there’s a first time for everything…

Tomorrow is MAH’s birthday, so in honor of her day (and as a foray back into the blogosphere after a prolonged absence), I thought I would write a quick little list.  Here are the top 10 things I have done for the first time with MAH:

1. Lived in a 1-bedroom apartment with another person.

2. Peed in Hyde Park in London (or any park for that matter).

3. Smoked.

4. Swam in the Caribbean Sea.

5. Ridden in a shopping cart down a San Diego sidewalk.

6. Hiked 10 miles in the Lake District of England.

7. Sang karaoke at The Rickshaw (you better believe we sang our hearts out to “I Wanna Dance With Somebody”).

8. Shared a hot dog on a London sidewalk (see below).

9. Been completely fine with eating out WAY more than we cook at home.

10. Had a friend who is almost exactly the same age as me!!!

And to think we have crammed all of these adventures into only 2 and a half years!  Happy 23rd birthday, MAH.  I love you!

true love

Ever since their wedding a month ago, I have been increasingly obsessed with my friends Holly & Dustin. Now, I have known and loved H & D for awhile now; Holl & I were roommates during our last year of college, and Dustin lived right across the street (Irondale!). The three of us also took quite a few English classes together. They got engaged on Valentine’s Day 2007, which will go down as one of my favorite SPU memories. Too bad we don’t have that video.

Annnyway…as I said before, Holly & Dustin got married last month. I have been too a lot of weddings, and this one is definitely in my top 3. It was classy, personal, intimate, and fun. The best combination ever. It was such a joyful celebration, but at the same time deeply meaningful. I want a wedding like that. Even wedding-skeptic MAH conceded that their wedding made her rethink her courthouse fantasy. Maybe.

Just last week, Holly & Dustin had MAH and I over for dinner. In true Holly fashion, we had a delicious, creative, and visually stunning meal. It was corn and crab salad with chilled cucumber/avocado soup. Can we say YUM? It was so fun to see them in their apartment together, surrounded by new wedding gifts. Happiness literally effuses from these two. I love it.

Like myself, Holly & Dustin are both Mac fans and users. Dustin, my technology guru, even has an iphone. Holly kept a wedding blog during her year of planning, and also has another blog that you should read and love. Dustin built a wedding website for them, something that has become increasingly popular this year according to the seven wedding invitations I have received. But H & D have taken their wedding website one step further. Now it is titled “Our Life as Holly & Dustin Wood.” This website is complete with photos and a slideshow from the wedding, as well as my favorite feature: podcasts.

Video podcasts, of course. Video podcasts in which Holly & Dustin review restaurants around Seattle. Please watch them. I hope you find them as entertaining as I do. Just the other day Dustin suggested I watch one to pull me out of a bad mood. It worked.

At first, it made me want to do my own video podcasts. And then I realized two things: 1. It would not be funny if I sat in front of my computer and recorded myself talking alone (actually that would be quite depressing), and 2. H & D have a bit more time on their hands than they normally do. As fate would have it, both H & D are currently unemployed. Well, not technically. Dustin teaches 3rd grade, so he is on summer vacation. And Holly works about six jobs, it just so happens that none of them are full-time. Yet. So they get to live out newlywed bliss to the full extent. And for Holly & Dustin that means cooking delicious meals for their friends and recording video podcasts.

So go here: www.dustinandhollywood.com (yes, her name is now Holly Wood) and be captivated by my current favorite couple.

pocky & sty (or my traveling companion)

To wrap up the Belizean chronicles, I thought I would focus on the person who was by my side (quite literally) during the entire trip: MAH herself. Like I’ve said before, traveling together was nothing new for us. We met on a 3-month study abroad trip through the British Isles. We’ve done the quick packing-eating on the run-sleeping in uncomfortable places thing together. But this time we were minus 28 other college students and wore bathing suits almost 24/7.

