Bellevue Botanical Gardens

This last Sunday was my second and last field trip for the photography class I have been attending. We ventured out to Bellevue Botanical Gardens. These gardens can be found on what we call the "Eastside" of the city. The property covers thirty six acres in the city of Bellevue. A city that is known for being upscale and expensive (and full of snooty people if you ask me! :-), these gardens offer free admission to anyone who wants to see all that it has to offer: A rock, Dahlia, and Yao Japanese garden-to name a few. I had never been to this place before but I've heard good things. One being that during the holiday season they do a hell of a job with lights. It's called Garden d'Lights and it's made entirely possible by volunteers who come out to create a magical scene. It's on my To-do list for next year's Christmas events.

Here's a few shots from the afternoon:

We were so fortunate to have amazing weather this weekend in the PNW. Blue skies and sun both Saturday and Sunday. It was still a bit chilly, but I really loved wandering around with only my thoughts and my camera for a couple hours. Photography has become such a relaxing activity for me, and I hope that I continue to take the time to go out and explore with my camera even after my class concludes. I would also love to see this garden during the spring time when everything is in bloom, and for that reason I will be returning.

One of Those Weekends

The best kind of friendships, and the only ones I choose to have, are the ones where you might not see the person all the time but when you do, you pick up right where you left off. The way I look at it is this: the older one gets, the busier life becomes. Too many hours are spent at work, social calendars become filled all too quickly, life moves us to new places-some near, some far, and twenty four hours in one day just doesn't seem to cut it as an adult. As they say "Life is too short", and whoever said this is beyond correct. Instead of focusing on the lack of time spent with a person, the time you do spend with that person should be focused on. Life is just too short to get upset about not talking to someone enough-especially when it's due to forces beyond either persons' control.

This weekend I went back home. I spent a good part of my time wondering about the last time I went back home. It had been awhile. Although I grew up there I don't feel the connection like I used to feel. Somewhere in the last few years I outgrew my hometown. I think this feeling has stopped me from wanting to return to it as often as I used to. Even though I feel this way, I still have some amazing friends and family that live in that town and I am filled with so much joy that we maintain such good relationships despite the fact that I have moved away. This weekend reminded and rekindled that warm feeling I get when I hang out with old friends and realize how fortunate I am to have great people in my life-no matter how often or not I see them. 

I caught up with an old friend for lunch

Grabbed sushi, talked photography and saw Catching Fire with my Dad

Drank hot cider while watching friends decorate their tree

Laughed and ate scones with girlfriends this morning

Met baby Diego while eating guac and Modelos

My heart is full this Sunday evening.

Friendsgiving.

I love Thanksgiving. When a co-worker of mine invited me over to her house to participate in Friendsgiving, I was excited. Thanksgiving in my family has always been pretty low key, and relatively small. This dinner with friends was opposite. There were quite a bit more people than I'm used to. About twenty two if were getting technical here.

There is something special about eating turkey by candlelight while enjoying good conversation and topping the night off with your stomach hurting from a combination of too much food and too much laughter from playing many rounds of Cards Against Humanity.

Leaving Oregon

On Veteran's Day I woke up early and began packing up my things. My little mini getaway was coming to an end. We took one more early morning walk, turned on the fireplace and brewed up a pot of coffee to get the day going. It would be a long drive back to Seattle.

I didn't once get lonely or bored when I was on this trip. I think it's a mighty fine quality to have too! To be able to spend time with yourself and fully enjoy it.

Weekend Fun

Happy Monday!
I had another busy weekend, and lately it is exactly what I need in my life.


1. Enjoying my wine after purchasing some Stella & Dot Pieces, and a couple of shirts. Wine and shopping is never good on the credit card, but it always sounds good at the time.

2. The Swirl With Your Girls group! It was a mother-daughter and friend kind of night. My mom and I went to this event a few months back and we were so excited that my bff and her mom were able to join us this time around.

3. Saturday night I headed north for a good friend's birthday. This is the group shot after dinner, but pre dancing shenanigans. It was a fun night filled with dancing, champagne, and hanging with new friends

4. On Sunday afternoon I went to see the movie Teddy Bears. The Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF) is rolling into its last week and my friend asked me earlier in the week if I wanted to go see a movie with her. I almost felt guilty when I was driving to the theater that afternoon because the sun was shining and sitting in a movie theater for the next two hours seemed like such a shame. Lucky for me, the movie was excellent so it kind of made up for it. It kept me wondering the whole time what would happen next. I had no idea what this movie was about and so as we stood in line my friend said "It's about an orgy". I thought she was kidding. She was not. However, it wasn't really about an orgy. The film had premiered the night before so the directors and half the cast were in town so they did a Q&A afterward. There are some well known names in the film so it was cool to have them in the room right in front of you, answering questions. I'm surprised I haven't gotten into SIFF before, but now I'm determined to see at least one more film before it goes away until next year.

Linking up with Sami!

Farvel Amerika!

Happy Friday, Bloggers!

I am off to the beautiful country of Norway today! I will most likely be MIA from the blogging world for a little bit, but you'll probably be able to get some glimpses on my instagram though :-) I'm so excited to share my travels when I return. Hope you all have a wonderful weekend.

It's (kinda) spring, Seattle!

 I can't even believe it, but I am doing one of my favorite things right now: sitting on my balcony in the sun..at 6:30 in the evening! This sort of occurrence usually doesn't happen until at least late May or June. We have had two weekends of sun in the emerald city, and I feel so lucky. Everyone comes out of their holes and infiltrates the parks, sidewalks, and outdoor dining places in this city. We Seattleites LOVE the sun.

The time change is still messing with my head a bit, but it's making me more motivated to get out and run, which I love. I'm trying to get back into running more/working out more often and I have been highly successful this last week.

This weekend I headed north to attend a surprise 60th birthday party for one of my oldest friend's mother. It was great, she had no idea! She's usually pretty on top of these things so we thought she might have hacked into one of her childrens emails and discovered the plans :-) The party was great, but I seriously struggled with not being able to eat all the yummy food that was offered. Especially the chocolate cake. I was good though, and ate only veggies and almonds. Tomorow I go see my nutritionist so I plan on doing  another post about the elimination diet. I'm on week three which means I start introducing foods back next week.

Other than that, my weekend was pretty low key, as usual. I got laundry done, went running, hung with my mom, went for a walk with my mom and her dog, and scored some awesome dark green skinny Hudsons! I was inspired by Melissa in her cutsy jeans, and then I saw Tara wearing 'em too, and I suddenly fell in love with the color. I swung by the rack and got lucky! Paired with my new combat boots, I think it's a pretty good look!

 

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