Jul 31: Silvana, Day 4

Yay! Fair Day! DMA & I entered some of our pics in the Silvana Fair... the results were not too shabby... some best of show here, little bit of best overall there, a couple of reserves, and heaps of blue ribbons. awww yea, that's how we roll.

Jul 30: Silvana, Day 3

Today, was also a bit crazy. I worked from 6am-2:30pm, then drove 1 hour & 20 stinking minutes up north to Silvana to help my mom with the final touches for the sewing display. I always love the way the light hits the flowers in the evening, so I snuck over to the other side of Viking Hall to take this pic. Love it!

Jul 29: Silvana Day 2

Oh sweet goodness... what a long day! I took another day off work to help my mom set up the sewing section of the Silvana Fair. There was a lull from oh, 10am-2:30pm, but holy cow, it was non-stop hustle and bustle from 2:30 until I took this pic at around 9pm. I guess my mom & her friend Leanne were there till 11! I am so proud of my mom for all the work that she has put into the fair; I know today was a hard day for her because it is Rhonda's & my dear sweet Aunt Julie's birthday. On a more positive note, today is also my lovely Aunt Nancy's birthday!

Jul 28: Silvana, Day 1

For the past, I don't know, five years or so my mom has been helping her friend Rhonda at the Silvana Fair. Mom's involvement steadily increased over the years... she was in training. You see, Rhonda had breast cancer and knew that her time would be limited. She deeply loved the fair and wanted to make sure that she could leave it in good hands. My mom wholeheartedly accepted the responsibilities. Dear Rhonda passed away last year, and this is the first year without her at the fair. I think its the same feeling whenever you lose someone; part of you is sad that they are gone and part of you expects them to come walking through the door... I keep listening to voices in the kitchen expecting to hear Rhonda's distinct laugh. So, so, so sad. Anyway... dma was kind enough to not only be my copilot for the drive up North, but he also helped us with setting up the fair. Thanks man!

Jul 27: Go Team

So today, the Econ & Market Information crew hosted a team building activity at work..... who wouldn't love Dairy Jeopardy? hahahahaha..... anyway.... so, these Milk Duds & Goobers were the consolation prize. The winners received gift cards to Coldstone... pretty nice, eh?

Jul 26: Ikea

Today, I was on a mission: I needed a bunch of frames & figured Ikea would be the best place to go for consistent quanties. Imagine my surprise to see that they are renovating the entrance. Can't wait to see the new showroom!

(oh, and btw, the frames ended up to have the wrong size mat. Silly me! So, I haaaad to go back again the next day. They didn't have black frames in the size mat I wanted, so the score is- Ikea:2, Lori: zip.)

July 25: Farewell Fun Forest

After yesterday's adventure, it is safe to say that we were pretty pooped. blah. It was a beautiful day, so we couldn't waste the sunshine! We went down to the Seattle Center because I *thought* this was the last year that the Fun Forest would be open. Guess I am at least a year too late; we arrived to find that the rides I had in mind were already gone, replaced by a basketball court. The kiddie rides were still there, though. Oh well. I took a few frames of EMP and found a bunch of hydrangeas calling my name....

Jul 24: Sequim Sunrise

Today was pretty crazy... it went a little something like this: take the 12 something ferry from Edmonds. Drive towards Sequim, stop along a Forest Service road for some pictures of the moon (dma, not me... I need a remote! Grrr!), sleep for 1.5 hours in the explorer outside of a vet clinic, get coffee at the only place open at 4 something, take FANTASTIC sunrise shots in a wonderfully foggy field of wild flowers, sleep again for 2 hours, head over to the Olympic National Park & hike in the noon day sun, take more beautiful pictures of wildflowers, become delerious from the sun & take a short nap, head back to the ferry & make our way back. Phew! What a day!

Jul 23: Huh?

The time: 11:30 pm. The destination: the Edmonds/Kingston Ferry. Why? To cross the water to get to Sequim for amaaaaazing sunrise shots. Crazy? yes. Worth it? yup.

Jul 22: Four!

ohmygoodNESS... this is the cutest gift bag ever. Everrrr!!! I found it at Papyrus (my secret addiction), it is made of felt & those little woodland creatures are finger puppets! Happy Birthday to my favorite little nephew!

Jul 21: Overnight "One Hour" Service

Uh-oh... somebody is fibbing cuz my photo order was not ready! According to the absurdly peppy dude at the photo place it could not be completed tonight. So, I guess "ready to pick up shortly" doesn't mean one hour, it means tomorrow morning. silly me!

Jul 20: Really? Really.

Oh grrrr! One of my neighbors parked in not one, but BOTH of my friggin parking spots. Really? Both spots? Come On!!!!

Jul 19: Cactus!

Nothing like a cool margarita & catching up with a friend from across the country!

Jul 18: Not Lavender

For a few years I have been wanting to go to the lavender festival up in Sequim. I usually remember in May then forget in July only to remember again in the fall! This year, though, I made it on time AND dma was kind enough to placate me by heading over to Sequim on a fine, sunny day. Nice, huh? The bum part: the fields were lame-o. super weak sauce. Luckily, Sequim had an ample supply of other atmosphere. (oh, and this pic was taken with my Evo... I need to get a new card reader for my CF cards!)

