Buying a House Leads to Scrambled Egg Brain

Last Thursday morning, I headed off to grad school like any other BGI weekend. Green backpack packed, my computer bag in tow, already missing Matt and exhausted from the late night meeting the night before.

Classes went well, and I was feeling grounded. This weekend was going to be good and my focus was going to be ON!

Ha.

Friday evening was the start of brain chaos. Before I went to bed I noticed an alert on my email about a new house on the market, so I opened it up. Immediate interest. Since I could not invest too much energy into thinking about it I emailed it to Matt and went to bed. In the morning I broached the subject with him about checking it out without me. He was sleep deprived, and had plans with his brother that afternoon so I did not want to push, but we both agreed that we would regret missing the opportunity to see the house. Since new houses are flying off the market mere hours after being listed, we knew our window was short.

So off to the ferry Matt went. He walked the house with our relator and came back with a glowing report. Half a dozen phone calls later, many details exchanged over text messages, and running budget numbers between classes…we had an offer in and I had not even seen the house!

Needless to say my brain was toast by Saturday afternoon. Or scrambled eggs.

Sunday morning arrived with no emails or news from our agent, and my heart raced all morning. I even had to take some time after breakfast to meditate a few minutes since my heart was beating so rapidly. I needed to calm down.

Class went well, and finally I was home around 1 with the plan to drive to Tacoma for Grandpo’s birthday as soon as Matt got home. I collapsed on the couch confused by some conflicting information and the shear stress of all this information and decisions. Finally Matt came home, and we made the split second decision that I needed to see the house on the way. So off to the ferry we went. In less than 40 minutes we were pulling up to the house.

After walking inside everything clicked. This house was exactly what we had been searching for! Matt was so right when he called it.

We walked all the rooms, walked around the beautiful yard and signed the papers to go under contract.

And then bolted to the Tacoma ferry. This was a new ferry for us, and proved to be a great connection off the island. The water was calm and deep blue, a stunning way to decompress and bask in the excitement of our house situation! We got off the ferry and arrived with just enough time to relax in the hot tub before the birthday dinner.

Stay tuned for more!

Garage Sale Treasures

We woke up Saturday morning too full of birthday cake to want a real breakfast, so Matt and I made coffee and shared a banana before heading out for a garage sale adventure. The annual West Seattle Garage sale started at 9, so we checked the map, put on our sneakers, and around 9:30 headed out to explore the neighborhood on foot. It was a beautiful slightly cool morning, perfect to walk in a t-shirt. We headed south first, finding our first treasure (two bright fabric tablecloths), then found our way headed north. It was a beautiful day so why not walk it all?

Our next find was a pair of cross country skis for Matt (which we put a deposit on since we did not have the cash on hand), some math shape blocks (remember those from elementary school???), a gold watch and finally our crown jewel of the day: an antique bamboo picnic basket like the one Matt grew up with! We still did not have any cash at this point, so we trekked over to the grocery store to pick up dinner stuff…and get cash back. Anything to outsmart the ATM fees! We walked back to the garage sale with the basket, and negotiated the price down to $12! Amazing deal…this one would be $40-$60 somewhere else!

We walked back to pay for the skis, and then finally home. When we got there we realized that we had been out walking for over 3 hours!

The day’s adventure was not over yet! We played a quick game of Carcassonne and then jumped on the ferry to Vashon to check out some houses! Our realtor showed us 4, none fit the bill. We did see a super cool beachfront craftsman that would have been perfect in a different time in our lives. It was just the wrong arrangement of land, and too much work to fix up. Beautiful home though, and really felt good to be in. We are back to waiting for the perfect place to come on the market. Patience

Dinner was leftover burgers in the backyard. What a perfect Saturday!

Surprise 30th-and-a-half Party

In two words: epic success.

Matt’s party was better than I could have planned. Everything came together, the surprise was a surprise, and it was more appreciated (and needed) than I ever could have imagined.

Things really started months ago, when I tried to come up with a plan to make up for “missing” Matt’s 30^th birthday for my best friend’s wedding. I conceived of the idea of a surprise half birthday party, and it really took hold. Fast forward to a few weeks ago, I sent a stealthy Facebook message and a barrage of texts to everyone I could think of marking the date and time on their calendars. Originally planned as a pizza and game night, our freak amazing weather turned it into a backyard BBQ. Now the question was: how do I pull this off? With the party on Friday (also Matt’s day off) how to I pull together the house, décor, food and SURPRISE without him knowing what was up? My sweet husband supplied the solution to this quandary all on his own: let’s have a couples game night BBQ (aka: the married friends that Lauren brought into our group). Perfect! They were all invited anyway so it was the perfect setup. Matt meanwhile invited all his single buddies over the NEXT weekend for a guy’s game night when I am at school.

Since we were having people over, Matt was in full prep mode on Friday: clean the house, make burgers from scratch, weed whack the back yard. He did not even question the fact that we were making WAY too many burgers for a small group of friends (Oh yea baby, I know we don’t need that many. We can just freeze the extras for more BBQs this summer! Brilliant!) I hid the extra set of buns, and snuck the awesome Safeway cake into the house while he was busy working in the back yard with earplugs in.

