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Owls Aren't Really that Cute

What a difference a week makes.

Last week I worked 67 hours. Count 'em... sixty-seven. That's a lot. Especially when you're salaried. 30 or 67 hours - you get paid the same. Ugh.

But now, with a major (and might I say quite successful) presentation to a huge corporate exec behind me, the rest of the week is a bit of a coast down a big hill. Some work, lunches with friends I haven't seen in many months, and off on a jet plane to Sonoma for a girls weekend away. The mini-vacation couldn't have been timed better. I wrap up my first project as a consultant, have my first success under my belt in a new career and then am whisked off to drink wine and catch up with girlfriends from grad school. Perfection.

We have managed to fit in some good times over the past six weeks of my new employed state. A fabulous weekend camping on Whidbey Island with thirty of our closest friends, and some family. The TMF and I discovered this site in February while exploring the island and when I called the reserve the next weekend available was mid-October. I paid up and wished for sunshine because October is not historically the sunniest of months here in the Pacific Northwest. We ended up with an amazing weekend. Blue skies, sunshine and lots of great memories.

Friday night I made pork carnitas in our dutch oven for about 12 people and Saturday night we managed to consume 8 dozen oysters from a local shellfish farm. Even those who came underprepared didn't starve. We defintely came home brainstorming ways to make next year even easier considering it's a lot of work to coordinate so many people in such a primitive setting.

Some of my favorite quotes of the weekend:

~ "Not that I hated what you just did, BUT..."

~ "I'm going to go fly the shit out of this kite."

~ "Those lyrics are from two different songs!!!" (this was mostly hysterical because it was Jay screaming at the top of his lungs around the campfire as about 20 people failed miserably while attempting to sing just one song from beginning to end.)

The other memorable moment was being attacked by an owl that was hanging out at our campsite. Apparently he was feeling frisky or territorial because anytime we walked under its tree (which was right in the middle of the site and nearly impossible to avoid) it would swoop down at our head. Owls are big yo. It was scary as hell!

Check out all the photos here.

Seattle's Bubble Holds Out

$440,000 for an UNinhabitable house severly damaged by fire? Really??

Perhaps we need to begin considering different neighborhoods.

 

The Home Cook

In the past few days we've had some good adventures in the kitchen. The TMF made sushi for me on Friday night after I had been craving it for weeks but simutaneously feeling too frugal to go out for it. The salmon was amazing - smooth and creamy. The tuna was completely void of flavor. I consider this a success.

Now that we're stocked up on all the pantry items needed to make sushi (rice, rice vinegar, wasabi, etc.) he plans to just pick up some fresh fish and make it more often. I'm looking forward to reaping the benefits.

 

My Own Private Garbage Disposal

Last year when the TMF moved in with me the composition of the house changed dramatically. My upstairs loft bedroom became a family room which meant we had to get the double boxspring and mattress that I miraculously got up the tricky staircase back down. Long story and frustrating afternoon aside, we were not able to get it back down. The only solution was to chop the boxspring so that we could bend it just enough to squeeze it out.

So this resulted in a boxspring I would never use again. Now what do I do with this thing? Taking it to the dump sounded like a huge hassle. I don't even know where a dump exists in or near Seattle. Donate it to Goodwill? Ugh. That would require some labor intensive transport of the thing. My brilliant solution was to set it out by the street with a free sign to see if it may be entising to a passerby.

I leaned it against a No Parking sign and left the house to meet up with a friend. I was on my way home a few hours later when I remembered the mattress and prayed to the dump diving gods that someone had taken it away. As I crested the steep hill that my house atop a joyful squeal filled my car - it was gone!!!

No trip to the dump required. No loading that thing on the top of my car... it was out of my life. Just like that.

This past weekend, after spending the entire summer talking about disposing of an old gas grill which no longer worked very well and was grimey with lamb fat and carmelized onions, I remembered my success with the mattress. I decided to press my luck and see if my front stoop really is a magical urban garbage disposal.

I set the grill out with a little sign "Free. Just needs cleaning."

Within 30 minutes it was gone.

Summer Sewing

A sneak peek into how I spent a portion of my summer - making baby dresses for the many little ladies that came into the world this year.

For Elsa it was a Cape Cod themed crab dress. It's too big for her at the moment, but she wore it out on the town for some fish & chips anyway.

This one was for little Brooke who was just born last week. I fell in love with these frog buttons. They'll likely make an appearance on more of my handmade kid apparel.

A Working Girl's Life

Well, it's been a whole three weeks as a workin' girl. I can honestly say it's been a complete whirlwind.

Take one dose of a just plain old new job stress (where do I park? where's the nearest coffee? how late do I stay?), add in the fact that it's a job I've never done before (oh, hello new career) and then the icing on the cake - my client is one of the biggest companies in the world with employees spread all over the Puget Sound area. It took me days just to get clearance and a badge that allows me to enter buildings without having someone sign me in! It's been an exhausting few weeks, but as I've described what I'm doing and how insane it's been to friends several have made the same observation - it sounds like you're liking it though.

And the truth, if I take a second to slow down and actually think about it, is that I am liking it.

Having a pile of money suddenly appear in my bank account is pretty nice as well. Now, if I can manage to refrain from spending my entire first paycheck on a new work wardrobe the first month on the job will be a success.