Morans Take on Little Si

After hearing about recent hikes that some of our friends have been on and with a decent forecast expected for today, we decided it was our turn to head out and take our first hike together. (Don't worry - we left the pup at home since we figured we'd probably have to carry her most of the way.)

We headed to North Bend for the Little Si hike - a 4-mile 'easy to moderate' hike. With great weather and a perfect length trail, we encountered tons of other hikers with the same idea. In fact, there were so many people at the top that we couldn't eat lunch there! But there was a spot with a great view very close to the top that we were able to eat.

We wrapped up our hike with a pit stop at Scott's Dairy Freeze in North Bend for some delish ice cream. Highly recommend stopping here if you do the Little Si hike. We had a great time and hope to do another hike soon!

Here are a few photos from today. The rest can be found on Corey's Flickr site. And, in case you're interested, here's the read-out from Corey's Garmin watch.

Getting ready to start our hike.


Lunch time!

In case we got lost, Corey had his overnight spot picked out.

Murder Mystery Party

In celebration of Chris' 32nd birthday, a bunch of us headed over to the Gossetts' for a Murder Mystery party. Instructions received before the party (a Sin City theme) included details on what our parts where, what props (if any) we should bring, etc. Natalie is quite the party planner - there was a lot of organization, thought, time and energy that went into making this a hit but we all had a blast. She even decorated the house with the Sin City theme.

My character was Mimi Martini, a cocktail waitress in the casino that serves as the setting for the murder. Corey was supposed to be Paul Piano, a lounge singer, but he and Lisa (Lucy Legs, a show girl) decided they wanted to perform 'Crazy in Love' by Jay-Z and Beyonce so he became Paul Pimp.

Here are some photo highlights from the night. The rest are on my Flickr page.

Mimi Martini and Paul Pimp (who was supposed to hate me since I dumped his best friend).

Hustlin' Hailey (who I was supposed to hate since she married my boyfriend) and Jamie Journalist in deep discussion.

Nate (who was casino owner Ronald Trump) performing the 'Thriller' dance as a tribute to Michael Jackson. (Fun fact: Nate actually performed this dance at his and Ashlie's wedding.)

Lucy Legs and Security Sam.

Birthday boy as Elvis.


Paul Pimp and Cole Conway, the sports bookie.


I think Security Sam had the best costume. Don't you?

Lucy Legs and Paul Pimp performing 'Crazy in Love'.

Lucy Legs did actual dance moves from the video.

Go Paul! Go Lucy! Party like it's your birthday!

Corey practiced his part all week - it paid off though.

Here's a screenshot of the real music video - Corey did a pretty good job with his costume, huh?

(Note: I'll update this with a group shot once I have one from the hostess!)

Take Your Dog to Work Day

Today is the official Take Your Dog to Work Day of 2009. While Corey takes Roxy into HMG occasionally (twice already this week, in fact), he took her in again today since we aren't allowed to take pups into my work.

Looks like they're having fun!

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to all the guys in my life, including my dad, Curtis and Corey. You three are the best and I don't know what I'd do without you!

My parents are out of town so we celebrated with my dad last weekend when we were in Yakima. Since I couldn't get any photos of him today, I revisted a few of my favorites of him from over the last year.

My dad handing me over to Corey at our wedding.

My dad rolling around my parents' front yard with the dogs.

Curtis was in town this week, so we had him and Joan over for Father's Day brunch. It was fun to catch up and Corey made us a delish breakfast.

Roxy cuddling with Curtis. I think it was her way of saying 'Happy Father's Day' to her grandpa.

And to celebrate Corey's first year as a puppy daddy, I left him a card from Roxy and dressed her in a "Daddy's girl" t-shirt for him to see when he got home after Nick's bachelor party last night.

I hope you three enjoyed your day!

Gina's Final Fling

With Nick and Gina's wedding less than three weeks away, this weekend was full of bachelor and bachelorette festivities.

While the guys headed to the Washington Brewer's Festival, dinner and an M's game, the girls opted for a day of fun and pampering.

We kicked it off at our condo with brunch and present opening. Fun times were had by all, including Roxy, who made friends with all the party-goers and was thrilled to play with the wrapping paper and bows from the opened presents.

