Ames in Seattle

Well, crap

2009-03-29T14:07:00.001-07:00

My Mom died.

I went back at the beginning of the month because things had taken a sudden and bad turn. I got there Friday afternoon and about 24-hours it was over.

Right now I'm pissed. Because her liver was fine. Doing its job just great. Her incision even looked immaculate. And I was ready for it to be something to do with the transplant. But it wasn't. Well, not really. She got something called Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) and her lungs couldn't recover. So I'm pissed.

About that and about how many people try to cram GOD down your throat at a time like this. Just because that's what you believe or what gives you comfort, doesn't mean that's a help to me. Keep your Jesus to yourself, mmmkay? I don't need more reasons to be angry right now.

I've decided I'm going to write a book about all the weird things people say to you when a parent dies. Because over the last year and a half, I've heard some doozies. My Dad died suddenly, so there wasn't as much time around his death to hear the number or level of weird things as with my Mom. "That transplant was really necessary. I mean, her quality of life just wasn't that great." Really? Think I didn't notice she was a tad under the weather? "Well, I'm sorry to hear it, but I can't say I'm surprised." Well, shit. I should have called you MONTHS ago, seeing as you could predict the future better than the doctors at the University of Minnesota.

Look, I know people just don't know what to say and feel compelled to say SOMETHING. But take it from me, I'm 37 and don't need you to use the word "orphan" when talking to me You can just say sorry and move on. I won't think you're rude, I won't think you're a jerk.

And I also realize I'm grieving, so maybe I won't be so mean.

But maybe not.

In the meantime, I LOVE this.
(And thanks, Mark for sending it to me a hundred years ago.)

I forgot

2009-03-04T00:07:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I forget that I am a grownup. I don't mean, "Oops! I forgot to pay my bills," or, "No one told me I have to wear pants!" I mean, I forget that I am completely free, beholden to (mostly) no one and can just do stuff and go places and not have to ask permission. Dumb!

When did I become such a homebody? Yeah, I've been nesting in my new pad (well, still unpacking, truth be told). Yeah I've been going back to visit my Momma and keeping up with her health (she's doing okay...not great, but okay). But jinkies! When did I stop exploring weirdo places and silly wastes of time? It's like I lopped a big part of my brain off and sealed it in some Tupperware™ for the winter. Double dumb.

So, now that spring is alllllllmost here (hurry,please) I'm popping the seal on that lid and tacking that shit back in there.

So, what's on tap? Here's the problem. Not a whole lot. I am going for my sixth year to the NCAA Wrestling Tournament in St. Louis mid-March (it's okay, everyone laughs). My sisters are threatening to FINALLY visit me (I'll believe it when I see it) the following weekend. The tulip festival that I always swear I'm going to go to and never do. Travels to crazy, sun-drenched lands that I always dream about and go to Minneapolis instead. I'm bored with how boring I am! Thank god Jenny and Jamie have actual tickets to come visit me in April. And then...BASEBALL BEGINS. I love Christmas, but screw that. Beginning of baseball season is the Most Wonderful Time of the Year.

So, this is war. Look out boring, I'm comin'. Fun gun loaded. I am going to do so much you're gonna freak out. And I'm gonna post the crap out of the photos, too! Yeah!

Just don't be surprised if it doesn't exactly happen with any sort of regularity. Cuz, like...I'm busy, okay?

Snow is falling on my hometown

2008-12-29T23:40:00.000-08:00

Snow is falling on my hometown.

I don't tell you this to be profound or "artsy" or "fucking annoying." I tell you this, my cynical hipster (or not-so-hipster) friends because of one simple thing: It's beautiful.

Snow falls differently here. It's not a sign of defeat or surrender like it became in my adopted town a little over a week ago. It comes as what it is...something that just happens.

I spent the evening with some of my longest-time, nearest (at one point) and dearest (always) friends in Minneapolis. These are boys (mostly) whom I've known for a good portion of my life. Some I met as early as age 5 (they went to Kindergarten with my brother Jeff, a whole 16 months older than me). These are the guys who are the stuff of legends; guys I have drank with, cried with and pretty much seen at one point in their lives throw up. All of them. I know it sounds like college-aged bullshit, but there's a certain bond that comes from seeing someone vomit and still loving them. Think about it.

I learned long ago, there's usually a reason I get the feeling I should write. It's because something has compelled me to do it. I'm not motivated by fear (or deadlines, usually) and I think this time, I was overwhelmed at the simplicity of many, many things tonight.

I realized something totally unremarkable: Things happen in the world that I just don't have to figure out.

I know! Crazy, right? But I swear (and it's not because I've smoked a huge joint) a few hours with some great people showed me important things. 1. That our lives never turn out exactly as we planned. 2. That you can have friends who turn out the complete polar opposite as you (REPUBLICANS, even! The horror...) and still love them. And 3. That you can plan, save, plot, protect, defend, prevent and guard against all bad things in the whole big wide world, and they happen anyway.

Shocking, sheltered little girl, you're saying? Yeah, maybe. But it's my revelation so you can go to hell.

Maybe those cheesy 80s Spring Break T-shirts really had it all figured out. Shit happens. You move. You lose a parent. You break up. You have a crisis of confidence (or several hundred), you fall back in love with the same people (sometimes in different uniforms, though not always), you rinse and you repeat. Sometimes even when you're positively a grown-up and you just don't want to.

And, it never really stops. Like now. Like my Mom's impending liver transplant that has me so scared I'm suffocating. Or like my need to make yet another huge life decision. Or that I still wonder on a daily basis what I'm going to be when I'm grown up. Wonder if that one will ever go away?

Things honestly just happen. Not because of something, or to certain people because they "deserve" some karmic payback. They all just happen. And all we can really do is sit back, appreciate people we love, and choose to be happy.

And watch it snow. Even when we don't want it to.

Is this thing on?

2008-09-27T02:35:00.000-07:00

Oh, so much going on. How about no photos this time, only words? Come on. You can do it.

Adam and I are broken up. A little over a month ago. There are plenty of details if you really want them, but ask yourself, and then answer honestly: Do you really want them? Do you? Well, then, call me. Happy to fill you in.

Election is in full swing. I know! Can you believe it?! Can't wait to see what happens with the VP debate. Thought tonight's debate was good, just didn't really surprise me, for lack of anything funny to say. Other than that, if you're still thinking you might be voting for McCain, I direct you to look at a tape of aforementioned debate. That's McCain...WITH makeup. Dude, seriously.... he's a too-large-a-piece-o-steak away from a Palin presidency. Not on my watch.

Shot a TV spot in South Carolina, but our hotel was in Charlotte, NORTH Carolina. I know! I had no idea it was that close to the SC border, either! Weird, huh? Work has been a welcome distraction, and the craziness that is the American south is amazing. Just happy to be here, Bob. Finishing in LA allllllll next week and couldn't be happier to have some time in the sun and to hog my pal Emilia's new baby girl. She is positively edible. Must. Chomp. Tiny. Toes.

Twins are still hanging on to first place by the skin of their bullpen. I never have been, nor did I ever think I would be, a Cleveland Indians fan. But this weekend, I am a part of the Tribe. Bring the hurt, Ryan Garko (a name I would FOR SURE be making fun of were the situation different). Punish them, Cliff Lee (do you need someone to rub your sore neck? sign me up). For you have been selected to be the team who can help deliver what no one thought could be delivered at the start of the 2008 season; a playoff berth for the Minnesota Twins. If tonight's game is any indication, you hear me and are prepared to deliver. God speed, my Mistake By the Lake friends. I am yours for this weekend only.

