Saturday & Sunday Shenanigans

Ah Saturday was one of those beautiful Seattle area days.  Barely a cloud in the sky and a sea of blue above you.

I started my day making Strawberry Pie. Make a simple crust- I always use the refrigerated crust, I know its dependable.  Then chop up a enough berries to cover the bottom of your crust, and cover those with hole berries (hull removed) .  make a glaze- mine uses strawberry jello, sugar, and cornstarch. You cover all the  berries with the glaze and refrigerate until its set and cold.  Serve with Whip Cream.  Its a perfect Summer treat especially with local berries.
I then followed up with a batch of raspberry freezer jam. The local berries are HUGE.  I quickly had 6 jars made for the freezer.  And think I will run to the fruit market again this week before they all disappear to make some more.

We then head over to friends house for dinner and drinks.  We always have a good time with these guys. After sitting  on the porch consuming some spiked Arnold Palmer's, made with Carolina Sweet tea, and then my girlfriend got out the Honey Bourbon, and sweet tea.  We shared a great meal and dessert.  WE laughed so hard most of the time I'm sure the neighbors had an ear to their windows.  We were discussing a book someone had given them as a gift- which turned into a bathroom reader.  It was hysterical.  After laughing for so many hours we finally headed home quite late.

Sunday my phone started ringing at 7:30.  I always answer these days in case its a realtor.  But it was a friend who doesn't understand that I stay up late( wee hours of the morning) and get up after 8am at the earliest and Sunday is my sleep in day unless we have early plans.  I finally got back to sleep and the phone started again, at 10. so I figured that was it. 

My hubs was finishing the man door to our garage, it wintered very terribly this year and need stripping and painting.  Took the whole weekend to do properly. But its finished now, and no longer a concern when people look at the house. Check that one off the list.  Then we found this crazy British comedy called The IT Crew.  We love British comedies so not everyone has the same taste but we watched the various episodes of the first season through out the day. 

Of course this evening is saved for the opening of MAD MEN season 4.  Now there's a show that took off. If you haven't watched it you need to go back and watch the first season to find out all the players and their parts.  But its one that has my whole family hooked.
Hope your day was great!

Ah the weekend starts with a bang.

My Friday started as usual teaching a class at 8:30 am.  Then went with

my friend who is and avid estate sale goer to not 1 but 2 estate sales.  Purchasing a depression glass plate-3 dollars, and some small hand embroidered cut-work napkins for and incredible 2 dollars for all 4. I have collected depression glass for years, since seeing the pieces my mother had from an old friend ( I was 4 or 5 when Lilly gave her the first pieces- so I thought Lilly was ancient regardless of her real age).  I have gotten pieces as gifts over the years, and received pieces from various family members. The glass I bought was similar to another piece I have already in a light pink but this one is gold.    The Cut-work, is so simple but beautiful and I think they are in perfect condition.

Then I went to get a much needed haircut.  Its a wee bit- okay a whole lot, shorter than I was thinking,- I feel like my hair is in pony tail all the time since there is no hair on my neck. I think once I'm used to it I will like it, but  my hair grows very fast so it will all be good.

Back to the dance school to teach my class. I have a HUGE class of 10 - 13 year old's.  There are 27 kids in there. Barely enough room for them to all be out on mats, and then the noise level. I love my kids, and want to give each and every one the attention they deserve.  I know most of them won't go on to be great dancers but they deserve the best support while they are learning.

Followed up by a trip to the fruit market for some delicious raspberries to make freezer jam, and Strawberries to create a fresh strawberry pie, like they used to make at Bob's Big Boy restaurants in California, to take to friends for desert on Saturday.

back side -these were done by hand

I miss my things and the easy living of summer

I know it sounds silly.  But one part of selling ones home that I dislike is that you have to put so many things away.  During that time, you can make cute things but you can't put them out, you can't have any projects that take more than a few minutes to clean up. I've seen and thought about so many cute ideas this summer, and miss being able to act on them.  I miss my summer decor items. My house seems so blah to me.  You take away all the things that make your house a home, instead its just a show room. I'm just ready to move beyond this now.
Since this is my 2nd post this afternoon, I guess I have a lot on my mind.

Not my best.

