issaquah

Today, Marcus left for his Lock and Load convention, so I got to spend the day in Issaquah with his mom. We drove over and started walking around this place called Gilman Village...I'm not sure if that was a good idea or a bad one, because all of the shops were stocked with cute kitchen accessories, cookbooks and decorations that we both couldn't get enough of. His mom is really big on the idea of having her own garden one day, so she loves looking at vintage-y signs and flowerpots. I had to be steered away from the shelves of baking pans--they had this fantastic shortbread cookie sheet with flowers imprinted onto the molds--and prompted to choose someplace to eat.

This place also happened to be full of interesting cuisine, which made deciding extremely difficult. We walked past an Afghani restaurant, a Greek place, an Indian one with a lunch buffet...and that was just in the couple of minutes we took to peruse before we got too hungry! I ended up picking Tantalus, the Greek restaurant, and even though the Indian place was a close second (only because buffets mean you get to sample a little bit of all the most popular dishes, which is helpful when scoping a place out) I was thrilled that we chose it! We both got gyros; mine was chicken, Jo's was lamb. They were delicious. We both really love international food, but it's hard to find Greek food around here that isn't intensely heavy and greasy to the point of distracting from the rest of the dish. All of the vegetables and meats on our plates seemed fresh and light. The flavor was phenomenal! I really can't speak highly enough of good pita bread, and this place had it. I wanted to dunk it into some hummus or something...maybe another time!

We spent most of the day checking out apartments since we'll be moving there sometime in the next month or two. I love house-hunting, so it was a really nice time. We found one or two "maybe's" and one place that we really loved that might be a "yes" depending on timing. Issaquah seems like a great town! The apartment we liked the best was literally walking distance from most of the downtown stores and restaurants, which the leasing agent told us would be great for saving money on gas and parking for big events. I wish we could have seen a little bit more, but we got a better idea of the options in that town.

After that, we decided to try getting our nails done together downtown! I was excited, because I normally just do my own and call it good. It was fun--I got a little watermelon design (minus the dots, I guess--I think I'll just add my own!) and Jo got some cute flowers. There was a little family with three girls that came in right as we were finishing up, and they were all psyched because they got to get their nails done for the oldest one's birthday. It was so fun to watch them! The littlest one was sad because only two at a time could go sit in the chairs, so she had to be last. She ended up accidentally dropping her bottle of nail polish and breaking it on the floor, but her mom was extremely sweet about not making her feel bad about it and wiped it up in less than a minute. They seemed really nice--actually, a lot of the people we ran into in Issaquah today did. I'm optimistic!

I had a great time with Marcus's mom today. (Side note: they really do need to come up with a word for "significant other you aren't married to's parents", because "in-laws" sounds really ambitious and formal, but calling them "Marcus's mom/dad" sounds like I don't know them. I'm trying to get used to it, but I feel kind of strange just calling them by their names (we were raised from a really young age to always refer to anyone older as Mr./Mrs./Miss, and even in my 20's I'm trying to shake it).) We love to talk about a lot of the same things, and neither of us can resist checking out cute shops. I'm excited to do this more often!

I think tomorrow I'm supposed to be up really early to go with Marcus's dad to the gym, too. Hmm. We're productive in Washington!

:)

final day : kent!

We both woke up excited because we knew by the end of the day, we'd be with Marcus's family in Kent. The day was supposed to be about ten hours long, so it was daunting, but the excitement outweighed the anxiety.

It ended up being that we skipped the hotel's advertised free breakfast--I think the main office gave Marcus the creeps, plus there wasn't actually any food on the table. We ate in the car; luckily, I make pretty good peanut butter sandwiches while balancing a cooler on my lap, so we were fine. That thing was a lifesaver this entire trip, by the way. We had plenty of fruit to eat and the bread and peanut butter stayed good. Seriously, when we got to Kent and calculated the cost from all our receipts, we came in way under budget because of how many meals we just made ourselves from the cooler.

