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

6.19 to 6.24 (picture heavy!)

Sorry for the picture dump. Most of my week was spent with the girlfriends. Many friends were coming and going that every night I had plans with another friend who was leaving town or had just gotten back from extended time away.


T U E S D A Y

Tuesday night I grabbed a quick happy hour bite at La Isla and then met up with M for some much needed foot pampering. We went to LT nails in Ballard. It was a truly wonderful experience with the nicest little Asian ladies and not too badly priced. After that, we had late night happy hour at Shiku, where H joined us, on Old Ballard Ave. Even later that night, J asked me to pick him up from Golden Gardens but ended up staying out longer than intended.


W E D N E S D A Y
Unfortunately, no pictures for this day... I took my first Capoeira class with S at Axé Capoeira Studio on 15th Ave E. If you haven't heard of Capoeira, please youtube it. It is a mixed style of Brazilian martial arts and dance. The class kicked my butt but was a fun way for me to break up my normal routine. I will definitely give Capoeira another try.

T H U R S D A Y

Thursday I met up with my friend, A, who I hadn't seen in over a year. She just finished up her degree at UW and was preparing to move back to California. A and I studied abroad in Paris together back in 2008. K (who also studied abroad with us) and J (much to his dismay) joined the fun. We spent the night gorging ourselves on Cha Cha happy hour and vegan desserts at Plum Bistro (my favorite restaurant).


F R I D A Y

Friday I met S and H (spent a lot of quality time with her this week) for happy hour at Meza for S's send-off to Paris. The afternoon turned into a quiet girls night at S's place filled with bubbly, a bit of Beiber and The Mask of Zorro. My dear friend, S is getting married during the July-August months to her longtime boyfriend. I will miss having her in Seattle and am disappointed that I will not be present to celebrate such an exciting day with her. xoxo, S!!


S A T U R D A Y

For those that are not soccer fans, it is the year of the Euro Cup. Despite my ties to France (I am fond of their national team, took 2 years of college french and studied in Paris), I have been a long-time supporter of the Spanish. Gotta love me some David Villa and Torres! I was pumped to celebrate Spain's 2-0 victory. J and I arrived at Café Pressé, 2 minutes after kick-off, to find the front of the house packed and no available tables or bar stools. We reconciled to wait, which turned out to be for the entire game, before a spot opened at the bar. It was well worth the it.

J and I also saw Brave. Being the emotional and sensitive girl that I am (I grew up with my mom and two younger sisters), I LOVED the movie. I totally understand the complicated mother-daughter relationship.



S U N D A Y

Sunday stands for lazy day. J, his roommate (also conveniently named J) and I woke up just in time to hurry to The Dish for some fantastic brunch. The Dish is one of my favorite breakfast spots. Seriously, if you haven't gone, do yourself a favor and GO! I have had their biscuits and gravy, eggs benedict, and tofu scramble... you can't go wrong. This time I decided to mix it up and order the Slacker Especial. It did not disappoint. Afterward, I dragged the boys back to the house in time to watch the Italy v England game. It was very exciting to watch them go into overtime and then into penalty kicks.... the boys hid in J's room while I sat on the couch screaming at the television.

The rest of the day was spent with a pastry, magazines and eventually the new Wes Andersen film, Moonlight Kingdom, which I actually really liked. I thought the plot was simple and quirky in a very charming way. Please go see it.






If you read this whole entry I am sincerely impressed. xoxo  -C