Do you ever have one of those days, where you don't feel like yourself? Maybe its the heat, or the top I'm wearing or the guilt I'm wearing from not getting out enough to exercise with purpose, but today I feel like Jabba the Hut.  Obviously I'm not green and warty, nor does my face resemble his, but I naturally have a wide back and biceps. And my body is not as toned as it could be.  Unfortunately this is what comes to mind.  I know I won't feel like this tomorrow- hopefully, but when I feel like I'm nothing but fat, this awful thing comes to mind.  Its what I don't want to be so believe me its the worst image I can come up with. When I exercise and am toned I'm not so concerned about my weight in general. But the last couple years I've been so preoccupied with my daughter, that I put my self aside. NOW is my time. Time to get back into action for myself.

Inspiration

Last week I was walking thru Kirkland's little shops and saw these simple but beautiful Tanks.  They were made of Silk and Organza.  With light as a feather appeal done in very soft gray, pink, cream. 

While checking out the book store last week, I saw the most recent Burda style magazine had a very similar look.  Although I can't find the image from the Burda magazine to show you, here is a similar drawing of what they look like.  The ruffles were done in Organza with raw edges.  There was also one that had lovely fabric roses at the collar line. 
I haven't decided what yet I will do, but i do have it in mind to create something similar .

Weekend Round up

Well Friday was fun.  I work at the ballet studio on Fridays.  With a large break between 2 of my classes, I go out with some friends usually for coffee or breakfast.  This week I was surprised and we headed to and estate sale.  Because I'm in house mode, I was more interested in the house it was being held it.  It was built in the '50s. and reminded me of what at the time was a swinging updated all the bells and whistles home.  It had a bit of a different layout, but it was so the major rooms all had the view of the lake surrounding area.  The master bedroom, living room, dining room, family room (with a built in 1950's bar) all had this glorious

view.  I don't believe the home had ever been updated, except for carpet in a few areas.  It was definitely funky retro. 

My friend shopped, and I just kept looking over the architecture.  We left with my friends purchases of some old albums, and a musical triangle. Then we hooted around the old neighborhood, where both of us had lived at different times.

Lunch at the Fortune Inn in Kenmore.  I always thought they had the best hot and sour soup!  We happened to get there on a day where they were running a little late, so it was interesting.  Normally I would not want to eat at restaurant that isn't really open but they let you in anyways.  The food is still good and for a little over 6 dollars you get a huge lunch of soup, salad, fried rice, main dish and of course fortune cookie!

Back to work to teach two conditioning classes.  It was the last day of a 4 week session, and I usually tell parents if you want to watch I expect you to participate. They 99% of the time stay out.  Its ridiculous for parents to watch their kids do exercise- stretching, pilate's, yoga, and ball work.  I understand watching them dance.  Its quite different. But I had two parents coming in and plant themselves down. One looked like she was taking a nap, and then they kept talking through the class. REALLY ? No wonder kids are so out to lunch about manners.
Finally Friday night brought music and friends to our lives.  We headed to Oddfellows , where a friends band- Black Velvet 4- were playing.  A good friend who I haven't see for over a year recently moved back to town, and showed up, as well a couple other good friends.  It was pretty fun & very late night for us.  We got home about 1am.  Hubs wakes up at 5am for work regularly so its a very long day for him.

Saturday we were rudely awaken early the next morning by someone doing only god knows what but creating a HUGE amount of noise about 7 am.  Then 9:30 my phone goes off and realtor wants to bring clients at 10:30. So we hurriedly dressed and vacuumed, ran up to Starbucks for coffee and oatmeal. Hubs ran off to work for several hours, and I ran errands.Checked out a couple bookstores- one called Third Place Books, which has both new and used books.  I always can find things there. Not only did I get a book on cooking for students for my daughter but found a mini travel Scattergories game and really cute bag clips that look like big happy frog faces. A little BBQ with some nice T-bones that had been on sale finished up our night.

Sunday was so delightful to sleep in. Actually managed to stay in bed 'til noon reading a Linda Howard novel. Then we had breakfast, and went into town to see the new Leonardo DiCaprio movie, Inception. If you've seen the trailers, you only kind of have and idea about this movie.  Like the other movies he's done recently he is a bigger than life character and makes everyone else seem so minor.

I had planned on hitting one or two of the festivals going on this weekend.  There were so many choices in the Seattle area, with the Bite of Seattle going on (I quit going to this over 10 years ago too crowded), The Lavendar festival in Sequim- which i really did want to go to, and the Kirkland uncorkded festival.  But with the weather so pleasant, and just enough to do with out going to any of those, it was quite pleasant.

