1. The majority of my time this summer was of course spent working, working, and yes working.
2. I did find a free moment to attend two weddings. That of my friend Mike's and my sister Kat's. Both were a delight.
3. Remember months ago when I mentioned that Chanel had discontinued my shade of lipstick? Well I spent much of my summer scouring the country for a few remaining tubes. One I found at a store in Aspen. Another I purchased on eBay (new in box). The third my contact at the Seattle Nordstrom, John-Paul, finally managed to locate for me. By far the best deal was the tube purchased on eBay, $15 including shipping. I've always been leary of purchasing cosmetics on eBay but desperate times...
5. A lot of raspberry picking occurred during the summer. I managed to squirrel away a few plastic bags full in my freezer for smoothies. I swear nothing tastes better than berries you've picked yourself.
6. Attended two outdoor concerts at the Chateau Ste. Michelle Winery, Elvis Costello and Pink Martini. Both very enjoyable.
8. Attended one evening of the Celebration of Light in Vancouver. A brilliant firework competition that takes place every summer over English Bay.
9. Took another class from the brilliant Karen Lockhart.
10. Was invited to an incredible outdoor scallop dinner.
11. Took a 2 hours boat ride around Bellingham bay. Where we witnessed the sun setting over the San Juan Islands. Learned more of the history of Bellingham and the harbor. Came upon a gigantic ship from Russia. And most importantly spotted seals sunbathing.
12. Housesat at a lakehouse.
13. Spent several weekends with the family out on the island.
14. The only out of town trip I took this summer was to Sequim, Washington to attend their yearly Lavender Festival and Street Fair. Sequim is known as the sunniest and driest city in the state of Washington. Apparently the reason for this is that Sequim lies within the rainshadow of the Olympic Mountains. But of course as luck would have it during our visit it was cloudy. Although at least the rain stayed away. My favorite of the eight lavender farms participating in the festival would have to have beeen Jardin du Soleil. Beyond just viewing the gorgeous fields of lavender you could pick your own bunches of lavender, sample lavender lemonade, ice cream and margaritas. Each farm offered a wide variety of foods and crafts to sample and peruse. Sequim is a quaint little town with cute shops and lots of retired people. The food we consumed while in Sequim was mostly superb, and just about every meal had crab in it. My favorite meal would have to have been our enormous crab omelettes served at the Oak Table Cafe. Everyone had told us that no visit to Sequim was complete without a dinner at The Three Crabs. I actually found the service there to be quite shoddy and the food average at best. We had made reservations but were still made to wait as they claimed to not have written down our reservation. Then after 20 minutes of waiting they finally found it. I found the crab cakes to be full of filler with very little crab. Although the festival was fun and I did come home with plenty of lavender tea and honey, I don't know if I'd make a yearly pilgrimage to Sequim like some Washingtonians.
15. And most importantly this was the summer I discovered the joys of the television show Weeds. I consumed the entire first season in a few days. But unfortunately since I'm without Showtime I'll have to wait a while for the next season to come out on DVD. And finally a show with a theme song I want to sing along with. Check out Elvis Costello's and Death Cab For Cutie's covers of the the theme song, Little Boxes.
1. Material Girls (Delicious fluff.)
4. The Lake House (Despite my abhorrence of Sandra Bullock I quite liked this movie. The architecture and yes even the storyline drew me in.)