Anyway, California is huge and takes forever to actually leave. We kept looking out the window trying to see if the last little bits of desert landscape had completely faded away yet. Eventually, we crossed into Oregon and it was evident that there were no more spiny plants to be found. It was sort of a culture shock, because immediately upon entering Oregon, we stopped for gas and learned that you're not supposed to pump it yourself there. The young man who was our attendant was extremely cheerful and friendly--and, of course, Marcus just had to ask why attendants got your gas for you there. I'm not sure if it's true or not, but the guy explained that at some point in the 1920's, some person was pumping gas, decided to light a cigar, and the entire place exploded.

Also, the inside of the gas station was like part restaurant and part hotel. There was a washing machine next to the bathroom. I've never seen anything like it.

We stopped for Subway and switched spots because Marcus needed a nap. Unfortunately, although I'm a fairly competent driver, I was off that day or something. I'm thinking that it was partially due to not being familiar with the area and general anxiety around traffic and large trucks. Anyway, I was able to go for a while, but Marcus did the majority of the driving this trip by far. (I felt bad, but I also think it also kind of worked for him. When he's in the passenger seat, he likes to stomp on an imaginary break or move to correct the steering wheel. I imagine it's hard to let another person drive your car--I get that way when someone's in my kitchen, let alone my vehicle...)

The scenery was vastly different from Arizona's, and we both couldn't get enough of it. The northwest is so green. We drove past Portland and immediately wanted to stop and see what it was all about, but we were getting close enough to being done driving that we kept going. From the car, it looked like one of the most interesting cities I've ever seen. Everything looked really clean and crisp, if that makes sense. Anyway, we spent several hours talking and pointing out how not like the desert our new surroundings were. We've been here about a week and I still don't think either of us has gotten tired of that.

Around six or seven, we got to Kent! His parents were eagerly waiting for us at their apartment with dinner, and we couldn't have been happier. Now, here we are.

Altogether, I was immensely happy we took this trip. Before I left, lot of people said things to the effect of "you two are going to hate each other by the end", and I found that to be some strange (and untrue) advice. The only remotely negative thing that happened at all was that Marcus wasn't intensely enjoying Disneyland for the first hour, and even then, nobody was really that upset. All it took was a round on Space Mountain and he was fine. Besides that, we enjoyed all the stops we got to make and the food we tried out together. For something that was supposed to be wildly stressful and the ultimate test of our relationship, it mostly just felt like a fun vacation and some good bonding time. We even learned to change windshield wipers together in the parking lot of a Walmart, so...I'd recommend cross-country road trips to anyone! Granted, we were both extremely tired by the end, and I think being crunched in a car full of our worldly possessions for extended periods of time can do a number on your back, but I still say it was worth it! :)

If you read this far, thanks for tuning in to my little recount of our move from Arizona to Washington. I can't wait to see what happens next here!

day three : red bluff

We knew the next day of our trip was going to be a long one--when we planned it out earlier in the year, we decided to drive as far up from Anaheim as we could get in one day, then save the last stretch of the drive for the next morning. Marcus and I came up with a rough estimate that, after eight to nine hours of driving, we'd end up in an area called Redding. I browsed some discount travel sites for a bit and booked us a night at a hotel in Red Bluff for $40, and we figured our day would end whenever we got there.

It was sort of sad to leave our "fun" part of the trip (and Disneyland!) behind, but we were both excited to get moving at the same time. After one more free breakfast, we headed out!

The driving part was indeed very long and involved a whole lot of nothing as far as scenery goes. I have to give Marcus his due credit--we had originally mapped out sort of a schedule for taking turns at the wheel, but he kept saying he wanted to go a little longer. Eventually, it turned out that he made the entire trip himself. Serious stamina. I felt bad, because I kept offering to take over, but he declined and requested that I just feed him snacks while he focused on the road. His current favorite thing to eat is those bags of Brookside dark chocolates with pomegranates and acai berries--stolen from me, of course!

