(Pics posted of the entire year below)
January: In January, I was still on my mandatory "100 day break" from work, so headed up to Van, BC for a wonderful weekend with my close friend Lola. Some of you may remember that Lola and I were tennis doubles partners my senior year of h.s., when she was a freshman. For me, Lola will always be my tennis partner :-) Lola moved back to North America from Taiwan in the summer of 2008, and I'm soooo very happy to have her so close to me. If it weren't for that darn border, she would be less than 2 hours away! :-)
January is a big month of birthday's for me - so many family members and close friends. I headed out for several "girl's nights" to celebrate.
February: Around the 3rd week in Feb, I headed back to work with my team at Microsoft. I switched to the "v-dash" status, which is "vendor", so no more 100 breaks for me for the foreseeable future. I was very grateful to be back in a productive mode. I loved my break, but very happy to get back to the grind, back to the projects I had left and managing my team's budget. Definitely gives one a sense of purpose to be working.
March/April: Spring time saw me head back to CA as usual. Love my CA girls, and of course love the weather down there. I didn't plan all that well, as my trip was around when my good friend Christina had her wedding anniversariy and only spent about a day with her. Renata and I wine tasted in Amador County area, which is south and a little east of Sacramento. The area is known for Zinfadel, and other varietals not grown in WA, so I really enjoyed it. Of course it was sunny the whole weekend which was so wonderful.
Rob turned 40 in March with very little fan fare. Not sure he was too happy! HA
My mother, Julee, turned 50 in April and we had a little shindig for her at my aunt Claudia's house. Very fun to have all my family in one place. My parents were able to make it up from Corvallis for the festivities!
Our family had the wonderful news in the spring that my SIL, Evie (wife of my bro Colin), was pregnant with their first child. My first nephew! He was due the other day, on Jan 6th, so we are all waiting around for some news of William's arrival. I'm BEYOND excited and happy to be an aunt!
May/June/July: Late spring/early summer saw me at many happy hours with close friends. Obviously they were pretty happy, as I don't remember too many! HA The big trip in June was down to Portland w/ Naarah. I was originally meeting up with Renata and Engman to return a piece of luggage that got my 10 bottles of Amador County wine home safely (they were in PDX for a visit), and invited Naarah to come with to meet some of my old friends, and my brother/SIL Suzanne. It was a REALLY fun trip. It started out with Naarah not realizing that the speed limit in WA is 70mph. So we cruised down I-5 at a safe 60mph rocking out to the Best of George Michael the whole way. I should have said something, but didn't want to be a back seat driver...in the front seat. Our hotel was kick ass modern. We got drinks on a killer new rooftop bar on top of the old Meier and Frank bldg, enjoyed a show at Darcelle's, danced to 80's music, and had some Bud Light in a can at Cheerful Tortiste. And that was just Friday night! HA Thanks again Portland for such a fun weekend!
My friend Amy hosted an 80's Prom Night at her house in late June (or early July?). WAY too funny! I scored a sweet red dress with watermarked taffeta and lots of ruffles for only $5 at Value Village. We drank wine coolers, play "Win, Lose or Draw" and listened to lots of 80's tunes! Very RAD indeed!!
July also saw me up in Van BC for a good cause - the Underwear Affair to raise awareness for cancers of the lower extremities. Lola works for the BC Cancer Foundation, so I raised approx $400 for this event. My good friend, and condo bldg neighbor, Chelsea, and I headed up for this 5K event. It was awesome weather, and the route went along False Creek, which is very pretty.
The Seattle area had a super heat wave in July for about 8-10 days or so. Whew! It was hot! On one particular Saturday, Rob, Janni and I headed out to Westport, WA over on the coast to escape the heat. Sadly, this was my only trip to the WA coast in 2009. Normally, I make it to the Long Beach area at least once or twice to see my BF Jenny, who lives in Ilwaco. But not in 2009. Westport is great, because it's very chill and not too many crowds.
August/September: August brought me back to Portland for a sorority get together. Lindsey and I went together to see some old friends. We hit up the Pearl District for some drinks and general pepople watching, which we love. Great weather again, but very very hot. The highlight of that trip was the boat ride her dad took us on around Lake Oswego. Lake Oswego is a private lake, and I had never been on it. And as a lover of history and architecture, I really enjoyed her dad's stories as we cruised around. Thanks again Don and Lindsey! Love the Burdicks!
In August, Chelsea and I got a pic and quickly met David Bromstad from HGTV's "Color Splash". He was in town for an appearance, so we went to EcoHaus in SODO to hear his talk and watch him paint....and also just watch him! HA He's hot!!
September, Lindsey and I headed to Carlton, OR for my Seattle girl's annual wine trip. Vonna rented us a house that was soooo cute and perfect (there was 7 of us). It was a 3 day weekend. Even my parents were able to make it up for lunch with us at Dundee Bistro, to finally meet the ladies I talk about all the time. The weather was perfect, and the views amazing from each winery we went to. We were able to squeeze in 6, I think. A wonderful Saturday night dinner at Cuvee in Carlton topped it off. Who knows where 2010 will bring us for wine tasting. Perhaps the Yakima area. Many of us have been to Napa, but as a group, we will need to plan this one in the next year or two. Or maybe Sonoma!
