Sep 30: My Old House

Sooo, my lease is up at the end of October, and Sweet Pea needs a balcony, so that means that it is time to move! I have been glued to Craigs List for the past month (or so.. hahahaha) and I ran across an ad for a cute little house in Arlington. It must have been fate, because I am not even looking to move to Arlington. This little house has been vexing me all day... it is my childhood home. We lived there from when I was around 3 years old until 4th grade. Part of me wants to move back, to return to these walls that embody my best years from childhood. I remember it vividly: the yard filled with apple & pear trees, the front porch where I played with all the neighbor kids, the living room with light blue walls and whispy sheer white curtains, the dining room where my mom used to sew at the table, the fireplace that I loved to sit in front of to dry my long hair. Could I live in Arlington again? If I ever did, this would surely be the place. Is it a sign that I should move there... I am looking for a place and my childhood home is empty? I expressed a little bit of my frustration to dma and he followed with this advice: the past should stay in the past. As with all good advice, I am sure he learned this the hard way... probably best to take heed; to keep my simple childhood vision intact. thanks man :)

Sep 29: silent cam

Ah-hah! I finally figured out that I can turn my camera to silent and be able to take pictures of Sweet Pea sleeping. Finally! She is so cute when she sleeps, but always wakes up when she hears the autofocus beep.

Sep 28: Music

This is my way to tune out Chinese Opera & Thai Talk Radio: the music player on my phone. aaaah, perfect.

Sep 27: noodles yummy

My mom came down to Woodinville to visit me tonight & we found ourselves at Olive Garden in Kirkland. I snapped this pic with my phone and sent it to my sister with just this message: "Jealous?"

Sep 26: Back up Map

Ooo! we headed up to Mt. Baker today! Awesome! Only problem? fog. lots and lots of fog.

Sep 25: 50's Style

so sad... since my blog is all black & white images, these beautiful leaves bursting with glorious fall color can not fully be displayed. so very, very sad. Maybe my project for 2011 will be all about glorious color!

Sep 24: 3 Day

So, new dan broke his computer... who knew the Seattle PI would have malware? For the past week, he as been relocated to Mr. Wise's nice, bright corner office (not too shabby new dan!). Today, he had prime viewing of the Susan G. Komen 3-day walk! It was encouraging to see so many people walking, and yet completely sad at the same time, knowing that every single person walking has had a loved one who's life has been turned upside down because of breast cancer. It was hard for me to watch the walkers; part of me sad for those I have lost to breast cancer (my dear aunt julie), part of me so utterly filled to the brim with gratitude for those who have battled and survived (cindy - you are amazing!), and a little emotional thinking of those who are at the early stages of treatment right now (someone near and dear). yeah, so basically, I was a misty eyed sniffling wreck as I watched the walkers. I don't know how they do it. kudos to them, big big kudos ;)

Sep 23: Boo

I bought my first halloween candy of the season today... who can resist candy corn?

Sep 22: Remember the Moment

Most of the time, I am pretty calm, laid back, cheerful or whatever. But one thing that is lurking under my sweet, professional demeanor is a twinge of sadness that my life is so... not normal. And, for the most part, I don't want it to be. Time has slipped by and it is just weird to me that I, a person who is pretty darn down to earth, wouldn't just fall into the normal path of life... college, work, marriage, house, kids. Even scarier is that I just don't feel like those things are going to happen. I dunno, its just wierd to me & every now and then really drags me down.

Today, though, today I cherished my single lady freedom & went for an evening photo shoot with dma. The waterfront was pretty as usual, the salty air was refreshing, per usual, but what struck me the most was ... this is Wednesday. It is the middle of the darn week & we are just goofing around. If I *did* have the traditional marriage/house/kids (& dog???) a Wednesday would have probably been filled with homework, referring a childish battle of some sort & baking cookies for the Mr. to take to work or something.

Instead, I was free to do whatever I wanted, free to enjoy a nice stroll along with waterfront, free to admire the sparkly lights of Seattle from Alki. This isn't my best picture of the watefront from a compositional standpoint, but I wanted to take a picture to remember the moment.

