I decided to dye my hair pink

Here is a blurry picture.

Happy Monday!

finished product

As promised, here are the final products Anders and I made in our glassblowing class. Anders made the bowl on the left and mine is on the right. Anders' bowl is much larger and thinner while mine is smaller and thicker. I think this has to do with the fact that he probably had more wind than me. I love them both, though.

Anders and I have been trying to buy each other experiences for gifts rather than things, and while we did actually end up with "things" from this experience it really means a whole lot more to me that we went and did the workshop together. These bowls will now always remind me of that afternoon. 

If anyone is interested in doing this themselves, we went to the Seattle Glassblowing Studio downtown.

glassblowing

I bought Anders a glassblowing class for his birthday and today we went and cashed it in. Glassblowing is tricky and a bit overwhelming, but we had a really great instructor who showed us the ropes. First you have to heat up the colored glass in layers before adding the clear glass to the outside. Then, you blow to create an air bubble that make the circle for the bowl. The last step is to suck in, which creates the dip to make the bowl. If that sounds a bit vague, it's because I didn't really have any idea what I was doing. Still fun, though!

It takes very little to make me excited. NERD.

The bowls look orange in the pictures because the glass is still hot. We actually picked blue and green (Seahawks colors, you know). I get to pick up the bowls in a few days, so I'll post a picture of the finished product then.

i never fall apart because i never fall together

I love Andy Warhol. I think he is extremely interesting and I love his work, so when I found out the Seattle Art Museum was featuring him in a new exhibit called Pop Departures, I had to check it out. I only got 2 pictures taken before I found out that you can't take pictures (oops), but here is Warhol's "Elvis" and Roy Lichtenstein's "On." And if I can't have Warhol paint me a picture himself then the next best thing is to use the Pop Art photo booth in the lobby. 

city art

Artists, Claude Zervas and Joseph Park, (my co-worker's husband!) were commissioned to paint a mural on a fence in downtown Seattle. The fence is nothing special...it covers an ongoing downtown construction project, but Joe and Claude turned it into something spectacular. A few of us from work headed down there to check it out, and it was so colorful and vibrant and made me so happy. It will definitely cheer up the gloomy Seattle days this winter. Major props to the city of Seattle for working hard to turn the ordinary into the extraordinary. If you want to see it yourself it can be found on Cherry Street between 3rd and 4th Ave.

and here's a fun little video of my co-worker(s)

merry (early) christmas

It's football season, which means Anders and I spend every weekend in front of the TV watching our beloved team. It doesn't make for very interesting pictures and stories. However, this week was bye week (meaning the Seahawks rested and didn't play), so we ventured out of the house to visit our good friends and their cute kids. Sure, all we did was watch more football, but I did take a break to help the kids decorate their windows for Christmas. They are so stinkin' cute! I seriously can barely handle them. I'm totally ready for the Christmas season now.

swamp blues

When Anders and I were in New Orleans, we visited Jackson Square and admired all the artist who had their work displayed for sale around the square. Something about Troy Guilbeaux's work really spoke to us. His simple silhouettes were just so cool, and we decided to pick one out and take it home. This one is called Swamp Blues, which we thought summed up our southern road trip perfectly, and it is now hanging in our new kitchen. I love it. I'm also obsessed with second lines, and his paintings representing them are just so awesome (especially the ones that include the umbrellas). I might have to buy one eventually. 

parking day

One of my favorite days in Seattle is PARK(ing) Day where people turn metered parking spots into temporary mini parks....as in literally the park is the length of a parking spot. PARK(ing) day is actually not a Seattle only event, it takes place world wide and its mission is to call attention to the need for more urban open space. 

People get so creative about their spaces. I love spending my lunch hour looking at all the installations. My favorite one this year was a park that had easels set up with paints and brushes, and anyone off the street could sit down and paint. It was awesome!

Now, my painting ability can be compared to that of a kindergartner, but it was a rather therapeutic way to spend the lunch hour regardless. Check out the real artist, though!

Thanks for being so cool, Seattle!

summer solstice

Every year Freemont celebrates the solstice with a crazy, wacky, over the top  parade that includes all kinds of awesome costumes, weird characters and outstanding floats. This year was no exception, and the icing on the cake was that it was a sunny, clear and 80 degree day. Mother nature really got it right this year. Of course, the one draw back is that it doesn't make for very good pictures. The sun created lots of shadows and harsh light. But, even though my pictures were better last year, I'll take the sunshine over good photos any day! Here are a few, though.

My friend's son was SO excited about everything. So cute!

Happy Summer Solstice!

sated

I spent my lunch hour on Wednesday walking all the way to Winston Wachter Fine Art, so I could check out Dirk Staschke's Sated exhibit. I don't know a thing about art, but with pieces called "Let them Eat Cake" and "Confectional Facade" I didn't see how I could skip it. I mean, I'm all about the dessert! The only downside is that it made me want actual dessert. Anyway, it was delicious in every sense. All I had on me was my iphone, so please excuse the poor quality photos, but you can also see the professional pictures here.