When Lindsay came to visit me for her spring break (because she loves me more than any one else, or any place else), we spent a fairly sunny day hitting the tourist points.
Our first stop was the Space Needle, which you can see from the side of my building if not my own window, a short 1.5 mile downhill walk from my apartment. Lindsay had dressed nicely, while I was wearing jeans, a t-shirt and a blue marmot jacket. Flashes of Caitlin telling me that I am better than Seattle style came flooding into my brain, and I started apologizing to Lindsay about my poor attire.
"Yeah, I'm dressing more like you did last year, and you're dressing more like me last year," she told me. Uh oh.
As we walked, Lindsay noted that I no longer walk as fast.
"I used to have to push myself to keep up with you in New York. This is a nice pace."
"Well, we're all in less of a rush here," I told her, and it's true. I seem to have changed a lot, but possibly not for the better.
The next day, Lindsay, Ken and I piled in the mini and drove down to Oregon for some wedding cake tasting. While driving, Lindsay said, "You know what is the biggest difference between New York Ashley and Seattle Ashley?"
"Do tell!"
"You're nicer now."
Friday, March 29, 2013
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
How Seattle Has Changed Me: Part I
For Christmas, Caitlin got me a cute Kate Spade bag that I visibly didn't like.
"What's wrong with you? It's adorable!" was the general reaction.
"I just don't know if it's my style," I said.
Cait told me that it is exactly my style. It was cream with little black polka dots. Cute enough, but I just didn't see it fitting in well on Capitol Hill.
"Well, my style has changed. I wear a lot of 'jeans/sweatshirts' combos."
Caitlin was horrified. "What happened to your New York style?"
"It wasn't MY style, I was just blending in."
"Ugg."
"Remember how I used to wear bright colors and had a pink coat in California? Then traded in my care-free style for darker shades and a more severe tone in NYC? I'm a chameleon," I told her.
"I thought you were better than that."
That got me thinking that maybe I should be better than that. I decided to use the purse (when it isn't too rainy--I don't want Kate Spade getting destroyed!), and sometimes I wear suit jackets to work. But mostly, it's jeans and sweatshirts, jeans and t-shirts, or jeans and t-shirts under a north-face or marmot jacket.
Seattle has gotten under my skin...and over it...permanently.
"What's wrong with you? It's adorable!" was the general reaction.
"I just don't know if it's my style," I said.
Cait told me that it is exactly my style. It was cream with little black polka dots. Cute enough, but I just didn't see it fitting in well on Capitol Hill.
"Well, my style has changed. I wear a lot of 'jeans/sweatshirts' combos."
Caitlin was horrified. "What happened to your New York style?"
"It wasn't MY style, I was just blending in."
"Ugg."
"Remember how I used to wear bright colors and had a pink coat in California? Then traded in my care-free style for darker shades and a more severe tone in NYC? I'm a chameleon," I told her.
"I thought you were better than that."
That got me thinking that maybe I should be better than that. I decided to use the purse (when it isn't too rainy--I don't want Kate Spade getting destroyed!), and sometimes I wear suit jackets to work. But mostly, it's jeans and sweatshirts, jeans and t-shirts, or jeans and t-shirts under a north-face or marmot jacket.
Seattle has gotten under my skin...and over it...permanently.
Monday, March 25, 2013
A Weekend of Adventures
In the true Washington spirit, Ken and I spent the weekend honing our outdoor adventure skills.
On Saturday, I went to my first running club practice and ran up some hills. It was great practice for my running future out west, as it seems there are hills and mountains everywhere.
Next, we hosted brunch (not outdoorsy) and walked over to REI (very outdoorsy!) to look at tents, sleeping bags, etc, and more specifically for me to buy one more out-door run outfit. I only have one pair of long pants and one long-sleeved shirt, but running club meets outside twice a week.
After we returned, we packed up our masks, snorkels and wet suits and drove up to an indoor pool for our first water session of scuba training with one of Ken's friends from work. Did you know that the first (popular) underwater breathing apparatus, invented by Jacques Cousteau and an associate, was called the Aqua-Lung? Aqua-Lung is also the name of one of Ken's affiliate companies, AND the brand of wetsuits we wore in the pool.
I learned to check and assemble my gear, clear my mask, how to say "where's the boat?" in Scuba, and how to clear my regulator if it falls. I learned to clear my mask and regulator both on the surface and in the deep end.
