Pictures from beach day.

As promised, here are the additional pictures I took with my camera from the beach earlier this week. Crossing my fingers that we will get more of the same later today.... there is no better place to be than this gorgeous area of Washington state when the sun is shining.

From our spot on Madison beach, a shot of 520- the floating bridge that connects Seattle to the eastside (of Lake Washington for those of you who don't live here).

A shot out to the hills of the south.

As I soon found out, it was quite frigid. But once you got used to it, it was pretty refreshing on a hot day.

Running back to the towel so I could lay down, soak up some sun and get warm!!

As we were heading home, I snapped a shot of Madison beach where we just were from the 520 bridge. The beach is just to the right of those tall buildings.

And a completely clear shot of Mount Rainier. Absolutely never ceases to amaze me with its stunning beauty on the clear days here.

Washington heat wave.

I was originally going to make fun of everyone in Washington when they started issuing heat warnings when it was EIGHTY degrees outside. I mean, 80? Come on. Grow some balls, people. 80 is PERFECT. But, I have to say, it was rather hot today so perhaps the heat warnings are a little bit more warranted now:

95 degrees at 5:09pm. That's fairly hot, I'd say. Granted, I am still loving it but for most of the true Seattle-ites, they melted about 15 degrees ago. As evidenced by the heat warnings at 80 degrees.

I had a KILLER headache today so I just ran inside at the gym. The killer headache was spawned by some complete and utter bullshit at work that I can't talk about in this forum. One of these days, let's hope I'll be able to. Anyway, as a result of the war raging between my ears, I wanted to just get my workout over with. And it was my long run day too so I was kind of bummed that my head decided that it might just blow up all over the city of Bellevue. But I was determined to get some sort of run in since Thursday is my long run day. Since I hadn't run all week or at least not a long distance since the rolled ankle incident, I decided I would just do 6 miles and call it good. So, 6 miles at about a ten minute mile pace it was. It wasn't too bad and the headache kind of diminished throughout the workout so I was happy about that. I was also happy when it was over, which was totally bizarre for me because I can usually just keep going and going. Sometimes I guess it's good to just listen to your body. I was NOT happy when the headache promptly returned after I stopped running... so maybe I should have just kept running? Ah, who knows. Regardless, I went home and stretched and fed the headache with chocolate...and more spicy tofu, though not simultaneously. I do sometimes have weird combinations but even I would wrinkle my nose at a chocolate/Tofu combo.

The first hot day of summer.

I probably just jinxed this weather that has FINALLY arrived in Washington state by using the "s" word (summer) BUT. Today it was 90 blissful degrees. I was in hot weather heaven. I am truly a Phoenix girl at heart. Remind me again, why did I leave when I crave the heat so much and we don't get it here for OVER 300 days? Oh that's right...the boy. Hmm. Well, anyway, I left work early today to soak up the glorious sun and hot weather while everyone else from Washington huddled inside and complained about it being too hot. Waaaah. Poor babies.

When I got home, I went on an hour long bike ride in the middle of the afternoon which felt SO freaking good. I got to wear a tank top and shorts so I also got more tan! Bonus! After the bike ride, I decided to take Bella on a walk. It was just going to be a short walk but ended up being about 45-50 minutes. She was DYING. It was still 90 degrees at 5pm so I can't really blame her but that girl is a pure Washington dog. Or maybe just a boxer that doesn't like heat.

Just a few minutes in, already looking at me like REALLY? Why the torture? Remember when you ate my BOOK? THAT'S WHY.

And later on in the walk, the tongue might just reach the ground...

After arriving home. Aaaaahh, cool wood floors, that's a little bit better.

After working out in the sun for almost two hours, I was pretty much ready to eat my arm off. Ok, that's kind of a gross analogy. I'll try again. I was ready to eat everything in the kitchen. Better. After showering I made up some spicy tofu with olive oil, garlic, red hot peppers and black pepper and made a giant salad to go with it with the farmer's market vegetables we still have from our trip to the market last weekend. It was the perfect ending to a perfect summer day. I'm trying not to think that this was the kind of day I enjoyed about 362 days of the year in Phoenix. That is just depressing. I miss that city so much, especially when I am so strongly reminded of it.

A little bit of a boob talk.

I'm perplexed. And a little bothered.

