A BLOG BY LINDSY READ

Friday, August 31, 2012

First Birthday

Someone has a birthday coming up!  Check out the [censored, internet version of the] invitation I created for our little guy's first birthday party.  [Side note:  I am longing for the day to stop calling him "BB" online].  We love Where the Wild Things Are.  It's our fave.  BB is fascinated when I read/recite "the wild things ROARED their terrible ROARS".  That's my favorite part.  I looove this book and I loooove this boy!  I cant wait for this party to happen! I cant believe he's already one year old! 


Thursday, August 30, 2012

Europe Series: Brussels, Belgium




Belgium is known for food (and over 200 kinds of beer). "Moules et frites" is mussels and French fries!


Stunning "Grand Place"




Our first adventure in Europe was traveling to Brussels.  We found plane tickets for 40 euro.  TOTAL. It was a cheap airline in which the seats were plastic, you couldnt check a bag, and there were no flight attendants.  It was pretty cool.

Before our trip, we asked a woman in Grenoble what there is to do in Brussels.  She exclaimed, "There is so much to do!" and she wasn't entirely correct but we DID have a great time looking at things and eating things - Belgium is known for waffles, fries, and much more!  We also saw a movie in Europe's largest movie theater, Kinepolis.  Viewed the Atomium and Grand Place and, of course, the Mannequin Pis - a little statue that pees and gets dressed up by different countries and has its own museum, which we visited.  BB reminded me of Mannequin Pis last night as he was standing in the bathroom waiting for his bathtub to fill up.  Ha!

All in all, a good trip!  It was January and we were freezing so I'd love to go back and visit in warmer weather.



Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Europe Series: Grenoble, France

This is Grenoble, France!  Where we used to live from the fall of 2006 until the summer of 2007.  Every year around this time, I start to think about Europe and the anticipation and excitement of the summer of 2006, all the preparations for the trip, the unknowns.  Here's a little nostalgia and the first of our Europe series.

Dining outside on the balcony of our apartment.



Our kitchen.
The view from our apartment

Inside our apartment







Why did we ever leave?

Oh yeah, we ran out of money.

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Experiences: Seattle Edition

We do a pretty good job of having some fun.  I dont know if you know this but... we dont like to sit around.  We, as a family, value experiences more than material possessions.  In fact, we are looking into going on a Carribean cruise this December instead of Christmas presents.  [SQUEEEE!!!]  Anyway, on Sunday, I was supposed to go to 5pm hot yoga with Sam and then Dan and I were going to watch a movie.  However, with Dan's touring schedule and all the places we and BB need to be, a free day is a rarity.  We needed to seize the day!  We treasure our family dates and we love adventure and we don't need a lot of money to have fun.




I won an Ivar's giftcard and I really wanted to use it at the Seattle waterfront Ivar's because it's the best and, obviously: Seattle waterfront.  So, we talked Sam out of hot yoga (which was easy because Sam is always down for an adventure) and we drove up to Seattle to see what we could see.  We ate and walked around the pier, Pioneer Square and Pike Place.  We had a pint at The Pike which got us some strange looks and reminded me of this scene from Sweet Home Alabama. (There were a lot of P's in the last couple sentences, did you notice?)  We mostly took photos - which is never boring and always free.  I found Johnny Cash Live in San Quentin on vinyl at a store inside Pike Place for ONE DOLLAR.  It's one of my favorite albums.  We left after pints at The Pike and drove south to Georgetown which is Seattle's strangest neighborhood.  I cant even begin to describe Georgetown, you just have to see it.  We had once driven past a park with a giant cowboy hat and boots but were late for a wedding and didn't stop so I knew today was the perfect day to find it.  It's at Oxbow Park and it's quite a sight!  We met some rad hippy ladies who gave us a HUGE zucchini and let BB play with their dog!  We drove home and BB fell asleep despite the loud singing coming from the front seat.   

It took BB a little while to warm up to the bustle of the city, the random people asking us for money and commenting on how cute he is, the seagulls, and of course, the noise.  But, he did soooo good.  It's amazing to see how far he's come, socially and developmentally.  It was, seriously, so perfect.  The whole day cost us about $15 and it was one of my favorite days of all time.




Staring at the ginormous cruise ship behind mama!  WHOA!

Sitting on a pig at Pike Place!


Sam is a wild man.

With "Uncle Sam" at The Pike.


Dan let BB roll down the hill - which had me screaming / taking pictures

The boots at Oxbow Park.



The best picture ever!!!
Clapping!
Zzzzzz

Monday, August 27, 2012

9 Year Anniversary Recap


BB, Corina Bakery, Joy Teriyaki, Java and Clay pottery studio and the drive-in movies.  
It was a good day.  





Tattoo Ideas

For a few years, I've wanted to add to get a large tattoo and my rad husband is helping me make it happen.  We were shopping at a craft store a few weeks ago and the cashier had some gorgeous sleeve tattoos.  We asked her who did her tattoos and she said "Scott at Flaming Dragon".  Good news, I already wanted to go to Flaming Dragon so now I had "my guy"!  We went in this week to talk to him about what I wanted and it was kind of a disaster.  So, here's what I want...

In The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, the third or fifth (depending how you count it) edition of the The Chronicles of Narnia, there is a boy named Eustace Scrubb and he's a punk.  He's so lame.  He is selfish and mean and snotty.  Low and behold, his bad attitude turns him into a dragon and he can't change back to himself.  He tries, but he cant.  Until Aslan comes in and helps him...
The very first tear he made was so deep that I thought it had gone right into my heart.  And when he began pulling the skin off, it hurt worse than anything I've ever felt.  The only thing that made me able to bear it was just the pleasure of feeling the stuff peel off.... Well, he peeled the beastly stuff right off - just as I thought I'd done the other three times, only they hadn't hurt... Then he caught hold of me - I didn't like it very much for I was tender underneath now that I'd no skin on- and threw me in the water. It smarted like anything but only for a moment.  After that it became perfectly delicious and as soon as I started swimming and splashing... I'd turned into a boy again.
I love this story of transformation.  For me, the best part is the end.  Where Eustace is swimming happily in the water.  So, I envisioned something of a lion watching a boy swim with some sort of dragon-suit on the ground.  But, Scott thought that might be boring and we could have a lion ripping open a dragon with the boy coming out of the dragon suit.  But, to be honest, I dont want a dragon on my arm.  

Back to the drawing board...

The Dawn Treader, the ship the book is named after, is a pretty rad ship so I might get the Dawn Treader in something like this, only not on my forearm:
via HERE
The Dawn Treader, book cover and movie poster:


Then, I did a little more Narnia research and found this beautiful book cover.  This is Lucy and Susan dancing with Aslan.  It's feminine and pretty and I really like it!  And then I found the original 1950 artwork for The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe.  A version of this would make a nice shoulder tattoo:

via HERE

via HERE
So, if there are any skilled artists out there who think they could draw the Eustace scene, please let me know! Otherwise, I think I'll get the "dancing lion" with the girls.
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