When we finally got to Red Bluff around 6 PM, we were sort of surprised by how small of a town it was. I personally thought it was pretty cute--it reminded me a lot of Flagstaff, especially because it seemed to have one main road connecting to the highway surrounded by small businesses and chain restaurants. We found our hotel, and we were literally the only people staying there. The parking lot was empty except for our car, which was slightly creepy, but we figured we wouldn't jump to conclusions. Based on some of the reviews we'd seen for this particular hotel, we were admittedly a little concerned (one specifically said to "run far away") but upon entering the room, we realized there was nothing to worry about. Granted, the place was quite old, and the bathroom floor was a tiny bit questionable, but for what it was--a place to hang out for the night--I was fine with it. I've definitely stayed in worse! The beds were comfortable, the TV worked, and the swamp cooler was incredibly efficient.

After checking in and putting our things in the room, we remembered it was dinner time and that we were actually pretty hungry. We scoped out a Denny's nearby and enjoyed one of the best cheap dinners I've ever had. Did you know you can order their "value Grand Slam" thing with wheat pancakes, turkey bacon and egg whites? I found out that evening that you could, and it was delicious (I have a thing for fluffy wheat pancakes)! I think the two of us got to eat for a little over ten bucks, which I personally considered a victory.

Later, Marcus revealed that he'd been craving a trip to the movies. He'd spent the entire day driving, so it seemed fair to let him pick what we did with our evening. We found the one movie theater in town and made it to the 7:00 showing of X-Men. The theater was so little you could hear the other movies playing through the wall! I thought it was cute; Marcus, who grew up in a tiny town in Alaska, assured me that the novelty of a tiny theater wears off quickly. We agreed that the popcorn was delicious, and I enjoyed the show despite not having seen any of the other X-Men movies. Altogether, even though I suppose technically there wasn't a whole lot to it, it was one of the best nights I've had in awhile! Even now, about a week after the trip, I remember this part in particular pretty fondly.

Last up: our home stretch!

day two : disneyland and dole whips!

We scored a pretty banging deal on a Disneyland package, so Marcus and I were psyched to spend a day at Disneyland together. The hotel we got had a really nice free breakfast, so we enjoyed a little bit and then headed off to the Magic Kingdom!

The first hour or so, Marcus wasn't in the best mood. For the most part, he isn't actually a huge Disneyland fan because he feels like there's a lot of pressure to enjoy everything to the point of sensory overload due to the expensive prices. I totally get that concern--I've felt it myself--but I tried to reassure him that we didn't have to do anything if it wasn't fun for him, because what the hell is the point in that? He was sort of sullen for a few minutes, but once we got on Space Mountain, it was like night and day. He loves to laugh on roller coasters!

We both thought this picture was hilarious. He was pretty insistent that I should take off my glasses (since apparently on Space Mountain they're prone to flying off and being lost forever), so the entire thing looked especially crazy. I'm pretty blind, and without my glasses I can only see vague shapes and colors. If you've ever ridden Space Mountain, you see how this could be horrifying. (Well...mostly fun, but still fairly trippy.)

After that, we figured out the best system for him: avoid the heaviest crowds, take semi-frequent breaks to sit away from the masses of people, and occasionally find a snack. It was nice, because we got to do a lot of people-watching and enjoy our favorite rides anyway.

Trips with Marcus mean trying the food--it's one of our favorite things to do together! We ended up sampling both kinds of Dole Whip (plain and float version), some Disney Starbucks thanks to my gift cards, a Mickey Mouse pretzel, and some really delicious sourdough bread at the Pacific Wharf area of California Adventure. We didn't actually eat those candy apples, because they were $10. We wanted to, though! And I thought they were the cutest decorative apples I'd ever seen. We spent a good while browsing the candy shops--I'm always fascinated with what people can do with food!

(Marcus says his favorite was the bread bowl, but he wishes he'd tried tomato bisque soup instead of the Asian salad. I argue that had he tried the soup, he'd have wanted the salad instead.)