Once we had mastered these two basic skills, we dried off and headed over to a bar to drink local micro-brew beers.
Wow, can you get any more Pacific Northwest than that? Well, we did! That was only Saturday!
Sunday, Ken and I borrowed some kayaks from Susan and took them for a spin in a Lake Sammamish. Did you know that kayaks, developed by the Inuits and Aleuts for hunting, were introduced to Europe in the mid 1800's and to the Olympic Games in 1936? At Lake Sammamish, neither the air nor water was particularly cold, which was pretty impressive to a girl from the east coast. At this time of year, it could easily be snowing in New York.
The evening concluded with a viewing of Ken's favorite film, The Life Aquatic, which speaks to us much more deeply now that we can properly clear our dive masks.
On Saturday, I went to my first running club practice and ran up some hills. It was great practice for my running future out west, as it seems there are hills and mountains everywhere.
Next, we hosted brunch (not outdoorsy) and walked over to REI (very outdoorsy!) to look at tents, sleeping bags, etc, and more specifically for me to buy one more out-door run outfit. I only have one pair of long pants and one long-sleeved shirt, but running club meets outside twice a week.
After we returned, we packed up our masks, snorkels and wet suits and drove up to an indoor pool for our first water session of scuba training with one of Ken's friends from work. Did you know that the first (popular) underwater breathing apparatus, invented by Jacques Cousteau and an associate, was called the Aqua-Lung? Aqua-Lung is also the name of one of Ken's affiliate companies, AND the brand of wetsuits we wore in the pool.
I learned to check and assemble my gear, clear my mask, how to say "where's the boat?" in Scuba, and how to clear my regulator if it falls. I learned to clear my mask and regulator both on the surface and in the deep end.
Once we had mastered these two basic skills, we dried off and headed over to a bar to drink local micro-brew beers.
Wow, can you get any more Pacific Northwest than that? Well, we did! That was only Saturday!
Sunday, Ken and I borrowed some kayaks from Susan and took them for a spin in a Lake Sammamish. Did you know that kayaks, developed by the Inuits and Aleuts for hunting, were introduced to Europe in the mid 1800's and to the Olympic Games in 1936? At Lake Sammamish, neither the air nor water was particularly cold, which was pretty impressive to a girl from the east coast. At this time of year, it could easily be snowing in New York.
The evening concluded with a viewing of Ken's favorite film, The Life Aquatic, which speaks to us much more deeply now that we can properly clear our dive masks.
Sunday, March 24, 2013
Strange Brew Fest
Seattle isn't a big metropolis like New York and it doesn't have an endless supply of entertainment within city limits, so we have to look for things to do in the surrounding area.
While riding the ferry to Bainbridge Island, we picked up some literature on "What to do in Seattle (location A on the map below) / Puget Sound Area", and one event we found was a "Strange Brew Fest" in Port Townsend, location B on the map below. I had recently heard it was a cute town, so we decided to go.
Lauren, Theresa, Ken and I hit the road and two hours later arrived in the small town of Port Townsend, which claims to be an incorporated city but looks a lot like Northport, the town we grew up in on Long Island.
We rolled up to absolutely nothing. There were some small tents outside, but no people. A few signs told us that the entrance to the brew fest was on a different street, so we followed arrows around the side of a building and arrived at the front of a dingy American Legion building, in need of the repairs for which the strange brew fest raises money. The people outside were not better off.
It turned out that the brew fest was inside the gymnasium past the outer lounge and was pretty well-attended for a Sunday afternoon. For $5 we got to pick 4 cups of beer from a selection of flavors lining the gym walls ranging from peanut butter cup to burrito. We walked around the sticky floor, tried many strange beers amongst some strange looking people, and did have a pretty good time. But things can be really hit or miss in Washington. You really can't expect anything to be normal.
While riding the ferry to Bainbridge Island, we picked up some literature on "What to do in Seattle (location A on the map below) / Puget Sound Area", and one event we found was a "Strange Brew Fest" in Port Townsend, location B on the map below. I had recently heard it was a cute town, so we decided to go.
 | |
| Seattle (Point A) to Port Townsend (Point B) |
Lauren, Theresa, Ken and I hit the road and two hours later arrived in the small town of Port Townsend, which claims to be an incorporated city but looks a lot like Northport, the town we grew up in on Long Island.
