Kam is 11!

It's still hard to believe that my nephew, Kamron, is already ELEVEN YEARS OLD! To celebrate his big day (back in November!), we went to the Family Fun Center for some gaming and laser tag. Then we went out for his favorite food: sushi. (Please tell me how many kids' fave food is sushi!) Then ended the night with a little ice cream at Bluebird Creamery. All in all, it was a super fun night!

But let's get back to this fact: he's 11 and he's officially taller than I am and wears a men's XL sweatshirt! Sure, it's a bit baggy, but not as baggy as you'd think. It's only such a joy to see this little man grow up over the years. He's such a sweet, smart kiddo. I can't help myself thinking about what's in store for him in 1 year? 5 years? 10 years?! It'll be fun to see. Love you lots and lots, Kam!

Outstanding in the field

On Sunday, we celebrated Johan's 5th birthday at Lil' Kickers in Redmond. Let me tell you, just watching 26 little buggers run around, kicking, yelling, laughing, falling - makes me exhausted! They have so much energy. But on the other hand, they are a-DOR-able! Hope you had a wonderful birthday, Johan!

Happy Birthday, Sissy!

Richelle, I hope you had the best birthday ever! Between working, taking care of Kam and going back to school full-time, you deserve the best birthday ever. Here's to all the good that lies ahead. Love you more!

A Revenge Surprise

When I asked Joe what he wanted to do for his birthday, he wasn't really in the mood for anything more than a birthday dinner. In years past, we've met up with friends to celebrate, but I think he wanted to take a year off. Normal girlfriends would respect that wish, but not this one. I couldn't help but plan a little something when Tom connected with me to see if anything was in the works and mentioned that their buddy, Warren, would be interested in a "revenge" surprise by coming up to visit from Portland. (Because about a month ago, Joe and Tom surprised him in Portland for his birthday.) Who can say no to a revenge surprise?! Again, not this girlfriend.

I told Joe it would be just Tom and Gwynne, but little did he know that we'd be joined by Warren and Rachel. So we had a nice birthday dinner at Prost, drinks at the Kort Haus and dessert at home. Even if he didn't want a celebration, I think he loved it. Men, they say one thing and mean another, right? :)

P.S. I don't think I've ever posted a photo of our living room. So ta-da! I present you with our living room. In terms of decorations, it's probably one of my favorite rooms in our house. I love it.

Happy Birthday, Kam!

Is there anything better than pretending to be a kid again? A chance to forget about work deadlines or household chores, and just play and eat pizza. That's exactly what we did for Kam's birthday this weekend. We all brought out our inner 10-year-old and played game after game after game. (Shoot, I'd consider this for my 30th birthday.) After we played all we could at Gameworks, we headed to our house for pizza and the Game of Life. All in all, a quality birthday party. Happy Birthday, Kam! I love you.

Mom and Richelle...

... took on the undefeated Kam and Erika :)

Kam adores Joe. In fact, apparently when Richelle asked if he wanted to bring a friend, he said, "No, it's ok, I'll just play with Joe and Grandpa." 

This boy is amazing at basketball. 

The whole crew for a beer/rootbeer break.

 A snippet of a conversation while playing Life at home:

Mom: "Geez, this game is confusing."

Kam: "That's because life is confusing, Grandma."

So wise at such a young age.

P.S. I still have about a centimeter on him. I wouldn't be surprised if the next time, he's finally taller.

The final year of my 20's

Let's take a vote: Am I giving a peace sign? Or am I two going on three, but my third finger doesn't want to cooperate? Either way, I'm rockin' some amazing floral overalls. And those ribbon-tied pigtails? So fashion-forward at such a young age.

As I start the final trip around the sun of my 20's, I can't help but get excited about what's ahead. While I only have crossed off seven things on my 30 Before Thirty list, I'm so happy with where I am in life. I have such supportive and loving family and friends. I have the man of my dreams. A lovely roof over our heads. A great career of doing good in the world. Aside from winning the lottery, I really couldn't ask for anything more.

So here's to the great adventures that 29 will bring! And perhaps crossing a few more things off the list? (Oh lordy, that would mean a marathon AND triathlon this year. Ladies?)