Sep 21: No Wood

So I learned a new term over the weekend: Unoaked Chardonnay. I picked up a bottle for Kim's bachellorette party on Saturday & figured I would try a bottle myself. The outcome? pretty nice. Very clean. Plus, it has a twist off cap. No silly cork? I like it.

Sep 20: Roswell

Oh man! I *almost* took a picture of something at work, then decided that something more interesting would come along, but then forgot to take a pic of the day. Oh well, I had a perfectly wonderful relaxing evening though...

Sep 19: Northern

For today's grand adventure, DMA and I headed up north. Our destination? The abandoned working farm of the Northern State Hospital in the town of Sedro Wooley. It was pretty cool to be able to come so close to these relics.

Sep 18: 8:30 wild child

Wooohoo, only a few more weeks till Kim & Drew tie the knot ;) check out my fancy glass... my fancy water glass. designated driver has gotta do what a designated driver has got to do.

Sep 17: Botan in the Rain

dma was itching to try out some new gear, so we headed to a very familiar place: the Bellevue Botanical Garden. I was pleasantly surprised to see so many flowering plants in the middle of September.

Sep 16: Vanishing Act

I had the brilliant idea to bring some Magic Dragon over to dma's place for dinner. Imagine... imagine my surprise to see that it was locked up tight. so sad poopoo.

Sep 15: Talented

Wrapped up the reunion pics. niiiiice.

Sep 14: Euka Face

I spent the evening editing pictures from the Sept. 4th PM Reunion. Thankfully, Sweet Pea was happy to keep me company.

Sep 13: No Studio

Shoot!!! I had too much fun chatting with my friends from work that I didn't take any pics during movie night. sad. Instead, I figured that now would be a good time to update the progress of my dining room conversion. At first, I thought this would be future home of my studio. However, the more I think about it, I am so much more of a natural light person, so a studio is not really gonna work for me... instead, I made this space into a little office. Pretty, yes?

Sep 12: Meatball MADNESS

Well, maybe Meatball MADNESS is a little dramatic, but I did make two trays full of homemade meatballs for movie night tomorrow with my friends from work.

Sep 11: Sunrise

Today was my first real trip up to the Sunrise area of Mt. Rainier & now I know where to go next summer for wildflowers!!! woohoohootyhoo!

Sep 10: Filmna

Somebody I know bought some film today..... can't wait to see the results!

Sep 9: Terra Cotta Red

My sister must love me... she shared the good wine with me on my birthday. Thanks Kate-o!

Sep 8: My Gift

I was on a mission: I need new perfume. I spent about 45 minutes in Ulta spraying fragrances on little cards trying to figure out something that is sophisticated, unique, and subtle. In the end? I walked out of the place with my current love of the past year: No. 3 from the Dolce & Gabana's anthology collection. Hey, if it ain't broke; don't fix it. Even if it smells like really, really nice soap.

Sep 7: Iron Lo

hahaha, not sure how I did it, but I broke a key to my desk. ooopsie ;) On a positive note, while shuffling my files to a cabinet that does lock, I found a valuable piece of information that I thought I lost. Side note: I take good notes.

Sep 6: Bday Lumpia

Yay! Miss Kelsey & I made some lumpia today! oh and uh, happy bday AGAIN old man.

Sep 5: Babs

awwww, its a babas!

Sep 4: PM Reunion

The folks in this pic embody love, service & commitment. We are peer ministers; it's what we do.

Sep 3: Bday Panda!

To my dearest friend,the nemesis of both my sister and my cat, the mr no facebook, the dma, and otherwise known as the black panda.... I wish you the best in the coming year; best of health, happiness, perhaps some wealth, and all that good stuff.

Sep 2: Haaaaaaaaircut

You know, haircuts are stressful times for indecisive people. what?

Sep 1: grrr traffic

Sooo... I *thought* that it would be nice to head up to A-Town to visit the fam... well, traffic took a turn for the worst and I ended up in one spot on I-5 for almost three hours! Thats long enough to watch three episodes of Haven! Luckily, I had my handy evo with me to keep track of the latest news & update my Facebook status ;) (Oh, and the reason for the stall? A stupid gunman on the loose. scary!)