Excited for things to settle down a bit. I could use a lazy weekend with nothing to do but sleep in and clean the cobwebs out of some nooks and crannies I didn't even know existed. That would be good. But so would time travel. And fat-free cheese that doesn't taste like rubber. A girl can dream, right?

More photos next time, I promise.

Gold medal sap

2008-08-20T23:25:00.001-07:00

Okay, I admit it. I'm a freak about the Olympics. Crying at the opening ceremonies, through Phelps' eight (good lord, the boy is fast) and still weepy at the dumbest things. (The US woman who won gold in the discus? Really?!)

I searched and searched for a reason why, when it all came clear, thanks to my pal, Bob Costas. After the women's rowing 8's team (yeah, I watched it, so what?) won, he said the perfect thing. I'm paraphrasing here, but he said, the Olympics are filled with athletes who work and train for years completely out of the spotlight. They do what they do for the love of their sport, which only gets attention at the games . Those eight girls (and their coxswain...yeah, I said it) stood on that podium and sang the anthem together, as proud (or maybe prouder) than any other athletes I've seen. "Those are true Olympians," Costas said. Amen, brother.

I won't be all "words" on you, so don't worry.

One thing I have come to love about Seattle (not like it was hard) are the flowers here. I guess all the rain and the soil are super conducive to growing AMAZING flowers. I may have told some of you I found out they produce more tulips here than everyone but the Dutch. But some other pretty amazing flowers grow here, too. So what? So, that means, these are the bouquets a girl can get for TEN BUCKS at the various Farmer's Markets here, including the Pike Market. Here are a few of the greatest hits. The ones so pretty, I had to snap a photo.

This is one of the first ones I bought, as evidenced by my temporary housing in the background! So funny to remember what I thought about Seattle living there. I had to buy a new vase because all my "non-necessary" items were still back in MN. I think I bought it for like, 3 bucks, but you'll see it's in my next photo. It's the perfect size for these monster bouquets.

Aaaaand another one from right by my house at the West Seattle Farmer's Market.

Gotta go cry at the womens' beach volleyball matches. See ya later.

2008-07-29T19:42:00.000-07:00

Dear Baseball Gods,

Please allow My Boys, the Minnesota Twins, to kick the ever-loving crap out of the White Sox during this series at home.

Thanks,
Amy

Peter, this one's for you

2008-05-04T16:43:00.000-07:00

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!

Starting over

2008-03-05T09:50:00.000-08:00

So, it's tough to pile in everything that's happened since I last posted in NOVEMBER, so I'm just going to leave it by saying I'm starting over and will try to keep this more updated. It was in the running for my New Year's resolution and then quickly got replaced by something else. Which I didn't keep either. Great.

I will be going back to Minneapolis the day after tomorrow! I'm really excited and I can't wait to see all the kids and especially my Momma! I've been really homesick lately and she's been to Puerto Rico and is currently spending two weeks in Phoenix with long time pals of hers. I'm sure there are tons of stories to catch up on.

It's also the Big 10 Wrestling Tournament! I'll be there for all the sessions and I'm really excited to see how the guys do. They had kind of a rough dual meet season, but I've got high hopes for them. Then it's off to St. Louis in a couple weeks for Nationals! It's going to be a fun March.

With lots and lots of stuff to post on my blog, of course...

You think stuff happens in two months, try three!

2007-11-15T13:40:00.000-08:00

Whew. Where did the fall go?

Oh yeah. It went to weeks of travel. And so much work I should own this place by now.

And it went to really sad news. My Dad died in September.

I know. The only word I can use is crazy. It makes you sad. It makes you lonely. It makes you really reflect on what you've got and what you're grateful for. Seems to be appropriate with Thanksgiving being next week.

I'm really grateful for the millions of things he taught me. For the easy laughter he had that I think he blessed me with, too. If you've never met my Dad, you've inevitably heard me talk about him. If you were fortunate enough to meet my Dad, you've got a good idea of just how broken my heart is. He was my first boyfriend, my first (and still) hero, and, I'm happy to say, later in life, one of my good friends.

All the other stuff seems so mundane, so silly and so unimportant. I know he wouldn't want any prattling on and on about how much he's missed or how sad we are without him, but I miss him and I'm sad. I'll just leave it at that.

My Mom seems to be doing well. She's traveled a little, but mostly likes just being home around her grandchildren. Who wouldn't feel better with those beauties around her? I know they help heal me when I'm home.

I shot three TV spots between September 30 and October 22 in NY and LA, respectively. Then have spent up until yesterday editing, mixing and finishing them. All three are for T-Mobile and your job is to figure out which three! The first is currently airing, so that should be an easy one.

Adam is great. He moved up here in mid-August (poor thing...timing wasn't exactly perfect) and I absolutely LOVE having him here. He's working at a great restaurant and really seems to like it. I think we're both itching for some new things to do, but we never seem to find time to do any of them. It's like I blinked and summer was over and I had to start making holiday plans. Weird.

So, I'll spare you more details and just show pictures. Wooo hooo!

From August when Jeff, Jeni, Adam and I went to a Saints game.

Me and Red field side with our new hats. Nerds.

The view from our first ferry ride in Seattle. Such a fun way to spend a couple hours. That blurry place is where I live.

One of the highlights of my two weeks in New York. Gotta appreciate their directness.

Here's what you get at Halloween when you date a chef. So cute it's scary!

Be a tourist! I dare ya!

2007-08-08T22:02:00.000-07:00

So, here's why I love when people come to visit me in Seattle. I get to do the touristy stuff that I'm supposedly too cool and "too native" (as someone SERIOUSLY said to me) to do. So, my pals Mark and Alex came to visit me last weekend and I got to do just that. Touristy stuff.

And you know the only thing better than doing touristy stuff with friends in town? Doing touristy stuff with a designer/art director with a super friggin' AWESOME camera. Behold!

Mark and Alex at Kerry Park, my favorite view of Seattle. Again.

<— See? I've taken this same photo at least a hundred times, but none of them ever came out this cool.

He was in a jam/He's in a giant clam! (Or, uh, oyster in this case.)

Them's some serious lobster tails!

Yes, they do really throw the fish.

Hooray Pike Brewery Beer!

A collection of gum on a wall in Post Alley. Crazy/disgusting/cool.

So, it's great having people here to show off the town. But it also made me realize, I don't have to have friends here to go out and see stuff I've never seen. I barely did any of the cool stuff Minneapolis had to offer and I lived there my whole life. So, my suggestion to you? Go out and see something new. Take a bus instead of your car. Or, better yet, a bus with a guide. Be a tourist in your own town. You're not THAT cool.

Stuff happens when you don't post for two months

2007-08-01T00:53:00.000-07:00

Yeah. So, I've been sort of busy. Let me see if I can run down what I've been doing this summer. I'll keep it short and use lots of pictures. Perfect for our Pre-K/A.D.D. crowd out there.

Adam is Adamazing. We've luckily been able to see each other a lot, kind of keeping to our every two weeks thing. He's currently looking for a job up here in Seattle and with the number of great places around here, I'm sure he'll have no trouble. It will be nice to have him in the same city and do stuff like, hmmmm, go on actual DATES? I'm really looking forward to that.

Here he is one rainy Saturday, at Kerry Park, which comes equipped with one of my favorite views of Seattle. My pal Jenny Morgan's friend Deb showed me where this park is.

