Seattle: Argosy Christmas Boat parade

Hello, lovelies!

My goodness, it's been far too long! I've missed you all during my absence from blogging these past few months. Life has a way of getting crazy and hitting you with a lot all at once, and this fall has been no different. First, we had the tumultuous move into our new residence, which was a bit of an arduous and emotionally exhaustive process but sorely needed. If your roommates are gaslighting you or trying to drive a wedge in and isolate you from the people you love, it's not a good situation. "Friends" can be just as abusive as a romantic partner, if they're toxic enough. It took me a lot of soul-searching and contemplation to process the loss of that "friendship", but in the end, I realized it was never truly a healthy friendship, to begin with, but a matter of opportunistic subjugation for as long as it felt beneficial to one side. It's a shame, but that's life, and sometimes the people you think you know are putting up a facade so that they can manipulate you for the benefit of their own personal ends. My heart was heavy, though, because I genuinely believed we were friends and I was devastated at the idea of losing what to me had been such a long-running friendship...like I said, there months of reflection and agonizing over it, wondering why someone I trusted and had once loved would do me so dirty, so callously as to turn a cold-shoulder when I faced the possibility of becoming homeless at their own hands, but the reality is that she never truly reciprocated my affections as deeply and simply saw an opportunity to take advantage of. Processing it all was really hard, and it hurt a lot, and sometimes it still hurts, but we have to carry on and be good to the people who are really our friends. 

Then, not long after that, my beloved old Volvo, Svetty, was totaled in an accident, which absolutely wrecked me. I had that car for 14 years! She'd safely carried me back and forth between Seattle and Las Vegas several times, shuttled me to countless caricature gigs and assorted day-jobs, been a solid and stable presence in my life for well over a decade, and I had absolutely planned to keep her another 5-6 years, at least. I'd replaced the transmission, had all the electrical re-wired, and sunk a lot of money into fixing her up because I felt she was a solid investment to last me many years... and then BOOM! A Toyota Sienna pulled out in front of me without enough time or space to stop in time, and with a screeching clunk of metal and sadness, my baby was done. I hadn't even put a full 10,000 miles on the new transmission. Out one of our vehicles and hit with the intimidating world of car-buying so unexpectedly, it took a couple months to pull it together and get a new personal vehicle for me. We have, by now, successfully done so and I LOVE my new car, though I still get a twinge of sadness when I see an old Volvo roll by. Ideally, I would have sunk the repair costs in for the next few years to keep her going, and when Svetty finally gave out due to a serious mechanical failure I would have had enough saved up to buy a car in cash... but life doesn't always go according to plan, and I had to finance. In the end, this allows me to build credit and I really do love my new vehicle, so I don't see the long-term commitment as a bad thing. I kept my last car for 14 years, after all, and this car has 1/2 the miles on it that she did! So maybe I can get 20 years out of her, eh? 

Also, can I take a moment here to just say how amazing the company and people I work for are? Not only have they been flexible and understanding, but they absolutely went out of their way to help me get through this incredibly difficult and stressful time. While car-searching, they let me use a car from the company fleet to get by and keep working without my own wheels, which was a huge help in affording me enough extra cash to make a decent down-payment and secure my new ride. Accidents are terrifying and by their very nature come at you unexpectedly, and if they hadn't been so accommodating and empathetic I would have been faced with joblessness on top of the loss of my car. Life can be really hard at times, but due to the good people at Green Cleaning Seattle I was able to get through one of the hardest periods I've encountered in many, many years. Thanks, team! So much love and appreciation for y'all. 💖

Now that we're officially into December, and the holiday season, it seems appropriate to roll out these photos from the Argosy Christmas boat parade! It's an annual tradition that you can partake in throughout different waterside parks and areas in the city of Seattle as the parade winds the way through. Not only does the Argosy ship itself rolls out bedecked in lights, but many other private vessels join the parade and bring their own unique sparkle to the show, setting the water ablaze with reflected colors. We witnessed it from Montlake Park, where we were able to find a spot on the grass along the waterfront, hot beverages in hand. Many families bring out their kids to see the show, and with the Argosy bumping the live Christmas choir, it's a truly magical experience. Not gonna lie, I definitely cried a few happy tears watching the show. It's FREE to witness, so long as you can find parking or access to one of the areas they'll be going by in time. 10 out of 10, absolutely recommend going at least once! We had a wonderful time and look forward to making it a tradition. If you want to really get on board and celebrate from the lead ship itself, you can expect to pay about $50 per person for adults, but that seems totally well worth the cost for the majesty you'll get to marvel in! We'll definitely be looking into that for the upcoming years. 💙💖

For now, enjoy these photos and Happy Holidays!!

