This morning this afternoon and tonight

This morning I’m…

…obsessed with the idea that I need to import ALL my music into iTunes and officially have an online music catalog that I can listen to at work, and sync to my iPhone. I’ve downloaded songs over three different computers, and still have my entire CD collection only existing on CDs, so it’s time to join 2010 and consolidate it into one, organized place.

This afternoon I’m…

…heading to a VIP shopping event at Pacific Place in downtown Seattle for a Girl Power Hour member’s-only event. Time to get started on that Christmas shopping! (Although I already have my sister and parents taken care of. I’m ahead of the game this year!)

And tonight I’m…

…dressing all fancy for a Winter Formal at Matthew’s Estate Winery in Woodinville Wine Country. This winery is famous for throwing big, amazingly fun parties. They hosted an All White Party ala P. Diddy, and I missed out on the fun, so I’m happy to have tickets to their party tonight!

Happy Saturday! xoxo

Currently Feeling: A little guilty for skipping out on a planned girl’s night last night – and right after I wrote a post about being flaky. I lose.
Currently Anticipating: Relaxing all day tomorrow. I have too much going on today, and really need to recharge this weekend for a busy upcoming week!
Currently Loving: Pearl Jam’s Lost Dogs double disc CD – it’s always been one of my all-time favorites, but I lost disc one. Thank you iTunes for the replacement!

Stay kizzity cation

Last week, I took my very first staycation – a “vacation” where I just stick around (stay home, if you will) and do nothing.

Not really my style.

It’d been nearly two years since I’ve visited with my biological father and his side of the family (grandparents, aunt, uncle and cousins). Since my weekends are consumed with events, birthdays, cabins, mini trips and being a selfish 28-year-old, single woman, I needed to take time off work to actually visit family.

One would think I would have all the time in the world to get to blogging with a whole week just hanging around – but noooo. I was stuck in my own personal hell. See, my family lives in a tiny town in Washington State, population 2,000, and I stayed at my grandparents’ house. They don’t own a computer or have Internet, nor does my phone get service there. Talk about testing my inner being. I’m all for unplugging in the name of lying on a sand beach, or meditating in India. I’m not in love with it if all you’re doing is lying around in the rain, eating and watching TV. It’s like I have restless body syndrome.

However, I did manage to survive three days there – thanks to the company. I don’t think I talk much here about my dad’s side of the family, or my roots with them. I’m lucky enough to have an amazing grandma and grandpa, both with Southern accents, a knackering for sweet tea and buttery, homemade cooking and hearts as big as Jupiter. I miss them daily. (And I gain 10 pounds every time I go there thanks to buttery biscuits, fried eggs, grits and bacon for breakfast, homemade cornbread with every dinner meal and a big bowl of peach cobbler for dessert after that!)

I wrapped up my staycation in the only way I know how to exist – busy, busy, busy. From one end of the spectrum to the other this past week, I tell ya.

I took a bacon cooking and wine workshop, which was AMAZING. (Separate post coming on that), celebrated the third anniversary of Girl Power Hour with a long-awaited and lots-of-time-spent-planning birthday bash (separate post coming on that too). And wrapped it all up with a long weekend at my second favorite Seattle festival next to Summer Solstice Parade – Fremont Oktoberfest! Tiny beers unite! I even signed up to volunteer this year and spent Sunday in a custom-made beer barrel on wheels, pouring beer for Deschutes Brewery (whose hometown is Bend, Oregon). Huzzah!

And now back to our irregularly scheduled programming…

Currently Feeling: Stuffy, coughy and tired. The fall cold has caught me! Dammit.
Currently Anticipating: A Mai Tai making competition tomorrow with my GPH girls, hosted by Seattle Met; Girls Who Dine Out October at Spinasse on Thursday, then an entire cabin weekend at Leavenworth Oktoberfest!
Currently Reading: “One Day” by David Nicholls. The ladies at the book store told me it’s the greatest love story and everyone can’t put it down!

Fairweather Fan

This year I’ve decided to make football my most favorite thing in the world.

Well, that’s a lie. I decided to make hanging out with my friends, tailgating and eating pulled pork and hot dogs underneath tents in parking lots while playing ring toss and sipping on BLs my most favorite thing in the world. (Shocker).

