the duchess

For the last five or six years my Seattle friends and I have had a fun tradition of going to the Duchess on the night before Thanksgiving.

gobble! gobble!

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, my favorite day of the year! I am am so excited to hang out with my family, eat all the traditional foods and just relax, thinking about all the things I have to be thankful for this year. And I can't wait for my mom's pumpkin pie!! This year it will be a small gathering - just me, my mom, my dad, Terry, Gram and Papa. We will be thinking about all our family members that are too far away to celebrate with us and will miss them lots.

it’s beginning to look a lot like…

CHRISTMAS!!

Last night Megan and I went out to dinner with some friends and then walked over to the Cinerama theater to see the new James Bond movie, only to find out that it was sold out! We thought about checking out the movie times at other theaters, but ended up deciding to just rent a movie and watch it at home.

As we walked back to the Queen Anne Blockbuster we saw this beautiful Christmas tree at the Seattle Center. It's a little hard to tell from the picture, but it was huge and so pretty!!

another happy birthday!!

Today is my sister's 23rd birthday!! As you know, she is in Turkey and I wish more than anything that I was there to celebrate with her! I cannot believe that my little sister is already 23. She is quite the adventure – much more so than me. I am so proud of her and take every opportunity I get to brag about her.

I love you, Megan, and I miss you so so much!!

happy birthday, mom!!

My mom’s birthday was last Saturday, so the two of us decided to spend the weekend in Kirkland at one of our favorite hotels -- The Woodmark Inn. Even though we were only 15 minutes away from home, we really felt like we were out of town and on vacation. It was so relaxing!! We talked, shopped, enjoyed spa treatments, ate lots of yummy food, and celebrated with a bottle of champagne compliments of the hotel. On Sunday night we went to dinner with my dad at Lombardi’s. So good!! The only thing missing was my sister.

I feel so lucky to spend my mom's birthday with her. My mom is one of my very best friends. She is always there for me when I need her and I feel so lucky to be able to learn so many things from her. As I have gotten older I have realized more and more just how wonderful she is and how much I appreciate her. She is almost always right and she is so loving. I don’t know what I would do without her, especially through the past few months. Thank you, Mom!

The view from our hotel windowThis is what was in our room when we got back fro exploring downtown Kirkland! Cheers!

election night

After voting last night, Megan, Libby and I met at the Wedgwood Ale House to watch the results come in. We had a great time! I know, I know... I am not one for politics, but I will admit that I could not help but get into it this year. What a truly amazing experience, to witness such an important day in American history.

halloween

I celebrated Halloween with my long-time friend, Megan. I have known Megan since I was in the first grade and we have probably spent at least 10 Halloweens together!! The thing I absolutely love about Megan is that we always find a way to have fun, even in the most boring situations. One time I was trying to explain to someone just how much fun we have and I said, "We could even have fun waiting for the bus at a bus stop!" Then I realized that, in fact, we HAVE had fun at a bus stop before!!

Just like every other time we hang out, this was a night filled with laughs! I was a pirate and Megan was my parrot. Below is a picture of my parrot perching on my shoulder :)