Ames in Seattle

Sunday, May 04, 2008

Peter, this one's for you

My good friend Peter called me out. I said I was going to update my blog, and I didn't. So here goes, for any of you who are still reading this.

I've been the busiest I've ever been in the past couple months. No joke. Work is extra crispy crazy, complete with travel, near nervous breakdowns and always the ever-present questioning of why I continue to do this. And the inevitable answer that, try as I might, I love what I do. Damn.

So, photos are good, right? You guys wanna see some photos? Here's what I've been up to.




I came home in March to go to the Big 10 Wrestling Tournament. The Gophers did okay, but more importantly, I got to see my wrestling grrrrrls, Jenny and Jamie (Maria made it in there too).



I then went to the NCAA national tournament in St. Louis. Same drinking, different tournament.



In April, I finally went to a place in Ballard called Zayda Buddy's which serves a few things Minnesotan. They're apparently known for their "Minnesota-Style" pizza (didn't know there was one), but Adam and I opted for some good ol' Tator Tot Hotdish. Weird, I never ate this growing up, and don't particularly LOVE it or anything, but it was the best damn thing I'd had in quite some time because I was so homesick. Also got to suck down some Grain Belt Premiums, which I'm still trying to figure out how to ship to Seattle. Here's a shot of the beer menu, which was enough to make a MN girl cry.



Adam sent me tulips at work. Just because. How lucky am I?


The redhead in question, enjoying a great steak at Jak's Cafe in West Seattle.



Here's one thing I love about Seattle. Yes, it rains as much as people say. Yes, winters and their darkness are in a lot of ways worse than below zero temps (yes, they are). But then you see something like this, perched on a USA Today stand. Heee hee!



This was also one of my favorite, even if totally random, things. We went to do karaoke at a place in the International District called Bush Garden. It's super Asian, super cheesy, super awesome. And then I saw this drawn on the bathroom stall. I couldn't stop laughing.


Went to LA a couple weeks ago to shoot two T-Mobile commercials. It was great. We shot with The Perlorian Brothers, Canadians who have done some of the funniest stuff I've seen recently in ads. We were really lucky to have worked with them and being in LA in the sunshine was just what the doctor ordered after this entirely too long, crappy winter. For my non-ad nerd friends, look them up. For my ad nerd friends, do whatever you can to work with them. You won't be sorry.

Some action shots from the LA trip:


Miller Jones, my co-writer who looks like he's smelling socks and our super cool client (no, really, she is) Jen. One night out in Santa Monica for dinner, drinks and dancing.



I went to the Angels game in Anaheim with my brother Matt and these are the crappy seats he found for us. These were not shot with any zoom at all. Hooray, baseball!



I've never seen it up close, so I snapped a photo. So very, very cool.



Got to see my brother Matt, his wife and their four kids. And their new puppy Eddie. If you don't think this dog is one of the cutest things you've ever seen, there is something wrong with you.



I love Spring in Seattle. Even though it's still raining, the tulips are here in full effect. I learned just before I moved here that Washington State is the largest producer of tulips outside of Holland. They are absolutely huge, absolutely beautiful and absolutely a bargain: Here's 20 bucks worth of flowers.



Went to visit Google Headquarters (well, part of it anyway) right on the water, by the Embarcadero AND AT&T Park. Here is our field trip photo with Wing, Krista, my boss Dan and Josh. It was very cool and super interesting. Well worth the day turn-around trip.



Just a cool shot from outside the Google offices.





More fun at our celebratory night out in Seattle with the team I went to LA with. First is Ting (okay, it's Andrie) and Dominique. Then there's me and Nicole. Well, Nicole wasn't with us in LA, but she is just fun.



Some shots of the kiddos when I was home in early June. Never enough time to see everyone. So, sorry to y'all that I missed this time around.


L to R: Molly, Lily (on grass) Jane, Liam and Kevin.



Beautiful Jane.



Sweet Sammy.



Lily in her cool playhouse.



Ruby, who is always all smiles!


Kevin, lovin' being 4.



Molly, having some of Kevin's birthday cake...


...so Ruby thought she'd have some too.


The one and only Rosie.


So, I'm back to begging, is that it? WHY HAVEN'T YOU PEOPLE BEEN TO VISIT ME?

Seriously. What's a girl gotta do?

Looking forward to a great summer. Hopefully the Twins can keep winning and the sun will keep shining in Seattle!