Sometimes it amazes me how comfortable MAH and I are with each other. Nothing is taboo. From complaints about bodily functions (and trust me, we experienced almost all of them on this trip), to serious conversations. We also take good care of each other. MAH wouldn’t let me out of her sight on the night I needed her to be my chaperon, and I sat next to her on the beach the next morning and scouted the prime throw-up spot if she couldn’t make it back to our room (she did). MAH rubbed aloe on my sunburned back and I convinced her that her sty that appeared in her eye halfway through the trip was not a reason to visit a Belizean hospital.

I loved laying on the beach with someone who could read just as much as me and not get bored. I read four books in Belize. That is my idea of a vacation, seriously. I love that we are just as comfortable sitting on the beach reading for hours on end without talking as we are swimming in the pool like seven-year-olds laughing more freely than we ever do at home.

During one of these poolside chats, the conversation turned to dogs (not surprisingly). We often talk about the hypothetical dogs of our future, what breed they will be, what we will name them. For awhile we have liked the name “Pocky” but it wasn’t until Belize that we realized Pocky would be a great nickname for a dog named Paco. Perhaps the sty was worse than I thought, because MAH quite seriously suggested Sty as a name for her future pooch. I wouldn’t actually be surprised if you see us in 10 years walking our dogs, Pocky & Sty.

After MAH’s trip down the stairs (after we realized she was okay, we both nearly peed our pants laughing), a few more margaritas, a surprisingly accurate imitation of the “Chinese instrument” that MAH hears played on the street corner downtown everyday, and many laughs, it was time to go home. We reluctantly left Ambergris Caye in a tiny plane, this time full of people. The plane was HOT and it didn’t help that we were nervous sweating because there was literally an alarm going off as we got higher off the ground. We got to the tiny Belize City airport and found out our flight to Houston was delayed. We got a beer to take the edge off the wait, and before we knew it, we were on our way back to the US. Unfortunately, we had a tight layover before our flight to Seattle, and as the plane kept getting delayed (on the tarmac in Belize, waiting for a gate in Houston), our blood pressure kept rising. We pushed our way down the skinny aisle and as soon as we were out in the open, we RAN. I was in my oh-so-stylish Keens, which actually came in handy for this unexpected workout. Despite being a bit out of shape (especially on my part), I can confidently say we were the first people from our plane to get to customs. More waiting, more running (this time with luggage), just to find out our flight was delayed. So we planted ourselves in the Houston airport’s version of Fox Sports Grill and gorged on chicken strips and Bud Light. Welcome home.

By the time we got back to Seattle, it was about 1:30am (3:30 am Belize time), and besides being exhausted we were dreading the return to real life. We hopped in a cab and pointed him toward home. I honestly don’t think MAH said one word from the time we got our luggage until we woke up the next morning. But that’s okay, that’s one of those things we are just “comfortable” with. She had reached her word/stress quota for the day. But she got over it quickly, MAH was back at the office the next day while I took the day off (it was a Friday, afterall).

Our trip together went so well, MAH even suggested taking a joint-honeymoon when we get married. Mmmm…I might have to really think about that when (if) the time actually comes. But no matter what, I know we’ll be traveling to more places and making more memories well into the future.

beer, bracelets, and beachside breakfasts (or the food)

MAH and I share a deep love for food.  Really, that’s a big reason why we became friends so quickly; we bonded over hot dogs and beer in London. So obviously, our meals and where we ate them was a big part of our Belizean vacation.  I think the most common questions we asked each other were “are you hungry?”  and “where should we eat?”.    So here’s the recap, complete with photos.

 

We ate our first dinner at the Blue Water Grill in San Pedro.  Sitting at a corner table in the tropical breeze, looking out at an amazing moon (which refused to be adequately captured by our cameras), we fell in love with Belize.  Specifically with the bread and the beer we were enjoying. 

