Thanksgiving in LA - November, 2008

November is my month of traveling apparently...I flew down Wednesday night after school to LA to spend Thanksgiving with the California cousins. I stayed with Katie at her new swanky house in Hancock Park, and we headed over to Jenny & Marc's house early afternoon on Thursday to help with Thanksgiving dinner. Jenny had quite the guest list - 30+ people, family, friends, neighbors, kids and Katie and her came up with a seating arrangement that managed to fit everyone...phew! Everyone contributed to the feast, I attempted to make a baked brie appetizer but since Katie never uses her oven and doesn't really know how to work it, we ended up overcooking our one contribution, and up bringing wine instead. Michael brought his special sweet potato pie, and there were even turkey shaped jello shots, green for the adults (with alcohol) and red for the kids (without). Katie and Jenny made a job jar, so when everyone arrived they had to pick a job from the jar, some included grace, water duty, wine duty, dishes, etc. Katie and I were elected dish duty girls to help Jenny in the kitchen. The feast ended up being delicious, 2 types of turkey, like 6 different types of potatoes (from mashed to scalloped), 3 types of stuffing, cranberries, sweet potatoes with marshmallows, fennel gratin, a wide selection of fresh baked bread from their chef-neighbor, apple-cranberry pie, the list goes on. All in all, a fantastic Thanksgiving at the Bolger-Rey's!

Purdue University & Chicago, Nov. 2008

Go Boilermakers! My first trip to the Midwest. Since most of my family lives in Southern California, Seattle, Alexandria, or New York, I really have never had a reason to venture to the middle of our fair country. This fact was utterly astonishing to my boyfriend, who hails from the outskirts of Detroit, Michigan. Well, the time came when I got to scope out the flat land that lies between the two coasts. Bobby and I flew to the freezing flatlands of Chicago, Illinois, and then drove 2+ hours south to West Lafayette, Indiana.

What's in West Lafayette, you might say? Good question! Purdue University, Bobby's alma mater, home of the black and gold Boilermakers. We flew back for the big rivalry game (comparable to our Apple Cup, but pump up the animosity and the intensity say...hmm...about 100%). It appears Indiana University and Purdue hate each other more than the Huskies and the Cougs, who would've thought? We were lucky to get a hotel right on campus, literally a stumbling distance from all the college bars, restaurants, and popular hangouts. Bobby gave me a driving and walking tour of campus, I got to see the gigantic houses on Greek Row with enormous yards and plenty of parking space (definitely something we were lacking at UW). On Saturday we tailgated in the freezing cold temps with his college buddies, and watched the Purdue reign victorious with a win of 62-10. We celebrated with friends out at the historic hangouts, "Harry's Chocolate Shop," and "Jakes," until the wee hours.

On Sunday, it was time for us to head back into Chicago for our evening flight home. We arrived in Chicago mid-afternoon, just in time to see some sights, including Oprah's home, Lake Michigan (which looks like an ocean, it stretches on forever), the Sears Tower, the Chicago River, and of course, the one sight I really wanted to see, The Bean. Also known as "Cloud's Gate," by Anish Kapoor a famous installation art piece in Millenium Park. As an art history major it was definitely on my list of "must see's." Bobby of course was like..."the bean? Why do you want to see a bean?" Well, it was pretty fantastic, and worth the crazy drive in search of it. We got some great photos of our reflections in and around the sculpture. We closed off our day at Chicago with some deep dish pizza and then headed home.

San Francisco, Oct. '08

Since one of my best friends from college - Lindsay lives in LA, we try and plan trips to visit each other every couple of months. In lieu of doing the usual LA/Seattle swap, we thought it would be fun to meet in the middle - picking the fabulous city of San Francisco. It worked out well because I had free miles and enough hotel points saved up to get us one night free at the glamorous Westin in Union Square. The weather could not have been more perfect - 70 and sunny with almost no wind (which is almost unheard of for SF). We got in late Friday night, checked in, and almost immediately hit up the Mission. We somehow managed to squeeze ourselves into a tiny table at "Cha Cha Cha." Our table was totally an afterthought, a little 2-seater piggy-backing off a birthday party in the backroom. After our amazing meal of fresh cerviche, spicy mushrooms, fried potatoes and plantains, we found ourselves singing "Feliz Cumpleanos" along with the birthday goers, cheers-ing everyone over sangria. Good times! We hit up a few more places in the Mission including "Beauty Bar," which is the coolest bar ever, there was a manicurist on duty until midnight, and old fashioned hair dryers, and great 80's music.

We spent the majority of the next day shopping around, even did the touristy Ghirardelli Square and Marina waterfront walk where we met up with Lindsay's sister Ashley who lives by the Marina. We took a trolley ride back up toward Union, and met up with Ashley again that night for at a Middle-Eastern/Mediterranean restaurant.

On our last day, we went out to brunch at "The Grove," on Chestnut Street and shopped around the cute boutiques around there. A little later, Ashley picked us and drove us to the old military base Crissy Field and we took a short hike up to view the Golden Gate bridge. Except, unlike the gorgeous cloudless skies we'd had Friday and Saturday, Sunday was chilly with so much fog, it completely concealed the bridge, walking across it felt like walking into an abyss! Despite the weather, we still got some great pictures, and had an opportunity to see the gusty winds in true San Francisco fashion. Overall, a great (and packed) weekend, I definitely slept well on the plane ride home!

