Before attending a Broadway musical, I like to listen to the music ahead of time so I an enjoy the play even more. The music from’Six’ is such a joy, I wondered if it would usurp ‘Hamilton’ as my favorite. Well, it didn’t, but it was a terrific production, nonetheless. A fun outing with good friends, and a couple new ones. Dinner at Paesano’s after, and drinks at 58 Degrees and Holding after that. (Erin, Elyse, Michelle, Shannon, Crystal, Kelly, Stacy, Rhonda).
These beautiful sole/soul sisters (Gloria, Shannon, Lori, Sally), joined together for a fun quarter marathon walk. It rained pretty much they whole time and we all got soaked even in all our rain gear, but it did not dampen our spirits. Brunch after at the cute Brick House Cafe.
While we were showing Numan around Grass Valley, David learned about this concert at their local events center. He surprised me with tickets for this and two other concerts! He and I used to attend Dar Williams concerts, and Indigo Girls (Amy Ray is one of them) back in Seattle, so this concert was especially special, going back to the early years of our relationship. Ryan joined us and we had a lovely night out.
My friend Barb had posted these crazy photos of an ice storm in Manzanita. We were in Cali at the time. Crazy. The collage photo is of a walk David and I did at Griffith Quarry Park in Penryn.
So.much.fun. Annie and I were roomies and Lisa chauffered us around. She took us to this neat east Indian market that also had a counter service lunch. It was delicious. Then we went to the Venice canals and walked throughout and saw gorgeous properties. We also walked along Venice Beach and enjoyed watching skateboarders and people watching. It was quite mellow compared to what it could be like. Our mutual friend Cori sadly was sick and could not join us for the big group dinner she had coordinated. There were about 12 of us. It was an amazing weekend!
This New Year was hands down the best New Year! I flew up to Seattle to spend New Years Eve with Michelle to see my favorite childhood band, Heart, perform in the same venue I saw them back in 6th grade for my first concert! We rang in the New Year with them singing ‘Old Lang Syne’ on stage, saw the final fireworks at the Space Needle (mostly enshrouded by smoke), then tried to navigate the craziness that ensued trying to get back to our hotel. As we walked with the rest of the world across the Seattle Center, we realized we were getting trapped within a crowd of people who could not get past chain link fences that were temporarily erected for the Space Needle fireworks. They were having to turn around and walk back and others were walking toward the fences. We were caught in the middle. We were beginning to get squashed by all sides. Michelle and I were able to sidewalk ourselves out of it on to a field and then try to navigate a different way out of the Seattle Center grounds. Trying to get back to the hotel was surreal. There was so much chaos. We overheard people talking about spending the night in their cars. All of the intersections were completely gridlocked. It was madness. We are so grateful we decided to spend the night within walking distance at the Fairfield Inn or this night could have ended on a bad note.
The next morning, we completed my final 5k walk of the holiday 5k challenge (5k a day from Thanksgiving through New Year), and walked through downtown and Pike Place Market. We pretty mich had the city to ourselves; it was so quiet. It was also a gorgeous day. Perfection.
Went back to Michelle’s place for two more nights. One day, I connected with Liann and Lacey (Lacey gifted us matching bracelets <3) and had a fabulous brunch at (I think) Hyatt Regency Southport on south Lake Washington. The other day, Michelle and I had lunch with two of my mom’s besties, Pam and Diane at 13 Coins and then dinner with my brother Devin and his girlfriend Kristi. It was a wonderful time catching up with those who will always have a part of and in my heart. <3
I recall when Alex turned five. I had a mini meltdown. He was already five? Time went by too fast. Now he’s 21 and I still feel the same. I am so grateful that I got front row-center to watch this beautiful person, inside and out, grow up to be the person he is today. As we transition our parent/child relationship to parent/adult child relationship, I am thankful and hopeful that the role of friend is a part of this relationship as well.
The traditional ‘Eat whatever you want for breakfast” breakfast. This year: BQ Chicken Wings, Pizza Rolls, Grapes, Bagel with Crean Chees and Lox, and his first legitimate adult beverage, Stella Artois
(Click on the photos that appear cut off. They will open up.)
Alex’s birthday extended into the next day with a day trip to Napa! We started the way we always start, a visit to Inglenook for my favorite mocha and one of my favorite wineries. Alex had a glass of their fine Inglenook wine. We recreated a memory of him playing with a sailboat in their fountain when we went to Napa for the first time. He was seven. You can see the first photo here.
Alex lives in an apartment at school with five roommates. One of them, Numan, is from Turkey. We invited him to join us over Christmas break. He did not stay with us over Christmas but he did join us for a few days. We took him out for a Christmas Lights walk. He had not done that before. We also took him to Grass Valley for and afternoon and shop that delightful town. He said if he could settle somewhere, he would settle in a town like this one. It was a treat to see these places and experiences through his eyes.
Teresa and I were run buddies. We ran 3-4x a week at 5am with a small group of runners who became good friends. We called ourselves the Clover Valley Loop Ladies due to the name of the neighborhood we ran in. So many miles logged, so many races of varying distances accomplished, so many laughs and tears as we left everything on the roads and trails. Even though our group no longer runs together, we will get together socially on occasion or meet up for a 5K/10K fun run/walk.
Teresa and I decided to literally mark the significance of this group through matching tattoos! I smile every time I look down at it.
Life in transition. The closing of one chapter and the beginning of another. Our homeschool days are over. On to college! Dividing our time between California and Oregon. CALIFOREGON LIVING!