Somewhere inbetween

I am on a quest for inspiration. Being summer and perfect weather in Seattle (FINALLY!), I have been absorbing as much vitamin D as possible. I decided to drag J out to the Arboretum to soak up the sunshine and catch up on a bit of reading. I hear we Seattleites are severely lacking in this vitamin. I am hoping this will open my eyes to something new.

As much as I have enjoyed writing this blog, I have found myself at a loss of where to go next. Like my current state, I feel that my little venture lacks direction. I want more of a purpose than to "unburden" myself and use random writings as a creative outlet.

Saturday I participated in my first blog brunch in hopes of learning more about blogging and to find a little bit of inspiration through others' experiences. I felt such a sense of community watching my twitter feed explode with more and more insight. Here I was Saturday morning ready for the brunch to begin, equipped with my iced americano and my moleskin to take notes. Since blog brunch, I have been focusing on how to make my content meaningful to me, as well as to a potential viewer.


Topics to discuss (maybe):

-Fashion: I am obsessed, but like the average American, am a bit too self-conscious to photograph myself or ask someone to do it for me

-Cooking experiments: Over the couple of years I have struggled with weight gain, falling out of vegetarianism (& wanting to jump back aboard), becoming budget conscious (food is expensive, you know) and ultimately becoming more and more domestic... alas, my range/oven are so non-functional that it constantly sets off the fire alarm. No joke, after 5 minutes of being on, my oven will set off the fire alarm regardless if there is food in it or not. I am hoping I can finally experiment once we are all moved into the new place.

Did I mention we got the apartment?! I am so ridiculously excited to move out of the basement and into the sunlight once more. But most importantly, I am excited (& scared to no end since I have commitment-phobic tendencies) to build a home and a future with J.

I digress...

-Preschool: unlike any other job I have had, teaching preschool has given me some pretty amusing
(& relatable) stories to work with. You either love children, and sympathize with the joys and struggles of working with children, or you would rather have your teeth drilled than spend 40 hours a week nurturing young minds. Regardless of your position, most people find the mishaps relatable or hilarious. The only catch is that it is difficult, if not borderline inappropriate, to be taking pictures. And bloggers do love their pictures. Le sigh.

Aside from my existential woes of being in my early 20's and wanting to find my focus, I have enjoyed this gorgeous summer in Seattle thus far. I am celebrating the 70+ degree weather with copious amounts of ice cream/froyo... (is 3 out of 4 days too much?)

 And destroying delicious Korean food...

And of course, packing, packing, packing. Though J and I have 9 days till we can begin moving, I want to be READY. Last night I stayed up to pack up all my dvds and books. I now have around 6 boxes blocking my front door. Can you tell I am excited?




xoxo, Chris

Picture blast 6.29 to 7.7

Good morning! I am happy to report that summer has finally arrived in Seattle. We will see temperatures greater than 70 degrees for the next week. Insert fist pumping and squeals of delight here. Last I left you, I have been hunting for "the" apartment. After two weeks of drama, J and I finally found one we both liked that had not been snatched up. The Craigslist apartment hunt has gotten quite cutthroat by the way... 24 hour turnovers. Yikes! So for those of you who are looking to move out, you have been warned!

Now over a week since I last posted, we are (somewhat) patiently waiting for our application to be approved. I am waiting patiently while J is anxious with anticipation. Since then, this is what I have been up to when I haven't been knees deep in apartment business.


F R I D A Y 6.29

I am a little embarrassed to say that I have JUST discovered The Hills. It is my current go-to indulgent, girly, decompressing TV show. I am at the end of Season 2. J refuses to be anywhere near me when I turn it on. So here I am enjoying some quiet alone time: bottle of wine, ELLE magazine and The Hills. Not too shabby.


S A T U R D A Y 6.30  &  S U N D A Y 7.1

The theme for the day was PRODUCTIVITY! Having just been paid and hoping to prelease an apartment, meant that I must take care of business early (seriously, bills, I will pay you on time).  I spent the morning walking up and down Broadway; not that I minded since I stumbled upon some fun shops while savoring my morning americano. I do love to wander.

After accomplishing most of my to-do list, I spent some good quality time with my sister at Bimbo's and later at 9 Million In Unmarked Bills. The rest of the night will have to remain a mystery (I would like to keep it classy)... if you would like the rest of the story you will have to personally get it out of J.

The morning-after left me in recovery mode, ie: nibbling on some protein. Sunday was the Euro Cup final match. We had our sights on Café Presse but since they were full we were forced to find an alternative venue. Though the breakfast was mediocre, I enjoyed the game and the passion of the crowd, despite my low energy levels.


T U E S D A Y 7.3

Since all of Monday night was spent contacting and viewing apartments (which luckily ended in J and I applying for one at 10:00 pm and thus the reason for not discussing that day), Tuesday evening was spent relishing this "middle-of-the-week Friday." A trip to Yogurtland was required at my insistence.


W E D N E S D A Y 7.4

If only all Wednesdays could be spent like this...

We Seattleites know what's up... Summer does not begin until after the 4th of July, silly.  Once summer arrives, we know how to make the most of it. We started off with a delicious breakfast at Portage Bay before we headed out to Golden Gardens. I am happy to say that we beat the rush. We spent the mid-day lounging on the beach, cooking up a fire and some BBQ: the perfect, all-American 4th of July if I do say so myself. Alas, gingers do not fair well during peak sun time (even with the most potent of sunscreens), so we called it a day around 3 and decided to take in the new Spiderman movie. It was AMAZING. I will give you a name: Andrew Garfield. Oh, boy. We spent the rest of the day wandering, taking in downtown and the pier. We didn't ride the new ferris wheel though. That will have to be saved for another time.



 F R I D A Y 7.6

At preschool we are working on "Colors & Shapes: mix, match, draw" for the month of July. I am trying to think of fun, creative ways to teach the kiddos how to mix primary colors to get secondary ones. I showed them how the paint turns green when you mix blue and yellow. After, they got to use a kitchen tool to dip in the paint and stamp it to their papers. How would you teach 2.5-5 year olds about colors and shapes? My fear is being too repetitive. Also, if anyone has a suggestion for where I can find cute (not too cheesy) songs to teach at circle carpet I would love to hear from you.

The rest of the day was spent (finally!) enjoying the sun and pleasantly warm weather. Think low 70s with little humidity... H and I found a nice patio to enjoy the sun and sip on some beverages. Once the sun went down, two other gal pals, B and K, met up to grab a couple beers at Cha Cha and the Unicorn. We also indulged in late-night slices of pizza from Hot Mama's that I later regretted this morning. How else should we have celebrated the true beginning of summer in Seattle?



Ps. I want more oxfords. I found that pic in Glamour Magazine and love some of the ones they pictured. What kinds oxfords do you like?