Inked!

Corey's been wanting to get another tattoo for quite awhile and today was the big day!

The design? A tree, which is a symbol for he and I, whose roots form the Seattle skyline. Next to the tree is a French Bulldog looking up it. When we have kids, he'll add a bird to the tree to represent each child. Corey had the vision for this tattoo for awhile and his co-worker Niels helped bring it to life.

The tattoo design.

Pre-tattoo...

Corey says it feels like repeated bee stings. Looks and sounds painful if you ask me.

Took about 2 hours to finish the entire tattoo.

Post-tattoo, with bandage, outside Slave to the Needle.


Final product, after the bandages came off.

Josh at Slave to the Needle did a great job re-creating Corey's vision on his upper left arm. It looks great!

3 Years!

Tomorrow marks 3 years that Corey and I have been together. That's just crazy! I can't believe it's been that long - I still remember our first date like it was just months ago rather than years ago.

While we now have a wedding anniversary to celebrate on July 26 each year, we felt it was important to head back to Via Tribunali for our dating anniversary this year to keep up with our tradition. Instead of going to the original Via on Capitol Hill, though, we tried out the new Via in Fremont. It was really nice and there was no wait like we would have expected at the original location.

Great company, good memories and yummy food - the perfect end to a sunny day.

Via celebrating our 3rd anniversary (5/30/09).


Via on our 2nd anniversary (5/31/08). Note: Corey is wearing the same outfit that he wore on our first date.

Via on our 1st anniversary (5/31/07), just minutes before we got engaged.

Marathon Countdown Begins

As you may know, my dad and I usually run Yakima's Sun City Half Marathon each year. This year, we'll be at Spence and Renata's wedding in Connecticut so we started talking about other races we could run.

While I was planning to just do another half, periodically over the past year or so, my dad has dropped hints that it would be fun to do a marathon together. To me, this sounds more awful than fun (for those of you that know my dad, you know why he thinks running 26.2 miles is fun) but after thinking about it some more, I realized it would be pretty cool to accomplish this together. An item to cross off my life list, if you will.

As we started looking at upcoming marathons, his only request was to not run the Portland one since that is the one he's run before and he wanted a chance of scenery. We decided on the Bellingham Bay Marathon which is on September 27. Assuming we keep up with our training and that my dad's knees don't give him any more pain (which he's had sometimes during his runs), you know where to find us on September 27.

Today I completed my first of 18 weeks of training. I am using Hal Higdon's Novice Marathon Training Guide - I love the way he lays out his training program. This week was nice and easy and I loved being able to take advantage of running when it's been so nice out. However, I know I'll probably hate Hal and his training guide during weeks 7 through 16, though.

I won't bore you with constant updates on our training but I'll update you periodically.

My dad and I crossing the finish line at last year's Sun City Half. Looking forward to having a similar photo of us as we finish the Bellingham race, though he might be carrying me across the finish line in that one.

Weekend of BBQs

It's been a beautiful weekend in Seattle and it's got everyone in the BBQ'ing mood. It's been a weekend of good friends, good weather and good food.

We spent the evening last night at the Reeders, enjoying their awesome backyard. We were able to catch up with the Reeders, Gossetts and Bishops over dinner and the game Loaded Questions. We had fun and my stomach still hurts from laughing at some of the answers that were shared during the game.

The girls at the Reeders.


For some reason we thought it'd be funny to get a picture of us posing like we were at a dance in 8th grade.


Lisa showing off the results of her green thumb.


Bartender Jason kept the mojitos coming.


Yes, Corey is wearing a Seahawks jersey and yes he's playing football. And yes, he's sore today. Men.


Our host and hostess showing off their dancing skills.

Tonight, we headed over to Sara's for a fun-filled evening on her deck that overlooks Lake Union. We were able to catch some sun and chow down on some good food. We were able to see Nick and Gina, as well as Julie and Carlo, Sara's friends who are getting married in just a few weeks!

Gina, me, Sara, and Julie.