 

 

We quickly discovered a new beachside bar near our hotel that we returned to almost everyday.  La Playa offered gorgeous views, comfortable seating, and good drinks.  We met a couple friends here: a somewhat-emaciated stray dog, the color of sand, whom MAH dubbed “Sheila” and Israel, a server at the restaurant who invited us to go out on his boat to a private island (we declined).  We spent an entire late afternoon at La Playa reading and slowly drinking beer.  It was heaven.

 

 

Mexican food is always good.  It’s even better on a beach in Belize.  That’s why we loved Caliente so much.  Their nachos rivaled Matador’s (and that’s saying a lot).  The margaritas, despite creating a puddle on the table because of all the condensation, were delicious.  We returned the next day looking forward to another round of nachos, and as our waitress walked over to take our order, I noticed something bright and shiny around her wrist.  It took me a minute to realize why her bracelet immediately attracted my attention, but as my mind caught up with my eyes, I realized this beaded bracelet was very familiar.  It was MAH’s.  As soon as our waitress was out of earshot I leaned across the table and whispered, “MAH, this is REALLY weird.  She is wearing your bracelet!”  As the words tumbled out of mouth, I remembered that the day before MAH had taken the bracelet off because it was bothering her.  She must have left it on the table, and it had been picked up by our waitress.  We decided not to say anything (what would you say?), the awkwardness of bringing it up outweighed the worth of the bracelet.  I guess we left with the satisfaction of knowing that there will always be a little part of MAH in San Pedro.  Right here:

 

 

I’ll be honest; restaurants with sand on the floor, although classically “beachy,” have always grossed me out a little bit.  There is no way you could adequately clean the bits of food people drop off their plates and forks with 5 inches of sand all over the floor.  Yuck.  Even worse is when people take off their shoes and dig there feet right into the sand.  That said, one of the best restaurants we went to had a sand floor.  The food was so good I forgot about my personal hygiene standards.  Estelle’s on the beach featured some of the best breakfast food I have ever eaten, and I am not even a huge breakfast fan.  You basically got to build your own meal, which for me included: eggs (over medium), sausage, a tortilla, and baked beans (the taste of England).  It was delicious. 

 

Throw in some lobster, the best carbonara pasta of our lives, perfectly cooked filet mignon, and more margaritas than we can count, and you have an accurate depiction of our eating habits in Belize.  We probably gained a few pounds, that we are still working to get off, but it was definitely worth it.

 

way too hot for sex (or the hotels)

Chocolate and vanilla.  Black and white.  Big and small.  Hot and cold.  These are  all opposites that are equally good in different ways.  I love chocolate chips and vanilla soft serve.  I love black cats and white pants.  I love big paychecks and small babies.  I love hot coffee and cold beer.  See? 

 

Our hotels in Belize were a similar juxtaposition.  But, I am pretty sure we liked one a bit more than the other.  After hours at work spent researching hotels in Ambergris Caye, we settled on Ruby’s (a “budget” hotel right in the heart of San Pedro) and Matachica (a resort on the more-remote North end of the island).  I think we got an accurate taste of the flavor of Ambergris Caye by staying at both spots.

 

After a 3:30am cab ride, 3 plane rides, and a walk from the airstrip to our hotel, we were ready to GET to Ruby’s.  We checked in, and were led up 3 flights of stairs (one of which MAH fell down on our last day there) to our room on the top floor.  Both of us just stood there for a minute, looking for the rest of our room.  It was just big enough for a double bed and room to walk around the bed to the bathroom.  After taking in our new digs (which didn’t take very long at all) we looked at each other and smiled.  The room was tiny, but it was CLEAN.  Much more than you could say about a couple of the hostels MAH and I stayed in during our 3-month stint in Europe.  There were no mysterious hairs covering the bed and the shower didn’t have 6 inches of standing water in it.  This was a good sign.

 

The first thing MAH did was turn on the fan, which maxed out at medium speed and stayed on throughout our entire stay.  Despite our travel-induced exhaustion, our first night in Belize did not include a lot of sleep.  It did include a lot of tossing, turning, sheet tugging, deep sighing, pushing ear plugs in and pulling them out, sweating, struggling to breathe in the thick air, and attempting to optimally position ourselves in front of the fan. 

