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!!

Happy 2019!

Happy New Year guys!!!! 🎆

I hope you all had safe and fun festivities to participate in last night, whether you went out on the town or nestled in at home with a bottle of champagne, but no matter how you choose to ring in the new year, there's no denying that 2019 is officially upon us. I think it's fascinating how different cultures choose symbols to ring in the New Year in good fortune, whether it's long noodles for long life, carrots golden orange hue representing riches in the year to come, or shooting off countless explosives into the sky! 

Personally, I'm a complete and total homebody, happy to bury myself in a mound of blankets and celebrate the event with a homecooked meal, a snuggle buddy, and a drink. I've been fortunate enough to celebrate New Year's in my hometown of Vegas, abroad in Tokyo, and now in Seattle... while living in Tokyo (or, at least, in the next suburb over) I was able to watch the Tokyo Disney Sea fireworks display ringing in the New Year, so I'd stand on my little patio with a whiskey and coke in one hand and a smile on my face as the brilliant illuminations crackled across the sky. Vegas, as you might expect, goes absolutely bonkers- the Strip shuts down and becomes a pedestrian haven, where heavy drinking and outlandish behavior is the normative way to bring in the countdown. As much fun as I'm sure it is to get lost among the sweaty, drunken masses marauding through Las Vegas Boulevard's most populous corridors, that was never particularly appealing to me as a local... and, let's be real here, most jobs in Vegas are based around the tourist economy, so chances were I was stuck working well past midnight on one side of the Strip, and then faced with the conundrum of trying to navigate my route home around the road closures. All this given, perhaps it's no real surprise I'm happiest to sequester myself away at home and take in the annual tradition in a more low-key way, with only my most precious people around. To each their own, though! You do you, boo-boo. 

I've been gearing up for this change for weeks now, and am quite excited for all the things to come in the year ahead. I hope that you, too, are going forward into this new year with optimism, hope, and a heart full of love and joy. Thank you for joining me here, and I look forward to all the new content and adventures to be shared over the coming months! 💗

Vegas: Nights at the Gem shop

This past summer, I spent many hours of many nights working in a gem and crystal shop, which while not somewhere I initially would have expected myself to have wound up had you asked me five or ten years ago, was an awesome experience (for the most part). Like most workplaces, there were the occasional unpleasant issues, like a vengeful and generally awful coworker, thieves, or the various drunk and disorderly visitors that would stumble in. For the most part, though, this is all to be expected when you're in as strange and unusual an environment as the Las Vegas strip, where people are encouraged to misbehave in extravagant ways. People go there to relax and unwind, get away from their families and the pressures back home, and when they stepped into our shop I hoped to offer them a little bit of a zen oasis that they could take home with them. It was a shop, after all, and sales was the name of the game. Most of the items were so stunning that they sold themselves easily, so I found it a lot of fun. I learned a lot about crystals and gems that I might not have otherwise found myself entertaining, and it was an enriching experience. I've always been a bit of a "crunchy" type, and while my mum was certainly deep into the New Age movement in the 90's, I'd never really dabbled in crystals until recently, more the kind of hippie who'd grow out her armpit hair and happily eat tofu while discussing her kombucha SCOBY and tie-dye. Like I said, though, it was an enriching experience! 

Did you know that the beautiful purple shaded amethyst is believed to relieve anxiety, protect you when you travel, and bestow beauty upon its wearer? While I'm not sure the effects have been scientifically verified, I see no harm in wearing an amethyst ring as I go about my day, just in case.  Who knows, I might get a bit of placebo effect, which is beneficial in and of itself if you genuinely believe the stone is helping your anxiety! Each stone, each color, is believed to help in different ways and tie in to different chakras. Chakras, too, were something I'd not dabbled much into prior to my work in the shop, and was grateful to be exposed to and educated on a bit. There's a ton more I could stand to learn, but now that I'm not working in the shop trying to actively sell things tied to these areas, I find myself studying them less. We did make a special trek to a recent gem and crystal show at a nearby college, though, because my curiosity and appreciation for these things remain! 

Naturally, being in Vegas, once you step foot beyond the doors of the gem shop there's no guarantee of zen. But you might encounter a random blow-up doll!