Big news in late September would be that of my brother, Joe's, engagement to his lovely Suzanne. They travelled with her parents on a planned trip to Paris, and he proposed in the gardens at the Versailles Palace. Of course my mom, her mom, and her sister's have all known about this plan and the ring of MONTHS, and we were relived to not have to hold onto that secret any longer! HA I couldn't be more happy for my brother, and welcome Suzanne with open arms as my new sister! She is a twin and has an older sister, so lots of new family. Their wedding should be sometime around May/June 2011.
October/November: Of course the fall brings back the grey skies and rain to Seattle. Nothing new this year either. But that doesn't stop my group! More happy hours, get togethers at new places, etc... Aydan had a super fun end-of-summer party on Oct 5th with margaritas, good friends and excellent Turkish food. I was all over the west coast in November. First was Corvallis for the OSU-UW Game. I usually go to one OSU game with my dad per season, so this was it. We kicked ass, and it was very fun. No rain and some sun! Had a great night out with my old friend Chama in Corvallis. Was home for about 3 days, then off to Sacramento again to stay with Christina for 3+ days. Thank you Southwest for some cheap flights! Great CA weekend - got some errands done, saw Christina's boys for a bit (love them!), and got some much needed girl time in. Hit up Placer County for some wine tasting - really neat, very old area of CA. Girl's night out for some dinner and drinks was perfect!
The plan had been to be in Vancouver at my mother's for Thanksgiving, but caught a cold (blame it on the plane of course), so stayed home in bed and on the couch for two days. Lame!!
December/Christmas/New Year's: Thank you Aydan for your holiday party this December! So very fun!! I hosted a girl's night with Roberta, Lisa, Bridget, et al at my place in early December.
I ended up doing Christmas Eve in Seattle, then headed to Portland on Christmas Day. Brunch was with my parents and Joe at The Heathman, where Suzanne works the brunch. It was the best way to squeeze in all of us getting to see each other and exchange gifts. Then it was off to my aunt/uncle's in Salem for a while, then a stop at Suzanne's parents place for their gift exchange. Very nice to meet her parents and step-siblings.
Thank you to my parents for my wonderful iPhone 3Gs! Love love this gift!!
The week between Christmas and New Year's brought me a nice little head cold, but it's wasn't too bad. Only spent one day on the couch/in bed and power throughed the rest.
That about wraps up a quick highlight of 2009 for ML! I wish all my family and friends a wonderful and properous 2010!!
January: In January, I was still on my mandatory "100 day break" from work, so headed up to Van, BC for a wonderful weekend with my close friend Lola. Some of you may remember that Lola and I were tennis doubles partners my senior year of h.s., when she was a freshman. For me, Lola will always be my tennis partner :-) Lola moved back to North America from Taiwan in the summer of 2008, and I'm soooo very happy to have her so close to me. If it weren't for that darn border, she would be less than 2 hours away! :-)
January is a big month of birthday's for me - so many family members and close friends. I headed out for several "girl's nights" to celebrate.
February: Around the 3rd week in Feb, I headed back to work with my team at Microsoft. I switched to the "v-dash" status, which is "vendor", so no more 100 breaks for me for the foreseeable future. I was very grateful to be back in a productive mode. I loved my break, but very happy to get back to the grind, back to the projects I had left and managing my team's budget. Definitely gives one a sense of purpose to be working.
March/April: Spring time saw me head back to CA as usual. Love my CA girls, and of course love the weather down there. I didn't plan all that well, as my trip was around when my good friend Christina had her wedding anniversariy and only spent about a day with her. Renata and I wine tasted in Amador County area, which is south and a little east of Sacramento. The area is known for Zinfadel, and other varietals not grown in WA, so I really enjoyed it. Of course it was sunny the whole weekend which was so wonderful.
Rob turned 40 in March with very little fan fare. Not sure he was too happy! HA
My mother, Julee, turned 50 in April and we had a little shindig for her at my aunt Claudia's house. Very fun to have all my family in one place. My parents were able to make it up from Corvallis for the festivities!
Our family had the wonderful news in the spring that my SIL, Evie (wife of my bro Colin), was pregnant with their first child. My first nephew! He was due the other day, on Jan 6th, so we are all waiting around for some news of William's arrival. I'm BEYOND excited and happy to be an aunt!
May/June/July: Late spring/early summer saw me at many happy hours with close friends. Obviously they were pretty happy, as I don't remember too many! HA The big trip in June was down to Portland w/ Naarah. I was originally meeting up with Renata and Engman to return a piece of luggage that got my 10 bottles of Amador County wine home safely (they were in PDX for a visit), and invited Naarah to come with to meet some of my old friends, and my brother/SIL Suzanne. It was a REALLY fun trip. It started out with Naarah not realizing that the speed limit in WA is 70mph. So we cruised down I-5 at a safe 60mph rocking out to the Best of George Michael the whole way. I should have said something, but didn't want to be a back seat driver...in the front seat. Our hotel was kick ass modern. We got drinks on a killer new rooftop bar on top of the old Meier and Frank bldg, enjoyed a show at Darcelle's, danced to 80's music, and had some Bud Light in a can at Cheerful Tortiste. And that was just Friday night! HA Thanks again Portland for such a fun weekend!