Jul 17: Trafton

What a great day of exploration! DMA and I drove the Mountain Loop Highway from Darrington to Granite Falls. I am proud of my little Sentra... it totally rocked those gravel roads! Our first stop of the day was the Trafton School House. I noticed this sign that reads www.keeptraftonalive.com. Turns out that the Arlington School District has closed the Trafton School. What in the heck?!

Jul 16: 30 cents

Long story short: I found myself up north today, having lunch with my mom before heading to A-town to pick up my cutie little nephew from daycare. She shared these little boy scout registration cards & receipt with me. They belonged to my grandfather! Back in 1941, the boy scout dues were a whopping 30 cents! I thought, Hey That is something you don't see everyday, so I snapped a quick pic!

Jul 15: "I invented Post-its. Yeah."

I'll have the business women's lunch, because I'm a business woman. Yeah, I invented Post-its.

Ok seriously, inaccurate movie quotes are fun and all, but really, this little post-it saved the day! I compiled some info a month ago & wasn't sure where it stood. Thankfully, now I know.

Jul 14: Silent Ice Cream Truck

In lieu of their annual tenant appreciation picnic, our leasing company distributed ice cream from a silent ice cream truck. Aaaah Fabulous, we missed you!

Jul 13: Max Carn II

After work I continued my little car project & ran it through the car wash down the street from my office. Used $2 in quarters to vacumm, too! To top it off, I had a hot date with Armor All in the evening. ooo lah lah.

Jul 12: Maximum Carnage

The state of my car has recently been described as reaching "maximum carnage." Really? I mean really. hahahaha... it is probably true! This is a picture of my trunk *after* I purged a hunk o junk. Still needs to be vacuumed, eh?

Jul 11: Photographic Bliss

What to do, what to do... where to go? Sometimes these questions are challenging.

dma and I have photographed the heck out of Western Washington & eastward along the I-90 corridor, too. We were graced with pleasant weather today and knew we had to take some pictures somewhere. For a brief moment, we pondered if our photography was a gift or a twisted curse; sometimes it feels like I am a slave to the camera. The weather is nice.... take a picture. The atmosphere is beautiful... take a picture. The flower is blooming.... take a picture. I have a free afternoon... grab my camera and take pictures. You get the idea. Its like, we were blessed with a sunny day and the first, second & third things on the list involved photography, and sometimes I just wonder why I do all this photography stuff.

We shrugged our shoulders, said 'mmmblah", grabbed some coffee, filled up the Sentrzl & headed east. What can I say... its what we do. And you know what.... life had good things planned for us. We saw blue skies, rolling hills, deep canyons, powerful rivers, kooky river floaty people, and amazing mountain mist.

Days like this are what make me just happy to be alive. Days like this reaffirm that God's blessing show up when you least expect them. Blessings that are more intriguing and sincere than you can imagine. I think the same is true for whatever gift God has given you .... photography, painting, music, writing, building things, gardening, heck... even math... you will be surprised by how fulfilling your gift can be when you embrace the unknown. (I don't mean to be all preachy or tell anyone what to think... I am simply and clumsily trying to share my inspiration.)

peace be with you

Jul 10: Snow Lake

Today was cool! Dma & I trekked up the Snow Lake trail. This is a pic from the trail along the famous rock meadow.

Jul 9: Crummy

Today was an intentional "oops." It was a ho-hum day at work followed by a crummy afternoon. Not really the stuff you want to take a picture to remember, so I am totally cool with just an oops pic for today.

Jul 8: Second Thursday

My mom surprised me this afternoon with a visit! As luck would have it, today was the second Thursday of July which means only one thing.. time for the Kirkland Art Walk!

Jul 7: New Chapter

The Adventures of New Dan and Bank Girl has taken a wonderful twist. Bank Girl stopped by the office today to share the good news (and show us her beautiful, sparkly ring!) Congrats you two, crazy kids!

Jul 6: cool

aaaah, summer! Today was the first day that I left my fan on alllll day.

Jul 5: awww

What a beautiful, sunny day! dma & I soaked up the rays while leisurely strolling along Green Lake. It was a day for urban wildlife... turtles, a heron, bunches of geese & a few little ducklings. Isn't this little guy adorable???!!?

Jul 4: Fourth of July!

yay! Fireworks!

Spent the holiday perched above I-90 with dma & the butcher. We had a pretty impressive vantage point for the many fireworks shows going on along Lake Washington. It was so America, f-yeah!

Jul 3: Deception Pass

For today's adventure, dma and I headed up north to one of my favorite places: Deception Pass. We had a great time wandering the trails & enjoying a pretty awesome sunset!

Jul 2: Pedicure

Went to the nail salon today for a pedicure & picked up a new pair of flipflops at Target! Let the summer begin!

Jul 1: Ffffrring

dma and I attempted to, once again, get the Fring app to work... still chirpy on my end. grrrr.