Hi blerg! It’s Monday, I just started my period, my in-laws just left us after a 3-day stay and I have a couple of snoozing dogs at my feet. Let’s travel back in time to last Thursday, when I met up with one of my old bosses for brunch and then a nice loooooong stroll around Marymoor with the pets.

It was an unseasonable 80 degrees, and it was fabulous. I wore a tank top, my rainbow hat and a nice thick layer of spf 30. My boss is pregnant with girl child #2, so we talked a lot about babies and child-rearing strategies (I learned about RIE parenting) and then after an hour or so my friend Christy, who lives nearby, met up with us and we all walked around the park for another hour or so.

Look at this little Bernese Mountain puppy awwwrrrrrrrr! I WANT ONE.

The girls and I came back home and pretty much did nothing for the rest of the day…hours of walking and sunshine can be exhausting! But so gooood!

Er, well, “throwback Thursday” to this fabbuu chandelier I spotted at “Home Inspirations”. Mmmm hmmmmm. 

Friday was similarly gorgeous weather, although not quite as hot, so in the morning I took the girls on a long forest-y walk (after all the frantic last-minute housecleaning for my in-laws).

They had planned on visiting us sometime this month for Josh’s birthday (on the 21st), but bumped up their visit a little to help out Brenna, who has been having a lot of physical ailments and needed to rest her body before her family’s trip to Hawaii this week. We were all concerned but per Jerry yesterday after they arrived in Hawaii, she was feeling much better. Thank goodness. 

I was grateful for their early visit because the latter part of this month is going to be busy for me with ultrasounds, blood tests and FINALLY my FET. FINALLY FINALLY WOOOO!!!

Saturday morning Josh was off to Mount Rainier to go skiing with his uncle, and my in-laws went to visit Fleeta’s parents and take them to IKEA to brainstorm kitchen ideas. They tried to get me to go with them, but I’ve avoided IKEA this long for a reason, and had no interest. Sorry, in-laws.

Instead I completed my 4.5 mile training run, took the girls for a walk and then sat in the basement icing my feet and attempting to finish up this cat painting for Corinne. I crowd-sourced on Instagram ideas for the frame around the poster in the painting, which is white. I think I’ve settled on green. Maybe. Maybe.

And then I just spent an hour or so on my back patio, wearing my cheap-o sunhat from Walgreens and trying my damndest to blast through the library books I’ve had for the last, oh, month or so.

Bob and Fleeta returned from their IKEA trip and I convinced them to drive me over to a park I had driven by many times and was curious about.

Curiosity satisfied! Then we had Mexican food. Mmmmmmm.

Yesterday the four of us went to Pike Place Market, one of my favorite things to do in Seattle. It’s always fun to gawk at the gorgeous flowers, visit the various booths and talk to local artists.

And what would a trip to Pike Place Market be without a stop at Milagros? Would you believe I didn’t buy a cross this time??! There wasn’t one that “spoke” to me, and at a minimum of 48 bucks they need to SPEAK to me. I would have bought a little pair of star earrings but didn’t have 5 dollars cash on me. Heigh ho.

No matter. I had the most incredible pear gelato I’ve ever tasted and we each bought a beautiful bouquet of flowers to bring home for only 10 clams. So worth it!

Love these “parrot” tulips. I also learned that the beautiful chartreuse-colored plant growing in our backyard is called “Euphorbia”. Learn something new each day!

After the Market, we wandered over to the Olympic Sculpture Park, which Joshy and I had not been to before. More photos to come.

This amazing bright green greenhouse caught my eye as we were leaving the Sculpture Park, and we wandered in. It’s called the “Neukom Vivarium”, and it is, per Wiki:

Neukom Vivarium is a 2006 mixed media installation by American artist Mark Dion, located at Olympic Sculpture Park in Seattle, Washington, United States. The work features a 60-foot (18 m) Western hemlock that fell outside of Seattle in 1996, acting as a nurse log within an 80-foot (24 m) greenhouse. According to the Seattle Art Museum, which operates the park, the tree “inhabits an art system” consisting of bacteria, fungi, insects, lichen and plants. The installation supplies magnifying glasses to visitors wanting a closer inspection; they are provided field guides in the form of tiles.

Cool! So greeeeeen and peaceful. 

Finally, to celebrate my old man’s birthday we went to Chiso in Fremont, the best best best sushi in Seattle, as far as we’re concerned. It never disappoints!

UGH alright. Goals for today include gobbling lots of Pamprin, laying under my heated throw and…HOPEFULLY finishing Corinne’s cat painting #1, because I’m ready to move on to #2. Of course! Catch yer later.