And suddenly, it was winter! The week started off stormy, with wind and rain tearing most of the remaining vibrant foliage from the trees. They lined the sidewalks in brightly colored drifts that I can never resist stomping through. There's something so satisfying about the crunch and rattle of leaves punctuating each step. By Friday morning, much to everyone's surprise, the rain had turned to snow - one of the earliest snows the Seattle area has ever seen! It snowed off and on for most of the day Friday, but by late afternoon, it had warmed enough to melt away the light dusting of snow. Sunday morning, we woke to snow again. With only a few hours, I headed for the nearby Evans Creek Preserve again. By the time I made it out the door, the snow had almost entirely melted away, but the woods were magically misty, and it was astonishing to see how dramatically the forest had changed in just one week!
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Every few years, Andy and I take a couple weeks off work and venture off on a big trip. While I have a huge list of new places to visit, for our trip this year, I wanted nothing more than to return to an old favorite - the Big Island of Hawaii! Usually when Andy and I go on a vacation, I have every day planned out months in advance. Apparently the laid-back nature of Hawaii is contagious, because for this trip, other than loose plans to go hiking a couple times, and one restaurant we absolutely had to visit, I made no plans at all. Over our 12 nights on the island, we decided to spend 7 at the same condo south of Kailua-Kona we'd stayed in on our last visit, 3 nights at a tiny cottage near Volcanoes National Park I'd found on Airbnb, and our last night at an historic Japanese hotel in Captain Cook.
Read moreLife: Week 43
Washington is absolutely killing it with fall this year. Everywhere, there's an absolute riot of vibrant color, the likes of which I can't remember seeing in years! It's been a struggle to stay indoors and work, especially knowing that soon all this color will be gone, and we'll be left with the muted grey of winter until spring. Since Andy had to work for a few hours on Saturday, after running a few errands in Kirkland, I went for a walk along the waterfront. There's something magical about a foggy fall morning, and working from home I don't often get the opportunity to enjoy these occasional spooky mornings. By the afternoon when I headed to Bellevue to meet Andy for lunch at our favorite ramen restaurant near his work, the fog had burned off and the city lit up with the fiery splendor of fall. Hopefully there will be at least one or two more weeks of this dreamy fall color. I'll definitely be getting outside as much as I can while it lasts!
Read moreLife: Week 42
When work gives you the opportunity to go to the Bay Area and extend the trip into a long weekend spent with family that you don't get to see nearly often enough, obviously you take it! Leaving behind some seriously rainy fall weather, midweek I headed down to San Francisco for a meeting, most of which I missed because of a ridiculously delayed flight. After the meeting I spent a few hours trying to finish my entire workload for the day, then headed east for a wonderful weekend with family. There were plenty of hugs, games to play, and many, many books to read. On Saturday, while the kids were napping, my sister-in-law and I made macarons, and they turned out to be some of the best I've ever made. As always, my visit wasn't nearly long enough, but I'm so glad that my work gave me the opportunity to squeeze in a short visit!
Read moreLife: Week 41
Andy and I started the week off with matching colds, but thankfully by the weekend we were both feeling better! The highlight of the week was our annual trip to Vashon Island to make cider with Andy's family on Saturday. It's a tough choice, but I think our fall trip to Vashon is my favorite fall tradition! This year, we brought my friend Ashley and her daughter with us. Andy and I have been to Vashon so many times that we take the beauty of the property for granted, so bringing a friend for the first time allowed us to see the place through new eyes. Because of the dry summer we had, it wasn't a great year for apples, so we had much less cider than usual, but the small amount we got was delicious as usual. Like always, we found ourselves hesitant to head home at the end of the day, but eventually we headed for the ferry home.
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