It started with my purchase of a super cute girls Seahawk’s jersey for 75% off at the final game of the season last year. I’m a sucker for a sale!

And of course with my newly minted (literally mint green) jersey comes the necessity to wear it AS.MUCH.AS.HUMANLY.POSSIBLE.

Enter the best fairweather fan out there. I fairweather with the best of them, yo!

Go Seahawks!

What's under that poncho?

Mexican Seahawk poncho brigade

Mmm dinner after tailgating all day. What was I thinking?!

P.S. After this Sunday’s opening day, I can already tell football season is going to be the death of me.

Go Hawks!

Currently Feeling: Amazing after a 9:15 p.m. power vinyasa hot yoga class – it was pretty difficult, but SO glad I sucked it up and went!
Currently Anticipating: Ignite 11 tomorrow night (my favorite event in ALL of Seattle). Have you been to an Ignite event in your city? If not, you should!
Currently Loving: Hot and sweet mustard. On ham and cheese sandwiches. Mmm. (A great substitute to mayo too!)

The Last of the Summericans

This last weekend *officially* marks the end of Seattle’s summer… we’ve been toying with Fall a little earlier this year, which has meant a wetter, grayer August than usual. I’ve pulled out my jeans a little earlier…shut my window and turned on my heat a little earlier…drooled over Fall clothes a little earlier.  It looks as if an Indian summer is not in the cards for us this year. What I think about that has to do with a lot of bleep bleeping bleeps, but, I digress.

In my final farewell to summer, I donned my bathing suit and drove straight out of the rainy day forecast to spend a four-day weekend with best friends at a cabin three hours east of Seattle. Hello, Lake Chelan (for the third time this summer)!

I sunbathed enough to finish an entire 400-page book (awesome) and probably drank enough wine to fill up the lake with wine instead of water (awesome squared).

Chelan is a well-known wine country in Washington State – home to more than a dozen estate wineries with sprawling green hills and views of the water. If you live outside of Washington and ever decide to take a trip to Seattle, you have to schedule in some wine tasting – in Woodinville, Yakima, Walla Walla, Chelan – or wherever you can make it out to. We’re famous for our wine, yo!

As for me, I’m starting to realize there’s nothing I’d rather be doing in life than wine tasting in the sunshine. Call me a product of my environment, if you will.

My goal of the weekend was to slow down, take it all in, turn off work e-mail and laugh with friends, soaking up every minute of sun possible – hopefully enough to last me until next summer. That’s what we do around here parts – tick the minutes away in dark bars and on mountain slopes until the sun cracks through eight months later. It might leave us Vitamin D deficient and desperate for beach vacations, but that’s Seattle for you.

What else we do – fill our time up with tons of fun plans to get us through the gray and rain. I have a full plate coming up these next couple months and into 2011…a trip to San Fran, Oktoberfest in Leavenworth, a bacon cooking class, a Girl Power Hour anniversary party, the return of trivia nights, a BIG out-of-the-country vacation (Australia and New Zealand) in January/February to save for, and a goal to get back into snowboarding with the purchase of a new board and my first season’s pass.

Lots of exciting things on the horizon – and that always makes me okay with the end of summer.

Currently Feeling: So glad to be back at hot yoga now that the weather has cooled down.
Currently Anticipating: Finally seeing “Eat, Pray, Love” tomorrow with a group of gals I don’t get to see very often. Judge me if you will – but it’s one of my all-time fav books!
Currently Loving: Red grapes. I can’t get enough these days!

Since I’ve been gone…

I’ve been fluttering around this town (and others) in a state of independence, slowly spinning and spinning into a place where independence starts to feel like a whole, and dependence starts as an itch, slowly creeping into my brain here and there.

I danced under the streetlamps and in front of a fan on high, trying desperately to beat the heat – to beats from a main stage, rock music filling the streets of Seattle.

I learned to hail cabs in New York City, danced until my feet hurt, spent 1 a.m. in Times Square trying to find myself on the jumbo screen, walked the spirals up Frank Loyd Wright’s Guggenheim Museum, sat under a tree by myself in Central Park and secretly stole pictures of couples lying on blankets kissing cause it was all too damn cute and reminded me of a place I was once at.