As I said before, we went to Disneyland over a holiday weekend, so the crowds were immense. While it's possible to navigate them okay, after a while it can get sort of tiring because everyone wants to go enjoy the same things you're trying to do. One of the things we did to sort of step away was ride my favorite attraction--the Mark Twain riverboat!

By the way, if you ask really nicely, they'll take you up to a private room and let you steer the boat.

I was essentially on cloud nine. Marcus really enjoyed watching the view from all the way up there, and I decided to share and let him ring the bell and blow the horn once or twice. ;)

We ended the day with our delicious sourdough dinner at the wharf and browsed around California Adventure for a little while. Marcus was nice enough to go on the new Little Mermaid ride with me, because last time I came it was only in the design stages and I was curious about it. We agreed that it was cute, but we both felt like some of the characters were a little too lifelike. At one point we got stuck in front of a dancing Ariel that sort of started to border on creepy. We contemplated staying for World of Color, but it seemed like the park was already getting very crowded even a few hours before the show and we opted not to this time.

Even though he said it still wasn't his top choice for a vacation, Marcus ended up having a way better time than he thought--he even said he'd go again if certain conditions were met. Mainly, we would go off-season, budget more to be able to try some of the more exciting (but pricier) park foods, and we'd stay at a closer hotel so we didn't have to drive through the city to get there. Those all sounded great to me, so I considered this a huge success.

I love Disneyland, but I feel like as an adult it's different to me than when I was younger. I still very much enjoy the colorful decor and the characters--and the food is actually a big deal to me--but I can definitely see how it's stressful for some people who feel overwhelmed by all the crowds and noise. We were talking over dinner about how, even though it's neat that they incorporate elements from all over the world into their parks, we'd still rather go to the actual places. However, the cute novelties have their own charm, and we were glad to get to experience them together! I didn't end up buying my ear hat this time, because I couldn't justify the price, but I did have a blast wearing my special pink pirate dress! :)

Next to last: our third day through more California and our stay in the tiny town of Red Bluff! :)

our trip: day one!

We made it to Seattle! It was a great time together, and I tried to take pictures whenever I could. However, there were a lot of times when it made more sense to just enjoy ourselves and not worry about documenting everything--still, I want to remember our fun trip, so here we are!

The night before we left, I stayed with my mom and brothers at a family friend's house in Phoenix. Marcus picked me up around 8 in the morning, and with that, we were off!

I was looking forward to the road trip because I enjoy watching the scenery, but unfortunately for the first day we didn't have much in the way of a view. If you've ever made the drive from Phoenix to California, it's a whole lot of nothing for several hours--and neither Marcus nor myself are huge fans of the desert landscape. We kept trying to spot areas where the spiny plants were gradually becoming more sparse. Also, he really enjoyed the environmentally-conscious windmills we passed every once in awhile.

When we got to our hotel, we were pleasantly surprised--our room was quite big, and it had a jacuzzi in it! (We didn't actually use it, but still. I've never seen that before!) We both fell asleep for a couple of hours, then woke up to go check out Downtown Disney and (of course) Disneyland!

I should have it on record that I wore the special fruit top my good friend Sasha gifted me with for my first night out on the town!

We're both big food people, and neither of us can resist a good sandwich (we both worked at Port of Subs and got sort of spoiled! We like to try other ones whenever we can to compare). We tried out the Earl of Sandwich in Downtown Disney, which was delicious! If you're ever in that area and you need a moderately inexpensive dinner, the subs are only $6.99. I had a pretty good turkey club, and Marcus decided to try their Italian combo. Both of us were impressed! We were trying to find the best deals--even though a lot of the food was more expensive than we'd usually like to pay, we figured if we were going to spend the money anyway we might at least make it worth it!

After that, we headed for Disneyland, which was nice since it was getting dark. There were still quite a few people (and of course, we didn't realize until getting there that we'd totally timed our trip to coincide with a holiday weekend) but it wasn't as overwhelming as it would've been in the daytime. We had a blast people-watching and getting on some of our favorite rides--the first stop was the Haunted Mansion, followed by Splash Mountain (which I'd never been on!). You overhear all kinds of funny things in line, plus you can see a lot of cute families. By the time we got there, most of the little kids still in the park were passed out in strollers or on their parents' laps. We were there a good couple of hours, but the entire day of driving coupled with a busy evening out sort of drained us earlier than usual. Still, it was a wonderful night and we had a lot of fun!