We rolled up to absolutely nothing. There were some small tents outside, but no people. A few signs told us that the entrance to the brew fest was on a different street, so we followed arrows around the side of a building and arrived at the front of a dingy American Legion building, in need of the repairs for which the strange brew fest raises money. The people outside were not better off.
 |
| American Legion Building, Port Townsend |
"Oh my god, we can't go in there." From the outside, it looked mostly empty aside from a few lumberjack hillbillies hanging around an out of date bar and pool table.
"We didn't drive 2 hours to not go in," Theresa said, and made me go inside.
Thursday, March 21, 2013
Silly Ashley
What stupid things do you do when drinking?
My old "go-to" was to buy Ken expensive gifts when drunk. I would intentionally pick out a gift before drinking, go have my drink, and then buy him a better gift.
In this fashion, Ken first was gifted with leather coasters at Francis Ford Coppola's Napa winery after the wine tasting. Had I bought his gift before, he would have just gotten a plastic plate depicting a sea creature. Next, Ken got the pre-selected boxers PLUS an un-sharpened Japanese sword from Disney's Japan in Epoct following my sake tasting. Then he received a work of art from a Newport art gallery as "thanks" for proposing to me...after a margarita and a half. Finally, we both got a Brazilian calf-skin rug (yes, it still has hair) during a brew fest.
I've since moved on from gifting Ken. We've been buying so many things together, not to mention, we have a joint bank account, so gifts aren't my priority. The new thing I do after drinking is signing up for running activities.
2 bottles of wine have committed me to two half-marathons (one in Tacoma, not even my city!) and a 14-week training program towards running a half marathon.
Damn, drinking really keeps me in shape.
My old "go-to" was to buy Ken expensive gifts when drunk. I would intentionally pick out a gift before drinking, go have my drink, and then buy him a better gift.
In this fashion, Ken first was gifted with leather coasters at Francis Ford Coppola's Napa winery after the wine tasting. Had I bought his gift before, he would have just gotten a plastic plate depicting a sea creature. Next, Ken got the pre-selected boxers PLUS an un-sharpened Japanese sword from Disney's Japan in Epoct following my sake tasting. Then he received a work of art from a Newport art gallery as "thanks" for proposing to me...after a margarita and a half. Finally, we both got a Brazilian calf-skin rug (yes, it still has hair) during a brew fest.
I've since moved on from gifting Ken. We've been buying so many things together, not to mention, we have a joint bank account, so gifts aren't my priority. The new thing I do after drinking is signing up for running activities.
2 bottles of wine have committed me to two half-marathons (one in Tacoma, not even my city!) and a 14-week training program towards running a half marathon.
Damn, drinking really keeps me in shape.
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
Wedding Cake!
When Lindsay came to visit, she, Ken and I went on a wedding cake tasting. It was not the glam experience we expected. The bakery that was suggested to me was not a bakery, but a bakery counter inside a larger grocery store.
I announced myself at the bakery counter, and a young woman--nay, a girl, who was likely not a baker--came to assist us. She was short, quiet, and did not respond to Ken's humor with the attitude he is accustomed to.
"We want a cake shaped like a dinosaur that breathes fire," Ken began with.
The girl remained deadpan. Not even a laugh.
She took us to the "consultation room", a small, stark white office behind the registers, and began to consult us.
We looked through two photo albums, and I realized that we should have done some research. We had no idea what our cake should look like, so we closed the books and put off the design aspect, and went ahead with the tasting.
We sampled cup-cake sized servings of six cakes with six fillings, and narrowed down the selection to our favorites. We then told her the number of guests expected, and decided on a round (cheaper) versus square cake for economical reasons only. Then I kindly let Ken pick his favorite flavor combinations.
Ms. Dispassionate suggested that we select different flavors for different layers. Brilliant! Here I had thought we would order a second sheet cake of a different flavor, but of course! just switch up the layers!
And here they are:
We still hadn't decided on what the cake would look like, aside from white and round, so Ken suggested we take a look at the examples by the bakery. Or just go with the original dinosaur plan.
There weren't a lot of cakes on display, but we did find one we both agreed on:
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We'll have 3 cakes of each flavor (the bottom tier is actually three separate cakes, so there are 10 cakes in all), plus one "surprise" cake, which will be kept secret to all but the bakers. We are expecting a lot of guests and a lot of drinking, but everyone will be allotted about two pounds of cake, so they will sober up before leaving the reception.
No, I'm kidding. We are going with the dinosaur.
