Unexpected in July

Paper crane chains on this super cool statue.


The Wall of Death.


A plant trying to tie itself in a knot.


An urban scarecrow.


People fencing in the park.

Back to Paris for bubbles

I'm dying to travel again. I have a San Fransisco trip planned with a few of my favorite people in a few weeks but I want MORE! I need to start saving for and planning for future trips.

These giant bubbles in Paris made me and pretty much everyone around very happy. As I was crossing a busy street near Concorde I saw a giant bubble making its way slowly through the pedestrians, who all stopped to marvel at its wobbly shifting shape until it finally burst. It was such a fun and unexpected thing. Everyone was hanging out and taking photos and having a good time on this rainy day.

July hodgepodge

Just a hodgepodge of things around me these days.

Sculpture Park

I walked around the Olympic Sculpture Park with some friends last weekend. It's this really cool space near the waterfront that was converted to a park with art mixed into the landscape. The washing machine is part of a temporary exhibit, which also included a dryer and record player made out of wood out in a field of wild flowers. I really liked this one since it reminded me of the abandoned appliances people dump out in the middle of nowhere and they look so strange and lost outside. Some of the wildflowers were spray painted black for another temporary exhibit. I didn't like this one so much, but I guess it is interesting to think about what we consider beautiful and humans interacting with nature and things like that. I like that so many things can be considered art depending on the context and that someone can recreate a scene we see in our everyday lives and make us see it differently.

Berries, you make me happy

This year I am trying to take full advantage of summer food with lots of trips to the farmers market to stock up on fresh fruits and veggies, especially berries. I've been eating my way through pint after pint of strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries and finding new ways to enjoy them.

This weekend a few friends came over to my place and we made lemonade cocktails with raspberries and strawberries that were summer heaven. And I cooked an apricot raspberry cobbler as my first recipe from Rustic Fruit Desserts. I was lucky enough to win this book as a giveaway on Rachel's awesome blog and I intend to make every recipe in the book at some point.

The Fourth

I scored the jackpot of 4th of July activities this year and spent the evening on a sail boat out on Lake Union. It was pretty much the coolest thing ever. The weather was a little misty and dreary but the lake was packed with boats and people partying and blasting music and everyone is your best friend because we were all out there on the water having the time of our lives together. We barbecued and passed condiments between nearby boats and practiced tying knots and told stories...





...and then there was the fireworks show. Wow. It was absolutely incredible. I saw the show at Gasworks Park a few years ago and it made my jaw drop then, but seeing it on the water was something else entirely. It was an awesome holiday.

Unexpected in June

I did not do a May edition of Unexpected Things since I spent half of the month in Europe and really, who knows what to expect in foreign countries, but in June I was surprised to come across these things:


Surprise gifts from a stranger on the bus. He pulled out several of these newspaper cranes and gave them to nearby passengers.


A porcelain doll on the sidewalk.

Fun window art.


The OO! bus.


Windows to nowhere/everywhere.