most delicious: Crepes with lemon and sugar, topped with bananas and strawberries.

And I think for tonight: Butternut squash and hazelnut Lasagna