P.S. This picture makes me want to get bangs and make a bundt cake. (This was the traditional birthday cake my Mom made growing up - it even had creme filling! It tasted like a homemade Hostess cupcake with cherries on top, but 10x better. My favorite.)

P.P.S. Grandma, keep the old pictures coming! I love them.

Another ahoy-matey birthday

Only a lucky few have a birthday fall on a Duck Dodge Tuesday. Last year, it was Autumn and this year, it was Stephers! Autumn and RyRy took us out on their boat for a festive sail - birthday leis, beer, hot dogs and cupcakes. We were out celebrating until the moon shone bright. And even then, it took some arm twisting to call it a night. I mean, who would ever want to go in after celebrating on a beautiful, warm summer evening with great friends and a birthday princess?! Definitely not me.

We Love Koby

Over the weekend, we celebrated my Mom's 60th birthday with a little relaxation, wine tasting in Fairhaven, a nice dinner and then drinks and dancing at The Old Edison. Simply put, it was a blast!

But my favorite part, BY FAR, was the reveal of We Love Koby - a secret blog we created to share birthday wishes, funny stories and heartfelt messages from all the people who love my Mom. I couldn't have imagined a better reaction! Tears, laughs and just a general sense of feeling loved. Can it get much better than that? I think not.

Mom, I hope you had an amazing birthday! I love you more.

P.S. Aren't my parents adorable?

(Excuse the dark, fuzzy pictures - it's the best I could get with the lighting in there!)

A Milestone Birthday

Happy 60th Birthday, Mom!

It's impossible to put into words how much you mean to me - you're not only my Mom, but my best friend and confidante, my inspiration, role model, and the sun in my sky on gray days. There is not a day that goes by that I don't thank my lucky stars that you are in my life. Your unceasing smiles can brighten anyone's day and your creativity puts us all to shame :) I cherish our hours-long late night chats, unstoppable laughter and fun adventures. Thank you for everything you have taught me over the years; I'm certainly a better person because of you.

Happy Birthday! Cheers to another 60 years! And yes, even if I have to change your diaper one day (hehe) - every day with you is a blessing :)

See you tonight!

LYMOA,
Erika

Birthday Boy

This amazing fella is blowing out 33 candles on his birthday cake tonight. 33! We were talking about how 33 sounded to us 10 years ago - it sounded so old! But now that he's there and I'm a few years behind (cough... five years... cough), it doesn't sound old at all. We're still youngins!

Joe, I hope this is your best year yet. Love you to the moon and back, then to Mars and back, then to Venus and back, etc. For the record, that means "a WHOLE lot."

P.S. I usually prefer post-birthday blog posts (like this, so I can talk about the birthday party), but I couldn't help myself. It's a very important... palindrome birthday? Yeah, palindrome birthdays are very important, don't ya know?

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

A Snowy Getaway

On Saturday, we trekked up to Snoqualmie Pass to celebrate Tom and Emily's birthdays. We stayed at this amazing cabin, which sleeps 12, but we managed to fit close to 20. It was quite an eventful night, including tons of food, karaoke (yes, someone actually has a legitimate karaoke machine), dancing, games (umm, Bananagrams is so fun!), drinking, and tubing - which may or may not have resulted in an epic face plant by the birthday girl. I didn't witness it myself, but like most embarrassing moments, it was caught on camera. Overall, good times.

After the snowy getaway, we found ourselves smack dab in the middle of Fall in Seattle again. Isn't it weird how quickly the seasons change? Before we know it, it'll be Christmas! Until then, I'll enjoy the last few weeks of Fall.

30 Before Thirty

Friends, I'm officially 28 years old. (Zoom even told me so.) I know we all think it, but honestly, where does time go?! In honor of gaining another year of wisdom, I've decided to make a 30 Before Thirty list, so time doesn't pass me by. Thirty things I'd like to do before I turn the big 3-0. (Some overlap with this list, but they are still different.) If you know me well, I'm all about making goals and lists, so this suits me perfectly. Some are ambitious, some not so much, but all are things that I want to do in the next two years. Ok, ready. set. GO!