Now all we need is someone to have us over tomorrow for a BBQ and we can call it a weekend. Any takers? :)

Bachelorette Date Night

On Monday, to celebrate the Bachelorette season premiere, Corey and I headed to dinner at La Isla with Brooke and her boyfriend, Brian. We hadn't yet had the opportunity to meet Brian so it was exciting to finally meet him after hearing so many great things about him. He's a great guy and he and Brooke are so happy!

After dinner, we headed back to our place to watch the Bachelorette (yes, even the guys watched with us!) and chow down on dessert.

It was a such a fun night - thanks for coming over and bringing the yummy brownies, guys!

Brooke and Brian at La Isla.


Me and the hubby post dinner.

Fun in the Sun

Today was the start of a nice, sunny weekend and we took advantage of the warmer temps after work. We both took Roxy for a walk (it's always nice when we go for a family walk - I can talk to Corey, rather than just to Roxy!) and to our surprise, we heard the music of an ice cream truck right outside the park we always take her to during her walks. Of course, we had to have some ice cream and pretend we were little kids again.

Gotta love the ice cream truck!

Roxy was taking me for a walk last night.

After our walk, we decided to continue our time in the sun by hanging out on the rooftop our building while having some drinks and catching up on our latest magazine subscriptions. The rooftop is set up with a grill, tables and chairs, and plants / flowers, so it's a nice place to relax.

View from the rooftop looking south (towards Queen Anne / downtown).

Corey enjoying his beer and his Laptop magazine.

Can't wait for the rest of the awesome weekend the weathermen are telling us we can expect!

Newest Addition to HMG

Roxy become the newest addition to Hunt Marketing Group (HMG) today when she joined Corey at work. She's gone to work with him a few times but usually only when we're heading out of town right after work, etc. Today though, I was getting her pen ready with toys and treats when he mentioned that he wanted to take her into work with him. And boy did she have a blast.

She's been sleeping almost the entire time they've been home from the office. Or maybe she just likes the new bed we got her for her crate (you may remember that she pulled all the stuffing out of her other bed awhile back).

Here are some photos of her day at the office.

Playing with the new toy Corey snuck out to get her at lunch.


Gazing at Corey while he worked.


Taking advantage of the new bed to relax after her stressful day at the office.

Happy Mother's Day!

In celebration of the fabulous women in our lives, my family and Corey's mom came over for a home-cooked (mostly by Corey) breakfast and presents for Mother's Day. Breakfast consisted of mimosas, huevos rancheros, jalapeno cheddar corn bread, and strawberries.

It was fun to be able to put together breakfast and serve it to our mom's / grandma so they could relax and enjoy chatting with everyone else. It was our way of saying thanks for all the wonderful things they done for each of us over the years (though it'll doesn't nearly make up for everything they've done / given up!). We enjoyed being able to spend the day celebrating and honoring them.

Thanks ladies for being such wonderful moms / grandmas. We are so lucky to have you in our lives. We love you all!

I love being a puppy momma. I don't (usually) mind waking up before 7 a.m. on a Sunday to see this cute face. It's just a good thing she's cute.


The lovely women in our lives. (Flowers courtesy of Joan - thanks again!)


Roxy greeted Joan (and thanked her for being such a great puppy grandma) with lots of kisses.


My mom and my brother.


My mom and I.


The men, doing what they do on a Sunday (talk sports, read about sports and watch sports).

After everyone left, Corey and I took Roxy to the dog park near Golden Gardens. We'd heard about it but hadn't yet been - boy have we been missing out! It's not too big that we had a hard time keeping track of Roxy but it's big enough that she (and about 20 other big dogs) had room to run, play, fetch and do whatever it is dogs do for fun. Apparently she had fun - she's been camped out on my lap the rest of the afternoon, recovering from her big adventure.

Apparently we need to get one of these. Roxy loved attempting to outrun the other dogs when this guy threw the ball across the park. (For the record, she was never the first to reach the ball. This didn't keep her from trying, though.)


Roxy loved running and playing with the other dogs, even when they were 10x her size.


Whew! It hard running around with the big dogs!


Couldn't even make it to the couch (where she always relaxes) after the dog park. Or maybe she was hot and the cool wood floor felt good on her tummy?

Family Fun Day

My mom, dad and grandma headed over to Seattle this weekend to celebrate my mom's birthday and Mother's Day. My brother drove in from Bellingham so we had the full family on hand tonight to start the weekend celebrations.