Next up: day two, our full day at Disneyland!

it's happening!

I'm laying down writing this as I fight the urge to fall asleep. (Seriously, the last week of school was never this overwhelming when I was a student!)

Tomorrow morning, we're leaving! The first stop is Anaheim--we were able to budget for that Disneyland trip after all! After that, we'll be driving up through the rest of California, through Oregon, then straight to Seattle where Marcus's parents are quite eagerly waiting. We've both been so psyched we could hardly stand it, because it's not really a secret that neither of us enjoys the desert. A few people have almost taken what I could almost call offense to our new destination--"What? Washington? Why? You know it rains there, right?!"

Oh, believe me, we knew. It was really helpful that we've been able to visit during summer and winter to get an accurate idea of what the seasons are like. We weren't too scared off, evidently!

I never felt like I could answer honestly when people at work who'd heard about our upcoming move through the grapevine asked me what the long-term plan is. A lot of variables are up in the air, and I don't actually know how long we're going to be there. For the first time in awhile, I guess I'm just not worried about it. I'm excited to just be there for a little bit, if that makes sense. Overseas will come, I'm sure of it. I can't say when, exactly, because that depends on what ends up panning out. In the meantime, I have a good partner who I'm ecstatic to be making such a fun road trip with. I hear the drive through Oregon in particular is beautiful!

I can't wait to get moving!

tiger stripes and high-waisted shorts

The thing I've found about animal prints is that you generally love them or hate them. Personally, I've never really been a huge fan. I'm not sure why, exactly. Maybe for the most part they seemed a little too loud for me (says the person who has a love affair with novelty prints, I guess). When I saw this tiger-striped vamp top up for sale on one of the Pinup Girl swap boards, though, I felt like I sort of had to have it. I couldn't explain why, especially since it was so different from my usual style. Still, when it arrived, I couldn't wait to try it on! 

I will say this about vamp tops: they're phenomenal. They fit pretty true to size, and, as the PUG reviews state, they do pretty great things for your bust! ;) I've actually wanted to try a real one for awhile (I have a black knockoff from Hot Topic that I love) because I was curious about the quality judging from the rave reviews. Now I'm most definitely sold! They have a lot of other colors I'd love to try out someday, including zebra and lavender. It's such a fun top for the summertime! I'm sure I'll find a way to get a lot of use out of it even though the print is pretty bold. 

As an aside, I'm really excited that my hair is finally getting long enough to experiment more with it. I'm thinking about trying rollers pretty soon--I've found some interesting tutorials on Pinterest for setting your hair, and my curiosity is piqued! 

And now, completely unrelated, but probably important: this Saturday, I'm going on a road trip! Marcus and I are going to be moving to Seattle as my mom leaves for Ohio. This is indeed different from our original plans of all moving out there together, but it's probably for the best. When I visited with Mom in February, I had a great time, but I had this feeling in my heart like it just wasn't the place for me.  When I talked to her about it, she agreed, and suggested that Marcus and I take some time to go see his parents up in Seattle and give the Northwest a try for a while. I'm very excited, because his parents and I are very close and they've already been throwing around some suggestions for international companies up there that I could look into! Honestly, I think it's much more what we're looking for at this point in life. However, we can always go out to Ohio for a visit...and there's been talk of a family trip to New York! 

We will be stopping in Disneyland along the way, too, so there's a lot to look forward to. It'll probably be a really long trip, but we've made a few together before and we always have a nice time. Plus, I hear the drive along the coastline is beautiful! We'll even get to pass through Oregon for a little bit, which is someplace I've always wanted to see.

More on that later, I guess! Now, I just have to focus on my preschoolers for one last week together. And packing, too. I should probably think about that. ;)