Hope you all had a great weekend.  This week I'm hoping to check out a new Yarn shop I saw going in, in Kirkland.  I love to crochet, but I do want to learn to knit.   I love yarn as long as it isn't wool- wools to irritating to my skin.

Have a great one!

The week in round up

Well tomorrow is Friday which although is a workday for me, is also the first day of the weekend to me.
Last weekend we took our daughter to the plane to go off to San Francisco.  As we got closer to the airport drop off area, she says "You are not going to just drop me off are you?"  We looked at her and said well that was the plan, but we can go in if you like.  Well yes please. Ironically she is a frequent flyer and quite adept at getting around on her own. Since the tightened security measures at airports, it is really hard worth paying to park your car for the 5 minutes you can stay in.  So I went in with her to drop off the bag that would be checked and walk over to the endless security line.  Gave her big hugs and watched her embark down the rows of bodies with all their gear.  I notice that she tends to wear quite difficult shoes sometimes to wear into security where one must remove them.  This time she had cowboy boots, not too bad, not as easy as loafers though.   I thought my husband was doing the once around the airport but he parked and got in as I got out. That is somewhat typical- miscommunication- still after all these years.
We hurried home, to finishing straighten up and get the house ready for  the Realtors "Open House". Being too nice a day it was not well attended.  Why would you look at houses that are out of your price range? That always seems to happen.  The other is the snoopers who want to know what you have going on.  They can look at the flyer's for that purpose. No need to waste me time or the Realtors. I digress- this is the part of selling I really hate and can rant over it.
We ran to the movies for the afternoon and watched the movie Grown Ups with Adam Sandler among others.  This is really a cute movie, and I loved how they did it.
We hit music twice this week.  Tuesday at Zeeks with Dan Connolly and he had guest from Ireland Derrick Mullen (sp?) and his brother who lives in Redmond, frequently helped out.  These guys put on such a nice gig. It was casual and fun, and somehow watching a man from Ireland drink Strawberry daiquiris just didn't seem right. But he was loving them.  They had jammed the night before at the Rover, but we didn't make it.
Wednesday we caught Dan at Soul Food books in Redmond.  This is really nice venue for artist.  The stage is big enough and just high enough to still stay intimate but offer the performers space.  Dan was pretty laid back, being barefoot and all. He had a couple guys playing hand drums- like bongo's but different. One of his daughters was in attendance- she reminds me of a little pixie. As he ended he mentions he has a kidney stone.  I'm thinking why on earth are you here- knowing that for men this can be as painful as childbirth to women.  Not that a kidney stone is easier for women, its not. But he joked about it a bit and still  finished his set.  My hats off to Dan for finishing the set.
The rest of the time is adjusting to not having our daughter here. Making dinner for 2 instead of 4 ( her guest was usually here), or remembering to make dinner at all. My hubs, frequently comments that I try to starve him  when she's not around.  The rest of the time, I'm accused of over feeding him.  I know there's a happy medium.

Texting.

I am a texting girl.  I would much prefer to text a conversation rather than talk on the phone.  Partly because it always seems the phone rings at the wrong time. Partly because I have a tendency to say whats on my mind with out thinking and texting forces me to think. I rarely text expletives, but in the average conversation, with known friends, I will let loose without even thinking about it at all.

I text my friends all the time, some respond via text and some call, and some don't respond at all.  I find it the easiest way to contact my husband or daughter.  They can answer at their convenience, and since he's often in meetings and unavailable to talk, texting is great for me to stay in contact.  ON the other hand, he doesn't have a qwerty keyboard, and so getting the text is great, but he has and awful time answering.  My daughter does have qwerty and we have no issues in texting other than making sure the others phone is charged, and one sees it.

