Do you know the way to Santa Fe?

Last night we went for a long walk, through Woodland Park, up to Phinney Ridge and even down to Greenwood. It was really fun to just walk around in a different neighborhood, and Woodland Park always gives me the feeling that I'm not really in the city anymore--at least till I cross the foot bridge over roaring Aurora Avenue. Along the way we stopped for a while in the rose garden next to the zoo, where almost all the flowers were in full bloom. It was probably one of the last warm, sunny days we'll have for a while, so we had to take advantage of it.

We wound up stopping for dinner at The Santa Fe Cafe, a New Mexican restaurant on Phinney Ridge. Dinner was good--the portions were huge, and the flour tortillas served on the side were irresistibly fluffy and warm. But the best part was the awesome vision that came to me as we waited for our table. It all began normally--I asked Larry if he thought that the staff liked the song "Santa Fe" from Rent. He humored me and said maybe. Then I started to envision the staff gathering together before they open every day, singing "Santa Fe" together. They would sashay through the restaurant like Collins and Angel, swinging around corners. At the end, they could all join in a huddle, singing "Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh-oh..." with one hand in, and then on the last "Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-ooh..." they would slowly raise their arms, with jazz hands of course. Then they would shout, "Santa Fe!" and open for business. Come on--it would be a total morale booster! I think the next time we go back I may have to suggest it on their comment card.

more Alaska pics

First day of our cruise, from the top deck of the Mercury


Before our raft float excursion through the Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve--our life preservers all had fun names like "Salty Dog" and "Mad Hatter"

A few of my favorite things, volume 2

english toffee
Neil Patrick Harris on How I Met Your Mother
lovely design
Sundays in fall
T-strap shoes
wrapping presents

Ain't no sunshine when he's gone...

Oh, Kayne, I'll miss you so. The back of that dress was a little scary, but the front was lovely. And at least it looked like a cocktail dress; Jeffrey's concoction looked like something a misguided college student would put together from thrift shop rags for a night of clubbing. But I digress. I look forward to seeing what Kayne puts out next, and I can even see a reality show in the future--Project Kayne, anyone? I'd watch an entire season of that, no question.

I'm starting to lose some love for PR in general--it feels like the producers are just yanking the audience around and trying to create "drama" instead of letting the natural drama of the competition carry the show. I understand making the challenges tougher, but bringing two auf'ed designers back (and the two most dramatic ones at that) just seems fake. Plus it undermines the work that the other designers have done to make it this far, especially when Angela wouldn't have won the Macy's challenge without Laura and Michael. It just felt like the producers made up a viable sounding reason for bringing those two back. Even Tim seemed a little annoyed to see Vincent and Angela again. Oh well, at least they got kicked off again. I suppose there's some amusement in that.

Since I didn't post last week, here's a quick recap of the couture challenge:

Jeffrey: don't like him, but the gown was great. Very punky and modern, but still pretty.
Kayne: I thought the judges were too harsh--his gown was beautiful. Plus it was really smart to use the corset top since he had to fit 2 different models. He should have gotten more credit for that.
Laura: the judges were right--it looked like old YSL. I'm so glad she changed it up a little this week; her cocktail dress was so cute and something I would definitely buy (okay, I'd buy it if I were taller and had model-thin legs...)
Michael: for being his first couture style gown, I admired his ambition. But it looked so much better when he folded the scallops in--I wish he would have done that from the start.
Uli: Pretty, but kind of like everything else she's made this season.
Vincent: I'm with Catherine Malandrino--No. No, No, NO.

Can't wait to check out Getty Images on Friday and see the runway show designs. Unless Michael has a meltdown, I don't see how he won't win the whole competition. I predict Michael, Laura and Jeffrey make it to the final 3, and Michael better win. He's clearly the most talented and versatile designer on the show. But I'll still always have a soft spot for Kayne, no matter what his taste level. Bye, Kayne--don't forget to write!

It's that time of year again...

Tonight I went out with my friends Jenny, Kristine and Bob to celebrate my birthday a day early. We went over to Bad Albert's in Ballard, a little neighborhood bar that also has great burgers. It was so fun to kick back with a couple of cocktails on a Thursday night, plus there were presents which made it that much better!

