Getting Ready for Warmth

Since this blog is dedicated to keeping our family and friends in the loop of our lives (however uninteresting they may be), I'll share with you a few things I've observed about life in the Pacific Northwest; starting with some big differences related to vacationing. Mike is currently in Vegas attending his annual National meeting. Tomorrow, I leave for Cancun and next week, we go to Hawaii with our great friends, the Bertottos. In this economy, I'm not being facetious when I say that I recognize this is not the time to be celebrating. Too many people are struggling to make ends meet much less flying to warm, tropical places. Cancun is an annual trip with a small group of people that I work with across the country. Greyson is staying home with Sara and I'm trying to be positive that he'll be fine, have a great time and not miss us a bit. We get home on Sunday and turn around next Wednesday and fly to Oahu. We're looking forward to that trip because 1- Greyson gets to come along 2- he's going to have a blast with the Bertotto boys and 3- Mike's parents, who are already on the big island, will be hopping to Oahu to spend a few days with us.

So, as we prepare to leave, I'm struck by the following:

• The milder Seattle climate changes the way I look at warm weather vacations. There's something to be said for the anticipation one feels when living in sub-zero temps and watching snow pile up outside your window at home and work. An average winter day is Seattle is 50 degrees. It doesn't mean I'm not looking forward to it, but I'm not completely un-focused.
• Packing is easier. I don't have to worry about coats and pants for the trip home. We can board the plane in shorts and stay in them.
• West Coast stores are carrying their summer lines now so picking up a swimsuit, sundress and flip flops is a breeze (I can proudly say that I did very little shopping in preparation for my trips. I am truly embracing cost consciousness and need to thank my sister Jenny for hooking me up with some great stuff to bring along)

A lot of you have asked me what I think about Seattle. Does it rain a lot? Are the people friendly? Do I like it? I can't cover the differences in one post but here a few things you might find interesting:

• Mike & I are shamefully hooked on the Bachelor for the first time since Trista the Bachelorette. He's from Seattle so we feel a connection. It's embarrasing. If you watch the show, I will tell you that he went on a group date on the Argosy which is a ferry boat based in Kirkland that we used to watch from the deck of our old house.
• The trees in Seattle are gigantic and really green. They don't call it the Emerald City for nothing.
• The beauty of the landscape lives up to the hype. There are snow-capped mountain ranges in 3 directions. When you can't see the ranges, you look for Mt. Rainier (stunning) and where there are no mountains, there's water.
• It does not rain like the rumors, but it does rain more often than the Midwest. The rain is typically light and mist-like and usually occurs at night and early in the morning. It rarely rains all day.
• Thunderstorms are very rare and I will miss them.
• If you've read my posts, you know about the snow.
• The locals are very friendly but not 'open' in a way that we're accustomed. As our good friend RJ likes to say "My friend list is full" and that's what I think of when I meet a new friendly stranger.
• The culture is much more casual. Mike rarely wears a tie. Most of my business interactions are with jean-clad geniuses and cute girls in leggings and oversized sweaters.
• The number of people who ride their bikes to work is astounding. Most of the office buildings have gyms and showers.
• Seattle reveres its pedestrians. There are pedestrian lanes on every street and the law takes 'yield to pedestrians' very seriously. Automobile drives are second-class citizens (though there are still plenty of them).
• Traffic sucks.
• The city is very 'green'. You may be shocked to hear that Mike & I no longer purchase bottled water. We rely heavily on our Brita. And, we compost.
• Ask us about our dinner with Stone Gossard (guitarist from Pearl Jam), conversation with Harrison Ford and playdates with Kelly Jennings (cornerback for the Seahawks)!
• Yes, we like it. Mike doesn't miss the snow at all. I don't miss the freezing cold.
• We miss all of you immensely.

Check back in a couple of weeks- I'll post some fun vacation pictures and maybe a recent video of Greyson singing a song he made up called "I play the day"- sung into a foam rocket. Cheers!

Happy Birthday Mike!

Tuesday, February 10th is Mike's 34th birthday. I've got 6 months on him so I already know what it feels like. He's preparing himself by ignoring his advancing age and spearheading an effort to ressurect his old fraternity house and watching Pearl Jam DVDs. (I jest, I jest- 34 is no different from 24 except the hangovers last a little longer) A little shout out goes to my brother Nate for sending him an early birthday gift. More on that in a minute.

For the past 4 or 5 years, we've celebrated Mike's birthday by having pizza at Balistreri's in Tosa with great friends. We're going to miss that tradition this year. Mike's favorite line, "I've never met a pizza I didn't like", may be true but he definitely has his favorites and Balistreri's was #1. So, I've got the daunting task of finding something in Seattle that might be comparable. We've got a local joint called Zeeks which does a portabella/prosciutto/arugula with olive oil that's out of this world, but Mike is a pepperoni and sausage guy. Pagliacchis is good, but it's not Balistreris. Garlic Jim's holds its own...but again, you get the drill. The other question is dine out, or eat in? It's a Tuesday, so it's not like we're going to kick back with a bottle of wine. If anyone has ideas, talk back!

I promised to share a few pictures of the house now that it has furniture in it. We're enjoying our new digs and especially like the fact that we're 10 minutes away from everything- Bellevue, Kirkland, Redmond, downtown Seattle and my office. The commutes can be brutal so it's an ideal location.

Great Room (dining)

Great Room (living)

1/2 of Grey's playroom Kitchen

So, back to Nate's birthday gift. He sent Mike a Pearl Jam DVD from a tour they did in Italy. (Highly recommend it!) Grey, as I mentioned in the last post, is quite the fan...check it out.

A Boy & His Guitar

For Christmas this year, my mom picked up a small toy guitar for Grey, who has a bit of an obsession with all things music. It might be normal for a 2 year old but I think it's odd that he's often able to identify an artist after hearing a song play once. This may have something to do with the fact that music plays in our house 90% of the time that we're home- this since Grey was a newborn. Those who know us well know that our combined music tastes range from classic rock and alternative to classical, jazz and hip hop. The only thing you likely won't hear blasting from our iPods is country (although I've downloaded a cut or two over the years). Those who know us won't be surprised by the fact that Grey has an affinity for Pearl Jam. His favorite track of the moment is Eddie Vedder's Hard Sun.

So, this guitar my mom picked up was from World Market and it was a pretty good knock off of a standard acoustic. Much to my dad's chagrin (my dad, the guitar player), she didn't consult him and she tells me that he took one look at the guitar and scoffed in disgust. "You can't even tune it"! Well, he was right. Greyson's eyes lit up upon opening it. A few minutes later, after attempting to strum it and watching the limp strings literally fall off, Grey said "I want a real guitar". (Thankfully, my mom laughed) Within one week, we were down to one string and that one string survived until yesterday. Grey still plays the guitar, even without strings. Although last night, he cried that he couldn't "play like Papa".

On March 21st, Greyson will be 3 and my dad has let the the cat out of the bag that Grey will be receiving a real miniature acoustic guitar. (Shh, don't tell Grey) My dad is ignoring my protests that a 3 year old won't understand the value and as this one is particularly impulsive, there's a chance we may witness destruction a la Guns n Roses or Metallica. We'll do our best to protect, but I'm not making promises!