last week at the gorge

before i share some pics of the amazing concert we went to last week, can i ask you to send some good vibes to some of our best friends who just gave birth to their son at 30 weeks? he's in the NICU and to make it more complicated, they were visiting DC from NYC when she went into labor, so they're stuck away from home for at least a month while he gets stronger. i'm really proud of the way our group of friends sprung into action to send love and support, but if anyone has ideas on how we can best take care of them during the next few weeks, i'm all ears! and of course, sending some get strong thoughts to sweet owen would be amazing. thank you!

so last friday after we packed up in seattle, our first stop en route to california was at the gorge, this incredible concert venue in eastern washington that overlooks the columbia river. it's so beautiful on its own, the concert itself is almost an afterthought. we saw arcade fire (SO GOOD) and the people-watching was probably the other highlight outside of all that nature. some very... um, special people made the trek out to the middle of nowhere - obviously, we are totally normal and don't fall into that category. right? right. anyways, i was on a sunset picture taking tear. kind of hard not to be, i mean look at that view. oh, and of course, arcade fire was totally amazing and i'd highly recommend catching them live if you can!

serious concert selfie

totally normal, just like i said. right?

just a bunch of normal matching french shoes. because we're normal.

so long, seattle. next stop: california.

well, today another chapter of our epic summer adventure comes to an end. remember when we lived in nyc? yeah, me neither. that was approximately seven million years ago at this point. anyways, we've been spoiled rotten in seattle both by the weather and by blake's parents, but our three weeks here have totally flown by! i could happily stay another month, but it's time for us to pack up and keep on moving. and by pack up, of course i mean throw all of our clothes in the trunk of the car because i'm sick of packing suitcases. might even use a garbage bag or two, that's how classy our travel has become!

tonight, we're headed to see arcade fire at the gorge, which i am so excited about, and then tomorrow, we head out from eastern washington down to sacramento, where our next pit stop is at my dad's house until the 15th. anybody have a good road trip playlist that lasts, oh, i don't know, 12 hours or so? i predict an epic battle for control of spotify tomorrow.

i'll leave you with one final amazing seattle sunset seen from the deck last night, as i've got some clothes to put in trash bags. see ya in california!

our weekend was: the blue angels and bbq edition

it was our final weekend here in seattle, and if there's one thing i learned about this city, it's that once a year, they go absolutely apeshit for the blue angels. there's an annual festival called sea fair which has all kinds of parades, hydroplane races, military demonstrations, and other assorted weird... i mean interesting activities. and the highlight of sea fair is the BLUE MOTHERFREAKIN ANGELS. i mean, i'm not gonna lie, i got pretty swept up into it. we watched them practice on thursday, went to a friend's deck to watch a show on friday, and then went across the city to a beach for primo viewing of their show on saturday. yes, for those of you keeping track at home, that's three days worth of airplane acrobatics.

it's pretty damn hard to watch them and not fist pump while yelling "AMERICAAAAA!!!" at the same time. also, it doesn't hurt that they're all super dreamy, as if handsomeness is some kind of job requirement. in fact, i wouldn't be surprised if it is. needless to say, our weekend pretty much revolved around the MOTHER FREAKING BLUE ANGELS! but we did some other stuff too!

on sunday, we hosted a bbq for blake's high school buddies and their wives/families/etc, so it was really fun to catch up with all of them and hear embarrassing stories about teenage blake (of which there are many). not to mention the weather was incredible, yet again. i made a pretty damn awesome kale salad with mango, cucumber, red pepper, pumpkin seeds, and some fresh basil in the vinaigrette. highly recommend that combination, if you're looking for a new kale salad go-to.

the evening culminated in a pretty fiercely competitive shuffleboard game, which i'm not embarrassed to say i dominated. yes, that's right, i like to vacation in palm springs AND play shuffleboard. just send me to a retirement home already.

finally we watched the most incredible sunset i've ever seen over lake washington. i actually still can't really get over it. i've done absolutely zero editing to this photo, by the way. i swear to you. nature, man. it's nuts. 

how was your weekend??

five on friday: i'm alive, i swear!

holy. crap. hello! this week has been one thing after another and none of those things have involved blogging. alas, here we are on a friday yet again, so how about i catch you up on what's gone on the past seven or so days?