 

I honestly don’t remember who said it first.  But as we were waking up, looking out the window at the turquoise water and pristine sand, one of us rolled over and said, “I could never have sex in this room.”  We were in total agreement.  The heat and uncomfortability of the night before had removed any trace of romance this room held.  But hey, that’s okay, we weren’t here for the sex.

 

We had three more nights at Ruby’s, and we slept much better than the first night.  We had one rough morning there, after a night of a little too much beer, but perhaps I should let MAH field that one.  I already feel like this post is way too long.  Ruby’s, despite its tiny, sweaty room, was a great, cheap home base for our first four nights in Belize. 

 

From the beautiful boat ride to the welcome margarita at check-in, we knew Matachica was the place for us.  This place was good enough for Cameron Diaz and Tiger Woods to visit, and was the location of the first season of Temptation Island.  Clearly, we fit right in. 

 

Actually, we didn’t fit in.  As I said to MAH our first day there, “I am pretty confident we are the only two people here who aren’t having sex.”  And trust me, the rooms here were much more sexy.  There were multiple couples on their honeymoon, who couldn’t even stand to sit across the table from each other at dinner.  We thought we had a front-row view of a private island wedding (we were sitting in the hot tub) but it turned out to be a couple renewing their vows.  On their first anniversary.  Do you really need to be reminded after 12 months? 

 

We walked everywhere barefoot, from the amazing restaurant, to the beach, and back to our own little cabana, Coco, complete with hammock, mosquito net, and the best towels of our lives.  We ate breakfasts of tropical fruit and about 5 different kinds of bread, overlooking the ocean.  Life doesn’t get much better than this.

 

Despite the $18.00 bugspray and constantly canoodling couples, Matachica is one of the most beautiful, relaxing, and unique places I have ever stayed. 

 

So there you have it: part 2 of our Belizean adventure.  More to come…

 

 

 

 

 

lucky star bonita (or ambergris caye)

 

As all of you probably know, I recently spent a week in Belize.  It’s taken awhile to get back into real life and real work, but I think I am finally ready to tackle the Belize blog.  Because I have so much to say and I know you are all dying to hear about every dirty detail, I have divided the trip into four sections.  I know you will be on the edge or your seat waiting for each installment.  Get excited.

 

Summer had not yet arrived in Seattle, but it was in full 80% humidity-force as we walked off the back of the plane onto the tarmac in Belize City.  Despite the thick air, we breathed a deep sigh of relief: we were officially on vacation.  After a brief wait in the airport, we hopped on the smallest plane of our lives for the short 15-minute flight to Ambergris Caye, the island we stayed on. 

 

Even Madonna loves Ambergris Caye.  Her song “La Isla Bonita” was written all about it!  MAH was a little confused about the lyrics to this song before our trip, I think she got it mixed up with another Madonna hit, “Lucky Star.”  But once we saw this beautiful island, the words made perfect sense.

 

The only town on the island, San Pedro, has a very Caribbean feel to it.  Complete with sandy roads driven on only by golf carts and the occasional mini-van taxi.  The island is only about 23-miles long, but is the largest island in all of Belize.  It features some of the whitest, softest sand and bluest, clearest waters I have ever seen. 

 

You guys, the water.  It is amazing.  The most vibrant shade of turquoise.  Ambergris Caye is surrounded by a huge barrier reef, second only to The Great Barrier Reef in Australia.  The waves break out on the reef, keeping the beaches calm and the water shallow (and warm as a bath tub).  We took a snorkeling trip out to the reef and despite some leaky masks (borrowed from my dad, the master snorkeler) it felt like a scene straight out of Finding Nemo. 