The Gorge, September '08

Made the drive to Eastern Washington to see Dave Matthews Band in concert at the most gorgeous outdoor venue there is - The Gorge in George. Quite honestly, I'm not a huge Dave fan, but it sure was a much needed, relaxing last hurrah of summer before the start of the school year.

I met up with Bobby and his friends from Purdue at the campsite. I wasn't able to drive in with the group since I spent the majority of the week setting up my classroom, in nervous anticipation for my first day. (eek!) I arrived to cloudless skies, and warm sun...perfect tank-top weather! The last time I was at the Gorge for Sasquatch my friends and I found ourselves trapped in the middle of a hail storm, so needless to say this warm weather was well received. Bobby brought quite the spread, and cooked up a sausage, vegetable, egg, and cheese casserole for breakfast, and then shrimp tacos for lunch. We hung around the campsite, people watching, playing Catchphrase, and catching some rays before the concert started.

The show was great, he played the few songs I actually know the words too, "Cornbread," "Satellite," and "Crash," so I actually felt like a legitimate fan being able to sing along. The evening was cool but not too chilly, and we laid back and enjoyed listening to Dave croon, laying back to enjoy the melodies under the stars.

I had to leave pretty early the next morning, after Bobby and I walked to the one coffee stand on the campgrounds and got my much-needed fuel for the drive home. All in all - a great little getaway, back to reality...

North Peninsula, August '08

Camping trip 2008! Jody scouted out many a place for us to spend a weekend out of the city, and apparently everyone else had the same ideas...so we opted to spend 2 nights at their camp friend Murph's property in the North Peninsula, about 2-hours north of Seattle. Eight of us ended up making the trip; Jody, Anton, Anna, Alex, Kostas, Andy, Margaret, and myself, a great group. We arrived at the campsite which had a stealthy firepit, kitchen area, and wall-less shelter that was floored with thick red gym mats - perfect!

The weather could not have been more perfect, we made a trek up to Costco prior to departure and stocked up on all of the goods to make foil dinners (Anna, Jody, and Margaret's specialty from the camp years)...We unloaded our cargo, sleeping bags, and food and chatted around the fire, telling stories until the wee hours. The next day we set off on a canoe expedition, packing trail mix, fruit, water, and sandwich supplies to keep us going. The sun was scorching, and the paddled grueling - roughly 4 hours on the water, but it was well worth it to hang out with friends, playing various games across boats; 7 Degrees of Separation, sing-a-longs, and connect-the-songs...

We weren't entirely roughing it, we did drive into town for some drive-through coffee at a local barista, but we figured after our day of paddling, we deserved it. O a side note, I ended up red as a lobster, my entire back was so burned that I couldn't sleep on my back for a week after the trip, but overall it was a great bonding experience and an opportunity to venture outside the sweaty reaches of Seattle for a day or two. Definitely going to do this again next year!

Whistler, May '08

Sarah's "hen night," became a bachelorette weekend, in Whistler, B.C. With Canada being the destination du jour, we were able to bring our one youngster, maid of honor Samantha along with us. We started off at the Galando's where Alicia presented all the girls with t-shirts to commemorate the wedding of Sarah & Nathan with the tag line, "White is the New Gai." We piled into the suburbans and began the 6 hour trek up to Whistler to begin the bachelorette festivities. After opening presents we got all dolled up and headed out on the town, with Sarah sporting her bachelorette sash. It was a rowdy, roaring good time! The next day we laid by the pool, and shopped Whistler village before getting ready for another night out. We headed to a fancy dinner at a Japanese Steak House, where we treated the bride to a fabulous meal cooked right before us, and a few sake bombs, just for good measure. We rallied at Longhorns with a bachelor party to whom Sarah knew the groom, and proceeded to dance together, before a late night trip to ZogDog for some sustenance. All in all, a fabulous bachelorette weekend, cheers to the bride!

Seaside, Oregon, March '08

In celebration of Anna's 27th birthday, 12 of our closest friends took a road trip to Seaside, Oregon for a birthday weekend getaway. Anna's grandparents have a sweet little pad about 3 blocks from the beach, which built to accommodate her enormous family, made for comfortable sleeping arrangements for all. On Friday we rolled into Seaside late in the evening after work, and the festivities began.

Saturday we played Frisbee on the beach (and found an awesome sand castle) while walking en route to Seaside proper. While in town, we took in the local attractions: Tilt-A-Whirl, mini-golf, video arcade, and other small town novelties that shouldn't be missed, including saltwater taffy...Yum! Jody and I stumbled upon $5 viking hats in a hat store, which we simply couldn't pass up. All 12 of us ate lunch at Be-Bop Burger before walking back to the house, resting and relaxing before our Greek counterparts whipped out an amazing birthday dinner for Anna.

Nick, Kostas, and I made a trip down to the local grocery store and snuck behind the deserted bakery case to select for Anna the perfect b-day cake (the selection was minimal)...a tall, pink frosted cake, upon which we wrote "Happy Birthday." We drank wine and toasted to the birthday girl, before an evening of beach bonfires and relaxing. All in all, a great weekend!