Around six o’clock his buddy Matt showed up (invited to both parties so this made no waves). They were handing out in the back yard when Jeff arrived, bringing Matt’s favorite beer. Matt was all confused, and figured Jeff mixed up the dates for this weekend and next, and Jeff played along and it was great. Not even three minutes later, Ross arrives, totally throwing Matt off with surprise! We break the news that the BBQ was to celebrate him and from then on there was a permanent smile plastered to my sweet husband’s face. He was amazed when his buddy Chris showed up, then Michael and Brianna, and both his brothers with their ladies. His whole wedding line-up was there and that is an impossible group to pull together!

We cooked burgers and hotdogs, ate tons of food, and sang happy half birthday to him in the backyard. Matt even got to make a little speech which he said made up for his regret that he did not say more public “thank yous” at our wedding.

After a long week of work stress, this was exactly what Matt needed to remind him how much he is loved. It was wonderful to see the pure joy on his face for a true surprise party (which he has always wanted), and have a great time with friends.

Surprise birthday: success.

Cake Stress

Why do I do this to myself? All week I have been losing sleep over cake.

CAKE.

Seriously!?

For months now I have been planning a surprise 30^th-and-a-half birthday gathering for my sweet husband. As his 30^th birthday was the same day as my best friend’s wedding, it was epic fun, but lost some of the glory that you deserve on such a milestone. So this has been my plan since last year.

I carefully stalked from-scratch yellow cake recipes and the perfect chocolate frosting (even finding his Mom’s recipe that he grew up with). Then I realized my fatal flaw: I have no time to bake a cake…let alone a SURPRISE cake! The party is Friday, also known as his day off. I can’t even go into work late and make it since he is home!

So, I have been losing sleep. Planning the party is challenging enough. How do I pull this off? I managed to get everyone invited…then Matt proposed the grand idea of having a BBQ this weekend! Ok, so he thinks we are having a small get together with a few of my friends. Little does he know that ALL his buddies will be there too, and a cake!

Yes, back to the cake. After finally sending a plea to my support posse (aka: Mom & Jenny) for help, both of them came back with a solution: just buy him a Safeway cake. It is his favorite kind anyway, and would save me SO much time. Thank you both from reeling in this overcommitted DIYer, I needed that.

I am happy to report that the cake is ordered. White on white with a massive beach scene on the front…and it was even on sale!

So here is to the party! I am going to need a glass of wine with my cake.

Mi. Si Hike

When it hits 70 in Seattle, no one is indoors…except those of us in grad school who are banging our heads against the wall for accounting homework (and Matt who is at work banging his head against the wall). We are looking forward to grilling up some halibut in the backyard tonight and having a bonfire to celebrate the end of the sunny weekend.

Leading up to our work filled day today has been a great weekend! Matt cleaned house on Friday while I was at work, then we went to our friends Benny and Lana’s house for a great salmon dinner on the deck. Oh it feels like summer!

Taking advantage of Matt’s parents living out towards the mountains, we spent the night there on Friday to get a jump start for a day of hiking. We cooked up a great breakfast feast – grits, eggs, bacon, fruit and scones – and then headed off to conquer Mt. Si.

This beautiful hike is #1 in popularity for Seattlites. It is close to Seattle, but still gets you into the mountains, is easy to access, and is a great workout. 8 miles round trip, with 3000+ ft elevation gain makes it a good challenge, but not impossible. We packed our sandwiches and at lunch at the top with a stunning view of Mt. Rainer. Beautiful, beautiful day.

On the way home we grabbed some groceries, including fresh halibut for dinner (last night and tonight’s!) and had a low key evening at home. What a great weekend…now, back to accounting.

May Day

Happy May Day

It is a stunningly perfect sunshine filled day here in Seattle on May 1, but the news is nothing but warnings reminiscent of last years public demonstrations turned violent. For me, May Day is about spring and neighbors, so that is what I will focus on.

May Day cones made from wallpaper are still one of my favorite childhood memories, and symbolize all that is still good and beautiful in the world.

A Few of my New Favorite Things

Sunshine in Seattle! It will be the perfect afternoon to take a house hunting trip out to Vashon. A few new places are on the market, so we are going to check them out…even if it means I have to attend class tonight from my phone. Thank goodness for technology!

On Sunday I had a wonderful lunch with my mother in law at a great place near our house: Chaco Canyon. Everything is organic and vegan and AMAZING! I had a vegan ruben made with homemade seitan…YUM! I was blown away. We will be back again for sure!

After a full afternoon of homework, it was good to relax with Matt and just eat leftovers for dinner. An easy end to the weekend.

Today I wanted to introduce my new sidekick: my bkr water bottle! These glass bottles with silicone sleeves are awesome, and so much better than my metal or plastic ones. I ordered a bright orange one and love it! Late new year’s resolution (again): drink more water!