seattle bus adventures

for months i’ve joked about dedicating a blog solely to my adventures of riding the metro bus. it truly is an adventure, and not always pleasant. i actually do enjoy riding the bus (the majority of the time), and some days you’ll even hear me say that i love it. why? well, it’s actually a humbling experience. riding the bus reminds me to keep it real, to use my manners, and to recognize my privilege. just about every day i see (and/or hear) something strange, scary, hilarious or heart-breaking on the bus. so, i’ve decided that i should begin sharing some of those experiences.
#1
while boarding the bus, a little girl looked up at the driver and confidently announced, “excuse me, i’m four years and 5 months old today.” she was so proud, and just about everyone in ear shot of her smiled.

denver revisited

i forgot to mention something very important about my trip to denver. i visited my grandparents. they are getting a bit senile and are even showing signs of dementia. i’ve been hearing lots of stories, but i have not seen my grandparents in long enough that i just couldn’t imagine them being any different than i’ve always known them to be. anyway, we had a lovely visit, which was timed perfectly with my grandfather’s 84th birthday. it was wonderful to see them, and i even left with treats. one of my (and probably all of my siblings’) favorite treats growing up was muisjes. there are different versions, but we always had the chocolate sprinkles (dark or milk). yep, pretty much just chocolate sprinkles. but, you have to get right kind (the dutch kind of course), and you have to put them on buttered bread to make it officially dutch. deliciously dutch!

labor day weekend

as we head into the weekend once again, i’d like to tell you about a few things that happened over the holiday weekend.

to start, we had a gorgeous run on saturday morning along elliott bay. we started at the olympic sculpture park and made our way along myrtle edwards park. we got to watch a seagull gulp down a starfish for breakfast. another wonderful thing about living on the water. later, we had lunch at an indonesian restaurant i’ve been wanting to try for awhile. those of you reading this should know that my father and his side of the family are from indonesia. honestly, i didn’t get much exposure to indonesian culture while growing up, and as an adult i feel i’ve missed out. so, this was a big deal for me. anyway, i got nasi goreng (essentially chicken fried rice with an egg on top) and anthony ordered beef and rice a la carte. we ended up trading, and neither dish was excellent enough to elaborate on. however, the teh tarik (black tea with milk and spices) and the black rice pudding (sweetened with coconut milk) were incredible! incredible enough that i will certainly go back just for that. and, although the dishes we selected weren’t mind-blowing, i’d like to continue sampling. i’m sure there are a few things on that menu that warrant writing home about.

on sunday we went on a beautiful (albeit CHILLY!) hike up rattlesnake mountain. during the hike we met some seattle newbies (as in 2 weeks and 2 months new) looking for new friends. we had such a great introduction that they invited us for a labor day cookout. so, we spent monday hanging in ballard with our new friends who love wine. woo hoo!

stopped in my tracks

ok, not literally. but i do seem to have injured myself again. some kind of bursitis/achilles issue in my heel. and it's actually throbbing as i type this, even after ice and ibuprofen. it started bothering me during my first run post-race (nearly 3 weeks ago). i figured i had just twisted it a little in the mud as it wasn't painful, just irritated. since then i've had 2 speed classes, 1 4-mile run and 1 4-mile hike. this is less than half of what i would normally be doing, and it's just getting worse. the only thing that seems to help is wearing heels. seriously. not tennis shoes, not flats, not a 1 inch wedge heel. real heels. i know it seems nuts, but it's the only relief i've gotten.

i skipped speed class last night and am supposed to start my half marathon training on saturday. i'm pretty bummed that i might need to halt my training. i keep thinking it will just heal with my limited activity, but it's getting so much worse. anyways, i'll keep you posted, but there is a chance i'll have to keep the running to a bare minimum and re-start my training with the new year. yucky.

d-town

i spent almost 5 days in denver at the end of august. the weather was nice and hot (what summer should be) and we got to see lots of friends and family. besties maureen and jana picked me up at the airport (many thanks), and we got to spend the day together. we all met up with my sister at pajama baking company for afternoon treats. that evening joan treated me to dinner at the squeaky bean. i've heard lots of buzz about it, but i think we were both a little disappointed about the small servings and high prices- and i live in seattle. however, we got delicious dessert at little man ice cream to make up for it!

i got to spend most of the next day with my little sister, catching up since her return from japan. and then i went to henry's salon to get my hair chopped off! hooray! the following day joan hosted a yard party for us so we could see lots of friends. it was fun catching up with everyone (like hearing about amy and stephen's engagement story, bill and josephine's wedding update, how much baby isabella has grown, meeting baby evan, and getting the dirt on amanda's job and nick's crazy workouts). one of my favorite moments... talking to sydney about her upcoming first day of kindergarten. we definitely had to get a picture to commemorate that conversation! and now sydney is a kindergarten pro at more than a week in!

we couldn't leave without having breakfast at lucile's, and i had the privilege of seeing christy at her new place (not so new for her anymore!). can't wait for her mexico wedding in just a couple months! we had so much fun seeing everyone, and we hope to catch you during our next visit over christmas!

sarah visits seattle

yes, i'm very behind. i finished school and still can't manage to keep up. but, it's important that i keep track of these special visits rather than just starting at present.

my beautiful, wonderful friend sarah came to visit in august. it was a quick visit, but we managed to pack in lots of fun and tons of love. to start, we had a fantastic lunch at one of my all time favorites- volunteer park cafe. then, the sky completely cleared for a gorgeous, sunny walk around green lake.

sticking with the water theme, we had drinks and dinner at joey's restaurant on lake union. the views were pretty incredible, with plenty of sea planes landing and taking off during our meal. the next day we spent some time in ballard, but the highlight was definitely the urban wine tour. i did the tour a few months back, but this time around i got to try all new wines and visit different wineries! very exciting! we did end up buying a couple bottles plus some new wine glasses from 106 pine.

we had such a great time, and fortunately, i got to see her again the following weekend in denver!

3 and counting...

happy anniversary to my amazing husband. i cannot believe our wedding is 3 years behind us. and you readers probably won't believe that we've been together for nearly a decade. that's right! our lives have been a whirlwind for the last few years- bought a house a week before the wedding, wedding, joined americorps 3 days after the wedding, 1st year of graduate school for me, new job and moving to seattle for anthony, me moving to seattle, moving to a new neighborhood in seattle, another new job for anthony and starting my last year of graduate school. phew! a whole lot of stress, but we've only grown closer. you rock my world. you are my rock. i love you.

photos by jenna walker