here comes the weekend and the sunshine

I went to a baby shower this afternoon and afterwards instead of returning to work i jumped in my car and raced home! it was gorgeous today - clear skies, breezy breeze -- i was home by 5.

What a difference a few minutes makes. I happily hooked milo up on his leash and we went for a late afternoon stroll, getting to see all sorts of people and faces we dont normally because of our usual walking hours.

Now Bryan's home and reading in the hammock with a cat on his lap and I'm about to join in. I just started The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy...see you in september!

vacation pictures

Here's just a few pictures from our trip out west:

*Bryan and I in Roslyn in front of "chris in the morning's" radio station

*At Donovan's wedding, after much dancing

*And the Egyptian Room at the Bed and Breakfast we stayed at on the road from Denver to Rapid City.

the goings on around here

This past week has been mainly composed of me getting my feet back under me from vacation - does anyone else sometimes do that slowly too?

Last weekend was the perfect combination of productivity and relaxation - we were able to enjoy the sunshine, mow the lawn, and sleep in. we also stripped all the old wall paper from our guest bedroom and are now contemplating colors. I have the weakness to love color, no matter if it matches or not, so things i paint sometimes tend to come out looking like a 5 year old lives there, and thats not really the result that i want for our house. So I'm weighing my love of color for my love of a nice looking house - i'll let you know how it turns out!

got a new cookbook this weekend, thanks to mummy, (americas test kitchen cookbook)and the beef stroganoff i debuted with came out ok - 3 stars i think. trying to cook more and more, instead of be a "fantasy cooker"

signed milo up for a shy doggy class this week which will be great - he gets a little anxious around people that he doesnt know so this will be a great refresher of the basics, will teach him some new things, and also teach me some new and old tricks! we'll be going tuesday nights starting in october - should be a treat..

work today was super slow, and already my head has turned toward my commute home, coming up here in 40 mins....

Kristen, I love thinking about your baby on the way so soon. These last few weeks must be such a heady mix of excitement and uncertainity, not to mention special time with Kyle and Grover :) I'm thinking of you daily...

So many nice things are happening right now. they're little and maybe a bit silly, but lighting up my perspective nonetheless.

*Congratulations to Lisa - she welcomed her baby boy on the 13th! I can't wait to meet him properly after waiting all this time.

*I've just started reading Barbara Kingsolver's new book about her year living off food that she and her family grew, as well as local farmer's markets. although i dont agree with all of her politics, the book is lovely. It takes place on her familys farm in the Applacian Mountains, and she writes this time of year so well - late summer lushness.

*My Fantasy Football league is up and running for its second year! Comprised completely of special ladies across the united states, it makes football season that much more fun.

*the US Open is almost upon us and that means lots of tennis and lots of coverage. bryan and i decided that someday we'll have to try and go.

*I recieved a mystery gift in the mail the other day - a book about playing with kids, something like 1000 games to play with kids etc. I have no idea where or who its from, maybe its an accident? but its pretty neat anyway, and its now snuggled on the bookcase waiting for a good time to use it..

*I'm finally getting my bike fixed! it has been so long....

back.

How can you cram so much into such a short amount of time? Bryan and I are back after a week and half vacation that took us home to seattle, into the yakima river, around part of greenlake, through denver into south dakota, into a hail storm, and then back to denver, arriving in indy at 11.30 and stopping at wal-mart at midnight on the way home to buy some new pillows.

we also stopped at 2 weddings (participating in one) and tried to eat teriyaki everyday we were there.

it was wonderful catching up with family and friends and meeting people for the first time, a vacation well spent.

ill post some pictures soon, as soon as i finish laundry. i think im still on pacific time and was up until 1 in the morning last night. silly jesse.

helping me pack his bags for doggy daycare... for a week and a half....
wrestling with other doggies, playing all day long. it will be a treat!

it is so hot here! i cant wait for seattle!