Jenny gave me a BEAUTIFUL pair of Nepalese moonstone dangly earrings set in sterling silver, plus some yummy truffles from Chocolati. On top of the pretty floral wrap was one of my favorite You Send Me cards--it has a little black kitty wearing a crown and playing with a hot pink ball of yarn, and it says, "Queen for a Day." So cute! Kristine and Bob gave me a "bee-day" present that was so cool, I wished I had brought my camera to take pictures as I unwrapped it. It was wrapped in my favorite black and white wrap from the shop with yellow ribbon, with a handmade card that said "Happy bee-day!" tied on top. Inside, there was yellow tissue with a copy of one of my favorite woodcut bee designs tipped on; then there were 4 presents, each wrapped in yellow tissue with a black band of ribbon and the same (but tiny) bee tip-on. This may be boring to some of you but for a wrap-oholic like me, it was heaven! The presents were totally themed, too: a tea-leaf scented candle whose black/white scroll label recalled the wrap; a box of matches with old-fashioned bee illustrations on both sides; beeswax lip balm; and a gorgeous glass bottle of honey. Seriously, it's not even officially my birthday yet and I have already had so much fun!

Later in the evening, the waitress brought over a piece of ice cream cake smothered in whipped cream and chocolate sauce for me. Kristine, Jenny and Bob started singing "Happy Birthday," and the bar was so small that almost everyone else joined in. What a great way to kick off my 29th year.

Since I didn't have my camera, we came up with a birthday haiku to commemmorate the occasion:

to bee or not to
be twenty-nine forever
that is the question

Bumbershoot madness

We have a 3 day pass to Bumbershoot, so I've been immersed in music the past 2 days and will be again today. Here's a short run-down of my favorite moments so far; I'll be putting up some more detailed posts in the near future.

Saturday--
Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings--the tightest rhythm section I have seen in YEARS. And the trumpet and 2 saxes danced when they weren't playing. You know the dance--that Blues Brothers-esque side step back and forth. It looked amazing, the whole band moving like one organism. And on top of that, the music was sooooo good. Sharon Jones is a tiny woman, but she had more energy than any of us at the show. If you don't already have her latest album Naturally then you should get to the record store asap and pick it up.

Lady Sovereign--a 19 year-old British rapper. She has the mouth of a sailor but her raps are so energetic and "teenage" sounding that it's just pretty darn cute. My favorite was a rap about girls who use too much self-tanner, with the line, "Bitch, don't you know you're orange?" Classic.

Sunday--
The New Pornographers--they are easily one of my top 5 groups. Their music just makes you want to dance, and the harmonies are brilliant. I've now seen them 3 times and will definitely be seeing them each and every time they come through Seattle.
Spoon--obviously talented and quite popular, but not quite for me.
Jeremy Enigk--I hadn't heard him before but he was great. Thoughtful lyrics and music. So low key that Larry was falling asleep during his set, but I was pretty mesmerized.
Blue Scholars--gotta love the hometown rappers! It's nice to see them making it big.
Kanye West--he's a great performer, but he spent most of the set performing "greatest hits"--beats/raps he produced for other performers. But he also did some new stuff that will be on his next album, and he ended with "Touch the Sky" which is my favorite, so it was definitely worth sticking around for.

That's it--today we're off to see Sera Cahoone, Rocky Votolato, Bettye LaVette, Breakestra, Yerba Buena, and Feist, and probably more. It's a great lineup, and should be fun...

Hey! I'm walkin' heah!

So Friday I got hit by a car. No, a car didn't run into my car. A car ran into ME. I was waiting to cross the street to get to work, my purse and newspaper in one hand and my giant coffee in the other. (I'm trying to cut down on my caffeine intake, but Friday was not the day for that.) A car had pulled up too far into the intersection and was now blocking the crosswalk. That's fine; I mean, we've all done it before and sometimes you just can't help it or you misinterpret how the traffic flow is going. No big deal. An older man was on the other side of the street coming toward me, but now there wasn't enough room in the (blocked) crosswalk for both of us. Again, no big deal, this has happened before; I decided to leave the crosswalk for him and go around behind the car, a standard practice in this situation (at least where I live). What I wasn't prepared for was what came next: the driver started backing up to get out of the crosswalk, apparently without looking in his rear view mirror, and backed right up into me. I yelled, "Hey!" He kept coming. I yelled again, as my coffee started spilling all over the trunk. I finally got to the other side of the car, which was good because this guy STILL hadn't noticed that he was bumping into something, namely me. When I got past the car, I was so in shock that all I could think to say was, "I just spilled my coffee all over your trunk." What a zinger!

I'm fine, and the driver ultimately rolled down his window and apologized. But what a way to start the day, huh? Sadly, both Larry and my friend Stephanie have both been hit by cars in similar circumstances. Not to sound all preachy, but people really need to pay attention. Or at the very least, they should probably look for pedestrians at a CROSSWALK before hitting the gas...