We went to Victoria's secret on Saturday, like I mentioned here, to use a gift certificate I've had since December. So I knew exactly what I was looking for, the type of bras I like BUT that line had been discontinued. Bummer. So I went with the line that was the extension of the line of the bra that I had previously liked. The only difference? Now this line makes your boobs a full cup size bigger. WHAT?! I picked up a bra and I'm not even kidding, I think I could stuff a full pillow with the amount of padding in there. Granted, I am not a large chested gal as most people know BUT ARE YOU KIDDING ME? I think if I show up ANYWHERE a full cup size BIGGER, people are going to look at me like, um? Did she get a boob job or what? So my thought was, well, I'll just try them and see. It can't be THAT bad and I do need a little bit of padding. And by saying I try them I mean, I bought 5 to try on at home. I HATE HATE HATE trying things on in stores. Is anyone else quirky like this? I just think it's so obnoxious. Especially bras because it requires taking EVERYTHING off. No thanks. This is how I ended up with the gift certificate, anyway. Bought a bunch of bras, only a couple worked, and ended up with a $250 gift certificate that I used 7 months later on bras that are supposedly A FULL CUP SIZE bigger than me.

This just sounds so ridiculous.

But it doesn't even end there. BECAUSE has anyone been to VS lately? Do you know that you can buy a full cup sized bra bigger AND with NIPPLES? I. AM. NOT. KIDDING. These bras, there are options where you can get a full cup size bigger with nipples sticking out. Fake ones. As if to say, hey, my boobs are real, SEE! NIPPLES! And here is where my friend and I just looked at each other and throughout the day just kept saying, "God, those nipples, what the HELL!?" I mean, do people actually buy those? Is it so they can look like their full cup size boobs look real because they are nipping out? I mean, seriously, you have got to be kidding me. Am I just missing out on some huge trend? And if so, I think I'm ok with that. It's a little bit disturbing.

So, now I have 5 full cup size bigger bras sitting at home WITHOUT the nipples, to clarify. I did try one of said bras on. And I just don't know. It looks ridiculous to me. I have no idea if it's just messing with my head due to its claims of being a full cup size bigger or if it's just actually that ridiculous that it actually is a full cup size bigger. I need another opinion.

But seriously, the nipple thing? WEIRD. Like I said to start: completely perplexing. I mean, honestly, if the point is really to fake the boobs to the point of buying a bra a full cup size bigger WITH nipples, why not just get an actual boob job? Then at least when the bra comes off, whoever you're with isn't sadly disappointed and explaining, "but there were nipples! I swore those were real!" Seriously. F-ed up.

Another weekend day? Yes please.

I woke up this morning and the weather forecast was 80 degrees. EIGHTY. Now, my whole theory in Washington is that if it's over 75 degrees, NO ONE should be working. In fact, if it's over 80 degrees on the 5 days this happens every year in Washington, I think that it should be STATE LAW that everyone take the day off work. Of course, then all the true Washington people would melt and die but people like me, a true sun-girl at heart, would really appreciate the state law of being in the warm sun when it's actually out.

Anyway, I decided that it was too nice to go to work I should have a day off to enjoy the weather. So that's exactly what happened. I took the day off, dropped the dog off at the neighbors and off we went. First stop: Ladro, second stop: Mount Si, take 3. We wanted to hike but didn't want anything major after putting in a LOT of miles over the weekend. I was at 34 miles for the weekend as of Tuesday morning so my poor little legs were a little tired. Not to mention, on the first day of the weekend (Saturday) I rolled my ankle so having that many miles plus a rolled ankle? Yeah, I'm not always this brilliant. So, we opted for Mount Si. We got out there around 8:30 and it was PERFECT. Weather was awesome, trail was quiet and it was BEAUTIFUL. We were a little slower than the last couple of times. From mile 3-4 I was DYING and from mile 7-8 Tim was DYING. Of course, Tim wore his toe shoes so I say it's his own fault for dying but oh well. And a note to EVERYONE on the hike who must comment on the toe shoes? STOP ENABLING HIM!! He is already obsessed with them, let's not enforce it more. As a sidenote, I'm still trying to wear mine more... I do believe that barefoot running could be good but man, that one time I walked 8 miles in them? OW.

A shot of the woods going up.

At the top of Mount Si, the view was so clear we could see Mount Rainier. UNBELIEVABLE. We have never seen Rainier on the top of Si before and it was just astounding.

A view to the east of the mountain range.

And another view of Mt Rainier.

After hiking Si, we headed STRAIGHT for the beach. The FAVORITE beach (where no dogs are allowed): Madison beach across the water in Seattle. Madison is so fun and I've been there a couple of times already this summer. It's in a pretty eclectic and young area of Seattle and the crowd there is always very laid back, colorful, nice and full of interesting characters. Most of the time, we are basking in the sun people watching...until it gets too hot and we want to jump in the lake or dive off the diving boards into the lake. The above picture is the road driving into madison. I love this road, I always think it's so pretty.

Madison street! We are almost there...

And a shot of the sidewalk heading down to the beach. Madison is full of fun local shops and restaurants. We used to go to the beach and then to dinner in this area. So fun.

