obscure Mexican holidays

After a full day of backyard bottle-collecting and re-hydration, I'm more than ready to talk about the best Cinco de Mayo I've ever had. Which maybe isn't the most meaningful way to phrase it since I've never actually done anything extraordinary for this obscure Mexican holiday that we Americans seem to cherish so much.

But still.

Last night began when an old friend of mine from high school in Santa Barbara ended up at the Tractor Tavern in Ballard, Seattle, playing a show on his West Coast tour with his band, Tommy & the High Pilots. The thing about Tommy is that I remember him more as this ever-so-slightly chubby theater geek kid when we were teenagers. 

And now he's hot. And he has groupies. 

I converted two of my friends on the spot. The second Tommy opened his mouth on stage, both of the girls went weak at the knees. They both wept when I told them he'd been dating the same girl for EIGHT YEARS.

This isn't even a good recording, but it's a new song he just wrote about Goleta, my true homeland, and it makes me a little weepy. In a good way. Now go watch their real videos here: http://www.youtube.com/user/thehighpilots?feature=watch

I haven't even gotten to the best part yet.

Since it was Cinco de Mayo and all, I naturally extended some Cinco de Mayo hospitality and invited Tommy and his boys over for some fireside beers in our backyard with a few other friends. And by few, I mean 20-30-ish.

The High Pilots brought the other band they're touring with, A B & the SEA...and they all brought their guitars. Ergo a fireside jam session proceeded into the wee hours of the morning (ooops—sorry, neighbors!). And then I made them scrambled eggs for breakfast in the morning. The end.

Viva la Cinco!

Café Presse

Every once in a while I feel minor intimidation toward certain eating establishments in Seattle. Either they've been written up in one too many foodie magazines, their menus are in a chic foreign language, or the wait staff have uncommon piercings and tattoos covering the majority of their visible skin. 

This morning I brunched with my bloggy girlfriend Allie at Café Presse, and it nabbed a spot in all three of the above categories. 

First of all, hellooooo magazine selection. Bless their hearts for alphabetizing—made it a lot easier to find these winners.

Croque Madame. One bite is worth a thousand words. And this iPhone photo is worth about five.

 Ginger Al. Looking sassy is her M.O.

 The go-to mezzo: espresso, steamed soy, H₂O.

 Al's café au lait...

Natural car air freshener. The first lilacs of Spring. Pure love.

momsicles

 

How cute is this? My mom and her sister took a roadtrip from Santa Barbara to Northern California to visit my cousin, then to Portland to meet up with their other sister, then to Victoria, Canada, to visit their aunt and uncle, and then to Seattle to see me!

Nothing like sister-bonding on the road.

Reminds me of this video Sister #2 and I made in January.

My mom is one in a million, but boy does she have a sweet tooth. And that's fine for her, because throughout most of my life, she's weighed significantly less than me. Props to her.

That being said, we rocked Seattle in true dessert-lovers fashion, and I joined a gym the day she left. :)

Top Pot Donuts • Macrena Bakery • Mighty-O Donuts • Zoka • Molly Moon's Ice Cream

And no, that list is not all-inclusive.

 

We also marched all over Seattle, and it was awesome feeling like I finally live here and have earned the right to 'show people my city.' 

Nordstrom Anniversary sale, antique-shopping down town, thrift store shopping on Capitol Hill, sightseeing all the famous parks and lookouts (Gas Works, Kerry...).

 

They even let me have an hour alone to watch the finale of Friday Night Lights. Took me a while to pull myself together after that one. If you're missing it already, watch this little "best of" highlights video. 

It includes my two favorite lines (just humor me):

Tyra: "I have dreams, Tim."
Tim: "I know you do. I have dreams too...maybe one day our dreams can merge together."

 •

Eric to Tami: "I wanna go to Philadelphia. Will you take me to Philadelphia with you, please?"

 

may day

The past two days were essentially May Day stretched out into the most beautiful and relaxing weekend I could have hoped for. This morning was perfect: lounging on a wrap-around balcony porch amidst fields of tulips, fresh coffee, finishing my book (who doesn't love a little closure?), bright sunshine, and the biggest breakfast I've had in years.

Completely forgot my camera this weekend, which ended up being a blessing in disguise. AKA I wasn't hiding behind the lens or filling up my time with getting the perfect shots of each and every tulip in the fields we visited. 

So I took the above with my phone (I mean, the Droid does), 

and stole the following from Heidi. 

I loved sharing our room together this weekend!

Oh, and we adopted a cat while we were at the bed & breakfast.

a tulip getaway

Can't wait to share photos, thoughts and life with you soon, but not until I've officially recharged. I'm away this weekend, an hour north of Seattle, in a tulip wonderland called La Conner, staying at THE CUTEST bed & breakfast rooted smack dab in the middle of field after field of deep red tulips and sunny yellow daffodils...it's breathtaking.

Take some time for yourself this weekend, everyone! It'll do you, annnnd those around you, a lot of good.  :)