I realize that all of my pictures of Matt are super flattering, so I thought I’d post this one for some balance. He had just pulled into the driveway after biking home from the gym and this was his state. Please note the lovely sweat stain below the “Adopt a Dog” on his shirt. :)
Yesterday was CJ's birthday and we went out to the Commonwealth Credit Union's Big Car Sale on Saturday. As all of you know I've been thinking about trading my BIG, BIG truck for something a little more economical and sensible so - - pictured above is our result of much hemming and hawing and gnashing of teeth, a Toyota Tacoma. I told CJ that it was for her birthday that I traded.
Here is her reaction to that bit of news! "Let's see", she said, "you get to drive a brand new truck and it's for my birthday?" Hmmmmmmmmmmmm.
Anyway as the coda to this fascinating family story, we traveled to Louisville to the Shane Company where I bought her a birthstone necklace in a simple but classy setting. And they lived happily ever after.
I noticed that the leaves are starting to change around here. I hadn’t really been paying attention, but driving up this street the other day, I noticed the bright yellow and red everywhere! Yay fall!
We volunteer every year at the St. Michael’s parish International Festival where they celebrate the ethnic diversity of their parish with tons of different food, dances, and general merriment. Our students run the game for the kids and I wander and take photos. :)
These little girls were about to do a Mexican dance—aren’t they cute?
Saturday night we also went to a college football game, albeit with a slightly different setting. Let’s just say: Jordan Hare Stadium’s got nothing on this Brown v. Harvard crowd.
Brown won with Harvard never leading and it was a nearly sell-out crowd! Woot!
So there’s intentionally no picture today because I broke our camera. Utterly and completely. It will cost as much to fix as to buy a new one of the same kind. So hopefully, we’ll have a new one soon, but not quite yet. Boo-hiss.
Okay, last Seattle picture, promise!
This is from the night-before-the-wedding BBQ at the home of the owners of the vineyard and winery. It was such a gorgeous location and behind us you can see the infinity pool dropping off to the gorge below.
When I came back to my office from Seattle, I couldn’t believe it: my orchid was in full bloom!! I bought this orchid from a florist on-campus in the first month I was working at Brown, way back in August 2007. It was in bloom at the time and hasn’t bloomed since, but now all of a sudden, it’s blooming again!
It’s so pretty: I just need to get a bigger pot!
Just a few more shots to show everyone from Sean & Beth’s wedding weekend in Washington. These are some overview pictures of Cave B Winery, where the ceremony and reception were held. Sean & Beth are good friends with the owners and we really had the royal treatment at the winery with a lovely BBQ the night before at the owners’ home overlooking the Gorge, an amazing ceremony & reception, and an after-party in the tasting room with MORE food and wine later that night.
This is Cuvee, the Cave B Winery puppy! She was so sweet and when I got up for an early morning walk, she followed me all around the grounds and through the vineyards. I read a little book about her in the lobby and learned that she sometimes spent the night with children or guests at the Inn who missed their own dogs, so I promptly invited her up to our room where she spent the next two nights!
Now if only Cuvee and Guthrie could be good friends….
These pics are from Saturday in Seattle: Sean & Beth held the small, Catholic ceremony in her backyard in Seattle. It was just family and close friends at this ceremony and after some pastries and mimosas, we all headed to the winery in Eastern Washington for the big reception and party the next day!
After sleeping in on Friday morning, we met up with Matt’s parents, brothers & nephews at the Pike’s Place market in downtown Seattle. It’s a giant farmer’s market with tons of fresh fish, produce, and the most gorgeous (and cheap!!) flowers I’ve seen. We walked around downtown and had a great seafood lunch in the harbor before later heading to SafeCo field to see the Mariners play. Felix Hernandez (the Mariners pitcher) had a no-hitter going into the 8th inning until one of the Rangers hit a home run. :(
Regardless, it was an awesome stadium and a fun game—the boys even got to practice their pitching and see how fast they could throw!
