February Tulips:: These beauties were purchased at Pike’s Place Market. Buying flowers in general is always a fun thing, but I think buying flowers at Pike’s Place(or some similarly amazing market) might just make my list of top 5 favorite things to do. It’s the little things with me. These were bought in a hurry on a super rainy gray cold Seattle Saturday to adorn the table at a baby shower for a dear friend. Here are a few of the leftovers – February Tulips, what hopeful, happy little things.
“SNOW” DAY : I live on hill! Pemco ads are so awesome, especially on days like today when I hear that schools are canceled and life is generally delayed even though there is… well, no snow to be seen.
In response to the sunny 75 degree weather we experienced on Christmas Day while drinking margaritas…
“Maybe we should do Christmas Luau style… I bet people would eat a lot less if they were wearing bathing suits at the dinner table.” – My Sister
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
ME: “Emily, you sure smell nice." EMILY: "Thanks, it’s my new Justin Bieber perfume!” – My 13 year old cousin ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
“Another volunteer recently started calling us all Japanese Cowboys. Imagine if, 70 years ago, some Japanese guy had moved straight from the heart of Japan into the Midwest. Once he gets there, he decides to start wearing jeans and a hat and decides to become a cowboy. He even starts throwin out some yeehaws. Sure he’s a fine cowboy, but no one will ever really take him seriously because he’s still Japanese.”
– My Brother (currently in the Peace Corps in Panama). An excerpt from his most recent email.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
We gave my aunt 4 live chickens and a giant coup for Christmas(another story for another day). As we chatted with and purchased the chickens from the “Chicken Lady”:
“I actually have a house chicken. She’s really sweet. She sleeps with me every night perched by my head…”
– The Chicken Lady
“There are moments in our lives when we summon the courage to make choices that go against reason, against common sense and the wise counsel of people we trust. But we lean forward nonetheless because, despite all risks and rational argument, we BELIEVE that the path we are choosing is the right and best thing to do. We refuse to be bystanders, even if we do not know exactly where our actions will lead.
This is the kind of passionate conviction that sparks romances, wins battles, and drives people to pursue dreams others wouldn’t dare. Belief in ourselves and in what is right catapults us over hurdles, and our lives unfold.
–From Onward by Howard Schultz
World Record Set! :: Last summer I attended a gathering of people attempting to set a Guinness World Record for the largest number of red heads gathered in one place. I almost didn’t go. It’s a little weird, right? But then, when it came down to it, curiosity got the best of me and I just had to go. I was right, it was weird…but kinda fun. Usually, at any given point in my day I am the only one for miles with red (or as I like to refer to it “strawberry blonde”) hair, but that day I was surrounded by hundreds of people with my same hair color who also kinda looked like me. I seriously felt like I’d landed on some sort of alien planet.
Well, the official news is just in, a world record was set and our attempt has been published in the 2012 Guiness Book of World Records! So, I guess my attendance at the alien gathering was worth it and I will die having set a world record.
p.s. The last 10 seconds make this video worth watching. I somehow managed to capture a super fabulously cute little moment.
“Stand still. The trees ahead and bushes beside you
Are not lost. Wherever you are is called Here,
And you must treat it as a powerful stranger,
Must ask permission to know it and be known.
The forest breathes. Listen. It answers,
I have made this place around you.
If you leave it, you may come back again, saying Here.
No two trees are the same to Raven.
No two branches are the same to Wren.
If what a tree or a bush does is lost on you,
You are surely lost. Stand still. The forest knows,
Where you are. You must let it find you.”– Lost by David Wagoner
“Life is so constructed that an event does not, cannot, will not, match the expectation.”
-Charlotte Bronte, Villette
10 YEARS :: A commemorative photo to me having officially lived in this city for an entire decade – YIKES! I spent the weekend waking up to this view. The photo doesn’t do it justice. I seriously felt like I could touch the space needle while I sat in my little reading nook and drank my morning tea.
Cookie Monster :: I really love watching people run to catch the bus. I realize this is a bit of an evil love as people running after buses are usually late, stressed, disheveled, etc. and on top of that I’ve noticed that people running after buses usually do not catch them – making their effort all the more tragic. Although, I have seen a handful of redemptive moments where the driver takes pity or another passenger asks the driver to wait. Once, I even witnessed a bus packed to the gills welcome someone with full applause for making it after their frantic sprint.
Anyways, the reason I’m bringing this up is because today I saw Cookie Monster sprinting for the bus. I was downtown midday and looked up to see a business man dressed up as Cookie Monster running…to catch a bus. It was a glorious moment – googly eyes flopping on top of his head, a blur of blue fur, computer bag slung over his shoulder, khaki pants and dress shoes peaking through the bottom of his costume. I wish I had a picture of Cookie Monster as it was the highlight of my Halloween, but since I wasn’t quick enough with my phone this festive shot of my oh so scary pumpkin will have to do.
notquitedhaka.com 