Dog Post! :my buddy miloslovich slobberdog

sleeps on couches but not beds.

faithful running companion, though after about 2 miles, its more like faithful running behind you companion. he and i are the world's biggest whiny babies when we run, so we suit each other well.

does not really like our cat fargus, nor does fargus really like him

does chest bumps with bryan and "throw-downs" with both paws

tries to intercept pingpong balls sneakily during rallies.

Live!

DuDe! Last night we went to see Collective Soul, Live, and Counting Crows and wow - my socks were blown off by Live - i wish they would have played for 2 more hours. We went down early and had snacks at 14 West, a restaurant we discovered mainly by chance as i wanted to try it just because they have a little place to sit outside with great old fashioned strings of lightbulbs hanging here and there. but - their food is great too and we've decided we need to think of a special occasion to go down and have dinner sometime instead of just appetizers.

we headed down to the concert afterwards, got there to see Collective Soul, and went down on the ground for Live - and whoa - one of the best shows Ive seen. above and beyond my expectations and just totally rockin'. it ended way too soon. man it was great though, and seriously, how much fun it was to shake what your mama gave you to bands from our "youth"? just awesome. Bryan and i also had fun noting it was a real intergenerational concert - there were people there with their teenagers, people there with small kids, and then people our age - pretty funny.

In other unimportant news, I finally found a dress to wear to the rehearsal dinner and the other wedding we're going to in SD. I know its silly to worry about things like that, but i really was fretting a bit over it, and then this one popped up - a little more than i wanted to pay ($20) but less than i expected to pay (<$70). its this very cute halter dress with orange and white tropicalish pattern - its got summer all over it. Then i paired it up with some white flips with a little jewel on them and we're good to go! now i just need to clean the house, do laundry, pack etc and im ready for our trip! This will of course be punctuated by watching Andy Roddick play in the finals of the Legg Mason championships later this afternoon - he served over 150 yesterday in a tie break against this huuuuuge croatian guy that was also very awesome.

New favorite later summertime drink: blueberry vodka and lemonade. I am most assuredly Not a drink connisuer, nor am i usually a fan of vodka, but this lovely concoction was perfect last night when it was muggy and far too hot. If you find yourself sitting at an ourdoor cafe with thunderstorms approaching, this little refresher wont do you wrong, esp if the bartender is liberal with the lemonade!

Kristen - love the tv cover :)

Tapas With Amia in Indy

passing time

Work has slowed down a little and i thought this would be fun. enjoy.

Four Jobs I Have Had:Video Checker-Inner at Movie store - i got to wear a tuxedo shirt and cummerbund. i got made fun of dreadfully by friends.

Nanny - during this job, i wasn't very happy, but i often miss the girls and wish i could spend some more time with them.

Bath and Body Works - I smelled so good!

Children's Museum - Darth Vader sits right outside my door. Pretty Neat.

Four Films I Can Watch Over and Over:
Anne of Green Gables and Anne of Avonlea - I count them as one

Dangerous Beauty - one of those devastatingly devastating films

Dead Poets Society - spawned a life long love for the prep school genre

Last of the Mohicans - simply awesome. Reinforced my love for New England - i would love to visit where they filmed it! (ironically enough, its not in new england!)

Four Places I Have Lived:
Seattle

Washington D.C.

Huntingdon, Pennsylvania

Indianapolis

Four Favorite T.V. Shows:
Super Nanny

Wife Swap

Northern Exposure

Law and Order!

Four Websites I Visit Daily:

my bloggy friends

rachellucas.com

nytimes.com

slate.com

Four Places I would Love to Be:

On vacation someplace warm with lots of things that i CAN do but that i don't HAVE to do.

On vacation someplace cold with big blankets and hot chocolate

Traveling with Bryan

Home on our back porch, on the hammock.

Four Favorite Foods:

Homemade Macaroni and Cheese

NY Strip Steak

Tacos w chips and salsa

Oreo Ice Cream Sandwiches

Lunch today was at a local pizza place north of work just a little bit. Even though i dont eat out every day, once in a while i like to leave the museum and get out in the fresh air and mainly, just have a change of pace from the office. Today was no exception and it so fresh and great to leave work for an hour by myself, where i had time to do whatever i wished - i windowshopped, lunched, and read the paper.

