little black journal

I know people say that Summer doesn’t truly arrive in Seattle until the 4th of July, but after the weekend we had, I’m going to go out on a limb and say that my favorite season is coming early this year (gosh, I hope I didn’t just jinx it…).

We started our weekend with the Kate Lynn Logan and JJ Heller show at the Q Cafe. It was a great, chill night of music – JJ is lovely and adorable with a super-sweet voice and a husband that accompanies her perfectly on the guitar. And late night Happy Hour after the show with Jack and La Verne at Daniels’ Broiler wasn’t half-bad, either…

We were up early on Saturday to run in the “Free Them 5k”, a fundraiser organized by the life-changing folks at World Concern. It was inspiring to see so many people turn out for a such a good cause. And the run was a blast – not at all competitive, but just a bunch of friends out for a jog on a beautiful day.

We headed home after the race for a shower, and then grabbed our bikes and were back out the door to ride to Jack and La Verne’s for an afternoon barbecue. We made a quick stop at the ball fields down the street to watch some of the neighborhood kids take a whack at tee ball. And my goodness, they were so cute with their give-it-your-all swings and helmets bobbling as they rounded the bases.

After barbecue part one at Jack and La Verne’s, we rode back home for barbecue part two with Justin and Lindsey. Fresh salmon hot off the grill, good conversation with some of our favorite neighbors, and one incredibly adorable baby that made me giggle as she pushed her face up against the door for a game of peek-a-boo with Shane. I predict this is only the first of many backyard dinners to come over the next few months. Yessssssss…

5k’s are kind of like chump change for Shane these days – he was up at 6:00 this morning to head over to Kirkland for yet another half-marathon. Jack, La Verne and I staked out the finish line and cheered like crazy as he rounded the bend several minutes earlier than expected. My man is a total rockstar – 13.1 miles in 1 hour and 39 minutes. Insane! I’m so proud of him. He dedicated this run to his mom in honor of Mother’s Day and said he thought of her whenever he needed encouragement to push up a particularly tough hill – his super-fast time is proof that she has been so, so good to him.

Post-race, we headed to Capitol Hill to check out the Farmer’s Market, but finding that it wasn’t open yet, we settled on sandwiches and an outdoor table at Homegrown. News flash!: I believe I may have found the best breakfast sandwich in Seattle. A fluffy fried egg, perfectly crisp bacon, Beecher’s cheese, and a toasted potato bun. Wowsers, it was good.

We napped and watched baseball and sat out on the back porch this afternoon, soaking in the joy of a lazy, sunny Sabbath. I eventually worked up the energy to get out of the house for ice cream from Full Tilt – tell me this photo isn’t proof that Summer really is almost here!

We took our cones to-go and drove over to Genessee Park to lay on the grass and catch the last of the day’s rays next to the blue waters of Lake Washington.

Ahhhhh, the bliss of a Vitamin D high…

It was a pretty grand weekend.  Grand in a run-of-the-mill kind of way, but that’s exactly what I was craving after a long week at work.  Plenty of rest, good times with friends, and a healthy dose of sunshine.

I kicked off Saturday with the ladies at our book club meeting – good coffee, good book (Go read The Book Thief!  You’ll love it!), and some good catching up with each other.  All kinds of good happening at Espresso Vivace that morning…

We spent Saturday evening at Jack and La Verne’s, making use of their new patio furniture and feasting on the fruits of Jack’s stellar grill skills.

Shane took a break from the action to hang with baby Stella.  I raised my eyebrows when Nicole asked Shane to put Stella in her footy pajamas, wondering if he’d be up for the task, but he was a like an old pro as he snapped her up, wrapped her in her fuzzy blanket, and took her in his arms for a quieting stroll around the house.  This man is going to make one heck of dad some day.

We ended the night with Beard Papa’s cream puffs and hot tea – again, so good!

I was thrilled to wake up this morning and see sunshine glowing through our bedroom curtains.  We spent some time after church this morning poking around Ballard, walking across the Locks and enjoying the blue, sunshiny skies.