The most interesting thing i find about texting, is its so much like writing a letter.  When I was a kid, I loved getting mail- letters, cards, post cards and I would save all of them (a learned trait from my mother.)  In junior high my best friend from school would go away for a month.  We would write each other letters about every 3 days.  Nothing earth shattering went on for either of us during that month, but we missed our daily contact and so we found things to say.  We still write the occasional letter, but through marriage, and kids, the letters are much fewer and far between. And despite my dependency on technology i still love getting the paper letter and envelope in the mail. 
In the movie "the Grownups", Adam Sandler and his family are constantly texting.  The kids even text the nanny for food and drinks.  I am not that bad.  Probably because I don't have a nanny or housekeeper to text for things to be done.   I do have to wonder in this day and age if we are losing the art of real conversations with technology taking over?

moving round up

Well tonight is my daughters last night at home before heading to one of her favorite places- San Francisco.
She will be there for a  months intensive course, then back for a couple weeks, and then returning for the school year.  Today is the last minute washing and packing. Seems like the washer and dryer have been going all day long non-stop. 
While she's preparing for her trip, we are preparing our house & yard for an open house tomorrow.  Although its not convenient its important to get the house shown.  Hopefully it will be milder tomorrow.  Our house stays pretty tolerable with out air conditioning if its in the low 80's.  We have early morning to get out to the airport, run home and get stuff finalized for the open house, and my husband then has to go to work for the day. 
This weekend seems so final- as it officially ends her high school years and starts out life as a young adult.
Its with a tear in my eye, I acknowledge that my daughter is an adult now.

In Pursuit of Excellence

I love this book and find myself reading at least twice a year if not more often.  It's written by Terry Orlick, PhD.  Its really focused at atheletes and performance, but i use it for my dancers that I train, as well as for myself when I find that I'm kinding of drifting in no man's land. 
The book focus' on the 7 elements  to pursue execellence, and can be used in many many situations. (commitment, foucus connection, confidence, positive images, distraction control, mental readiness, and ongoing learning.)
Ultimately : PURE CONFIDENCE COMES FROM FEELING GROUNDED IN WHO YOU ARE AND WHAT YOUR ARE DOING.; YOU TRUST YOUR FOCUS AND YOUR PERFORMANCE BLOSSOMS- without it you will rarely reach your potential.

I had pulled out last night to write up some notes to use with my dancers.  Helping them to change their perception from perfection to achieving excellence, to increase their awareness and focus of what they are doing in class, and when they perform.  To increase the frequency at which they have consistent performance qualities. And to learn to take the good with the bad. That the bad has lessons in it as well as the good.
I think we all need to do this- take the good with the bad and learn from it.  If you have situations that keep coming to a negative head- its time for a change.  Figure out if your the main cause or something else. 
When teachers, coaches, or directors give you negative comments what can you make positive about it?
There is so much information in this book, and I can't begin to share it all of it.  But I hope that you will consider reading it.
In Pursuit of Excellence by Terry Orlick, PhD

I'm back!

Taking a couple weeks off was good to deal with some things going on at home.  My daughter graduated from High School. She leaves in just a few days for San Francisco. Much of this week is focused on the preparation of that.

Our home is still on the market.  I know the right buyer is out there.  I am a bit tired of always having to have the "perfect" clean home, but it all serves a purpose. Fourth of July was different this year. In Seattle its a joke that summer doesn't start until the 5th of July. And it was so true this year.  After cleaning the house, because we have indeed had people want to look on holidays, we set out to canoe in Lake Washington. The weather was was really just about right while we were out there. Not hot, not really cold, it had not started to mist or rain.  Lots of traffic on the lake, which made a little excitement when we were trying to cross back to return the boats. While in the arboretum area we saw the cutest little duckling family- there was about 10 of them, who were so new- they were able to walk across the lily pads while the mother swam guiding them around.   There was a Blue heron  fishing along the shoreline. Beautiful Lilly pads graced the shoreline as well.  Canoes , as well as Tandem bikes require that one person be the driver- this also important in Sailing too. So its always a challenge to give in and let my spouse be the person in charge.  I want to take pictures and go leisurely through, and he gets into the travel mode- where one must get from one place to the next.  Finding a happy medium is what its all about. My daughter and her friend were in a separate canoe along with us. Literally right after we docked to return our boats, it started to mist which turned into a full rain for awhile.  So timing was indeed perfect.

From here we went to our favorite Irish Pub- the Wilde Rover in Kirkland. We had hoped to meet some friends there, but it was not to be.  We lunched and played cards until it was time to go out and watch fireworks on the marina.  Fortunately once again the weather was in our favor and the rain had dispersed so we were able to be out comfortably in the night.

The 5th of July of course the weather was beautiful and clear. And the warming trend has begun, with expected temperatures in the high 70's and mid 80's.

I hope your holiday was pleasant. We enjoyed ours and it was the first time in several years we hadn't done a BBQ with friends or family, and participated in letting off fireworks.