company dinner

Every year, the owner of Pike Place Fish Market treats his entire staff and a guest to a fancy dinner. This year, it was held at the Madison Park Conservatory, and what a fancy dinner it was indeed! We enjoyed plate after plate of delicious food all served to us family style. We ate curried lamb ribs, beef tongue, pate with pickled grapes, ceasar salad with anchovies baked into the croutons, chicken, beef, emmer, olive oil gelato and a whole list of other lip-smacking fare. We left mighty full! This annual dinner is always such a nice treat. It's fun to see the boys outside of the market, and everyone relaxes, laughs a lot and eats even more.

It was a great start to our vacation. We leave for the airport shortly, so I'll be back this weekend with lots of pictures and stories!

getting ready

Anders and I leave for Mexico tomorrow and to say we are excited would be the understatement of the year. We are like kids on Christmas morning! Our favorite band, Widespread Panic, is celebrating their 25th anniversary of being a band. They have plans to take a year off and get some (well-deserved) rest, so they decided to go out with a bang and play four nights of shows in the Mayan Riviera! They are calling it Panic en la Playa. There are all kinds of fun activities planned including excursions and yoga and parties, and there is even a "silver night" where everyone gets to dress up in sparkly clothes for the last show of the trip. We are headed down there with a group of friends, which is just the icing to this already perfect cake.

So, let's recap...Our favorite band...playing four nights of shows...in Mexico...and I get to wear a costume? Okay, twist my arm!

For those of you not familiar with these southern rockers, I'll leave you with this video of them playing Travelin' Light...you might have wondered where my blog name came from anyway!

inspiring things

I feel like this has been a great internet week for me! I have come across so many inspiring things, and since things have been a little quiet this week, I thought you might want to check them out too.


1. Anders and I leave for Mexico on Monday (more on that later!), and I am so excited because I found this day pack that will be perfect for our trip. It's a bag made by Baggu, but what's so great about it is it folds within itself to create a teeny tiny pocket that is perfect for sticking down in your luggage. Then, when you get to your destination, you have a day pack all ready for your adventures. I love it! I bought this elephant one, but they have these bags in all kinds of colors and stripes.

2. I found this new blog called Low-Commitment Projects that's done by two art students. Every Monday morning they post a new art project. This past Monday, the art project was called Coffee and Milk, and I thought it was pure genius! So clever, fun and creative. I sat there drinking my coffee wishing I had thought of it first.

3. I also discovered this balloon company based in L.A. called Geronimo Balloon-Troopers. I sort of am obsessed with them. They create these GIANT balloons that you can have delivered to your party. I don't think I'll ever be able to afford one of these, but I'm thinking it might be a future DIY. Amazing, yes?

4. I found another blog called Wearing it on My Sleeves. Sarah (the author, great name) goes to thrift stores and finds cheap dresses and then alters them to fit her. HOW does she do this?!?! I have decided that I desperately need to learn to alter clothes. Think of all the money I could save thrifting and fixing dresses! She makes it look so easy. I'm definitely adding this to the top of my priority list.

5. And last, I found this amazing video on a blog called The Holy Kale. I have been doing yoga for a few years now, but, recently, I have really started investing more time in it. I have been trying to get to at least 5 classes a week. I am very much a beginner (I can't even touch my toes!), but if I keep with it maybe someday I'll end up like this girl. Heck, I would be happy if just my down dog looked like hers! She is absolutely STUNNING. This video made me want to start doing yoga pronto! Watch it any time you need a kick in the pants.

If anyone has anything inspiring to add, please leave it in the comments! I'm always looking for inspiring people, things and places!

taste-off

Yesterday we had a brownie taste-off. 

It was Duncan Hines versus the healthy Raw Brownie. 

It was determined that the raw brownie was indeed excellent, 

but if you were having a bad day...Duncan Hines was the way to go.

Just in case you ever wondered.

when in doubt...craft

When one finds herself home for a week because of snow, one tends to have a lot of time on her hands. There is only so much cleaning, laundry and coffee drinking a person can do (wait...wait...not that last one). Since one of my goals was to create more time for crafts, I figured snow days were the perfect time to make good on my promise. 

I made:

This fox shirt.

This skirt out of a men's shirt.

These cute mittens that I plan on dyeing as soon as I get some dye.

And these pillows made out of T-shirts!

And now Maggie will demonstrate the usefulness of these pillows.

Do you want to make your own?

1. Drawstring shirt tutorial on A Beautiful Mess.

2. Skirt tutorial on Megan Nielsen Design Diary.

3. (soon to be) Dip-dyed mittens by Skunkboy Creatures on the Modcloth blog.

4. T-shirt pillows are my own design, but feel free to email me if you really want a tutorial.

I'm thinking this goal can be marked a success, and it's only January. Snow days, I thank you.

here today, gone tomorrow

One minute you have a snow storm...

...and the next minute rain. 

So long snow! I thank you kindly for coming and giving me a week of snow days. You can go now.

backyard bonfire

The best thing about a snow day is making a visit to friends who are also snowed in. Dina and Jake invited us over for some Mexican hot chocolate, and it was the perfect thing to warm us up after we left the park. We hung out in their backyard; drinking warm drinks, eating sweet snacks and hanging by a warm fire. Of course, it ended up being a little too wet/rainy/snowy/windy/cold to stay out there too long, but the whole idea was so nice that we couldn't help but leave with a smile on our faces and warmth in our bellies. If being snowed in involves good friends and delicious drinks, then I'm all about it!

You can see Dina's pictures here.

snow days

It has been snowing like crazy the past few days, and Anders and I have both been cooped up in the house for way too long because of it. By yesterday, we had a severe case of cabin fever, and we decided the only thing to do was get bundled up, face the elements and head to Magnuson Park on Lake Washington. It might have been overly windy with an odd combination of wet snow mixed with rain, but we were so happy to be out that we didn't care a bit! 

I'm not a doctor, but I'm pretty sure cartwheels are a symptom of cabin fever.

afternoon snack

It snowed a bit over the weekend. It wasn't enough to cause any major concern, but it did cover the yard with a tiny dusting, and Maggie decided she needed to investigate. 

She wasn't so sure about it at first...

But then she realized she could eat it, and all was right in the world!

smash putt

We did something kind of different this past weekend. We met up with friends and went to Smash Putt! Smash Putt is a miniature golf course set up in a warehouse. The entire course was designed by artists and engineers who used their imaginative minds to come up with very unique holes. I really have never seen anything like this! Some holes were very traditional in that you hit the ball through a lane, but some holes didn't require the use of a club at all. For example, one hole was a shooting range. You shot your golf ball out of a gun! Check out the pictures below to see some shots of my favorite holes. 

Skee ball hole. You shot your golf ball up the lane just as you would in the classic arcade game.

Log Jammin' ...hit the ball around the logs!

Another non-conventional hole...you drop your ball in the top and then spin the wheel to get your ball to go through the maze. Make a wrong turn, and your ball would fall through a hole and land on the floor. The artist designed this after a game his son had.

It was hard! My ball fell to the floor...a lot.

This was one of my favorite holes. It was designed to look just like a living room with a couch, TV and a video game. You were welcome to sit, relax and play the game. However, then, the golfer had to try and shoot their ball through the living room! The people relaxing became the obstacle to shoot around.

Anders and Pat sit in the living room playing video games but are actually making it very hard to golf.

Laura decides to become an obstacle.

Such a unique night in the city! I loved this fun and different golf course. The exhibit/course runs through February, so, if you live in Seattle, I recommend checking it out. I give it an A+!