I have more pictures on my actual camera (not iphone photos) from our day at the beach that I'll have to upload later. We spent several hours here before heading back to the eastside. It was such a perfect day.... perfect weather, awesome workout hike, and amazing day laying in the sun at the beach. I just feel bad for blinding so many people with my ghost white skin when I first got there.... But, alas, now I have some color. I'll cross our fingers for many more beach days ahead... As a a complete sidenote, today also happens to be my parents 36th wedding anniversary! 36 years. Wow. So awesome. They are truly such a great example of what marriage should look like.

And the weekend continues....

Seriously, there is nothing better than long weekends. Why don't we do this EVERY week? First up? I washed my filthy car and took Bella for an hour long walk.

Almost clean car.....

Pretty clean Alfred. I should have taken a picture of my hands...they were BLACK. Gross! After that, it was time for the faux hike again. It's still 10 miles and it sounded like fun. So, after a stop at Ladro, it was go time. Once again, it did not disappoint. After that, it was a sort of post fourth of July feast at my house:

Sauteed farmer's market veggies (zucchini and mushrooms) plus fresh corn ears....

Patriotic potatoes....

So. The potatoes. Everyone knows I've been in some weird cooking phase. Welcome to another round. I got this weird idea to make twice baked potatoes... vegan style! (aka not using milk). So, I found this recipe in in Tal Ronnen's cookbook, The Conscious Cook, (a vegan cookbook) for cashew cream. It's basically a substitute for anything cream or milk based... and it's SO EASY. Basically you soak 2 cups of whole raw cashews in cold water in the refrigerator overnight, then drain, put in a blender, top with more cold water (use less for thicker consistency, more for thinner), blend and VOILA. You can also just use a couple of tablespoons of water when you blend and throw in some herbs and you have a cashew cheese-type spread. I have never used the above blender and got it as a wedding present at my FIRST wedding so this baby has been sitting dormant for, oh, YEARS. WHY?!?! After dusting it off, I realized how it was SO easy to use, even though it sounded like a small airplane was taking off in my house. I'm definitely going to be putting this to use more often.

The finished product- cashew cream. I was a little skeptical at this point... I really didn't know if it would end up being any good in the twice baked potatoes.

The finished product- twice baked potatoes with cashew cream, garlic, pepper, and some butter (I used earth balance vegan/vegetable butter). Um. LET ME JUST SAY. The cashew cream? AMAZING. It was SO GOOD. I probably could have inhaled all of the potatoes by myself. Not kidding. The only thing I would change is I probably wouldn't make two whole cups of it... I didn't even make a dent in it for the potatoes so now I have pretty much two cups of cashew cream that I don't really know what to do with. I could probably freeze it or something but I'm thinking I might just make a giant batch of mashed potatoes to use it up along with the potatoes that I bought at the market.

OH and the corn on the cob which we ended up cutting off the cob and throwing on the salad. HOLY GOD...fresh corn? YUM. I guess I'm on a burger/fresh veggie kick. Burgers and tons of fresh veggies just scream summer food so I think it's just a residual craving of the season... assuming that the season (aka hot weather) ever fully arrives in Seattle....

The 4th of July.

I am not really a fan of the 4th of July. Don't get me wrong- I like the concept of the holiday and I LOVE the time off work.

But.

Let me explain.

To me, the 4th of July was such a fun holiday growing up. It embodied the epitome of summer back home. Back home meaning the midwest. It was usually warm, full of friends, family, fireworks, perfect summer food which included the best of all things summer: grilling, watermelon, corn on the cob. I remember many 4ths where we had fun days with friends and family followed by shooting off fireworks of our own (which is allowed in the part of Missouri that I'm from) and then we would all pile in together to go watch a fireworks show close by. It was always such a perfect day followed by dropping dead with exhaustion into bed at night.

In the past few years, the 4th of July has been a little bittersweet for me. I had a couple of friends back in the midwest that got married right around the 4th of July. Such good friends at the time but because of some life changes that happened with me, these friends are no longer such a central part of my life. I look back at those times and feel happy for having shared the memories but sad that I am no longer involved in the groups of people that I was with surrounding the holidays of those years.

Shortly after the wedding that I attended around the 4th in 2006, things in my personal life continued to crumble and I went through a devastating period which I have described in detail on this blog before. Meaning: I won't go there again now. Needless to say, the next 4th I was living in Seattle. I still look back from that period of July 2006 to July 2007 and think HOLY SHIT, it really is true what people say in that things can change DRAMATICALLY from one year to the next. I had no idea it was to that extreme. The extreme as in: I moved to SEATTLE for a guy I didn't even remotely KNOW a year ago. WHAT?!

In July 2007, I was one month in to living in Seattle... and FREEZING. I quickly learned that the 4th of July here was NOTHING like the 4th of July's of my childhood. They are typically cold, if not rainy. I also learned quickly up here that the slogan in Seattle is "summer starts on July 5th." That first 4th in Seattle, I hiked with Tim and then spent the evening with people watching a local fireworks show bundled in blankets and sweaters while he worked. It was perfect in it's own Seattle 4th of July type of way. But, alas, I am not a cold weather person so after that 4th, I have kind of resigned myself to taking it easy if I am in Seattle on the 4th. Fireworks + freezing cold = not my thing, as wimpy as that might seem.