I forgot to mention that we found two baby birds last night that had fallen from our tree in the backyard. Bryan spotted them first, though we only thought it was the one at first. We left him under the tree for awhile, then went back out after dark to round them up. We made a little "nest" for them in a old litter box lined with towels and Bryan gathered them up (with no help from me - for some reason, i was scared to touch them, isnt that retarded?). once we had them inside, Bryan went back out for a good while, trying to get some worms for the hungry little guys. Of course, since he was looking for some, there were none to be found. We improvised instead, smashing and soaking some cat food in milk and then feeding it to them with my eyebrow tweezers. Then this morning we gave them a new nest, complete with dryer lint (to replicate soft down) and grass and set them up outside before leaving for work. We know their parents were around because while Bryan was doing this he was getting divebombed by them - no appreciation for his efforts! We hope those little guys make it, and that they learn to flap their wings and fly just like their mom and dad.

grumpasaurus

"I also notice that I don't have the luxury of indulging in bad moods anymore (or I'm not allowed to hold onto them for long)."

I came across this quote today and realize that i do this! I hold onto and indulge bad moods!

Must work on not doing this.

Catch Up and Welcome to August

Hello, hello. its been a while without me even meaning to be bad. last time i posted we were hard at work on summer projects, eating from the garden, generally being two summer-loving people.

We still are!

The long lapse was due in part to being busy, to having visitors, and to just being tired i guess.

last week Bryan's good friend Amia came into town for a visit, and as usual when you have guests, we did a bunch of fun things that we normally wouldn't pack into the work week. Tuesday night after i got home from work, we headed back downtown for feasting at McCormick's and Schmidts (spelling?) where they were having the Northwest Salmon Special - and for a table of people all from the NW area, it couldn't get better (though to confess i didn't actually have the salmon). Wednesday night we caught a tennis match at the RCA Tournament - got to see Andy Roddick play live! Awesome! Bryan and i have now decided that at some point we should try and see the US Open. it was so much fun. .. we stayed late and watched a doubles match as well, fighting off the chilly night and raindrops here and there. the best part was that the stadium is quite small here, so it felt like you were watching a tennis match played just for you!

The rest of the week was a blur of work and fun, highlighted with a trip to the bowling alley (i got a free key chain for bowling over 200!), finally walking into a soy field and tasting the freshest edamame ever (same with corn) and seeing Incubus after a rousing dinner of tapas. OH - and not to be forgotten! Bryan cooked us all a special northwest dinner on Friday night - salmon on the grill with asparagus and warm bread - tres bon after a busy week!

We've spent this week not doing much at all, and the house looks like it. I've been slacking on dishes and laundry and just cleaning in general - ill have to get myself in gear pretty soon here, so we can continue to go out in public! I'll spend the evening tonight putzing around the house, cleaning, washing, vacuuming - sometimes its actually fun when you can tell the difference you're making so clearly.

One of the things we did get to catch up on this week was Northern Exposure - so good to come back to that after a week hiatus.

We've got our vacation coming up next week - we'll leave on Wednesday and come back the following Saturday after spending a week in Seattle and a couple days in South Dakota - I'm looking forward very much to this spent with family and friends and being able to see the Seattle mountains every morning - hopefully we'll get a hike in there too.

In other news, i continue to scan the art channels here for job oppurtunities that are more in line with my education, and I've put several applications in this spring and summer. I guess right now I'm just going to continue here - i enjoy my co-workers and the benefits, etc of the position, however my eyes are peeled in a non-stressy way for other positions around town..

I just discovered something called the "renegade craft fair" which is happening in Chicago September 15-16 - it looks fabulous, i may have to wander on up there and see what there is to see. .

That's all for now, More to come soon I'd warrant.
xo
jesse