I had a long list of to-do’s I’d planned on tackling this afternoon, but ultimately decided those chores and errands could wait:  I needed an afternoon of guilt-free veggin’.  I read and dozed on the couch, pulling myself out of sleep just in time to watch the Giants beat the Brewers in the 11th inning.  Woot!

Once the game was over, Shane and I moved our laze-fest to the backyard, to read and sip cocktails and dote on our neighbors’ new Shiba Inu puppy.

And that’s a wrap on this pretty perfect weekend.  Productivity is sooooo over-rated.

And that’s how it’s done.  Easy as chocolate chip cookie pie (with ice cream on top).

Goodness, I love me some Seattle sunshine.  And this weekend was full of it.

I ran outside and actually got hot after a mile or two, we Happy Houred on a patio in Leschi, I wore sunglasses and loaded up on sleeveless shirts at the outlet mall today, we ate fish tacos and drank Coronas while overlooking Lake Union, and I sat in the backyard and let my toes see the light of day for the first time in I-don’t-know-how-long.  It was glorious.

The forecast calls for cloudy skies and rain tomorrow.  But until then, I’m going enjoy the warmth of my ever-so-slightly pink cheeks and pretend summer is just around the corner (self-delusion is a beautiful thing).

Happy Easter! I’m especially joyful this special Sunday, after a weekend full of sunshine and friends and meaningful time at church. The Good Friday service at Quest was just what I needed to put the work week behind me and shift my focus toward reflection, rest, and the redemptive power of the God I follow. “Good” Friday has always sounded strange to me, considering the fact that it marks a day of such unimaginable suffering and pain, but it’s true that in the midst of sorrow over knowing what Jesus endured, there is deep, deep goodness and comfort in knowing how loved I am. And there was certainly goodness to be found in sitting in the sanctuary and wrestling with sadness and hope and repentance and gratefulness. The Easter “story” felt so abundantly real to me that night.

I was eager to get out of the house on Saturday morning, but feeling a little low on energy due to a cold I’ve been fighting all weekend, so I skipped my morning run and instead settled on brunch at bright and cozy Tilikum Place Cafe. Shane and I were both coming off a full week, so it was good to sit down and focus on genuinely catching up with each other. In the midst of a full calendar, I can forget how nice (and necessary) it is to sit down and pour my heart to that guy, and then to hear him do the same with me.

We spent the afternoon errand-running and doing some things around the house, I baked my most favorite mint chocolate brownies and threw together a pot of soup, and then we headed over to Brian and Nicole’s for dinner with them and precious little Stella. At four weeks old, she’s already a heart-stealer. I restrained myself from holding her due to my sniffles, but got a lot of joy out of Shane’s proud grin as he bounced her to sleep. I expect these two will be great buds someday.

After church this morning, we went to Jason and Nancy’s for festivities with our Seattle family. We watched the little (and big!) kids collect chocolate filled eggs, we ate burgers and bratwursts hot off the grill, and we all chatted and laughed, giddy with the beauty of a springtime Easter day.

We sang these words at church today and my heart was so full of conviction and thankfulness and perfect, boundless peace:

I’m running to your arms
I’m running to your arms
The riches of your love
Will always be enough

Yes, He is enough. And yet, He has given me so much more.

It was a jam-packed weekend, full of good times with our closest amigos. After toasting to the sunshine on Friday night, we headed out to the symphony – our buzz was momentarily killed when we realized we’d forgotten our tickets and had to drive back home (therefore missing the first piece), and then weren’t allowed in for the second piece because we had “accidentally” gone to the wrong door in an effort to switch our back row seats for box seats (good idea, Jack…), but we eventually made our way inside and were able to enjoy a solid 20 minutes of music. Sigh. It was fine, though – the pizza we ate afterwards at Bar del Corso was the real show-stopper for me…

Saturday morning was full of to-do’s around the house, but we spiffed ourselves up in the afternoon and drove over to our church for Jon and Adrienne’s wedding. Shane and I have known Jon for several years now, and when he shared the news in 2010 ago that he’d “met a girl”, we thought it sounded kinda serious. And indeed it was! We were thrilled for him, but withheld complete enthusiasm until we’d met Adrienne and determined that yes, she was absolutely good enough for our dear friend. It’s been a joy to watch these two lovebirds fall head over heels for each other and we were so happy to be a part of their incredibly special day.