I announced myself at the bakery counter, and a young woman--nay, a girl, who was likely not a baker--came to assist us. She was short, quiet, and did not respond to Ken's humor with the attitude he is accustomed to.
"We want a cake shaped like a dinosaur that breathes fire," Ken began with.
The girl remained deadpan. Not even a laugh.
She took us to the "consultation room", a small, stark white office behind the registers, and began to consult us.
We looked through two photo albums, and I realized that we should have done some research. We had no idea what our cake should look like, so we closed the books and put off the design aspect, and went ahead with the tasting.
We sampled cup-cake sized servings of six cakes with six fillings, and narrowed down the selection to our favorites. We then told her the number of guests expected, and decided on a round (cheaper) versus square cake for economical reasons only. Then I kindly let Ken pick his favorite flavor combinations.
Ms. Dispassionate suggested that we select different flavors for different layers. Brilliant! Here I had thought we would order a second sheet cake of a different flavor, but of course! just switch up the layers!
And here they are:
- Almond Poppy Seed Cake with Lemon Filling
- Banana Cake with Bavarian Creme Filling (my choice)
- Hazelnut Cake with Raspberry Filling
We still hadn't decided on what the cake would look like, aside from white and round, so Ken suggested we take a look at the examples by the bakery. Or just go with the original dinosaur plan.
There weren't a lot of cakes on display, but we did find one we both agreed on:
.JPG)
No, I'm kidding. We are going with the dinosaur.
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
St. Patrick's Day
We spent St. Patrick's Day in Portland, where I was signed up to run a 15K with my cousin Emily.
The "Shamrock Run" went alright. Not great. I was in no way prepared for the hill that looked like this:
It's a good thing I wasn't, because I may not have left the starting line.
I can't find a picture of the terrifying sight that I beheld as I turned the corner and saw a line of green runners moving their way up 30 degree incline with no end in sight. The hill, or mountain, went on for what my cousin said was 1.5 miles, but in my opinion was at least 3 miles. Here is a view from the SKYRIDE that you can take to OHSU (Oregon Health and Science University) at the top, I assume because cars are liable to stall out trying to make it up. You can kind of see the road, but trust me, when running it is not nearly as flat as it appears in this picture.
Running on Long Island and in Manhattan did not prepare me for this.
After the race, Emily and I celebrated St. Patrick's day by resting on the couch while the non-runners (Ken and cousin Alex) got their hair cut. After this, we willed our legs to move in order to go buy Guinness. I also suggested we get Irish soda bread, but our Portland cousins had never heard of it. Alex asked if I was talking about a dog. He heard "Irish S... (incoherent garble)" and his mind led him to "Irish Setter". Close, but not as tasty.
Ken and I were a little shocked that they didn't know what Irish soda bread was, but we described it and they were willing to try it. There was a bakery nearby, and Ken and I were sure they would have it in stock on the most Irish day of the year.
Wrong! When Ken asked if they carried it, the girl at the counter looked at him as if he'd spoken another language. Gaelic, for example. This was exactly how our cousins had reacted.
I was beginning to think that Irish Soda Bread might be an east coast thing, but the fancy grocery store, New Seasons, did carry it and our St. Patrick's Day celebration was saved.
Back in Seattle that evening, the streets were dead. In Portland, there were plenty of drunk, green-clad revelers on both Saturday and Sunday afternoons, probably half of whom were not familiar with soda bread, but Seattle was a ghost town. And not even an Irish ghost town. I was a little disappointed, but I guess that's what you get for leaving the east and their higher Irish populations.
The "Shamrock Run" went alright. Not great. I was in no way prepared for the hill that looked like this:
It's a good thing I wasn't, because I may not have left the starting line.
I can't find a picture of the terrifying sight that I beheld as I turned the corner and saw a line of green runners moving their way up 30 degree incline with no end in sight. The hill, or mountain, went on for what my cousin said was 1.5 miles, but in my opinion was at least 3 miles. Here is a view from the SKYRIDE that you can take to OHSU (Oregon Health and Science University) at the top, I assume because cars are liable to stall out trying to make it up. You can kind of see the road, but trust me, when running it is not nearly as flat as it appears in this picture.
Running on Long Island and in Manhattan did not prepare me for this.
