a visit to mr. claus

Henry got to meet Santa on Saturday!  He was a very good boy and didn't cry on Santa's lap.  He knows on which side his bread is buttered.

 Henry can't talk, but if he could I think he would have asked Santa to bring him his two bottom teeth.

 Oliver and Opal put in their requests too.

 Candy canes all around!

If you have kids and want to meet up with Santa yourselves, I would highly recommend going to see him at Swanson's Nursery like we did.  While you're waiting to see the big guy, you can visit the real reindeer and the Curly the Camel, get your picture taken in a sleigh, and pick up a poinsettia on the way out the door!

riding the big wheel

I had to share these photos of our ride on the Seattle ferris wheel a few weeks ago.  Not too shabby for my little iPhone camera!

 gorgeous blue sky 

 

 amazing view of the city

 henry was, apparently, not impressed.

the sound (do you see an orca?)

...please ignore the sticky forehead prints on the glass (not ours)...

 henry and dad

 

 sunset

What these pictures don't show is the 8 adults and one baby-in-carseat squeeeezed into the one car.  We were all thankful that a) everyone had showered that day and b) Henry chose this portion of the night to not scream.  The rest of the night however.........

I'm going to miss these summer nights!

new favorite seattle location

These are the stairs I've been climbing with my carpool buddy Helena in preparation for our Mt. Everest trip:
just kidding about the Everest thing. But people do use these stairs to train for what must be serious climbing expeditions...you often see people going up and down with giant backpacks--very serious. You will often (about once a week) see me and Helena trudging up and back once...maybe twice...in our work clothes + sneakers. Quite the athletes we are!

On the way up there is this amazing little garden. It's so nice to see some color this time of year!

At the top there is a pretty view of Lake Union for a reward:

(can you see the Space Needle?)

I think it's even pretty on a cloudy day...
Love this city!

weekend stuff

Rainy Saturday spent at Seattle U for class...at least the fountain was pretty!

Sweet Snow Day

Snow Day! Today was snow day #2 (did I mention yesterday was a snow day?). Snow days are the BEST EVER. I get really depressed in the winter because it involves leaving for work in the dark and getting home...in the dark. yay. It's so lovely to be home (crafting) in daylight hours! I have been SUPER productive. I've finished two big projects, which means my to-do list is, for the moment, complete! That has not happened in a good long while. I have been itching to do a fun project, and I wanted to get it done in time to take a picture during my precious daylight hours, but alas, when I finally finished the Really Cute Thing, it was just too dim. But sister and I had a fun jaunt down to the lake where we did some very artistic snow angels:

So I got to cross that one off my list too. Tomorrow (hopefully snow day #3) I will update on the Really Cute Thing. Stay tuned.

Afternoon Delight

I have a date every afternoon at 1:00. Mmmhmmm. It's a hot date for SURE. My date is with a patch of grass by Greenlake, my book, and the sweet sweet sun. I'm lookin' to store up mass quantities of Vitamin D in preparation for the grayness that is October through April. Greenlake is the bees knees. View from my spot:Take a look at sister's post on the very same subject (we're not twins!). We share the affinity towards the lake...and we also have a heated competition over who will circle the lake more often this summer. She got a jump start but I'm ALMOST caught up. Watch yo back, sista!

New News

Here's something new! Well the pouch design isn't new (Amy Karol's "Artsy Clutch"), but I have had "something new" on my mind forever, and I finally sat down and just made something!

I've been doing lots and lots of fun things but haven't had the drive to blog about it..what's with that? Summer, I guess! But here is something else that is new.... drumroll please....

The newest ice cream heaven-on-earth: Molly Moon's! It's located in beautiful Wallingford, on 45th and Woodlawn-ish (you know, kinda by Musashi's Sushi) Pretty sweet name, huh?

Awesome signs indicate awesome product.

How can you not love genuine, homemade ice cream?? It is the best ever. And this place has some really interesting flavors. If you can't stray from cookie dough, don't come here. (Although I think they rotate their flavors, so maybe someday they will have cookie dough) If you are scared of flavors like salted caramel, don't come here. In fact, don't come here at all because the line is always out the door! Just kidding, you should totally go support the local ice creamers. The best part of this little shop isn't its funky flavors...it's not the cute little dog on the sign...it's not even the fact that the whole place--ice cream, toppings, containers, furniture--is either organic, local, biodegradable and/or sustainable. The most amazing thing about this place is that Jamie (Mr. I-Don't-Like-Ice-Cream) actually has started initiating visits AND HE WILL WALK THERE. Never before seen. Why don't you go there right now?

Well there is a lot more new newsy news...guess I'll have to post more often than every two weeks! sheesh!

Apron Day

Monday was Apron Day!

The two outside aprons are for gifts...but the middle on is now in my Etsy shop. More aprons to come! It's funny that I love making aprons because I don't really like cooking. Well--I love baking, but I hardly do it anymore...too much sewing to do!

In other news, I got a fancy new phone and it was lovely outside last night. So here is a Lovely Evening at Greenlake pic taken by my new phone!

15 more school days until summer vacation!

A Sunny Day

A sunny day! In Seattle! I'm not kidding!

If you were out of town, just returning today, you probably won't believe me. Because today it's totally cloudy again...blaaah.

But back to yesterday's sunniness! It was lovely. Jamie and I went to Gasworks park--sadly neither of us had ever been there before. How can we call ourselves Seattlites? Well we went, so we can cross it off the list, but I'm sure we'll be back soon, because we saw a variety of interesting things, including:

1. Kids rolling down hills

2. A "freestyle walking" class going on (if you have never heard of freestyle walking, check this out). It must have been their first day off class though because we didn't see anything as "extreme" as that in the video.

3. A sweet juggler

4. Dog playing with Revolutionary Floppy Frisbee

5. Many amateur and professional photographers taking advantage of the awesome view.

We asked one such photog to take one of us...and sure enough we got some great work (Space Needle + Coffee + Lake Union=Classic Seattle Photo).

Sun! If you can hear me...come back soon!

(off to wallow in gray misery)