Today was too much running around. Tomorrow, motomotoyama and I will be in the Urban Race, a scavenger hunt all over Seattle. We are Team Sparkle Motion. Therefore, we needed matching shirts and hit up Northgate. Of course I saw these in the next store after we bought our pair of shirts and moto’d left. Well, we came up with a better team name for our next urban race based on what we got, so all’s well.
The Baron’s begging doesn’t get him much, yet he still carries on with the hope.
Mr. T and I are huge fans of the backyard BBQ; we’re getting some momentum now. I’m still working on leftovers from Monday’s BBQ during lunches. Tonight, we had Salmon Jalapeno Burgers.
I’m finishing the night by watching Paris Je T’aime.
Tonight, I walked to the Maple Leaf Grill to meet a friend for Dinner. The dinner, the company — tres bien. I took a detour heading home and came upon this house not far from the genesis of Lake City Way.
We weren’t nearly as victorious as two weeks ago. We lost 6-1. But I got a single! Which turned into a double. I didn’t make it to 3rd.
Outside of the kickball field, there’s this huge painted map of the US–and not the only one I’ve seen in Seattle. Every time I come across one, I’ve witnessed this tendency of grown adults to hop straight to their birth state. This city draws people from all over. Tonight, I saw Maine, Georgia, NC, Illinois, Arizona, and California represented.
I passed on the post-Kickball outing to King’s Hardware. Next time. Instead, I chatted with a longtime local friend standing near my home state. When I got home, I talked for two hours with an old, old friend from Louisiana who now lives in Los Angeles. Two hours! Crazy, but good.
Our tomatoes are struggling, but the chard is robust this year. We harvested it tonight, after barbecuing.
I’m wondering if I’ve ever had chard before.
Friends of ours just bought a house in Ballard, so after a Mexican dinner in Crown Hill, we went to check it out. One of their neighbors had this setup.
It started raining around 10 PM yesterday. By 10 AM today, we decided to pack it in and head back home. It was gonna be way too miserable to stick around. Better luck next time.
This was one of the final moments before we headed out.
For five years now (with the exception of one year where there was a work conflict), we’ve vacationed with friends on the July 4th weekend. The first two years were to Vancouver, BC. This year, and two years ago, we went to the Olympic Peninsula. The drive is long, but almost always worth it.
Mr. T’s mother’s birthday is coming up, so we went down to Pike Place Market to celebrate at the Steelhead Diner. We started with the crab cakes and finished with the poundcake for his parents and the Theo chocolate pecan pie for us. For our mains, Mr. T and I stuck with poboys, along with his Dad, but his Mom got this trout that reminded me of the Trout Meuniere Amandine at Galatoire’s of New Orleans.
The rich boy’s poboy was decent and all, but Mr. T’s catfish ‘poor boy’ was ethereal.
Today was mostly too busy for snapshots. I remembered on my way home from dinner. I was gonna hold back on posting at all, but this was pretty much my mood at 9:30 PM on this Tuesday night.
Today’s highlight: 6 miles! Mostly around Greenlake, with a 2 mile detour down Ravenna.
I spent most of June trying to coax myself back into my running habit. It’s only been one well-scheduled week, but I feel relieved.
The weather’s hot and fabulous.
I don’t think I’ve ever ventured into the Georgetown neighborhood before dark. Sure, I’ve been to Jules Maes for roller derby after-parties and Stellar Pizza after the first official derby bout. (I still say thanks to Stellar and their inability to accommodate the massive turnout, Mr. T became my boyfriend a little over 3 years ago.) Sidebar: The pizza is great there, once it arrives.
Today, I had compelling cause to revisit (a spaaaaah appointment). I was curious to wander as it gets so much press for being the up-and-coming hood. Calamity Jane’s had patrons, but like the ’99 Stranger Jules Maes review, the streets were as dead as a movie set. You’d never know that Artopia went down the day before.
Late afternoon, we headed down to the far reaches of West Seattle to visit one of Mr. T’s friends. He has a young chihuahua named Jack. The host spent hours and hours smoking ribs. They were fantastic.
I got in another bike-commute day today. Mr. T left for home before I did and since I didn’t have to keep up with anyone. I took a breather on Brooklyn around 43rd to snap this picture. I think I stopped two more times.
This appeared to be above a dentist’s office with a matching buddy nearby.
I can be a bit of a habitual volunteer at times. I got involved in a promising new thing tonight, sharing some expertise with a neighborhood fair trade organization. This is from my walk home.
It was a nice turnaround from a day that started and left me grumpy. I even got a 3-mile run finished. motomotoyama came to visit later, to drop off the highly-addictive Twilight series for sprizee and me.
Tomorrow is another day. Hopefully, with bike rides and continued sunshine.
Tonight, I saw an author I’ve “known” for over two decades. I remember my father reading Bolles’ great book, What Color is Your Parachute? — one of those memory snapshots. After my father died, I read it when I was almost 21, an early college grad, before I had any inkling of what to do with myself and a liberal arts degree. Back then, I was aimless and uncomfortable with my wandering; I didn’t have a Dad to help dictate my path anymore. It helped.
Once I heard he would be in Seattle, I knew I’d see Bolles. He has a great sense of humor, is candid, and he gets it. I re-learned a few things and will check out this latest edition.
The best gem for anyone that I can pass along from my notes, a comment in passing — “People think they can’t be paid for what they enjoy. But people are dead wrong…don’t look at what you’re good at. Look at what you enjoy. Look to the stars in your firmament.”
A month ago, Mr. T started his grand experiment in the backyard, as earlier readers might recall. Last night Mr. T whipped up some arugula with caramelized pears and pecans. Tonight, we had arugula/rocket salad with parmesan & pine nuts. To highlight the fruits of labor and all that.
And then we got even more domestic and went to Sears for appliance shopping: this is what happens when I take the night off from gadabouting.
I can think of worse preoccupations.
Lake Chelan is marvelous and stretches forever. This is from the campground marina at Twenty-Five Mile Creek State Park.
After one final campfire at breakfast, we packed up for lunch at Cisco’s Mexican Restaurant (link = my review on yelp) in nearby Entiat, WA. After, we also stopped at the Rocky Reach Dam before the long haul back to Seattle.
After a good camp breakfast, our gang headed to the water where sprizee and her Dude fished. I read my Audacity book and took pictures randomly. Mr. T and the Baron hung out on the rocky beach. Wheelson headed into more civilized areas briefly, but joined us later at the water.
We milled about for a few overcast hours then headed down to Fields Point Landing, another marina down Lakeshore. The tiny bugs were out in force, so we gave up the lazing about and the frisbee-throwing for Chelan, where we found ice cream generally and sprizee found fudge specifically.
Dinner was back at the camp over the fire, which we kept going late, late, late. After the overcast, the night owls got to see the stars.
Mr. T and I left with the Baron straight after work to drive almost 4 hours to Twenty-Five Mile Creek State Park at Lake Chelan. Sprizee, her Dude, and her Dude’s longtime BFF (do boys have those?) met up with us later en route, as they left town earlier.
Since we would be making it to the campsite close to dark, we needed to eat elsewhere beforehand. Recently, another Seattle blogger wrote about Cisco’s near Chelan so I took notes for the upcoming occasion (you should read her, too). We had a great dinner, we met Cisco and we left happy. He’s got a great place going on there. What did we learn today, kids? Cook your shrimp in butter.
We arrived at our campsite after dark. The park was still busy and we were able to set up quickly with our RV neighbor’s lighting. Some neighbors were pretty damn noisy into the wee hours while another RV clan had their peace pipes going. We survived. And how!