Work has been Cuh-RAY-zee. But none of you read this to hear about that. Tons of T-Mobile stuff, more than we can shake a cell phone at, and Citibank and pitches galore. Suffice it to say the great big ad machine is a'turning all so we can make the rich white guys richer and whiter.

My friend Tammy came to visit in June, over her birthday weekend! I got to check a few more tourist items off my list (hooray!) including the Space Needle. Here are a couple shots of us, including one from a night at Buckley's, which is becoming my own special Seattle spot for all tourists visiting me.

Got to see almost all of the Claussens earlier in July up in Bellingham at Ellie's house. It was really great to see them all, so much so I didn't take a single photo while I was up there! How lame! Oh, wait. Yes I did. On my phone. Still lame.

Also went to the Oregon Coast for the first time with Adam's family. He's told me many stories about visiting there as a kid and it's one of his favorite, if not most favorite, places on the planet. And it's not hard to see why. We had a great time and I got to meet most of his Mom's siblings and his Grandma Carmella. Got to talk beer with his Uncle Don and baseball with his Uncle Mike. Plus, we stayed in these all-new, totally cute cabins. They were kind of small and the bed was kind of uncomfortable, but come on! How often do you get to stay in a room with bunk beds when you're over the age of 14? Oh, and we went to the Rogue brewery and got a tour. Hooray, Beer!

Excited about my friend Mark and his wife Alex's visit this weekend, too! Not sure what we're going to do yet, but I'm sure we'll find some trouble to get into.

And, what a crazy, crazy day TODAY was. I learned while at work about the 35W bridge and I still can't believe my eyes. So weird to see that bridge I've travelled over thousands of times crumpled in the water like that. It's really hard to be here and not know how people are or if there was anyone I know on there. My family all reported in to my parents, dutifully, so that was a huge sigh of relief. But the next few days will really be hard for a bunch of people back home.

I love my hometown so very much. I hope y'all and all of y'all's loved ones are safe.

Adam, this is Craziness. Craziness, this is Adam

2007-05-25T23:31:00.000-07:00

So, Adam came back to Minneapolis with me and met my family over Mother's Day weekend. Not just my parents. Not just my MN siblings. All six of my siblings. Five of their spouses. And twelve of my nieces and nephews.

Remember how you thought I was joking in an earlier post when I said he was a superhero?

We went back for my parents' 50th wedding anniversary. It was really pretty mellow. The priest performed a blessing at my parents' church, the same one where I was baptized and confirmed and spoke about them in his homily. It was really pretty incredible to see the two people who have had the most to do with who I am today stand up and say that they not only are still married after 50 years, but that they'd do it all over again. Pretty awesome.

Finally finished a really cool book for my Mom called, "We Love Grandma." It's a photo book I made on Apple iPhoto. It took me two years to get photos from everyone and quotes, but each of her 16 grandchildren answered the question "Why do you love grandma?" And that appeared on a page with their photo. She loves all the photos that we send to her of the kids, but always says, "I want to hold them in my hands." So, she gets to do that with this book. I'm pretty proud of it. Plus, who couldn't love a book filled with babies who look like this?

Also have had a great couple days in Salem over the past week or so. Drove Adam back down after our trip to MN on Tuesday and then went to see him the following Saturday. This whole long distance thing really sucks. But we had a lot of fun at a party some regulars of his restaurant had. It was a luau in their backyard, complete with fire dancers and everything!

Had to bail out on the Sasquatch music festival this weekend. I have a ton of work that I had to finish this weekend and a bunch of other house things to take care of. I'm really bummed about it, but I just couldn't get it together. Also, got a picture message from my neighbor tonight, who's at a special, super-secret performance by the Beastie Boys at the Crocodile Café. Damn it!

Speaking of my super awesome fun neighbor Shane, he sold his place and is going to be moving out next weekend and then eventually to L.A. That also bums me out a lot, too. He's been a great new friend to me and nice to have next door when I go out of town or need someone to go to a show with. Plus, he and our other neighbors were the first people outside of work to invite me over to hang out. I will miss him.

Also went to the Seattle Advertising and Design Awards Show this week. It was quite possibly one of the most boring things I've ever been through. Positively brutal. I'd describe it more here, but I may begin weeping. Even having the band The Blakes there to play didn't rescue it from being excruciating. Who do I call about getting my three hours back?

Hey! I finally took photos from our deck at work. You can see the Olympic mountains in the distance. And water. And boats. And awesomeness.

So, made your plans to visit me yet? I've only heard from one person out of all of you who said, "Yeah! I'll totally come visit you in Seattle!" So, what gives?

I'm wisterical!

2007-05-04T01:42:00.000-07:00

Went to visit The Amazing Adam (he's a superhero, didn't I tell you that?) and saw this amayyyyyzing phenomenon. This wisteria vine grows up the side of one building, across an arbor (which, Adam tells me, blooms as well) and then down the side of the other. Or is it two that both grow up the sides of two buildings and join in the middle? Ummm, I don't know. And maybe it's not that uncommon out here. But isn't it pretty?

Been having fun hanging out with my Favorite Redhead (sorry, Morgan...like you read this anyway) and really loving all the blooms and flowers all around Seattle. Let me tell you, a few rhododendrons and azaleas sure can spruce up the dump. Sun is starting to peak out a few times a week now! I wore my sunglasses four whole times last week!

Work is good. Work is busy. Work is crazy. But it's work. "The curse of the eating class," as Papa Jack says.

Couple random notes about the Twins:

1. I love Michael Cuddyer, as you know. Workin' the rosary for his back to heal quickly.

2. WHY CAN'T WE BEAT THE G.D. DEVIL RAYS? Why, god? Why? Why must they break my heart?

3. If Jason Kubel strikes out looking one more time, I will be forced to say and do some very, very unkind things. Look, I can't imagine what it's like to stand in the box against a big league pitcher. I can't hit a curve ball. But I learned at oh, let's say AGE 7 that with two strikes, YOU PROTECT THE PLATE. To borrow a quote from Bull Durham and change it up a bit, "Swing, dummy!"

4. I was so happy I had tears in my eyes when I saw Francisco Liriano in the dugout the other night while watching on mlbtv.com. I want little children with pots of gold dust and rainbows and unicorn glitter and Skittles to rub his elbow until he can throw unbelievable heat again. Workin' the beads for that, too. We sure could use him.

5. Also saying a small prayer to the baseball gods that they smile kindly on my boys as they meet the Red Sox this weekend. Wakefield on Friday, Schilling on Sunday. And hopefully, a happy Amy on Monday.

I love this team

2007-04-23T00:01:00.000-07:00

So, my parents were here all last week and we had a ball. I'd have preferred not working so much, but we still got to get some good times in. If nothing else, it helped me get my stuff organized around my house. Mostly because my parents did it all.

But the best part of their trip? The Thursday afternoon Twins game at Safeco. It was the perfect storm: Afternoon game, Safeco, Johan pitching. What more could a girl ask for? I was a total geek taking photos of the action. I'd never seen my boys at another stadium, so this was a big deal to me. My parents had never been to Safeco, and I think they dug it.

Look! The Baby Jesus!

This is how close our seats were. And, you can't really tell from this photo, but on the other side of Josh Rabe (#11)? IT'S CUDDY!

Viva El Presidente!

This one's for Janie.

Boooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooof! Oh, and Silva.

teee heeee!