And P.S.: my man cleans up real nice, doesn’t he?!

After the ceremony, we all headed over to Golden Gardens for the reception – the sun was shining and the water was sparkling as God looked down from heaven and smiled on the brand-new husband and wife.

It felt good to look around the hall and see our Seattle “family” gathered around, knowing that we’ll all watch Jon and Adrienne grow old together. Even little Miss Stella showed up for the big event – one week old and she’s already a party-goer!

We ate, we drank, we raised our glasses to the happy couple, and then we danced. Oh Lordy, how we danced…

It was a perfect night in so many ways. Cheers, Brenners! We love you both. And you throw one hell of a party.

I feel like I could have slept until noon today, but instead I was up early to cheer on Shane, Jack, Jason and Joe in the Mercer Island half-marathon. It was a beautiful day for a run, evidenced by the smiles on these guys’ faces as they lined up at the start to tackle the 13-mile course.

I was perfectly content to sit at a table in Starbucks with Nancy and La Verne while our athletes ran their butts off. We drank our lattes and then walked over to the finish line to watch everyone cruise in.

The gentlemen absolutely rocked it. And they hardly looked worse for the wear – nice work, fellas!

The rest of the day ranked a little low on the fun-o-meter, but pretty high on the productive-meter, so I’m still a happy camper. I made my plumbing debut and fixed our leaky toilet, did some paint touch-ups around the house, finished operation “spotless shower”, squeezed in a little yoga, and…am ready for bed. ‘Night.

Admittedly, I wallowed a bit on Friday.  But sometimes I need to be down before I can be up again, so my grief wasn’t all for naught – after a bout of heartache, I eventually climb out of my hole and more genuinely appreciate life’s little blessings.  And this weekend was full of these glimmers of goodness…

Like my beautiful latte at Vivace on Saturday morning, sipped over a particularly good book club meeting with the ladies.

And my perfect, moist frosting-topped cupcake, a super-thoughtful little gift from Erica.

My new gray wedges and black heels, cause sometimes shoe shopping really is the best medicine.

Sunday morning brunch with Shane at our favorite cozy Irish pub, complete with Mimosas (for Shane), hot coffee (for me), and thick, crispy bacon (for us).

The satisfying feeling of tiredness that came after a run along Lake Washington.

And then spending the rest of the afternoon in my pajamas, drinking tea and painting and listening to the lastest Coldplay album.

I’m also so thankful for the people in my life that pull me out of that hole when I find I’m too tired to climb out of it myself – the kind comments and text messages and hugs and cupcakes are like new shoes for my soul – merci, friends.

There’s a part of me that wants to dislike Valentine’s Day – I know it’s become a “Hallmark Holiday”, full of commercialism and consumption and cheeseball sayings on little candy hearts.  But here’s the problem when it comes to me hatin’ on V-day:  I’m married to a man that decided to surprise me with a decadent French dinner at Chloe tonight and hold my hands across the table and be all romantic and stuff.  And really, who am I to turn down champagne and mussels and sorbet-topped meringue?  So I’m putting aside any bah-humbug feelings and embracing the mushy-lovey-dippy-doo.  Happy Valentine’s Day, Mr. Schnell.  It was fun to get out on the town and be all fancy-pants with you (and it’s also fun to sit here in our PJs and catch up on the Daily Show).  I heart you mucho.

