Pacific Northwest Getaway

This past weekend Abe and I went to a wedding on Orcas Island in the San Juan Islands of Washington. Paws did not want me to leave.

Abe got there on Tuesday because he was a groomsman in the wedding and then I flew in on Friday, drove a car 2.5 hours to the ferry, took the 1.5 hour ferry, and made it just in time to have dessert at the rehearsal dinner. The wedding was amazing and special, but it was particularly exciting for me because I finally got a chance to meet the rest of Abe's friends that I have heard about for 3 years!

Orcas Island is totally Jurassic Park.

Saturday morning I went for a walk and ran into some deer by the resort mansion. They are wild, but tame, and will let you pet them. It was awesome.
I found some celery by the kitchen door - deers ain't interested in celery.

I had some time to kill before the ceremony so I went for a long hike in Moran State Park. Here is where I saw my first Banana Slug.

The ceremony took place on a grassy cliff overlooking the bay. They had a mariachi band playing in the background.

The reception was fun - great food (I must have had 10 bacon wrapped scallops), lots and lots of dancing, and even a hot dog station late night.

The after-party was just straight up shenanigans back at the suite. Abe and I got locked out of our room at 3am and didn't get in till 4am. The next morning we pulled ourselves together with the rest of the kids and took the ferry back to Anacortes. I think this is Mt. Baker.

From there we drove to Seattle where Abe's dad picked us up and took us to Olympia.

On Monday we took a day trip into Tacoma. We were going to go to Mt. Ranier, but it was rainy in the morning. All the museums were closed in Tacoma, but we walked the Crystal Bridge that features Dale Chihuly's work.

On our way back to Olympia we stopped at some crazy outdoors store called Cabela's. There was an aquarium inside and a huge taxidermy display. I got a great sleeping bag on sale.
Then Abe took me to Evergreen State College (where he went to school). It was real purty. Too bad Ted Bundy is forever linked to this place in my mind. We poked around the new buildings, which were really cool - great architecture and it really incorporated nature into the structure.
We kind of just hung out for the rest of the time and flew back Tuesday afternoon. Biggest lesson learned: if you live in Brooklyn do not fly into Newark airport at night and take the train home. It took us 2.5 hours and we had to take 4 trains.

Heading West

Tomorrow I fly out to Seattle to join Abe for 5 glorious days in Washington. We are going to a wedding on Orcas Island in the San Juan Islands for the weekend and then we'll head back down to Olympia for a couple nights at his dad's house.

I am renting a car from the airport and driving to the ferry in Anacortes. The islands we are going to are practically in Canada. I'm very excited. Here is my driving route:

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On a sad note - very, very sad. My Sven's won't be here on time to come on this trip with me. I had 5 outfits planned around those boots. Life is truly like a box of chocolates.

Baked Alaska aka "Hockey Mom Surprise"

Last night I had some friends over to watch the Vice Presidential debates. It turned out to be a much more interesting debate than the Presidential debate last week, and I was really pleased with Biden and his nice, white teeth. I loved that whenever Palin would skip the topic at hand half the tv screen would just turn blinding white with Biden's smile. Go, Joe! Don't take that crap.

Just a little Italian/Hungarian appetizer board.

In honor of the debates we decided to make Baked Alaska. Believe it or not, this is not salmon casserole. It is ice cream and cake!

If I was to make Baked Alaska it was decided that I needed a Palin up-do, which Meredith was happy to create.

Meredith is a really good hair stylist. Very avant garde.

The meringue didn't really work out so we only put it on the top. It ended up being more like marshmallow, which is totally fine with me. It might not have been the prettiest Baked Alaska, but looks aren't everything when you taste so darn good.

If you look over the top you can see Russia.

Rock Band Crafting Debate

Friday night I went over Dave & Preeya's house to rehearse with HEXA! I played my bass clarinet on a few of their songs when they recorded their album and now we're figuring out parts for a few more songs and I'll be playing with them live at future shows!

This is awesome because 1.) I get to cross "play in a rock band" off my Things to Do list, 2.) it is not just any old rock band - Hexa is one of my favorite bands ever, and 3.) it's really exciting to collaborate with friends on a project.

After we practicing for a couple hours we wrapped up so we could watch the Obama/McCain debate. I had been looking forward to this for a while - finally we're getting down to the real stuff. The debate was more Q&A than debate, but it was still interesting to see them on stage together. I just wish the election was over and Obama was in the White House - only a month to go...

After the debate Preeya made some popcorn and we cut up hologram stickers to make a mobile. It was a solid, late-night, impromtu crafting session.

Abe and Junior reunited.

On Saturday Abe and I went to MOMA. They have a new architecture exhibit that was really great. They also have pre-fab houses constructed in the side lot that you can tour, but it was raining out and they would only let us walk around the perimeter.

Surprise! You're 30!

This weekend Abe and I drove down to Pennsylvania for a surprise 30th birthday party for our friend, Jon. His girlfriend, Katie, did an awesome job at arranging the surprise and Alex and Becca hosted the party at their house. We camped out in their yard just like we did for the 4th of July - except it was much colder. I slept with 2 sweatshirts, a hat, scarf, pj pants, and socks.

The best part of a surprise party is waiting for the surprisee to arrive. Lots of false alarms.

Becca and Ella scoping out the scene.

Surprise!

This is how you know it's going to be a good party.

Real men chop wood.

Fringe-y Scarf Gang

The florist accidentally sent this arrangement to Becca. My favorite part are the champagne grapes. They look like bath beads.