So, yeah. It rocked. And I take crappy photos.

Random randomness

2007-04-12T22:27:00.000-07:00

My Twins are on fire. Morneau rocked a walk-off homer to win the game tonight after a crazy double play tag-out thing that happend because Tampa Bay made a little league-style base running error. Wheeee!

My parents arrive in a matter of 28 hours and my house is a disaster. Completely disorganized, still somewhat unpacked and in desperate need of someone to dust it and vaccuum it. Where is my housekeeping staff?

Planning a few things for their trip: Vancouver, the Underground tour, The Market, a trip to Safeco and possibly riding the Ducks and the Space Needle. I need to do the touristy things and I'm hoping they're game. Then again, I'm 35 and haven't managed to do any of these things in my nearly nine months here, so I'm not so sure my 70-something parents are going to want to do my Seattle pentathlon. But you never know.

They also may get the chance to meet one Very Special Dude. Adam's hopefully gonna be able to join us for the game. And there's a good chance that Johan is pitching the game. It's the perfect storm.

What?

2007-03-28T04:20:00.000-07:00

Well, I have been remiss in my blogging, to say the least. And it's been a great couple of months, lemme tell ya.

Spring is springin' all over the place in Seattle. Flowers blooming. Sun peeking through the rain FINALLY. Opening Day is tomorrow (well, technically Monday for my boys in the Twin Cities). And I have a boyfriend.

No. You didn't read that wrong. I, the Ames you know and love as perpetually single, has a special gentleman friend.

And, gross.

Sounds so much better when you're The Dude in The Big Lebowski calling someone your Special Lady Friend. You win again, Coen Brothers.
Anyway, his name is Adam. He lives in Oregon. We met online. He's younger than me. Same height as me. Red hair, green eyes. He's a chef. He's excruciatingly sweet and makes me laugh my head off. And it's really, really good. We see each other as often as our work schedules and life in general allow and always have a great time.

Here's the man in question, below.

And, fellas, take note: he sent me flowers this week at work.

I know, right?

So, that being said, everything else is pretty much great, too. Work is really busy and getting some very cool exposure to some big minds and projects here and I'm really digging it. Seattle is still great, even though I still haven't explored things they way I should have. But I'm chipping away at my list. Slowly, but I'm chipping.

Have also joined the Publicis softball team and our season begins in a few weeks. I'm sure it will never be as sweet as my beloved Diamonds, but a girl's gotta get her fix somehow.

My parents are coming out for a week in mid-April. We've got plans to possibly go to Vancouver, stopping by my cousin Ellie's on the way in Bellingham, WA and also to go to Safeco to watch my Twins mop the Sound with the Mariners. Will be a fun DAY GAME in an OUTDOOR PARK. Sometimes life is amazing.

That's about it. Think now I can relate to the hippies who always sing the praises of spring. But I still won't let you wear patchouli around me.

Any Major Dood Will Tell You

2007-02-07T23:41:00.000-08:00

There's a group of six restaurants in Seattle which operate under the name of Chow Foods (chowfoods.com). Each of their locations are designed for the neighborhood they're in and each of them has their own menu as well as their own specialties. The cool thing about these restaurants is they have their standard menu, which they serve up all the time. But then they have certain "theme" menus that they serve for a couple months at a time.

For example, at the Five Spot in Upper Queen Anne, they choose one of the 50 states and cook local dishes from there (last time I was there, it was Alabama). At Coastal Kitchen, where we were tonight, they were serving up food from their Sicilian menu. The food was fantastic, but we weren't there just to see the menu change over, it was also to take in the local artists' work that they hang proudly on the wall. All, of which, had a Sicilian theme.

It just so happens three of the pieces were done by two talented guys I work with, Randall Statler and Chris Stone.

This is Randall. Even though you can't tell it from this photo, he really isn't required to wear a helmet. He did two pieces. This one of Michael Corleone, which he made entirely out of photos of Vito Corleone.

And this one of Vito. Made out of bottlecaps.

Here is Chris' piece. Look! It's Jesus! The cool part on this is he's put lights in the middle, so that the sacred heart actually lights up. And the "God bless only Sicily" is made with nails. Pretty badass, no?

And, here is Chris. And Jesus again.

I know, Tony, I can't believe it's only 14 days away!

2007-02-04T22:05:00.000-08:00

Pitchers and catchers officially report to camp in 14 days. Hoooray for spring!

Observations. Good and bad.

2007-01-28T00:35:00.000-08:00

I'm a big fan of my snooze button.

None of you who have ever lived with me or worked with me will be surprised by this. As much as I'd love to make excuses, I'm just not a morning person. The minute my alarm goes off, I immediately scheme so I can get "just a few more minutes."

So, my snooze button goes off every seven minutes to KEXP, the public radio station in Seattle that pretty much rocks the free world. And the weirdest thing happened over and over this week. Every seven minutes my alarm went off, the song that was playing was a great song. And not just a great song, like a classic one or anything, but ones that are long-time favorites of mine for all kinds of weird reasons. Songs I don't hear often, let alone on the radio.

I can't describe it or explain it really, but it's like someone broke into my house, looked at all my CDs and files on my computer and iPod and then sent the list to the station and programmed them to come on the air every seven minutes. Crazy.

Also, I just flipped the channel when SNL went into their late-in-the-show lameness and saw that Tim McCarver has his own talk show. Tim Mc-Freakin'-Carver! I was so disgusted, I realized I had watched almost six minutes of him interviewing Merlin Olson with my mouth hanging open before I finally swore out loud and changed the channel again.

As my friend Emilia says, "Seriously. Why are we not famous yet?"

So, like, what's up with you?

2007-01-18T17:29:00.000-08:00

It's been a little while. I was home for the holidays and then some and arrived back in Seattle just in time to not only see it snow close to six inches (over three snow storms) but also to get sick! Good times.

The holidays were great. Got to see a lot of family and a lot of pals, but not ALL of my pals. Apparently two weeks just isn't enough time. It's hell to be popular. Did get to spend some good time with my parents, which was nice because my Mom underwent hip replacement surgery earlier in December. I think all of us, including my Dad were much more nervous about her and her recovery than she was and she's proving us to be a bunch of nancies. I like to think of myself as no kind of wimpy girl and being home with my Mom was a study in where I got that from. As I've heard her say countless times over my lifetime, "I didn't lick that off the floor." Funny how the kindest person I know can also be tough as nails when it comes to physical resiliency. Go, Alice!

Here are the highlights, in no particular order: hockey at Braemar Arena to catch a game a piece for Sam, Kelly AND Jane; Christmas Eve and Day at Rancho Jarrardo (my first Christmas dinner as chef, but I had many sous chefs); a trip to the Hexagon with Oona to ultimately miss the reunion of Jim Strachan and David Howell's band, The Flat Earth Defenders (dammit); cocktails (well, Premiums only) with Bradley Failor; brunch with my favorite blondie, Luke; yummy dinner and cosmos with Eric and Liam; babysitting all day for my niece and nephews, the Dalys (after which Molly informed me that I had "kind of a bossy day today"); quality time "testing" the new furniture and TV set-up at the Hotlanders'; visit to Colle + McVoy's new downtown digs (very cool); drinks with allllllll the boys: my bro Jeff, Sean, KC, Jon, Ryan, B.Brett, E.O. and Lloyd, who treated us to some sweet dance moves; New Year's Eve at Jenny and Doug's; watching the Gopher Wrestlers kick the crap out of ASU, 44-3; cocktails with Big D.; shopping with Lily and Ruby (and their Momma, too..."AMY!"); the movies with Sweet Sammy Thotland (Night at the Museum); making peanut brittle and girl talkin' with Kelly Rose Thotland; dinner with Kristen, Muriel, Heather, Max and Connor; a visit to the other CM to see my all-time faves; TWO WHOLE BROOMBALL GAMES with my beloved Orange Team (both losses, man, that Orange goalie really sucked); Godmotherin' for Ruby.