Seattle: Washington Park Arboretum

If you're a consumer of cannabis, which is now legal for recreational in 10 US states, you've likely heard of terpenes before at your local dispensary. If you're not a cannabis user, and the word terpene sounds like some crazy drug terminology, chill out, man, it's good stuff. Terpenes are aromatic oils released by plants that help them to communicate, and there are different kinds that can help you out in different ways- from easing the pain of migraines and muscular aches, to fighting infection or even depression. Think of them like essential oils, like how you can use lavender to help reduce stress! Given the history of marijuana prohibition through the US, it wasn't until more recent years that the study of terpenes in that particular crop and how it affects us has been done, but scientists throughout Japan and Korea have been finding that the terpenes and other compounds released by trees (forests) are extremely beneficial for human health and well-being.  Just walking among the trees for a brief, casual stroll can boost your immune system measurably, and the more time you spend among the foliage the better for your well-being. Pretty cool. We all know we should try to spend more time outdoors, with our modern, sedentary lifestyles leading us to wrap up and nestle into our climate controlled dwellings, but we're beings of the earth and need to get out there and actually experience it from time to time. It's good for your health!

If you're in or near the Seattle area, you're in luck. Not only is the Emerald city absolutely studded with trees at nearly every opportunity, there are roughly 6,000 acres of public parks incorporated into the city! There are so many options to get out and immerse yourself in nature, or to even just walk alongside a tree-laned path downtown to help break up the concrete and asphalt of the urban jungle. One of the parks you could visit, should you choose to do so, is the Washington Park Arboretum. This park alone comprises 230 acres, with distinct areas dedicated to different trees, so that you can better understand and appreciate the diversity of this common constituent of the local environment. It's free to park, and free to enter, and there's so much ground to cover that you can spend hours casually strolling and soaking in all those delicious terpenes. The longer you wander, the better for your health, after all! Not to mention the step count going up on your pedometer, if you're into that sort of thing.  I've been keeping track for years now, and I find it a valuable measure of how active I'm being, but to each their own. 

As I mentioned above, the Arboretum is free to park and free to enter! They do have a small gift shop near one of the parking areas, and we took the opportunity to grab a mycology book that Antho had heard good things about. They also offer coffee and tea, which is great for warming up on those chilly days!

More photos below~

Vegas: Ethel M. Chocolate Factory Cactus Garden Illuminations

Ethel M. Chocolate Factory is a true Las Vegas institution, having been in the city since1981 after being opened by Forrest Mars Sr., of the Mars chocolate brand- if you didn't know, Mars is the company behind Snickers and M&Ms so you know that if their mass-produced candies are reliably good then their specialty stuff is going to be something else. Their goal at the Ethel M. Chocolate Factory is to produce some of the finest chocolates in the entire Mars company's portfolio using recipes handed down from Forrest's own grandmother Ethel. Ethel was the inspiration for what Forrest later went on to do with chocolate in his company later on, so we're pretty lucky to have this place in our little valley. There are some real world class chefs and culinary artists throughout Vegas due to our profile as a world-class tourism destination and the locals get to reap the rewards of that, too. 

The factory will be especially familiar for any Vegas locals who went to school here, I bet.  I grew up in the city and attended several schools around town and one of the strongest memories I have is going on a field trip to the factory! It's a lot of fun and you can catch a glimpse at the magic going on behind the scenes. During this visit we were stopping in with a lot of other folks as the factory has a large cactus garden that lights up for the holidays and is free to the public! Not surprisingly it's a popular attraction and a great boon to the profits of the factory too, as people stopping in to see the free tour will get a delicious piece of chocolate before finding themselves in the gift shop. The sweet taste of the decadent chocolate lingering on the tongue makes it hard to resist when confronted with multiple displays of glossy, sprinkled, filled, cream, dipped, assorted chocolates here! There's bound to be one for every taste, whether you're a fan of nougat or chocolate covered cherries, hot chocolate or boozy barrel chocolates bursting with depth and flavour.  You can make your own boxes, too, which is genius! Never again will you have to nibble your way cautiously through a box of unbeknown flavours trying to avoid a landmine. Take that, Forrest Gump! This is 2018, baby, and we can select whatever chocolates we want in our boxes, thank you very much. 

The illuminations in the garden are, of course, stunning! We had a lot of fun wandering the paths and looking at the displays, hot chocolates in hand. If you stop in for a visit during the winter we can definitely recommend their hot chocolate, they were delicious! Photos of the lights and the rest of our visit will follow below.