I picnicked and barbecued at the beach, watched the sun set, and found a new love for hippie reggae beats, which now follows me in headphones to work every week as I walk underneath the shadows of buildings downtown, discovering that there really is no better way to start your day than with a walk in sunshine and no better way to end it than in a bathing suit, people watching at the park.

I rocked a review, scored a raise, and successfully pulled together a conference and a local tech event that I planned all by myself – all while floating rivers and roasting marshmallows over a campfire on the weekends. I’ve let go of summer traditions in the past, and created my own traditions that include just me this time, and some with new friends.

I grilled salmon, churned strawberry frozen yogurt made from scratch, and picked tomatoes and basil from my garden in large quantities. I indulged in quail, rabbit with plum sauce, pork belly buns, watermelon gazpacho, German chocolate cake, and a few birthday cakes too. I enjoyed too many dinners with girls, happy hours on patios, and wine tasting that I care to admit.

I had a closure dinner with an ex, talking over months gone past as if nothing had ever changed, except one very important detail.

I’m independent now.

And underneath it all, I’m healing and the itch of dependence - of someone and something that makes me smile, laugh and want to hold hands and spend all my time with – is starting to take shape again.

And I might have even found someone I want it to take shape with.

Currently Feeling: So strange this week – tired, out of it. Is it the full moon?
Currently Anticipating: A bevy of trips coming up (and possibly a BIG one). Stay tuned for details.
Currently Reading: Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger.

Five little updates on July

Well hello there, July 16th. Where have the last two weeks gone? Been busy soaking up the sun that finally came to Seattle – and as my GChat status says, “The summer sun makes me irresponsible.” Less time for blogging and computer playing, more time for outdoors, friends and barbecues. The best time of the year!

Life has been trucking along quite nicely these days – I’ve got a few little updates for you.

I finished my 30-day challenge – you can read my somewhat wrap-up thoughts here since they were the same for the last two weeks of the challenge. I was a couple days shy of the complete 30 days. It was tough to make it to class every day the last two weeks cause I became super burnt out. But for the most part, I did it! So, I’m back to boot camp a couple days a week, and hot yoga a couple days a week. I’m also walking to work now that the weather is nice! Two miles – 45 minutes of walking a day – so it’s been a great addition to my workouts.

Me putting the last star on the challenge board

My Fourth of July holiday weekend was one of the best ever. Choosing Lake Chelan over Seattle turned out to be the best decision I could have made since Seattle gifted everyone with grey skies and rain for the holiday. Meanwhile, I hung out in my bathing suit, drank BLs on the beach all day and finished the evening up with a crazy dance party boat ride to watch the Chelan city fireworks. Lots of funny pictures and memories of the weekend that, unfortunately, don’t belong on the Internet. Good times were had by all.

Left: All the girls at the beach. Center: Boating it. Right: Wine tasting on our way back.

My summer garden is rockin’ and rollin’. I had to upgrade my basil plant because I used it so much, I dried the first one out and killed it. So, I purchased a bigger and better one. I have basil for days! My favorite summertime dinner meal these days has been some whole wheat pasta tossed with olive oil, garlic, fresh mozerella, tomatoes and basil from my garden – finished with salt and pepper. Mmm. Someone told me our summers in Seattle don’t usually last long enough for peppers or strawberry plants, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed there. And I have a couple tiny green tomatoes that I’m watching with much love!

Caprese pasta - my summertime staple!

Turns out my work is sending me to New York City for the BlogHer 10 conference the first weekend of August. I’m super, duper excited and geeked out to meet so many bloggers and make some (hopefully) lifelong connections. I’ll get to hang out with Doniree for the first time, which I’m fantastically excited about. I feel like I’m the only 20-something blogger left in this world that doesn’t know her personally. I’ll also be hosting a fun Sex and the City walk through the city with a Kindle giveaway at the end. I think it’s going to be a fabulous, successful event, so that pushes my excitement that much further. Have I mentioned lately how much I love my job? By the way – this will be the first time I’ll have visited NYC while 21 and over. Trouble to be had! NEW YORK…. These streets will make you feel brand new…Big lights will inspire you…Let’s hear it for New York, New York, NEW YORK.

Can you think of a better event?! Excited!

