The Swedes are just too cute.

Look what they've come up with for Ikea now:
Farty G and Kram (as in "kram it!").

Mother knows best.

How well does my mom know me? Today, I received a box filled with Girl Scout cookies and a pile of articles about Dale Chihuly's new sculpture at The Children's Museum of Indianapolis. What more could a girl ask for?

Chihuly is from Washington, so the Puget Sound area is sprinkled with his work. S and I were introduced to his sculpture during an exhibit at Chicago's Garfield Park. We immediately fell in love with his organic, colorful forms. Since, we've seen his work at the Eiteljorg Museum, the IUPUI campus, and now, all over Tacoma and Seattle. The above image was taken during a stroll across his Bridge of Glass at Tacoma's Museum of Glass. Visit his official site for a state-by-state listing of all public installations.

Thanks, Mom!

{We've had technical issues lately. Should be back and functioning now!}

Spring is here!

Six months already?

This month marks six months of relocating to Seattle. It's kinda nutty that time is passing so quickly. We've only been home once, but we've had 6 visitors, one who has already returned a second time! We've been to 6 major concerts, gained about 6 friends, and have gone into the mountains nearly as many times.

Overall, we love Seattle. And we're always open to friends and family moving here to join us. ;)

PS: Why don't more of our friends and family members have blogs? It's such a good way to keep up with people by sharing photos and tales of daily life. I swear, I know more about my favorite scrapbooker's life than I do for certain loved ones in Indiana...

Update: If those at home should be interested in creating a blog, it's very easy (and free!) using a tool like Blogger. It offers cool-looking designs and is updated using a feature similar to Word. So, if you can type in Word, you can have a blog!

Bellingham.

We ventured up to Bellingham yesterday, a little college town just south of the Canadian border. I took a class taught by a scrapbook "celebrity", Elsie Flannigan, and walked away with the whimsical page shown above.
{ See the original inspiration here }

Bellingham was interesting, though. Shawn was able to continue his quest for posing with every statue we come across (see below). We also saw a very interesting fish-and-chip shop running out of a double decker bus. Definitely looking forward to getting back up there for April's Tulip Festival...

Happy Shamrock Day!

I'm usually a tad bitter each March because McD's has refused to carry the Shamrock Shake. This year, however, they brought it back! Yum, yum!!!

Here is a classic article from The Onion to enjoy: Sinn Fein Leaders Demand Year-Round Shamrock Shake Availability

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Shorthand.

Said goodbye to Scott yesterday. Boo. Before he left, he had a crazy allergic reaction to Seattle. Here we were, trying to show him a good time, trying to convince him to relocate. =)

We visited Pike Place Market, the gelateria, and the Chittenden Locks. Loved the weather yesterday. It couldn't have been more perfect for walking around enjoying the city.

As a last hurrah, we met Shawn and Nathan at the College Inn for a pre-dinner drink. The place is covered in rather amusing graffiti, from the tables to the usual bathroom stalls. The stall I visited declared that "real bitches don't use shorthand!" Hmm.

Powering through it.

We survived a weekend of skiing! Our muscles ache and our faces are suffering from windburn, but overall, it was a blast. Scott had not snowboarded for four years, but he rolled in there like a pro. I have a bit of a twisted knee and a few more bruises, but am happy to report that my tailbone was not further harmed! Wahoo.

Visit and repeat.

We have our first repeat visitor coming tomorrow! Scott is heading back to Seattle from NYC for a weekend of snowboarding action. Yay! I love having this guy around, so I'm definitely excited.

The rest of us will be skiing after our (mostly) failed attempt at snowboarding a few weeks back. My tailbone is recovering nicely, but a walk around Green Lake this past weekend reminded me that things aren't perfect down there quite yet. ;) Needless to say, my fingers are crossed that I don't fall down while we are on the slopes this weekend because I don't have a big, padded diaper to protect my rear from further injury.

You might be a Pacific Northwesterner if...

A little insight into the quirks only a "local" could know... Most certainly seem true. I wouldn't say that Seattle is full of hunters (see #28), but I certainly see offenders of #7 on nearly a daily basis. In general, we aren't in tune with all of these yet, but perhaps after summer?

1. You know the state flower (mildew).
2. You feel guilty throwing aluminum cans or paper in the trash.
3. Use the statement "sun break" and know what it means.
4. You know more than 10 ways to order coffee.
5. You know more people who own boats than air conditioners.
6. You feel overdressed wearing a suit to a nice restaurant.
7. You stand on a deserted corner in the rain waiting for the "walk" signal.
8. You consider that if it has no snow or has not recently erupted, its not a real mountain.
9. You can taste the difference between Starbucks, Seattle's Best, and Veneto's.
10. You know the difference between Chinook, Coho and Sockeye salmon.
11. You know how to pronounce Sequim, Puyallup, Issaquah, Oregon, Yakima and Willamette.
12. You consider swimming an indoor sport.
13. You can tell the difference between Japanese, Chinese and Thai food.
14. In winter, you go to work in the dark and come home in the dark while only working eight-hour days.
15. You never go camping without waterproof matches and a poncho.
16. You are not fazed by "Today's forecast: showers followed by rain," and "Tomorrow's forecast: rain followed by showers."
17 You have no concept of humidity without precipitation.
18. You know that Boring is a town in Oregon and not just a state of mind.
19. You can point to at least two volcanoes, even if you cannot see through the cloud cover.
20. You notice, "The mountain is out" when it is a pretty day and you can actually see it.
21. You put on your shorts when the temperature gets above 50, but still wear your hiking boots and parka.
22. You switch to your sandals when it gets about 60, but keep the socks on.
23. You have actually used your mountain bike on a mountain.
24. You think people who use umbrellas are either wimps or tourists.
25. You buy new sunglasses every year, because you cannot find the old ones after such a long time.
26. You often switch from "heat" to "a/c" in the same day.
27. You design your kid's Halloween costume to fit under a raincoat.
28. You know all the important seasons: Almost Winter, Winter, Still Raining (Spring), Road Construction (Summer), Deer & Elk season (Fall).

And just in case you were trying: Sequim = "squim", Puyallup = "pyu-al-up", Issaquah = "iss-uh-qwah", Oregon = "oar-e-gun", Yakima = "yack-i-mah", Willamette = "will-am-ut". Pardon my phonetics.

The guy outside.

It's easy to get distracted during a meeting, but this week it was the worst:
The person speaking had his back to the window. Behind him, outside, the most inexplicable thing was happening. A normal-looking guy was walking through the park, pushing a grocery cart. He left the cart on the path, stepped into a wooded area, and returned with a large trash bag stuffed with "something". He placed it into the cart, wheeled it another 15 feet, and repeated the same thing. He did this until the cart was full, then he turned around and started pushing it down the street back the way he came.
I ask you: what was going on there???
Needless to say, I couldn't pay much attention to the meeting.