In the afternoon, we headed to Duque (a spa / salon in Ballard) for manicures, pedicures and facials. Duquee is perfect for parties - they have a relaxation room and a loft area where you get your nails were done. While two people have their nails done, the other girls can hang out in the loft, which overlooks the rest of the salon, with them to chat and if you want, you can bring food and drinks to enjoy during this time as well.

After the spa, we headed to Sara's for some appetizers and dinner before heading out for a night on the town. After getting our bachelorette decked out in the proper attire, we all headed out to Havana on Capitol Hill for cocktails and dancing. I'd never been to Havana, but if you're looking for a popular dancing spot, look no further. We had a blast but I'm not going to lie, I think Gina enjoyed chatting with our cab driver on the way home, even more than she enjoyed dancing it up.

The day-long party was the perfect way to spend one of Gina's last single weekends before the upcoming Smith-Gorden nuptials.

Below are some photos of yesterday's festivities. All photos can be found on my Flickr site.

Roxy waiting for the guests to arrive for brunch.

Gina and Jen (her brother's girlfriend).

Melissa and Kels getting their pedi's in Duque's nail loft.

The bachelorette crew: Shelley (Nick's sister-in-law), Melissa, Richelle (Gina's nursing school girlfriend), The Bachelorette, Jen, Sara, Kels, Kendra (Gina's college friend), EB (our friend Ian's fiancee).

Gina and I just before our night out on the town.

All dressed up and ready to party!

Who knew taking the trash out could be so glamorous?!

Just behind Gina, you'll notice another bride celebrating her bachelorette party. She was a giant! She had to be at least 6'5"...in flats!

Sara, enjoying a cocktail.

Just DANCE!

Gina with a groom-to-be who was having his bachelor party at Havana.

Sara and one of our dance buddies took a quick dance break to pose for a pic.

I think Melissa had a good time...

Lights came on for last call at this point. Not sure where the bachelorette was during this shot but I do know that several times on our way home, she was very perplexed as to why they turn the lights on during last call.

Oh! Here she is - final dance of the night!

Love this pic of Gina.

Kels' Mary Poppins bag (which was surprisingly small considering it held her extra shoes, Melissa's sweater and Gina's clutch all night).

Cab ride home was the highlight of Gina's night apparently. She kept talking about it while getting ready for bed.

I think this is a sign of the ending of a great bachelorette party.

Lots to Celebrate in Yakima

While we were in Yakima this weekend, we were able to celebrate Father's Day and my Grandma's birthday. My parents and Grandma will be in Savannah, GA next week so we won't be able to celebrate with them the day of so this weekend was the perfect time to celebrate.

My mom planned both celebrations as a surprise so both my dad and Grandma were super surprised when gifts and cards were pulled out after dinner after dinner.

We all had a blast hanging out with them this weekend while enjoying the 85+ degree weather!

Corey, Roxy and I with the birthday girl!

My dad and I.


My mom and I.


Roxy was still tired for her swimming adventure.

Saturday Swim

For Roxy's birthday, my parents got her a life jacket so that she could swim in their pool when we visit them in Yakima. French Bulldogs don't like heat much and with their large heads, they supposedly can't swim. A life jacket seemed like the perfect way to allow her to hop in the pool to keep cool when we head over the mountains to visit my parents. (Side note for those who may not know - ever since I saw a wiener dog in a life jacket with a handle several years ago (like in the first photo below), I have wanted to have a dog who could wear a life jacket. Weird, I know. But tell me it's not one of the cutest things you've ever seen.)

We learned a few things during her first swim yesterday: 1) she is SUPER quick and 2) I don't think she likes the water much. We were hoping that she'd like the pool, which would in turn help her enjoy her baths more, but she kept swimming back to the ladder to get out. Guess we'll have to keep working on that.

Getting ready to head out for a swim.


Her legs were going through swimming motions before I even put her in the water.


Cruising back to me after swimming to my dad.


Not loving the pool so much. Here she is during a break.


Love the handle. It makes it easy to lift her into and out of the water.


Relaxing after her laps.


Time for a much deserved nap while she dried off.

Check out how fast she is! And note how she keeps swimming even when we lift her out of the water. Too funny.