Tonight, we headed out to Maggie Bluff's in Magnolia for a yummy dinner. Maggie's is right on the water and has a great view of downtown, West Seattle and tons of beautiful boats. We enjoyed dinner there and then came back to our condo for dessert (Peanut Butter Cup Cheesecake Bars, which everyone deemed delicious) and presents for my mom's birthday.

Tomorrow, we look forward to everyone returning to our place, along with Corey's mom, for Mother's Day brunch.

Birthday girl and my dad at Maggie Bluffs.


Corey, grandma and Scott waiting for their food.

Corey and I at dinner.

Family pic (minus Corey who was the photographer for this photo) outside Maggie Bluffs. Love the view, especially on nice evenings like tonight.

The mom's - we'll be honoring them with brunch tomorrow!

I think Corey liked his dessert.

Sunday Evening with the Shawvers

Tonight, Kevin and Jen came over with their pup Obi for dinner. Obi is a beagle that they rescued recently - he's about 2 years old and is blind. He does really well getting around though - he takes his time walking around and figuring out where furniture is so that he doesn't run into it later.

He and Roxy did pretty well for the most part; however, Roxy kept trying to get him to play but he was more interested in exploring the house. We put some bells on Roxy (from her reindeer holiday costume) so Obi would know when she was near him. It was very cute to see the two pups together.

Corey made all a delightful dinner - 7 Flavor Beef (like the Wild Ginger entree), green beans, rice and vegetable shu mai. This was followed up with chocolate lava cakes and vanilla ice cream.

We had fun catching up with Kevin and Jen - it had been awhile since we'd seem them. Looking forward to getting together again soon and hopefully Roxy will be a little less playful!

Obi kept Corey company while he cooked (or maybe he was just waiting for some scraps to fall onto the floor).

Jen, Kevin and Corey about to dig in.

Obi and Roxy hanging out during dinner.

Can you tell that Obi loves to be carried around and cuddled?

Bridal Bash & Big Bucks

Today was our dear friend Gina's bridal shower and we had a fabulous time! It was hosted by Gina's mom Grace, Sara, Kels and I and we had so much fun putting it all together. With a little teamwork, we were able to pull off a shower for 21 people (some of the gals in Nick's family, Gina's family and some of Gina's close friends) without any mishaps, running out of food, any spills, etc.

Originally I was planning to have the shower in my condo but after 21 people RSVP'd, I thought it might be a tight squeeze. In the lobby at NoMa, there is a conference room and library that are connected and any resident can reserve these rooms, which is what I ended up doing to help allow everyone enough space to mingle and get comfortable. This setting worked out perfectly. We placed the food and drinks in the conference room and then folks relaxed and mingled in the library.

It was great to finally meet some of Gina's family and soon-to-be family that I hadn't yet met. It was also a blast to see all the fun gifts that everyone brought - Gina and Nick are well-stocked with goodies now! For my gift to her, I made her a newlywed cookbook on Blurb.com using lots of recipes that Corey and I use and recipes from my mom, Kels and Natalie. I also compiled a memory book of memories / words of advice and photos from the shower attendees, which made Gina cry by page 2. Props to all the attendees for their help in creating this book for Gina!

All in all, it was a great day and we were thrilled to host a celebration in honor of our bride-to-be!

Below are a few photos from the shower and rest can be found here.

Sara helping to set up all the goodies.


Girlfriends! Sara, myself, Kels, Gina and Richelle scoping out the mountain of gifts.


Gina and her mom, Grace.


Kels added some extra raspberries to her bellini (this is an orange drink, mind you, however with all the extra raspberries, you'd never know).


An emotional bride-to-be with her memory book.

After the shower, Corey and I met up with the Gossetts and Reeders at Cactus in Kirkland for a yummy dinner before hitting up Snoqualmie Casino.

In just 10 minutes at the first slot machine (a penny machine nonetheless), I won $48! This win me feel a little better about my luck after not having such good luck on our recent Vegas trip.

We had a great time catching up - it had been awhile since we'd all gotten together.

Lisa, Natalie and me with our high roller cards.


Big winner!