So, that's about it. Sorry if I missed you while I was home. I had kind of a full agenda with all the stuff above.

So, um, not much else has been going on. Settling back into the flow of work and just waiting for winter to be over. No big trips planned until March (although there are about six places I'd LIKE to go). But my parents are coming in April and will be here when the Twins play the Mariners. Can I hear a wahooooooo?

Only four weeks until pitchers and catchers report to camp. I can hear Herb Carneal already!

Oh, okay, okay. Here are some photos.

Only half of the total and not quite all of the Minneapolis gang, L to R: Sam (holding Ruby), Molly (must be touching Sam at all times), Kelly (holding Liam), Jane, Lily, Kevin

Kelly and Liam. Hard to say who's cuter, isn't it?

Sisters!

Hot broomball action

Classic Lloyd

Hey, NORM!

I'll try to make more exciting things start happening. Like, uh, maybe I'll start a book club or learn to knit and tell you about it in excruciating detail?

Amy J. and the Blustery Day

2006-12-17T23:40:00.000-08:00

Okay, so all of my blogs are apparently going to be about the weather. Because I'm 147 years old.

But this was crazy! Thursday we had a storm. A real one, not like the "snow storm" from a couple weeks ago. We're talking sideways rain, flash flooding, 70m.p.h. wind gusts and power outages a-go-go. Neighbors of mine three doors down had a GIGANTIC tent that was about 20'x8'x9' that was bolted into wooden planks which were buried in the ground. Because the ground was so wet, the wind lifted it up like a sail and it flew up over their garage and rolled down to my house and landed just behind my car and my neighbor's car.

Our power went out at about 11:30 that night and didn't get restored until yesterday (Saturday) at about 11 a.m. It was kind of cool driving around West Seattle Friday night looking for a place to eat. I don't know my neighborhood totally yet, and while I don't recommend touring around in the dark, I found a couple alternate routes to one of the really great shopping streets here.

Other than the big windstorm, I've been getting ready for my trip back to Minneapolis. I'm really, really looking forward to coming home and seeing everyone. Especially all my nieces and nephews. Photos are nice, but it's better when you get to squeeze the real things. Did a bunch of shopping yesterday and today and have all in all really enjoyed the holiday season here in my new city. Even the Space Needle and the Pacific Science Center get in the spirit. (Qwest Field has red and green lights on it too, but who cares about football?)

I got a tree, too!

We had our company Christmas party last week. It was at a cool little place called Chop Suey and the band Ghostland Observatory played. Open bar, ad people and great music. All ingredients for trouble. Here are some of the tamer photos of my co-workers and I.

Aaron, the lead singer of Ghostland Observatory. He totally rocked, but man, were those pants tight. Yikes.

Me and pals from work Kevin (blondie) and Rod. Rod's been great about showing me around West Seattle and introduced me to my new favorite bar, West 5.

My pal Amanda, after winning third place in our Interactive department's karaoke contest. We recorded them singing and then did animated videos of them all. Then people in the agency voted and we gave away cash prizes. She won $8.

Our director of HR. No, I'm not kidding.

Dominic (left) and Randall. Sometimes we wonder how they get dressed and find their ways to work in the morning, but we love them anyway.

Chris Stone making me laugh because apparently we both thought the after-party was a good idea.

My "concierge" Jamie. She's the girl who's told me where to find everything like THE BEST pedicure place (one block from work...15 bucks, too). Jamie got second place and $30 in the karaoke contest.

Have the happiest of holidays, or this girl's gonna come looking for you.

Winter kills

2006-11-29T13:35:00.000-08:00

I'm only going to say this once. Nothing you are about to read is an exaggeration. I'm going to refrain from that, even for comedy's sake, because I think the truth this time is truly funnier than fiction.

It snowed in Seattle on Monday. I was alerted to this not by the National Weather Service nor a local meteorologist, but because half of my department ran out yelling, "It's snowing AND hailing outside!!!" They were running, you see, to watch the snow come down. They returned, shaking their heads saying, "Driving home tonight is gonna suck." One guy, who lives in the same area of Seattle as I do said, "Dude, Jarrard, we're screwed, man. We're never going to get over the West Seattle bridge." Having plenty of work to do, I figured I'd just stay late and beat traffic. I left around 7:30 and my usual 15 minute commute took close to an hour.

That night, watching the news, the weather was the top story. Accidents, warnings to not leave your house unless you absolutely had to, people abandoning their cars on the 405 freeway. They even interviewed a very attractive blonde woman whose studly boyfriend had to come and "rescue" her with his Hummer because "My Porsche in the snow is just like a little sled!" As my good pal Donnie is fond of saying, "Thank god you're pretty, honey."

The next morning, having to get to work earlier than normal, I figured I'd be safe from there being too much traffic. I was right, and arrived at work by 8:15 with little trouble. When I got to work, there were only two other people in the office. I quickly found out Seattle schools were closed, warnings were still being posted about not traveling unless absolutely necessary and many people had already sent e-mails saying they wouldn't be in the office. The rest of the day was pretty much uneventful, except for explaining to one of my co-workers what that pink stuff was that our building maintenance had sprinkled on the stairs. It was salt, you see. Commute home was uneventful and took the usual amount of time, but there was suspiciously far less traffic.

Okay, you've waited long enough. I took photos. These are from Monday night, taken just a few steps outside my door. Subject matter isn't the best, but I don't think you'll mind.

Behold! The blizzard!

I'm still not sure how I survived.

Today, I arrived at work early again to an e-mail from the art director I'm working with saying he would be working from home because Seattle schools were closed again today. Remarking on this, my co-worker Nick said, "Yeah, but I have a friend who lives east of here, on the other side of the bay, and they got like, THREE INCHES."

Also, here is the all-agency e-mail that was sent out twice and then sent via voice mail to make sure everyone was covered:

If you were able to make it into work today despite the icy roads, we appreciate you being here.

This is just a reminder to use your best judgment about coming to work when the road conditions are bad. If you feel safe, come on in. If not, please call your supervisor about how best to cover any meetings or other things that need to get done.

It's taking all I have to not be a smartass and be helpful and understanding to my new friends and neighbors. It reminds me a lot of an old episode of "Friends" where Chandler's New Year's resolution is to not make fun of people and just after he makes it, Ross shows up in leather pants. Sometimes life just isn't fair. On my post previous to this one, I said something about being thankful for rain because it ain't snow. I take it all back.

Who knew the joy even the tiniest bit of snow could bring me?

A Lot To Be Thankful For

2006-11-20T14:29:00.000-08:00

I know, I know. Everyone's doing these lists, but, seeing as this is the first Thanksgiving where I won't get to personally sit at my parents' table and say out loud what I'm thankful for, why not bore all of you with it? While this one goes on a bit longer than I would at their house (to which my family is rolling their eyes saying, "not by much") at least you can read it in courses, like a fine turkey day dinner.