 

We went to a second dive spot called Shark Ray Alley, where nurse sharks and sting rays hang out all day, waiting for boats of brave snorkelers who will jump in while their tour guides throw dead fish in the water, attracting the scary sea creatures.  I reluctantly got in, but after about five minutes of swimming around, flashbacks of the news reports of Steve Irwin’s death running through my mind, I got back in the boat.  Brave MAH lasted longer than me, she snorkeled with sharks.  She’s pretty intense. 

 

When did I fall in love with Ambergris Caye?  It might have been as soon as I saw the trifecta of sand, sun, and ocean right outside my hotel window.  It could have been the night MAH and I walked down the main street, beers in hand, window-shopping.  It could be the moment I realized the island had everything to offer, but still felt authentic and somewhat undiscovered.  Whenever it was, I would be back there in a heartbeat.  Stay tuned for further adventures on La Isla Bonita (trust me, the best is yet to come).

a little piece of heaven

She is. She really, really is. There is nothing like a newborn baby to remind you of all the grace, perfection, and miracles that surround us every day but are easy to miss. She’s simply amazing.

Her name is Lillian Faye and she is the first daughter of one of my very best friends. She was born on July 1st, so today is her one-week birthday! She’s pretty much perfect as you can see:

Everything about her amazes me. The way that she looks like a perfect mix of her mom and her dad. The fact that she knew exactly what to do the second she was born: breathe, cry, open her eyes, look cute. That I was able to hold her a mere 7 hours after she was born. That she is the person we have been waiting for for the last nine months–we didn’t even know if she was a boy or a girl, but it was Lillian all along. And for the record, Lillian, I knew you were a girl the whole time; I even had a dream about it.

I got to spend a few hours with Lillian, Katrina, and Justin on Sunday. She slept almost the whole time–she’s still so scrunchy and snuggly. I’m definitely in love:

I am pretty excited that Lillian is here to stay. She is going to be such an amazing addition to the lives of so many people. She’s here to make us smile and laugh, and to remind us that there can be perfection in the midst of a very imperfect world. I can’t wait to see who she becomes; I have a feeling we will get along great because we are both first-borns.  There are many things I wish for Lillian–security, happiness, compassion, awareness–but most of all, I wish for her true friendship.

 

i’m alive

I know some of you (Andy) were getting worried.  But I’m still here.  I spent an amazing week in Belize and am now adujusting to re-entry. 

Stay tuned for a post about our unBelizeable trip.

sunnyside up

So, it’s time to post about the weather again. After complaining about June in Seattle in, let’s see, FOUR recent posts, I was reminded this weekend why I love summer in Seattle. The sunshine and temperatures over 55 degrees allowed me to do some pretty great things this weekend. Like:

-Wear my favorite capri jeans

-Have a BBQ at Golden Gardens with some of my favorite people

-Walk around outside without a coat

-Drive with my sunroof open AND my window down at 9:00 in the morning

-Order iced coffee without feeling judged

-Sleep without flannel pajama pants and two down comforters

It was a great weekend.  My only complaint is that it didn’t last longer.  Summer, welcome to Seattle.

best ever

It was the afternoon lull.  It generally hits me (and my co-workers) around 2:30.  Usually, someone will start some interesting cross-cube banter around this time to jolt us all out of our stupor.  Today, this conversation was centered on Pepperidge Farm Mint Milano cookies at Seven DoJo jeans (I work in a cool office).  I somehow turned this conversation around to food and myself (as I tend to do), and said aloud “if I could eat anything right now it would be cheddar sour cream Ruffles chips.”  I got a mixed reaction on this–some thought it sounded delicious, others not so much.

Not even five minutes later, a co-worker comes walking down the hall into our little cube jungle holding what looked to me like a cheddar sour cream Ruffle chip!  I contained my scream and demanded she tell me where she got it.  The chips were for an end-of-the-year party for a group of kids, but the turnout had been low so there were EXTRA CHIPS.  I almost ran over to the bowl and grabbed a healthy handful.  All I had to do was speak it and the chips appeared.  It was bliss, pure bliss. 

So besides my new-found superpower, the sun is coming out for the first time in weeks.  I couldn’t be happier.