My friend Amy hosted an 80's Prom Night at her house in late June (or early July?). WAY too funny! I scored a sweet red dress with watermarked taffeta and lots of ruffles for only $5 at Value Village. We drank wine coolers, play "Win, Lose or Draw" and listened to lots of 80's tunes! Very RAD indeed!!
July also saw me up in Van BC for a good cause - the Underwear Affair to raise awareness for cancers of the lower extremities. Lola works for the BC Cancer Foundation, so I raised approx $400 for this event. My good friend, and condo bldg neighbor, Chelsea, and I headed up for this 5K event. It was awesome weather, and the route went along False Creek, which is very pretty.
The Seattle area had a super heat wave in July for about 8-10 days or so. Whew! It was hot! On one particular Saturday, Rob, Janni and I headed out to Westport, WA over on the coast to escape the heat. Sadly, this was my only trip to the WA coast in 2009. Normally, I make it to the Long Beach area at least once or twice to see my BF Jenny, who lives in Ilwaco. But not in 2009. Westport is great, because it's very chill and not too many crowds.
August/September: August brought me back to Portland for a sorority get together. Lindsey and I went together to see some old friends. We hit up the Pearl District for some drinks and general pepople watching, which we love. Great weather again, but very very hot. The highlight of that trip was the boat ride her dad took us on around Lake Oswego. Lake Oswego is a private lake, and I had never been on it. And as a lover of history and architecture, I really enjoyed her dad's stories as we cruised around. Thanks again Don and Lindsey! Love the Burdicks!
In August, Chelsea and I got a pic and quickly met David Bromstad from HGTV's "Color Splash". He was in town for an appearance, so we went to EcoHaus in SODO to hear his talk and watch him paint....and also just watch him! HA He's hot!!
September, Lindsey and I headed to Carlton, OR for my Seattle girl's annual wine trip. Vonna rented us a house that was soooo cute and perfect (there was 7 of us). It was a 3 day weekend. Even my parents were able to make it up for lunch with us at Dundee Bistro, to finally meet the ladies I talk about all the time. The weather was perfect, and the views amazing from each winery we went to. We were able to squeeze in 6, I think. A wonderful Saturday night dinner at Cuvee in Carlton topped it off. Who knows where 2010 will bring us for wine tasting. Perhaps the Yakima area. Many of us have been to Napa, but as a group, we will need to plan this one in the next year or two. Or maybe Sonoma!
Big news in late September would be that of my brother, Joe's, engagement to his lovely Suzanne. They travelled with her parents on a planned trip to Paris, and he proposed in the gardens at the Versailles Palace. Of course my mom, her mom, and her sister's have all known about this plan and the ring of MONTHS, and we were relived to not have to hold onto that secret any longer! HA I couldn't be more happy for my brother, and welcome Suzanne with open arms as my new sister! She is a twin and has an older sister, so lots of new family. Their wedding should be sometime around May/June 2011.
October/November: Of course the fall brings back the grey skies and rain to Seattle. Nothing new this year either. But that doesn't stop my group! More happy hours, get togethers at new places, etc... Aydan had a super fun end-of-summer party on Oct 5th with margaritas, good friends and excellent Turkish food. I was all over the west coast in November. First was Corvallis for the OSU-UW Game. I usually go to one OSU game with my dad per season, so this was it. We kicked ass, and it was very fun. No rain and some sun! Had a great night out with my old friend Chama in Corvallis. Was home for about 3 days, then off to Sacramento again to stay with Christina for 3+ days. Thank you Southwest for some cheap flights! Great CA weekend - got some errands done, saw Christina's boys for a bit (love them!), and got some much needed girl time in. Hit up Placer County for some wine tasting - really neat, very old area of CA. Girl's night out for some dinner and drinks was perfect!
The plan had been to be in Vancouver at my mother's for Thanksgiving, but caught a cold (blame it on the plane of course), so stayed home in bed and on the couch for two days. Lame!!
December/Christmas/New Year's: Thank you Aydan for your holiday party this December! So very fun!! I hosted a girl's night with Roberta, Lisa, Bridget, et al at my place in early December.
I ended up doing Christmas Eve in Seattle, then headed to Portland on Christmas Day. Brunch was with my parents and Joe at The Heathman, where Suzanne works the brunch. It was the best way to squeeze in all of us getting to see each other and exchange gifts. Then it was off to my aunt/uncle's in Salem for a while, then a stop at Suzanne's parents place for their gift exchange. Very nice to meet her parents and step-siblings.
Thank you to my parents for my wonderful iPhone 3Gs! Love love this gift!!
The week between Christmas and New Year's brought me a nice little head cold, but it's wasn't too bad. Only spent one day on the couch/in bed and power throughed the rest.
That about wraps up a quick highlight of 2009 for ML! I wish all my family and friends a wonderful and properous 2010!!
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