So the past couple of years have been very low key... including this one. I hung around in the neighborhood. I walked the dog. I made dinner. I really did enjoy the day. I contemplated going to a few different parties I had been invited to but opted to stay close to home instead. I thought about how cool the concept of the 4th was...and how lucky I am to be living in this country, despite its many faults. And mostly, I missed home. I missed the feeling of the 4th in the midwest...the definition of the summers of my childhood. I missed my family. I missed it feeling like summer, even if for this one day summer is defined by heat and watermelon and corn on the cob. It's one of the days of the year that I truly miss the midwest, that feeling of summer, the carefree nature of the day, the pure euphoria of feeling that everything is right in the world.

That being said, it's still a great holiday for our country and I truly do feel lucky to be a part of this nation. Hopefully everyone out there had an enjoyable 4th...whether it was low key or high strung or just plain crazy.

An eventful Saturday.

First things first: errands followed by a small, local hike.

First stop: Farmer's market! The farmer's market runs May through October here every Saturday but I haven't made it to the market yet. (As a sidenote, there are quite a few farmer's markets in various pockets of Seattle that run on all different days of the week but I usually go to the one in Redmond...on Saturdays). I was SUPER excited about this stop.

Since it was a holiday weekend, I wasn't able to take Bella out to her favorite place so we had her for the day. She stayed in the car since she would have been ballistic on this stop from the smells, other dogs, etc. And she probably would have at least taken one crap in the middle of the crowd. Not cool. So she waited for us. By the way, doesn't it look like summer here?? (Sarcasm)

And, after arriving home: some of the loot included potatoes...

Baby carrots...

Cucumber and garlic....

GIANT sized snap peas...

And bing cherries. I also got strawberries, cilantro, kale, broccoli, and tomatoes that weren't shown above. All were organic and locally grown. SO GOOD. There is really nothing like fresh produce. After the farmers market we made a quick stop at REI for some socks to go in the crazy toe shoes (see here), Victoria's secret since we were close to it and I had a gift certificate that I hadn't used since, oh, Christmas, Whole foods for some other staples, and the library. Ok, let's just get it out there that I am NOT a major shopper...most of the time. There are exceptions to this but when I want to get a hike in? NOT a major shopper. I am in and out and done. So this whole trip from point a (farmer's market) to point b (library)? Took less than 2 hours. About an hour and a half actually. GUESS WHO IS A BAD, BAD DOG?

Let's just say that the above is one library book that won't be going back to the library. She actually gets tied up in the back of the car to avoid eating the car (because she is an energy ball that doesn't know how to control her boredom after 2.5 seconds) but this time, she had JUST enough give to jump over the seat and snack on a 600 page book. To say I was slightly annoyed would not be accurate. Infuriated might be a better word. I mean, we are talking about a TWO YEAR OLD dog here who a) knows better and b) ran her ass off the day before so waiting patiently for 1.5 hours in the car (at the time of the book eating it was 45 minutes!) shouldn't be a big deal!!! Oh, I was LIVID. I know, I know, it's just a book, but the whole principle of the thing just annoyed me... the whole idea that THIS is why I can never leave her home alone unless she is in a crate. I digress.

I eventually made it home and put everything away including my now MASSIVE stock of peanut butter. I really like peanut butter. Who doesn't?! After the slightly stressful morning and 5 poops/average of one poop an hour from the Dog Who Never Stops Shitting and Can't Stay Home Alone, we made it out to St Edwards park. It's a local "hike" which is really only part hiking and the rest is just a nice walk through the woods. We do two loops that are about 3.5 miles each and about .5 miles of each is actually HARD hiking straight up and out of the woods. We then finish off the workout by doing an extra two mile loop that mountain bikers in the area use. It's actually a really good workout and close, too, if we don't feel like going out to the mountains but want a little bit of a faux hike. ALTHOUGH. On this faux hike, I had a not so brilliant moment when I walked over a root and completely rolled my ankle. On the foot that has spent the better part of the past 11 months in physical therapy trying to heal. Awesome. It was definitely NOT cool. Hoping it doesn't turn out to be any sort of a set back or anything major. I was annoyed once again because, really? If I re-injure it, I at least want to have a cool war story! Not just some root on a little faux hike! Of course I kept hiking away after that. Stupid foot.

Once home, we made a giant farmer's market salad with veggie burgers. It was the perfect summer dinner and again, there is just nothing better than fresh veggies.

Later that night, I decided it would be a wise decision to break out the trusty ice pack after rolling the ankle. My foot has missed this long lost friend anyway.