The Minnesota Twins
My first end of baseball season in unfamiliar territory was oh so much more bearable because of the way my boys pulled through and played their scrappy little hearts out. Sure, they got swept by Oakland. Sure, Liriano scared the crap out of all of us and we need to pick up a big-hitting DH over the winter. Sure, Michael Cuddyer refused to acknowledge his true feelings for me and got MARRIED to some GIRL earlier this month. Pssshhh.

All that matters was they were (as someone I once new was fond of saying), officially fun to watch and 2007 is looking mighty rosy.

Bat Girl
If you don't know about this blog yet, you're in for a treat. She's a huge Twins fan, has nicknames for all the players, a great knowledge and commentary on the game. Plus, she's a kick ass writer and does instant replay of the games in LEGOVISION. It's genius. Really. It really is. http://bat-girl.com/

Instant Messaging
Admittedly, there are a lot of technological advances that I never really felt I needed, let alone wanted until I made the big move out west. I was getting pretty good at text messaging, thanks to pals like Oona and Brad. Don't know what I'd do without Be-rad's (and his little bro Pauly's) updates on Twins games when I was otherwise occupied. My niece Kelly is lightning-quick, like everything she does, on her phone key pad. But IMing? Ohhhh no. You can see when your friend is online and know that even if they have 30 times the attention span that I do (which still isn't saying much) the little icon will bug them until they respond to you. Glorious. It's like your very own goon squad of communication! It's helped me keep in touch with pals from home, especially Jane and Kelly, as well as new pals that I'm happy to say I've made since I've been here.

Coffee made by people who know what they're doing
Look, no offense to my Protestant pals, but in Seattle, there's none of that northern-Minnesota-Lutheran-church-basement-tea crap that they try to pass off as coffee. No sir. There are plenty of places where it's thick and dark and spec-tac-ular.

(If you can't read it, the line at the bottom of the cup says, "Home of the Velvet Foam.")

Kicking some Republican ass
It was a glorious, glorious election. And I'm happy to say, the good guys finally won. Now, let's just hope all the crap that's gotten thoroughly screwed up since 2000 can right itself.

Sun Country Airlines
Laugh if you will, but this little airline that could has made it ultra-easy for me to come home. And hey, they're one of the last airlines that will serve you food. Granted, it's reminiscent of those soy burgers we used to get for lunch in elementary school or a steamed "grilled" cheese, but it's the thought that counts. And, you too can fly out here for dirt cheap. So, at the risk of being redundant, book 'em, Danno.

Rain
Cuz it ain't snow.

My new nephew Liam

As if you needed more proof, but is this the cutest kid ever?

My new niece Ruby

She's not only a beauty in her own right, but is also my god daughter. And just like Kevin and Molly with Liam, it's been so fun to see Lily adapt to her new role as big sister. Their Mommas both did a great job themselves, so things should work out well. (Yeah, it's a repeat image, but come on!)

My big, fat Irish family*
I love them to pieces and miss them every single day for one reason or another. I love talking to my sister Anne while I'm on my way to work, getting updates on the babies and all the funny things that happen in our oddly similar lives, all but for the cute, bald husband I've yet to find. My brother Jeff for his sweet wife Jeni and their kids and his even sweeter heart when it comes to helping me with every little lame errand and stuff you really need a big brother for. My sister Lisa and her amazing husband-o, Ted and the three kids who make me smile and cry and laugh with such pride it's sometimes indescribable. My sister Kate and her funny and sweet Irish husband for their constant stream of cute kids, cute photos and unbelievably hilarious stories about the latest things their three have done or said. My big brother Bill for his naughty jokes and calling at just the right time to say hello. And my brother Matt and his beautiful inside and out wife Laura and their busy, loud, and never-ending fun household.

But most of all, I'm thankful for my brilliant and wise parents whose love and support make me thank god every day I was born into the world with them to shape and mold me. You're my rocks and I never would've even dreamed of living this chapter of my life out here and starting a new adventure if I didn't have people raise me to never be okay with being bored. Or if I was never taught how important it is to find things out for yourself. I love their poignant e-mails filled with articles, political food for thought or sometimes nothing at all. It's an amazing thing to know you're loved.

My great, big, beautiful network of friends
I love each and every one of you like crazy, even if you're not listed above.

*(Size reference solely based on the depths of their hearts, just so we're clear.)

THANK YOU!

I hear this world wide web is really catching on

2006-11-11T21:13:00.000-08:00

Haven't posted in a while because nothing much has been going on. Work has been busy, but good and it's been raining for about 73 weeks straight, it seems. It's weird because I have to keep reminding myself it's almost the middle of November because if I were home, the cold would remind me. I was listening to music today and freaked out when I heard this weird noise and realized it was just the rain POUNDING on my windows. I'm building an ark.

Check this out. Go to Google and type in "(YOUR NAME) needs" and see what you get. P.S., I typed "Amy needs." Funny little trick.

Spending Thanksgiving with my cousin Ellie and her family in Bellingham, WA. Should be a fun time, although a bit strange as I've never spent Thanksgiving anywhere but my parents' house in 34 years!

It's Official

2006-10-25T13:05:00.000-07:00

I have the cutest nieces and nephews.

[Liam (4 mos.) and his favorite cousin, Jane]

The photo above is merely Exhibit A of the Totally Cute and Kid-Filled Minneapolis Weekend that I arrived back in Seattle from on Monday night. I had the pleasure of meeting the newest addition to the clan, Mizz Ruby Leone Fadell, better known in Minneapolis as Lily's little sister and my goddaughter. She's a snuggly little sleepin' and eatin' machine and has the best thing of all — that new baby smell. More highlights of the weekend are below.

I had a fantastic time at home and was so very glad to see all my pals who made it out to Grumpy's on Saturday and other good friends in between. I didn't take nearly enough photos, but it was perfectly timed and the perfect duration, too.

Now it's back to my new reality of unpacking and trying to figure out why I have so much stuff, where all this stuff is going to go and how I get rid of the stuff I can't believe I paid to have moved out here. Either that or figure out how to build myself a new closet.

[Snoozin' Baby Ruby]

[Me and my good pal, Lily]

Victory!

2006-10-17T23:12:00.000-07:00

I have furniture.

I know. It's very exciting. My stuff arrived on Saturday afternoon and I got to go to a truck stop! I went to be there while they weighed the truck and then weighed it again after unloading my crap. Guess what? My things didn't, in fact, weigh an additional 1026 pounds like the moving company was trying to charge me 89 cents a pound to drive to Washington.

Fuming.

I wasn't about to let these criminals leave with my money, so I told the dispatch guy he had three choices: he could give me the cash back, he could meet My New Best Friend, Officer Turner from the Washington State Patrol, or he could have his drivers sit in the lot of the truck stop, unable to move because of the Toyota Camry that was going to be parked in its way. It may say "Sensible Soccer Mom," but it's really quite an intimidating, badass vehicle.

They chose the cash route, which is good because I had to chase down a tow truck which had my car on it today in Belltown. Had to convince the kid to give me back my car, to the tune of $156.67. Little tip for those of you planning to visit: when parking is no longer allowed after 3:00 p.m., they mean it. I had a ticket by 3:03 p.m. and was running after the tow truck at 3:11 p.m.

But not to fear! The movers still owe me close to $200, which I'm sure will arrive at my house with a giant apology letter any second now. Even though I'll probably never see the dough, I'm kept warm at night by my moral victory. Well, that and the thought of the Twins potential starting five in 2007.