we survived the family reunion. 
and miraculously, so did everyone else! it was certainly a lot of together time, but i mostly marveled at the fact that blake's family has been doing this every four years for the past 30 or so, when my family wouldn't even be able to visit the same state together without melting down. and yes, there are all kinds of idiosyncrasies and politics and dysfunctional members as there are in every family (so i hear), but it was pretty cool to be a part of this one! oh and we got a lot of fun boat rides and meals out of it. win win.

then i got sick. 
like really sick. monday night was the worst, and let's just say it will be a long time before i eat steak with chimichurri sauce again (DAMMIT, THAT'S MY FAVORITE). tmi? sorry. but in a lovely twist of fate, turns out that on top of some weird 24 hour bug, i got a terrible head cold - yes, in july - and have been feeling miserable since tuesday. it is now friday, and i am over. it. still feeling only about 75%, but i'm hoping that i can finally get back to normal to enjoy this beautiful weekend in seattle! also it would be great if i could stop sounding like an 85 year old smoker hacking up a lung.

oh, but in between, i bought this dress!
eek, i want it now!! eagerly awaiting ups this afternoon and trying to decide if it's too fancy to wear to a bbq tomorrow afternoon. probably?

and i got my hair cut. 
but since i've either been puking or sneezing since then, it's been rather difficult to get a good picture. so you'll just have to wait for the big reveal in a few days. but i looooove it!

also i might just never leave seattle.
or really, i guess i'd like to summer in seattle. having been here in the winter, i know it's not always like this, so i'd rather spend july and august here when it is stunningly perfect. and yesterday, the blue angels were practicing right over us for a few hours, and it was pretty much the coolest thing ever. they're doing a big show for a week-long festival called seafair, and we're going down to the boat this afternoon to watch it. yes, another friday on a boat.

this weekend, we've got a few bbq's, and i'm dying to get back to yoga and go stand up paddle-boarding. our time here is flying by! what's on your agenda this weekend?

summer in seattle part II

this family reunion is no joke. we are on day 2 of 3 and i've already forgotten about 54 of the 55 new names i've learned since thursday night. seriously, name tags are a lifesaver in this situation.

yesterday morning involved a duck boat tour - have you ever done one of those? it was... a lot. i mean, i certainly learned a ton about seattle, but i was exhausted on behalf of the tour guide at the end of the hour and a half. he was... intense. luckily, it was a gorgeous day, so after a little sight-seeing, we helped blake's parents set up for a big salmon bbq at the yacht club for dinner. it was so gorgeous out, even mt. rainier made an appearance! another day of boat tours and dinners today (and perhaps an afternoon pit stop at the nordstrom anniversary sale?). wish me luck.

p.s. i did a guest post over at the daily tay today! be sure to say hi if you're new around here.

view from the 34th floor of the hotel we're staying in downtown

yacht club flag

if you squint, you can see mt. rainier in the back there

not a terrible view. 

summer in seattle part i

26 hours of travel, four large lauderee macarons, three movies, two flights, and one $15 glass of wine in the montreal airport later, we made it. not quite "home"... actually, i'm not really sure where "home" would be right now... but we're back in the us of a. woohoo 'merica!

our "home" for the next three weeks is with blake's parents in seattle, and i am already loving our rhythm here (apart from it being impossible to keep my eyes open after 8pm and waking up at 4am). it's such a relief to be working normal hours and being done at 5pm to enjoy the rest of the afternoon and evening. i foresee lots of bbqs, morning runs by the water, boat rides, and dinners watching the sunset on the deck in our future. luckily, la is a powerful lure, otherwise we might get too comfy in this routine and never leave.

just snapped a few pics of our first sunrise and sunset over lake washington. it's so breathtakingly beautiful here! anyone have seattle must-dos or must-eats while we're in town?

thoughts for thursday: rain, gene kelly, and bikes

closing in on our last week here in semur, which is mind-boggling! our time here seemed to stretch endlessly ahead of us when we first arrived, and the days are long but the weeks are blurring together. yesterday, i took a shower, got dressed in clothes other than yoga pants, and put on make-up just to go to the grocery store for a handful of things. yeah, i think we're just not cut out for country living...

linking up again with nat and annie on thoughts for thursday! you should too!

it has seriously been raining here since friday. that's six days. not on and off, and not nice summer storms in the evening. it's been gray, rainy, and 50 degrees and we are going a little stir crazy. july in france feels a lot like november in new york! but this dreamy forecast for seattle is keeping me going... hopefully it stays that gorgeous for our three weeks there and we get lots of time out on the water.

the view from blake's parents' house... cannot wait to be on that deck!