Memorial Day Weekend Wrap-Up

The holiday weekend at home in Seattle turned out to be a fabulous weather weekend and chock full o' fun. The highlights:

• Left the office early and met Kat at my place so we could run to the store to pick up essentials for the evening.
• Introduced Kat to the magic of the of the Laughing Cow.
• Ate clam dip and watched Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade in preparation for seeing the new Indy film over the holiday weekend.
• Woke early Saturday to complete the usual laundry bit.
• Created new starts and baked the Amish Cinnamon Friendship Bread from the start that I received from a colleague 10 days prior. (If you live in the Seattle area and would like a start for this yummy cinnamon bread, let me know via IM, email or comment.)
• Downloaded pictures from my camera to Flickr including pictures of Mom's visit to Seattle, Jimmy's 30th and the trip to Utah and driving home through California.
• Ran errands.
• Attempted to take a walk on the beach at Golden Gardens but couldn't find parking so ended up at the Hiram M. Chittenden Locks on the Lake Washington Ship Canal which was fascinating and totally cool. I can't believe I haven't been before.
  
• Had my eyebrows waxed.
• Enjoyed the afternoon and sunset from the deck at Eastlake Bar and Grill. The drinks and food were good, but the service SUCKED!
• Woke early again thanks to the sun and headed out to Costco to beat the crowds.
• Took pictures of the flowers and herbs on my deck and completed a blog post about them.
• Took a nap.
• Decided to go watch the big boats (a.k.a. cruise ships) leave Elliott Bay from the deck of Bell Street Diner but when I arrived they were closed due to a plumbing problem.
• Watched the cranes and dock workers load tons of luggage onto the Norwegian Pearl.
• Drank a beer at Anthony's Fish Bar.
• Frustrated by the heat and late departure of the Norwegian Pearl I left the Seattle waterfront in search of a sunny deck and possibly some Copper River Salmon.
• Soaked up the summer sun and watched the big boats sail by from the deck at Ray's Boathouse. Kat came down and joined me for dinner and the sunset which was amazing.
• Woke to a dreary cooler day on Monday so I opted to stay in bed for a couple of hours and read.
• Had lunch with Kat and Don at Red Robin in Bellevue Square.
• Saw Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull which I loved.
• Watched as Don kicked my ass all over the pool table at Rock Bottom.
• Found my iPod, full story here.
• Shared a glass of wine with Kipp when he stopped by just after leaving Folk Life.
• Enjoyed some wine on the deck with Don and the sun faded away and the holiday weekend came to an end.

How was your weekend?

The Case of the Missing iPod

Last Monday I arrived at work and in my typical fashion I reached in my purse to grab my iPod so that I could plug it into my little speaker set and enjoy music in my office. But alas, there was no iPod in my purse. I removed everything else from my purse, no iPod. I assumed that I had left it on the little table in the entryway where I put my purse at night but when I returned home on Monday night it wasn't there. I looked in the usual places (atop the stereo, on my desk) and couldn't find it, so I assumed that it had fallen out of my purse and hence the long, painful search began.

The last time I remembered having it was on Friday evening. When I picked Don up at work it was plugged into the FM radio transmitter in my car. When we arrived at Yarrow Bay Grill I unplugged it and put it in my purse. Since my purse spent a great deal of time in both my car and Don's car over the weekend, I thought perhaps the iPod had slipped out at some point when it wasn't zipped up. So on Tuesday morning prior to heading to work I searched my car and NOTHING. I shot off an email to Don asking him to check his car and again, NOTHING.

I was now beginning to believe that it may be gone.

Tuesday night I searched my entire house. I had set my purse on my bed at one point over the weekend so I took all the sheets off the bed and searched, nothing. It has been in the kitchen, so I searched there and again, NOTHING. I had been working on the deck and thought that I perhaps set it on the arm of the couch since I had thought about plugging it into the stereo and never did and you guessed it.... NOTHING! UGH!

By Wednesday I was sure that it had fallen out of my purse at one of the places that we visited last weekend. So I began calling to inquire about it. I called Yarrow Bay Grill, Maltby Cafe, Bell Street Diner and Silver City Brewing. NOTHING.

Then it occurred to me that there was no identification or contact information on it. So even if an honest person had found it and wanted to return it they couldn't. Damn!