I’m heading over the mountain pass again this weekend for a bachelorette party for one of my high school girl friends – lots of longtime girls of mine will be there. I hang out with all 10 of them about twice a year, so this should be interesting and fun. We’re starting off with a night out in the tiny town our cabin is in, wearing ugly bridesmaid dresses. (Thank you, Goodwill, for mine). We’re also floating a river Saturday in intertubes and then heading back out in matching tie-dyed tank tops with nicknames on the back. Mine? G-Spot Je-Spot. Yeah. That’s right. High school nickname I can’t seem to freakin’ get ride of. (For no other reason than my name being Je Anna). Should have some fun stories and pictures to share with all of you. Happy weekend!

Currently Feeling: A little bit of a nervous belly.
Currently Anticipating: Relaxing this weekend in the sun before a SUPER busy work week next week. Time to recharge!
Currently Loving: The new Eminem CD. Seriously – it’s so good. He amazes me, and brings me back to memories in high school when I used to listen to his first CD, all at the same time.

Fireworks, sunbathing & girls

I’m heading out for the weekend to Lake Chelan – a popular summer spot in Washington State – for the Fourth of July! It’s one of my girl friend’s birthday, so I’m road tripping it over the mountains with my best friend, a cooler full of bevs and flipflops on. I’ll finally get to wear the bathing suits I bought a month ago and haven’t been able to prance around in yet cause this summer has been gloomy thus far.

This will be the first year in forever that I’ve spent the Fourth of July outside of Seattle, and I have to admit that I’m going to miss the rooftop patio parties and fireworks on Lake Union like you would not believe. But I’m looking forward to a girly weekend of boating, sunbathing in 80-degrees, reading mags and laughing.

Hope all of you have a safe and happy holiday weekend!

God Bless America!

Now accepting applications

This weekend I was able to head east of Seattle, over the Washington State mountain pass, for the first camping trip of the summer. It’s officially camping season, my lovelies!

I’m a huge fan of camping. I love it more than this much *holding arms out wide.* I grew up with two families who didn’t take off on planes to Europe or Hawaii… we spent a week in the woods, eating graham crackers with honey and hot dogs on buns. I remember the first time my dad roasted me a marshmallow (and I’ve never looked back). I remember playing horseshoes and riding bikes through Mt. St. Helen’s State Park. I remember feeding chips to deer that walked up to our passing car in Deception Pass.

Seattle is a beautiful city. But one of the things I love best about it is that it’s only two hours away outside of the city to dry, warmer weather, traveling through apple fields on a two-lane highway with rolling hills, lakes and fruit stands along the way where you can stop at buy peaches for pie, homemade salsa and pickled vegetables. Eastern and Western Washington are the best of both worlds.

When I think of my past relationship – the best times I remember are camping. We traveled all over the state together. We’d even go away for three-day weekends, just the two of us, biking, swimming and playing cards under the glow of a lantern till way late in the night. (We even had a blog for it). It’s those times that make me the most sad about the relationship coming to an end. He taught me that one thing I really want in my next relationship is someone who will pack up the car and head east with me for some down home grubbiness underneath the stars.

With the exit of my last lover [of camping], however, went the exit of all my camping gear.

And here’s where I end waxing poetically.

It sucks to camp without camping gear. It hadn’t quite struck my mind how unprepared I am to do one of my most favorite pastimes until I was ready to pack up for a camp night with friends this weekend, and I looked around and realized all I had was a pillow…some couch blankets…a cooler big enough for a six pack of beer pop. Hmm. What’s a girl to do.

So I threw a yoga mat and a Snuggie I won in the back of my car, thinking I wouldn’t care too much by the time I fell asleep, and at least I’d have some padding between myself and the ground.

Big mistake. Huge.

I spent a miserable night, shoving my hands into the Snuggie. Then my feet into the arms. Then pulling my hands out of my sweatshirt to hug myself and create more body heat. Then transferring to the back seat of a Honda Civic, which was five degrees warmer but caused me to sleep in the shape of a hairpin. Then pulling on every layer I could find in my bag and around the car. Then lying beach towels on top of me, while trying not to expose my body outside of the Snuggie, while my arms were out of both sleeves and wrapped against my body for warmth. Then putting my sweatshirt hood over my face to create more warmth, but then gasping for air cause I couldn’t breath. Then thinking about all the air being breathed out of the car by me and suffocating in my sleep.

Phew. I didn’t die.