Heading back to Minny for the weekend on Thursday night, Hope to see some of you, if not all of you. (It's pretty much just my family reading this now, right?) Oh, and there will be more photos, too.

My first guests

2006-10-02T18:37:00.000-07:00

It's so spacy! And needle-y!

Here are some "action" shots of Jenny Morgan and Doug Ranke and I when they came to visit me a couple weekends ago. Don't you want to have this much fun? I thought so.

So book your tickets already.

More pretty scenery from my new favorite "hidden" park Jenny's friend Deb showed us.

A preview of Jenny and Doug's Christmas card.

At the Old Ale House in Fremont. (Mom, they made me take them to a bar. I wanted to go to church, I swear.)

Me and the Rankster.

Fun was had by us all, but the weekend was way too short and my house too devoid of furniture. But there are certain advantages of knowing someone since 7th grade. No one can quite laugh at you that way. Now looking forward to a trip home in a couple weeks and hopefully more guests.

Win Twins!

Knock out a home run, shout a hip-hooray!

2006-10-02T17:37:00.000-07:00

They did it. My boys actually did it. They went from 10 games out of first to not just playing great ball, not just making the playoffs, but WINNING the best division in the majors. What a weekend.

Cy Young shoe-in. The first catcher to win the AL Batting Title. Maybe an MVP. And every single one of these guys would give up any of those accolades for a World Series ring. Even if you don't like baseball, even if you haven't followed this team and bled, sweated and cried like I have over their ups and downs, you have to love this team or there's a cold, dark cavern where your heart should be.

Everyone keeps saying that even if they lose in three games or if they can't continue the tear they've been on for the past two months that they'll still be okay with our team. But you know what the best part is? THEY won't be okay with it. That's the beauty of scrappers. And that's what this team is.

It's hard to find anything to be negative about in October when you're team's in the playoffs. That is, of course, unless your team plays at noon central standard time on Tuesday and Wednesday and you live in Seattle. I think I feel a bout of 2-day baseball flu coming on...

Okay, so does that make three?

2006-09-22T13:32:00.000-07:00

So, here's what's been happening with me.

1. I still don't have my furniture or any of the stuff that was to come with the movers. It's a long story, but the moving company is trying to pull a fast one on me. And I ain't standing for it. The turnip truck blew this popstand a long time ago. I currently have my Aero bed (which I bought to "tide me over for a week or two"), two bar stools which the previous tenant left behind and the two dressers and one shelf unit I bought when I got here. Best part is, I have guests coming into town this weekend! Thank god I have a strict sense of humor requirement when selecting my friends.

2. Twice, TWICE I've gone to meet my installation person from Comcast cable, only to arrive and find out they'd already been to my house and left. I was really, really angry about this, but it turns out it doesn't really matter because

3. My brand new TV made a weird zapping noise Wednesday night and the picture died. And a weird burning electrical smell was wafting out of the back. Yeah, way to go, my BestBuy friends. Is this the kind of product I can count on from you and your boys in bright blue? Is it?

4. I got a flat tire on Saturday while on my way to have four new tires put on my car. In case you were wondering, you can just call AAA and join right over the phone, even when you've already got a flat tire. Costs you 20 bucks, but it's better than trying to find someone to change your tire in the parking lot under I-99, across from the tourists pouring off of cruise ships.

Good times.

I promise to post more photos of my excursions. Not of the onese mentioned above, but actually entertaining ones. I have quite a few good pics to share, just need to edit a few of the R rated ones, since this is a family show. Also planning on securing a few more action shots from Jenny Morgan and Doug Ranke's visit this weekend. Strapping on my drinking cleats!

Photos a go-go

2006-08-31T00:10:00.000-07:00

Here they are. Now hurry up and plan your trip.

The front door

Kitchen

Living room

Patio in back

Full bath (there's a half bath on the first floor)

I HAVE AN APARTMENT!

2006-08-30T00:39:00.000-07:00

It's official. I move in on Thursday and I'm nowhere near ready or packed, but what good is college if you can't remember how to fill out a blue book or pull an all-nighter? It makes up for its size in its cuteness, and I can't wait to have you all as my guests in it. I'll post photos in the next couple of days for those of you who haven't seen them yet.

On a small side baseball note, 7 2/3 innings for a rookie with 7 Ks and still no victory? Your homework is this: Go to the Dome and root for my boys. They need you. You need them. And I need them to need you and you to need them. Everything covered? Good. Now go. And go a lot. And cheer loudly.

And while you're at it, book your flights to Seattle now. My place is really cute and I can't wait to show you my adopted city.

New best friends

2006-08-17T21:48:00.000-07:00

Whew. Been a long week of working. Have worked the past two weekends, last weekend both Saturday and Sunday, 8+ hour days. Welcome to the glamour of advertising!

But I'm liking what I'm doing. We're on a big hush, hush pitch that I'd tell you about, but then I'd have to kill you. In addition to that, working on two pretty big projects for T-Mobile. It's going well and I'm figuring out where my cog fits in this giant wheel.

Started working with a couple of freelancers from L.A. and think that I've found another kindred spirit in a writer named Emilia. She's hilarious and we got along instantly upon meeting. Huge smartass and has a million funny stories about growing up in a Mexican family but still being mistaken for either a white girl or an Asian girl. We giggle so much we have to separate ourselves so we actually get work done.

As a result of a bunch of us being new to town, have gone out and had fun the past few nights at dinner, etc. It's nice because none of us know where we're really going, but are all up for new adventures. Had dinner tonight at a great place in Capitol Hill that Randall, an AD from my department, took us to. It was really cool. Everyone here is really helpful and friendly and, unlike Minnesotans, will ACTUALLY call you to hang out and go out to dinner or have beers, instead of just talking about how fun it would be and then never calling you (I'm just as guilty as anyone else). Helps a lot to make me feel more comfortable.

Looked at The World's Cutest Apartment yesterday. I arrived promptly at 10:00 a.m. for the showing...along with at least 8 other applicants. I might have to stoop to desperate measures if this doesn't turn out. It's that great. I was already planning where a little herb garden would go and imagining all of you coming to hang out for a long weekend or more. It's totally perfect for me. Feel like I need to figure out how to get sneak previews of places just to get a jump on the competition. But fear not, my potential visitors! I'm going to find something great, it's just going to have to be perfect timing. Am still crossing all fingers and toes and dusting off my rosary so that I get this place. Lower level duplex in a Victorian house, circa 1906. Did I mention how cute it was? Should find out this weekend, so send all your positive thoughts my way.

If I rent it, you will come. Right?

I spell it O-L-D.

2006-08-11T01:05:00.000-07:00

Ventured out and went to my first live show in Seattle. Saw World Party, a band I learned to love in my college days. They played at a really cool, small venue called Neumo's. Despite the giant clown on their website (deep breath) and the other giant scary clown above the door of the place (another deep breath), it was fantastic. The band was amazing and Carl Wallinger sounded as good as he did with the Waterboys. Hooray!

Played all their great stuff, including one of my all-time favorite songs ever (no, really), "Sweet Soul Dream." The lyrics get me every time:

I got rare '61 Beatles/I got a film of my dreams
But I'd burn lose them all/burn them all
Go along without all of it/give up the chances I see
If you'd/take me up/raise me up/let me know the heart of it
Give me your sweet soul dream/Give me your sweet soul dream.