Seattle was abuzz on Tuesday with the forecast for a major dumpage of fresh snow – this city goes a little nuts when the weatherman deviates from the normal forecast of gray skies and rain.  At the first sign of a snowflake, transit becomes unreliable, many businesses close their doors, and Facebook is flooded with excited talk of “Snow-mageddon” and “Snow-pocolypse”.  Lots of Seattle-ites love to scoff at all the over-reactors while secretly stocking up on water and foil-faced blankets, but it’s true that we’re just not equipped to efficiently clear roads and create safe driving conditions, especially with the number of hilly streets that criss-cross every neighborhood.  Shane and I went to bed with clear skies overhead on Tuesday night, wondering what kind of mess we’d awake to on Wednesday.

Although the city wasn’t quite the disaster zone people had predicted, there were a couple of inches of snow on the ground by 8 am.  We were both tempted to call it a snow day and hunker down indoors, but Shane’s manager had said it was absolutely essential that he make it into the office, and I wasn’t too keen on using a vacation day to hang out at home by myself, so we boarded the ever-reliable Link Lightrail, simultaneously relieved and annoyed that getting to work wouldn’t be an issue for either one of us.

Downtown was quieter than I’ve ever seen it, with hardly any cars in sight.  The snow-laden trees and balconies gave a new vibe to the same streets I’ve walked down every day for the past several years – it was kinda magical…

I headed home a little early, instituting “snow hours” for myself at work, and settled into the couch with a hot cup of tea and a good chick flick.  Shane got home a couple hours later, and although it was dark by then, we were still eager to get out and enjoy our little winter wonderland.  We took a walk through the neighborhood, tossed a couple of snowballs at each other, and remarked over the glow of the sky and the quiet of the streets.

We were about to head inside when Shane eyed the big hill across the street from us with a mischievous grin on his face – 15 minutes later, he and our neighbor Justin were strapped into their snowboards, cruising down the road, whooping like little boys.  Justin termed it “urban snowboarding” – I like it.

Today brought more snow and icy roads.  Shane worked from home and I went into the office for a few hours, again leaving early when the City of Seattle put out a statement that commuters should try to get home before dark because of “treacherous” road conditions (“snow hours”!).  I rounded the corner when I got home to find Shane and Justin fort-building with the kids from sheets of ice that could be picked off cars – they had the start of a pretty good igloo going.

I know it’s Frugal January, and I know we said we wouldn’t eat out this month, but something about a snow day makes you feel like breaking the rules, so we asked Jack and La Verne (fellow frugal-ites) if they’d be up for making the trek over to Tutta Bella for a pizza dinner.  They agreed with minimal (errrr…no) arm-twisting, so Shane and I bundled up and walked down to Rainier Avenue to meet up with them.

And, wow, it was worth it.  We justified the evening by ordering off the happy hour menu (these pizzas are not quite so giant as they look) and reveling in just how good it felt to be “out”.  Turns out that a Tutta Bella dinner is a sure-fire cure for cabin fever!

It’s another cold night out there, and we continue to be so thankful for our warm home and steady supply of hot chocolate and fresh-baked muffins.  Tomorrow things should start getting back to normal, with warmer temperatures in the forecast.  I’ll be kind of sad to see this crazy weather come to an end – the playful afternoons and cozy evenings have added some variety to the seemingly loooooong Seattle winters.  Now if only I could afford to take up “rain hours”, life would be so much sweeter…

I really, really love Fall.  The anticipation of the soon-to-arrive holidays, steaming hot bowls of homemade soup for dinner, evenings spent cozied up on the couch with a cup of tea and a good book or a new episode of Parenthood, and the leaves…O.M.G., the leaves.  Shane and I took a walk through Washington Park Arboretum yesterday and were blown away by the intense hues of golden yellow, bright coral, deep red, and translucent green.  I bet I say this every year, but dang, these trees are more stunning than I’ve ever seen them before.

I remember sitting around a table with a group of friends from church during the holiday season several years ago, and as we took turns sharing about things that made us particularly thankful, one of the ladies at the table quickly piped up and said, ‘Color.  God is so incredible for giving us color.’

Amen, sister.