I’ve never wanted a camping partner so bad. If for nothing more than a warm body to brave the early summer cold. Or to cook me bacon in the morning. Or to set up the tent and blow up the air mattress for me. Whatever you like! The world’s your oyster!

Now accepting applications.

Currently Feeling: Proud that I took some steps toward financial changes that I’ve been wanting to make for awhile (which I’ll write about soon for the 20SB Carnival about finances. You should join too!)
Currently Anticipating: Wednesday to come. I’m super burnt out from hot yoga – love it, but need a break. Plus, I get to celebrate the end of my 30-day challenge at a fun party on Capitol Hill.
Currently Loving: Honey. On everything.

Thank you for sunkisses

The sun finally came out again in Seattle this weekend. We’ve been under mud and sogginess for a record amount of days this May and June. I forget it’s supposed to be summertime until I read other people’s blogs about wearing sundresses and making watermelon Mojitos, then smoke starts to come out of my ears a bit.

Thank you, Seattle. For finally bringing me a fantastic first weekend of summer filled with barbecues, patios and friends. A weekend where I could put on my new bathing suit (even if all I did was wear it under my shorts and tank top for a whole day). It still had that awesome, it’s summer and I’m living in my bathing suit feel.

Thank you, for a weekend that started out with an amazing art show for the Greenwood-Phinney Art Walk. A friend was showing his drawings at one of the coolest, funkiest retro spaces I’ve ever been to – The Greenwood Collective. Each room in the building held different artwork and the artist – photography, paintings, sculpture. We listened to a rad DJ, drank [free] beer out of a keg and even sat in on “Art Camp for Big Kids” where we made a light switch cover out of fabulous paper and Mod Podge. If that isn’t the most random start to a Friday, I don’t know what is. Even better – I wrapped it up by dancing to Michael Jackson vs. Prince night with three of my high school girls and a gaggle of other friends. My heels now have that “I’ve danced all night in a bar” grime all over them, but the amount of fun I had makes up for it.

Thank you, Seattle, for gracing me with warmth for a good friend’s graduation barbecue on Saturday. It was my first grilled hamburger of the summer and worth the ketchup and mustard stain on my shorts (and every calorie). I caught up with some friends I don’t see very often and later sat on a sun-soaked patio for pitchers of cold beer. It was an exhausting, fun summery day that left me with sunkisses on my shoulder, full to the brim and in bed by 9 p.m.

And finally, thank you Seattle, for not only another amazing day on Sunday, but for giving me two of the best friends a girl could want. Sunday Funday for the gals… raspberry vodka with lemonade slush on a patio overlooking a lake and boats, and a pitcher of sangria followed by individual nachos “Ponchos” at one of our favorite neighborhood bars, Laredos. I mean, whoever thought of creating a nacho dish where every single chip is covered with just the right amount of beans, cheese, guac, and sour cream (topped with an individual jalapeno) is GENIUS. Pure genius, I tell yah. Are you single?

Currently Feeling: Bummed to miss out on Ignite Seattle tonight, (are you going?), but totally needing a night in. After yoga, of course!
Currently Anticipating: Doing the grocery shopping and catch up for my week that I never got to yesterday.
Currently Reading: “The Tender Bar” by J.R. Moehringer. After 10 pages, I could already tell I was going to love it.

Rethinking the whole barefoot and pregnant thing

Saturday I attended Seattle Fashion Week for the first time with part of the Girl Power Hour Power Team… we got all gussied up and hit the town in bright, springtime dresses. I felt like a princess, not only were we given front row VIP tickets, but Vera Wang was showing her Spring and Fall 2010 line at the show (her first time ever in Seattle!)

I’ve never been to a legit fashion show before, and I’m not much of a wedding girl. But, of the fabulousness of these dresses was just unbelievable. From the fabric, to the feathers and sashes, to the buttons down the back. Everyone of her dresses took my breath away. I am now fully on the Vera Wang bandwagon and rethinking the whole “I don’t know that I want a wedding/I’ll just do it barefoot and pregnant on a beach.”

Sound the alarms!

Currently Feeling: Wide awake after an 8-9 p.m. workout and downing a Diet Coke. Awesome. I really aught to work on this staying up too late on a Sunday night thing.
Currently Anticipating: The start to another super busy May week – I hope the weather holds out!
Currently Wanting to “Feel This Week:” Good at my job.