1. Learn to sew.
2. Take salsa dance lessons.
3. Go abroad again – Greece, Costa Rica, French Polynesia? I'm open to anything.
4. Grow and eat my own veggies and/or herbs.
5. Read more books and finish the half-read ones.
6. Run another marathon.
7. Marry this fella.
8. Reassess my 401K and retirement plan. Make sure I can retire at 35 :) (just kidding)
9. Learn (some) Swedish.
10. Learn to drive a stick shift better.
11. Go on more Mom and Dad dates.
12. Buy a nice SLR camera.
13. Learn how to use said nice camera.
14. Hike Mount Si.
15. Go zip lining somewhere.
16. Find a new hobby that I’m passionate about.
17. Host a big Holiday like Thanksgiving or Christmas!
18. Brew beer (again).
19. Pay off my car. (Both the Toyota loan and the Dad loan from catastrophe 2k9)
20. Buy a house.
21. Renovate a room in that said house. (Because the house I buy will likely need some prettification)
22. Make homemade pasta, ravioli and gnocchi. (That’s a 3 for 1!)
23. Give blood. I’m not afraid of needles, but I’ve never given blood. Why? I have no excuse.
24. Go wine tasting in a new region – Walla Walla? Burgundy, France?
25. Master a 5 course gourmet meal.
26. Be better at sending snail mail.
27. Get a kitty! (Joe and I decided we’d name him Carl-Gustav after the King of Sweden :))
28. Complete a triathlon.
29. Explore the idea of opening my dream shop: Wine not? (Filled with wine, cheese, goodies and more entertaining supplies!)
30. Continue to grow my amazing relationships with family and friends because they are awesome.

What would be on your list?

Mariners Date with Dad

I really like giving "experiences" as gifts. A nice dinner, a Broadway play, high tea or a sporting event - it's a nice way to spend quality time with the birthday boy or girl, especially when you're at a loss for what to get them! Enter: My dad. Yes, once in awhile, I have a perfect gift idea (like the ducks!), but I usually opt for an experience because I know he loves it and I'm always up for father/daughter bonding.

So this year for his birthday, I told him we'd go on a Mariner's date - complete with beers, hot dogs, prime seats right by Ichiro and post-game stop at Molly Moon's. Growing up, we'd go to a game nearly every season, so it's sort of one of our traditions. While they didn't win, it was still a perfect afternoon with my dad. He's fun and I love him a lot, so how could it not be perfect? Hope you had as great of a time as I did, Dad!

P.S. Our seats were right by Ichiro!

An ahoy-matey birthday

Solve for X:

X = Sailing + friends + beautiful, warm summer evening + Autumn's birthday + a pirate hat + birthday hats + beer + chips + Trophy cupcakes + dodging ducks + tying up with all the other boats after the race - girl on opposing boat with no pants on

So what do you think? I'll give it a stab.

X = amazinglyradicalawesomeperfection

Any math teachers out there wanna verify my answer?

(Joe's theme for the night was "the sun never goes down on cool," as you can tell with his shades still on after dark)

It's Birthday Season

Immediately after Stephanie's birthday, I headed to Joe's place to celebrate Lilian's birthday (Joe's sweet mom) with Joe II, Joe III, Erik and Johan. We BBQ'd salmon, along with a bean salad and set-up shop on his deck to enjoy the sun that finally decided to show up for the birthday festivities.

For dessert, we had a Swedish birthday cake with layers of yellow cake, a smashed banana/whipped cream layer, strawberry layer and covered with whipped cream, fresh strawberries and grated chocolate. Delish!

As you can see, all eyes were on Joe as he cut the cake. I think we all were excited about digging in!

Overall, it was a great time. Lilian, hope you had a great birthday!

Birthday Picnic Brunch

To celebrate Stephanie's big 2-7, she planned a ladies-only picnic brunch. The idea was to head down to the lake to enjoy the sun and beautiful view, but when we were met with a Sunday morning drizzle, we quickly opted for plan B: Indoor birthday picnic. And you know what? It was probably just as lovely!

The birthday girl made a delicious bacon and spinach quiche and salad, I made white wine marinated strawberries and others brought fruit and bellini-fixins' for some toasting. To top it off, we had delicious Trophy Cupcakes! (Stephanie even planned a cupcake pick-up on they day they offer the s'more cupcake that I've been wanting to try forever - isn't she a sweet birthday girl?!) It was a perfect little celebration. Stephers, hope your birthday was everything you hoped and more. (I have a funny feeling it was!) Love ya!