This is what happy looks like

Just a group of ladies soaking up the first sunny, hot day of the year at Green Lake with a glass of rosé last weekend. Yep, this is what happy looks like.

Green Lake

I think I fall more in love with Green Lake every year. The stunning sunsets during evening runs certainly help. The people- and puppy-watching isn't half bad either.

A Mother's Day Picnic

Nothing quite beats a picnic on a sunny Sunday, especially with family. For Mother's Day, Joe (III), my Mom and Dad, and Joe (II) and Lilian all met up at Green Lake for a little picnicking, relaxing and good (great!) people watching.We saw a pet tortoise (it was huge), a woman with a paper bag as a hat and later in the evening, I hear there was a pet kangaroo! We missed the latter, but believe me - I'll be keeping my eyes open for it in future runs and walks around the lake.

Mom, I hope you had a wonderful Mother's Day - you deserve the very best. I love you!

TGIF

At first, I named this post, "TIGF" Then it became "TTGIF" And I'm not even kidding, it was back to "TIGF" What am I trying to say here? Well, it's been a long week and Thank God It's Friday, friends. I'm ready to cut loose! Seriously, who's with me on this one?

P.S. Picture from Green Lake a few weeks back!

A slower pace

In the first few weeks of him moving in, I stranded him not once, but twice. A quick trip to Spokane for work one week, followed by late nights in the office, then off to DC the next week! The dust is now settling and I don't see work taking me further than Olympia in coming weeks - phew! Don't get me wrong, DC was AWESOME. But this little lady needs quality down time :)

I'm looking forward to things slowing down for a bit - filled with strolls around Green Lake, getting good amounts of sleep, catching up with friends, celebrating my Mom's 60th (say what?! Yeah, this little cutie is turning the big 6-0!) and more.

Are you a slow pace or fast pace of life kind-of-person?

TGIF

What a week! Busy, busy, busy. But you know what? It makes long weekends that much better. And any long weekend that is expected to deliver the first SNOWFALL of the season has to be good. On my agenda: dinner with my parents, a snowy Green Lake walk (crossing fingers!), cocktails at the Space Needle (!!) and possibly a little work (hopefully not too much). In other news...

Last night, we celebrated Joe's dad's (Joe, the 2nd) birthday with a mile high mud pie and bread pudding from The Ram. Despite his resistance to celebrating, I think it was a lovely night. (Lilian, I'm resisting in posting the picture per your advice... though I know he'll make it on thee ol' blog eventually!)

This list of Seattle's best burgers is missing two very delicious options: Red Mill and Lunchbox Laboratories. Am I right or am I right? UPDATE: I stand corrected. I guess they both did make the list (amen!), but I was drooling over the few pictures too much to see the "click here for the list" link. Now I want a burger.

Is it weird that I want to see this movie? Maybe it will balance out the ebby jeebies I get from this movie.

Fun idea! I think I like the s'mores one best.

Do you like this bag better or as much as this one?

Have a wonderfully AWESOME weekend!

pic/via

Winter Walks

We picked up some coffee and took a nice stroll around Green Lake this weekend. I love winter walks - crisp air, fewer crowds, beautiful scenery - but they are so hard to come by. I can't bring myself to take many walks in the dark (too many mice and creepers lurking in the shadows!), so I can only really make them happen on the weekends during the winter. But we are only a couple days away from The Darkest Day of the Year, so in time, I'll be making more laps around the lake. (Partially because we signed up for this baby again. Better lace up my running shoes!)

During our stroll, I was taking photos with my Instagram app. I still haven't decided which filter I like best - Earlybird, Lomo-fi, Valencia? If you have it, what are your favorites?

Fax and Mills

Dear Susannah,
Thank you for coming down to visit Stephanie and I in Seattle the other night. After you left, Stephanie and I voted and it's unanimous, you must move back to Washington.

So go ahead and get your masters as Stanford (we'll let you do that), but then make your way north again. We agree that L.A. isn't really your style. Seattle, on the other had, has Susannah written all over it. See (below)?

At any rate, the Green Lake picnic was wonderful. Next time you should bring an extra bottle of wine since you spilled not 1, but 2 (!!) glasses of wine. And Stephanie, the salad was delicious. Although I'm sure our friend, the "vegetarian" Susannah, would have preferred a plate of bacon. Or a hot dog. Next time :)

You ladies make me happy.

Love,
Petes

P.S. Remember when Josh thought your last name was Fax and Mills instead of Faxon-Mills UNTIL OUR SENIOR YEAR OF HIGH SCHOOL? Yeah, that was funny.

via, but altered :)

I like this picture

The mysterious turtles at Green Lake.

I pass this log on my runs often.

And I like it.

That's all.

Happy Hump Day!
via

Seattle Morning

Someone just posted this picture on Twitter this morning. I really like it. It was taken in Green Lake and it makes me miss my old hood. Perhaps I should take a jaunt around the lake this evening? Yes, I think I will.

Why yes, you can pet them...

"Yes, I know, they are very cute. Her name is Lily and that is Maggie."

This weekend I dog sat my mom's little westies. Man, they are a lot to handle! I felt it was my duty to introduce the little monsters to Greenlake and I was stopped nearly every five feet. People were lovin' them up! Can you blame them?

Someone doesn't have AC

Came across this sign as I drove through Fremont last night. It read: Too hot to live. Closing early. Thanks, Mg.

I think it was just an excuse to join the fun while floating in Greenlake...

Seattle is cool.

As you may recall, my friend, Danielle is in town and staying with me for a couple nights (unfortunately I've been coming home late from work, but she understands) and she has wanted to do some of the more Seattle-like activities that I totally take for granted. For instance, yesterday she biked to Gasworks just to take a picture of the beautiful skyline because she misses it. What is crazy is that I look at Gasworks outside my office window on a daily basis and forget how lucky I am to always take in the beautiful scenery!

Today she is going to Pike Place Market and that got me thinking - why the heck don't I go to the market more often? I could use some honey, fresh flower and amazing mini-donuts more often. She also is going to go walk around downtown for fun. I couldn't even tell you the last time I did that!

This past weekend we went to Golden Gardens for a BBQ picnic (where we had awesome food including homemade potato salad, brats, watermelon and cucumber salad, caprese, root beer floats, yummy cupcakes, rice crispy treat and more!). I live like 5 minutes away from Golden Gardens, but I haven't been since Kimber's birthday last June! We also walked around Greenlake which I sort of forgot how much I liked - since all I do is run these days, I forget how pleasant the lake is for a leisurely stroll.

So I've set a new goal: I'm going to enjoy more of the typical Seattle locales and activities. It's pretty much the best city ever, so might as well enjoy it!