last night was

actually... I only played like four hands and then I went to bed. 

a proper picnic

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61 days

because they are his favorite...

I needed to make these for Matt today for a "thanks for being married to me for two months" surprise.  (except it wasn't a surprise, because I accidentally told him I was going to do this)

happy two months, Ruffus.  I am the luckiest. 

UP

Matt and I have really enjoyed renovating our house, talking about what our other future houses will be like, watching HGTV, designing in our minds, critiquing other houses we see/visit… we’re those people I guess.  Sometime this summer, we bought Parade of Homes ticket vouchers, and planned to see as many houses as we could/wanted to once it started.  Then somehow every night and weekend was gone, and before we knew it, there was only one more day of the parade.  We had a couple hours one afternoon, and I knew what my top priority was…

yeah.  someone built this.

I loved UP. (I know – everyone loved UP).  I did too.  Any movie which is about adventures, and makes me cry in the first four minutes is good. 

 the UP house was complete with an old man and small mailman (except he wasn’t so small).  We weren’t expecting characters, and we certainly weren’t expecting to be forced to pose with them.  But we were. 

my favorite part was when we saw the house from a distance… and matt said “Oh come on.  There aren’t nearly enough balloons there to fly”. 

honeymoon, part 6 (emerald city) - long final honeymoon post

I love the Northwest and hope to live there someday.  I love the weather, I love that it has beaches, and mountains, and forests, and big cities, and small cities, and clean(er?) air, and the fact that it’s never too hot or too cold ....

I just like the vibe up there. 

Last November I converted to vegetarianism (for reasons which are not important for this post), and decided I would commit to it until the wedding, and then decide if I would continue.  After the wedding, I decided (for reasons which are not important for this post) that I would not eat land animal meat, but would resume eating seafood.  What better place to resume than Seattle?

We may not have been impressed with the food in Canada, but the food in Seattle was awesome (as always)… and we ate.   a lot. 

Matt's favorite thing is pretzels.  Especially soft pretzels.  We were trying to discover another delicious place for dinner/snack on the fourth of July, when I got a text from Cori which said she was reading an article about the best soft pretzels in the country, and thought of Matt.  One of the places was in Seattle, so she thought we should go there... we thought she was right.  We basically left that instant.  The Brave Horse Tavern was definitely worth the walk.  Shuffleboard, pretzels, and samplers of things to dip them in ... like smoked peanut butter and bacon. 

After we got engaged, Matt and I decided we would get our ring fingers tattooed on our honeymoon.  We liked the idea of having the other person’s name on us permanently.  Unfortunately, my finger is too small to fit “matt” (legibly), so mine says “m m”.  I like that it can mean “Matt McDowell”, “Megan McDowell”, or “Matt & Megan”…

I spent quite a bit of time trying to find the perfect place for us to stay in Seattle.  I wanted to be right by the market, because I knew we would be walking.  I wanted it to be unique and Seattle-y.  I wanted it to be sort of romantic.  I found Pensione Nichols which was all those things.  The reviews were good, and we decided to go big and book the suite, so that we would have the great view of Elliot Bay (and our own bathroom).  We loved our great big room, our views, our location, and our lovely little breakfasts with the resident dogs .  We’ll be back. 

Our house was built in 1923, so Matt and I have a fondness for that year, and that number… and I thought it was really neat that the address for the B&B was 1923.

other seattle highlights:
aquarium

underground tour

the market

honeymoon was a great adventure... and then we went home.

baby brother

happy for him.  sad for me. 

will miss. 

knock em' dead, Roo.


wedding photos courtesy of Heather Nan Photography

honeymoon part 5 (leaving Canada)

Highlights of our last couple days in Canada included putt-putt golfing, and dining at the Landing Grill.  We were told by the woman at the Visitor Centre that it was the best restaurant on the island, and it happened to be at our resort.  Maybe she meant it was the most expensive food on the island, because it wasn’t good.  However, it was still a highlight because it had a HUMONGOUS aquarium that we were seated right under.  That part was neat. 

We went to Seattle on the Amtrak “Cascades” train by way of Vancouver (city), which meant we needed to travel by ferry to the mainland again and return our rental.  The second ferry trip was way more exciting.  It was morning and we weren’t exhausted, so we were excited to explore.  It was a beautiful day with great views, and it was a much bigger, fancier ferry.  This ferry had cafeterias, playrooms, gift shops, TV/lounge areas, etc.  Matt was super excited to go to the top deck.  It was super windy. 

The train ride to Seattle was sort of glamorous.  Glamorous in a “I wouldn’t choose this as my preferred way to travel, but it’s fun to pretend like I’m on my way to Hogwarts” way.  The sun set as we crossed the border, and we couldn’t wait to get to Seattle.