On Thursday I felt that I had exhausted all possible resources to finding it and began to accept the fact that it was gone forever. Work days were longer without it, my office was painfully quiet. Home life wasn't the same without it and I actually had to use CD's in the stereo. I have all the music on my laptop in iTunes so I wasn't sad about losing music just the method of being able to have all my favorite songs in the palm of my hand. Sure I could buy another one but I didn't want to, I wanted mine back.

Saturday and Sunday were sunny and busy and I had accepted the idea that my beloved iPod was never coming home again. I spent some time on the website looking at the newer options in the iPod world and thought that I would likely replace it in the coming week.

Then yesterday afternoon Don and I were at Rock Bottom playing pool and drinking some beer. Don was on-call for the weekend and had just received a call so we were quickly winding things up so that we could head home and he could handle the problem that had come up. I reached in my purse to get my "card wallet" (the wallet that I keep all the bonus, membership, point, punch cards for various retail establishments) and get the Rock Bottom Mug Club card out. My purse was stuffed since in additional all the regular stuff I also had my digital camera in there. I removed my wallet to give myself more space and reached to the bottom in search of the card wallet and felt something with a velvety texture. Could it be? I grabbed it and pulled it out and it was my iPOD! Oh happy day! Had it really been in my purse all this time? Unbelievable.

When Don returned from the bathroom he couldn't believe it. He thinks that I didn't really check my purse well. I swear that I did. I took everything out and actually shook it upside down. Upon arriving at home I plugged it into the stereo and enjoyed my tunes again. I'm so glad it has come home to me (even if it never really left).

I think instead of buying a new iPod that I need a new purse. One that is big enough for everything and has a zipper that will close when it's packed with stuff.

Jewells as Cereal

You Are Corn Flakes

You are traditional and easy going. If something is high quality, you're satisfied with it. You don't need much variety or novelty in your life. You're happy with what you have. You're quite loyal. You're the type of person who eats the same breakfast every day... And likely at the exact same time each day!

What Kind of Cereal Are You?

Giant Movie Posters

Atop Lincoln Square in Bellevue as we are headed to lunch followed by the new Indiana Jones flick.

Orangesicle Delight

The magic chefs at Ray's have managed to put the taste of summer in a dessert.

Another Beautiful Day

Sunset from Ray's Cafe marks the end of yet another perfect Seattle day.

Urban Deck Gardening

As I mentioned previously, I planted flowers, herbs and tomatoes on my deck last weekend. As promised, I have taken photos to share.

I planted a total 6 "color bowls" (2 for me, 2 for Kat and 2 for my brother and sister-in-law) and 2 rectangular planters (for Don) with the same flower combinations. They each contained: Fuchsia Geranium, Bonanza Yellow Marigold, Blue Forget-Me-Not, Dazzler White Impatien, Sundial Pink Portulaca, Dreamland Scarlet Zinnia and Dazzler Cranberry Impatien. (Click on the photo for exact identification of the flowers.)

Deck Flowers, originally uploaded by JewellsinSEA.

I also planted 2 rectangular planters for myself. They each contained: Red Geranium, Orange Marigold, Blue Forget-Me-Not, Sundial Pink Portulaca. (Click on the photo for exact identification of the flowers.)

Deck Flowers, originally uploaded by JewellsinSEA.

I planted an herb garden for myself containing: Sweet Basil, Oregano, Golden Sage, Rosemary and Thyme. (Click on the photo for exact identification of the herbs.)

Deck Herb Garden, originally uploaded by JewellsinSEA.

I also planted 2 tomato plants, one is pictured below.

Deck Tomatoes, originally uploaded by JewellsinSEA.

I'm anxious to see how they do this summer. The weather was a little too cool for the tomatoes and herbs last year so I'm keeping my figures crossed that we have plenty of sunny and beautiful days.

Sun Slippin Away

The sun is slipping lower and lower in the sky. Soon it will be gone and this beautiful day will be over. :-(

Rainbow Hair

Hair extension samples. I wonder how I'd look with pink extensions?

My Ideal Place

You Should Live in a Small City

You are definitely an urban person, but not any old city will do. You want a city that matches you well. For you, big cities lack individuality. You prefer a smaller city with lots of personality, local culture, and history.

Where Should You Live?