After the race, Emily and I celebrated St. Patrick's day by resting on the couch while the non-runners (Ken and cousin Alex) got their hair cut. After this, we willed our legs to move in order to go buy Guinness. I also suggested we get Irish soda bread, but our Portland cousins had never heard of it. Alex asked if I was talking about a dog. He heard "Irish S... (incoherent garble)" and his mind led him to "Irish Setter". Close, but not as tasty.
Ken and I were a little shocked that they didn't know what Irish soda bread was, but we described it and they were willing to try it. There was a bakery nearby, and Ken and I were sure they would have it in stock on the most Irish day of the year.
Wrong! When Ken asked if they carried it, the girl at the counter looked at him as if he'd spoken another language. Gaelic, for example. This was exactly how our cousins had reacted.
I was beginning to think that Irish Soda Bread might be an east coast thing, but the fancy grocery store, New Seasons, did carry it and our St. Patrick's Day celebration was saved.
Back in Seattle that evening, the streets were dead. In Portland, there were plenty of drunk, green-clad revelers on both Saturday and Sunday afternoons, probably half of whom were not familiar with soda bread, but Seattle was a ghost town. And not even an Irish ghost town. I was a little disappointed, but I guess that's what you get for leaving the east and their higher Irish populations.
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
Home Improvements
Ken and I have come a long way since we first moved in to the Seattle apartment with nothing but clothes, boxes, and one chair. Our newest addition is something that Ken had been scouring Craig's List for for months
—
a tree-cross section coffee table.
Most of the coffee tables we encountered were too expensive, so we hadn't acquired one until Ken found a guy on Craig's List selling tree cross sections. He drove almost 2 hours to Shelton, WA and picked out the perfect table top last Saturday. He then found another guy selling hair-pin legs, and picked up a set on Sunday. We borrowed a power screwdriver from Lauren and Theresa, in exchange for chocolate covered raisins, and voilà; table.
And now for a photo of the finished product at home in the apartment. You'll see we've placed the remnants of the tree on top of the remnants of a cow.
.JPG)
We still use a cardboard box as our bedroom side table, but we are clearly moving in the right direction.
Most of the coffee tables we encountered were too expensive, so we hadn't acquired one until Ken found a guy on Craig's List selling tree cross sections. He drove almost 2 hours to Shelton, WA and picked out the perfect table top last Saturday. He then found another guy selling hair-pin legs, and picked up a set on Sunday. We borrowed a power screwdriver from Lauren and Theresa, in exchange for chocolate covered raisins, and voilà; table.
And now for a photo of the finished product at home in the apartment. You'll see we've placed the remnants of the tree on top of the remnants of a cow.
.JPG)
We still use a cardboard box as our bedroom side table, but we are clearly moving in the right direction.
Monday, March 4, 2013
The View
We've had a couple of amazing, clear days, and the mountains were out in full force.
Here is my view of Mt. Rainier from work:
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And here is my view of the Olympic Mountain Range walking home from my bus stop:
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The view from our apartment is just another building, but I'm sure one day will have a view of the mountains.
Here is my view of Mt. Rainier from work:
.JPG)
And here is my view of the Olympic Mountain Range walking home from my bus stop:
.JPG)
The view from our apartment is just another building, but I'm sure one day will have a view of the mountains.
Wedding Bands
The best part of the wedding has been planned! We have not one, but TWO bands for the evening.
First, Boy and Bean, a family favorite, will play at cocktail hour and dinner. After, Renegade StringBand will play for the dessert and dancing.
Boy and Bean has performed at two prior family events and is admired by all who hear them. This trio plays depression era music, but don't worry, wedding guests will not be depressed listening.
Renegade StringBand is a bluegrass band that promises to play as rowdily as we want (or don't want, but I bet we'll want rowdy) that we found online and are very excited about.
We will still need to find ceremony music, but I'm so happy that we are actually having multiple bands. Multiple bands was part of our original wedding vision, most of which has not come to fruition. I'm very very excited about this.
First, Boy and Bean, a family favorite, will play at cocktail hour and dinner. After, Renegade StringBand will play for the dessert and dancing.
Boy and Bean has performed at two prior family events and is admired by all who hear them. This trio plays depression era music, but don't worry, wedding guests will not be depressed listening.
Renegade StringBand is a bluegrass band that promises to play as rowdily as we want (or don't want, but I bet we'll want rowdy) that we found online and are very excited about.
We will still need to find ceremony music, but I'm so happy that we are actually having multiple bands. Multiple bands was part of our original wedding vision, most of which has not come to fruition. I'm very very excited about this.
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