Didn't feel at all weird or uncomfortable. I was among other fellow nerds who, probably a lot grayer and fatter than when the album came out, still know all the words to all their songs. I hope it's the first among many great live shows. Really, is there anything better?

I like Seattle.

P.S.

2006-08-09T21:13:00.000-07:00

Twins 4, Tigers 3.

My boys are on fiiii-yah!

Neither rain, nor snow, nor retardation...

2006-08-08T13:35:00.000-07:00

I swear, my life is a sitcom.

Before I left Minneapolis, I arranged for FedEx to pick up four packages and have them shipped to Seattle. Two to my office, two to my apartment. Simple, right? Of course not. They delivered each of them to the wrong place. Not a big deal unless you don't have your car here yet and live about 3/4 of a mile from work.

The worst part? I had to admit to my new co-workers that the giant plastic Rubbermaid container (yeah, the BIG one...25 gallon size) contained my shoes. But what I kept from them is that's not all my shoes. It's just my summer shoes. For those of you who know the addiction, believe me, there's something kind of sad when you have to measure your collection in cubic feet.

I ended up taking a cab to work this morning with the two huge boxes of office stuff and was going to take a cab home tonight, but would've had to wait about an hour until the Faith Hill/Tim McGraw concert crowd died down. Hmmm. Guess I didn't know people still listened to country music.

Looked at a couple more apartments this week. The showing I went to last night began at 5:00 and when I got there at 4:55 (yes, I was actually early for something) there were already 8-10 people filling out applications. I filled one out, too and I believe they were checking my references today, so that's a good sign. It's an apartment that's just behind this absolutely adorable craftsman house in upper Queen Anne. The neighborhood is super cool and the house is in a fairly quiet part of it. We'll see.

My friend Brad who knows everything about everything and everyone, has pals out here whom he went to college with. Ever The Coolest Guy I Know, he introduced us over e-mail and I met them last night for my first official Seattle happy hour. Hallelujah! I've been saved! I'm starting to wonder if people at work really go out or if they're making it up. No invites to happy hour, etc. yet, so I may take matters into my own hands on Friday. If Mohammad won't come to the mountain, the mountain pulls the new kid card and sends out a department e-mail to play on their sympathies.

I finally have a camera, so soon there will be the added fun of photos of my super exciting life. Riveted, aren't you?

We are the world

2006-08-03T20:41:00.000-07:00

First things first, I was happy to see the Twins pulled out a win tonight. Don't forget, I'm counting on all of you back home to take care of my boys while I'm gone. They need all of us, no matter what time zone we're in.

Yesterday I learned an important lesson about Seattle: just because it looks close on the map, doesn't mean you can walk there in a short amount of time becuase SEATTLE HAS A BUNCH OF HUGE FREAKIN' HILLS.

Yep. Gave myself about 10 minutes to walk up to the top of Queen Anne from the bottom of Queen Anne. The walk was actually really good, just took waaaaay longer than I thought it would because of the incline. And my calves were on fire by the time I got to the place, so I had to just keep walking around (milling about, milling about), until they started to feel normal again. Point taken.

Today at work one of the honchos from Publicis Groupe (notice the fancy "e," it means he's from our global HQ in Paris) spoke at our all-agency meeting. Now, I've been through my share of agency meetings where the brass gets up in front of everyone and blah, blah, blahs about where things are going, shows new work, etc. But this guy blew me away. He spoke about some of that stuff, but mainly about how the big dogs in Europe are genuinely impressed with our office. And it really hit home all the places there are Publicis agencies. And how incredibly diverse our agency is, just in Seattle alone. They've given us a huge assignment that they've pulled away from the agency in San Francisco that could totally put us on the map, not just within the U.S., but globally as well. It's a huge vote of confidence from them and is pretty exciting. I also had to stand up in front of the whole agency (250 strong) because I'm one of the new kids. Thank god it wasn't like when I started at Colle + McVoy and they called my family ahead of time to get dirt on me so they could embarass me. I still haven't forgiven my sisters for that stunt. Bitches.

I've also decided that Seattle is the Land of Unusual Names. Maybe it's just because I work at an ad agency, but here is just a sampling of the names of people I've met in one week, in no particular order: Randall, Vlad, Nicholae, Mattson, Barrie (a woman), Alistair (Yankees fan, so he sucks) and Gethin. More to come on that front, I'm sure.

They're closing one of the bridges on a major freeway at various times over the next few days so the Blue Angels can practice. I guess they close the bridge to avoid people from stopping on the road and staring at the sky. I thought that was funny, and then kind of sad. Brings the term "gawker's slowdown" to a whole new level.

In through the nose, out through the mouth

2006-08-01T11:38:00.000-07:00

I'm in shoe hell until one of my giant boxes arrives later this week. So, I thought I'd do my research and plot out where my nearest DSW is.

That would be in Oregon, 154 miles away. Where am I? Ugh. Help me, my peeps.

N is for North

2006-07-28T15:39:00.000-07:00

Welcome to my blog! (I don't think I've ever felt nerdier than this very moment writing that). It's my hope that this will help all y'all interested parties up to date on my adventures in the Emerald City. I was told by a friend who grew up here that it's also called The Jet City, if you like to rock it old school. So there you go. Also, I'm hoping this will save me from countless e-mails that ramble on and on, repeating the same stories over and over.

Wait a minute. Maybe I should've done this before. Oh well.

My last few days in Minneapolis were a whirlwind of packing, arranging, softball (Go Diamonds!), a final Saints game and too many plans with not enough time. It's a pretty crazy thing to wave goodbye to the house you grew up in and then watch as the only city you've ever really known zooms below you from the window of a plane. Thankfully, I mentioned to the girl on the plane that I was moving from home, so my blubbering didn't freak her out. Or she faked like it didn't anyway.

Got to Seattle and picked up the keys to my temporary housing and headed over there. Went right to my apartment to find they didn't work in the door. Turns out I was in another tower of the building (the north tower, hence the "N" next to my apartment number). Figured it out when I saw the mailboxes in the main building. So I dragged my three rolling suitcases and a giant box — sweaty, exhausted and annoyed — to the right place. The nice part of it was I discovered the courtyard on the third floor of the building where the fitness center and pool are. Very pretty with lots of places to sit and plants and trees all around.

As it turned out, a friend I've known since kindergarten, Bob Dunne, happened to be in town the night I arrived for a wedding this weekend. He stopped by and we went out for dinner. It was so wonderful to see a friendly face my first day, especially after being on such a roller coaster ride.

Also found out the first day that air conditioning is rare in condos and apartments here. Isn't very economical because it really doesn't really get hot enough. I was told you'd probably only use it for about two weeks a year. I'm sure all of you in Minneapolis are rolling your eyes right now.

Two whole days under my belt at the new job. People have been really nice and polite, but mainly leaving me to myself. Which is fine, as I've had my fair share of logistical arrangements to take care of. On the fifth floor of our agency is a huge deck that overlooks the Sound. It's absolutely gorgeous. Every Friday in the summer they have beers and wine out there in the afternoon. Oddly enough, that fits right in with my plans. I tried taking a photo, but only had my phone so it didn't turn out so great. I'll try to post one soon.

My temporary housing is in a neighborhood called Belltown and our office is in Queen Anne, so it's about a 10 minute walk for me. It's great. I'm actually looking at a couple of places this week, two of which are in Queen Anne and one that's in nearby Capitol Hill. For all of you with plans to come out, wherever I move will definitely be a 2 bedroom, so book your flights!