Vegas: Ethel M. Lights of Love 2018

The Ethel M. Lights of Love event at Las Vegas's own chocolate factory is a limited time shindig and will, unfortunately, already be closed for the year upon the publishing of this post. By limited time I mean severely limited, lasting only ONE week, and they close it up at 8pm! That's right, from February 7th through the 14th the cactus garden outside of the chocolate factory will be open to the public, completely free, to enjoy the beautiful romance themed lights. We went to check it out more or less immediately after our adventure at Sunset park photographing some of our tie-dye and hanging out with the local wildlife. We were surprised by how sparse the crowds were, considering, and enjoyed our stroll through the grounds. We did pop over to the factory for our pieces of free chocolate, however the actual factory area was mostly under construction as they reconfigure their manufacturing processes a bit. We didn't spend too long here as the grounds themselves aren't very expansive, and it was pretty chilly for the boys. I found a onesie in the van and slipped into that to heat up, but the boys were limited to jackets. If you're feeling a bit of deja vu with this post, it's probably because we went to the Ethel M Cactus Gardens not too long ago for their Christmas lights. I, personally, still like to call them illuminations because that sounds more romantic to me, but they're whatever you want them to be. Either way, the lights are lovely to look at and fun to photograph. We weren't the only ones with a camera out as I think there was an engagement photoshoot or something going on, too. A trio of photogs with their tripods out and ready were dutifully chasing a cute couple around the grounds, occasionally offering suggestions or asking for them to make some adjustments. Everyone was courteous and scooted around trying not to interrupt anyone else's photos or strolls, which was nice. It's not hard to see why a romantic photoshoot would be so apt here! If you happen to be in the area around next Valentine's day, this is certainly something to consider checking out. You can always buy a hot chocolate in the gift shop to warm up, and don't forget your mints lovebirds!

More photos below!

Kyoto Day 2- Part 6 - Gion

After refilling my tank with a robust and delicious meal, I still had some energy to burn so I decided to continue exploring the city by night. For a minute, though, I stopped in at yet another kissaten, or small coffee shop, for a quick cup of the beany brew before hopping back atop the bike and venturing onwards. I managed to find my way to Gion, a district of Kyoto with a bustling night life and beautiful streets, where Geisha wander the alleys and exorbitantly priced and likely equivalently incredible restaurants jostle for advertising space in the narrow passageways. Every area of Kyoto that I explored had it's own appeal while still maintaining an overall essentially Kyoto-esque aesthetic... it's a bit hard to put into words what exactly that is, though. There's a classic minimalism and simplicity with meticulous attention to detail that elevates the mundane to the luxurious, from the creation of humble tofu curds to the lacquer adorning the wood... being somewhat distant to the seas compared to much of Japan, there's more of an earthy feel to Kyoto, especially when compared to the bustling neon megatropolis that is Tokyo. People seem more reserved, to move more slowly and with more consideration, here. There's a quiet pride and contentedness in the precision and continuation of traditions carried on into modern chambers. Old meets new, without forgetting where it came from. and relishing in that history. It's a place that really resonated with me, and one that I very much look forward to visiting again someday. 

Photos, of course, will proliferate beyond the cut.

Hong Kong Day 5- The Peak

Hong Kong is famous for a lot of things, but one of the most notable is the amazing views of the city's world class architecture. Whether you're viewing Victoria Harbor from Tsim Sha Tsui in Mongkok, the square in Wan Chai on the Hong Kong side, or from atop the highest peak in the city- named, unironically, The Peak, it's a beautiful city and exquisite evening light show spectacle to feast your eyes upon. 

Typically, for those eager to reach the Peak and view the city from on high, the cable cars are the option du jour. This also means that the line for the cable cars is extremely long and not everyone is guaranteed to make it to their destination prior to the light show. Being the impatient lout I am, I bypassed this method of gaining altitude in favor of taking a city bus. Not only was the bus much cheaper, but the experience of winding alongside the narrow mountain roads in a rickety old passenger van (seriously, it seemed like a basic cargo van converted to hold seats instead of equipment) that careens around corners precariously was something to be had. Not an experience I'd necessarily recommend for those with weaker stomachs, but I managed to survive the experience well enough despite having eaten ample of the culinary goodies available throughout the area. My stomach is a brute, to be fair, and I've stuffed some questionable things down my gullet to no ill effect. But I digress.  

Once you actually arrive to the mountain's summit, you'll find a large... mall. Typically I'm not especially enthused by shopping, especially in a mall environment, unless it's some grand outdoor market or something with cultural value (I mean, sorry to say but a mall is a mall is a mall, as far as I'm concerned, whether it be in Tokyo, Osaka, Hong Kong, L.A., Seoul, or Vegas...). Sure, there have been some outliers like the time Antho and I happened upon the Sherman Oaks Galleria, aka the mall where scenes from Terminator were filmed in L.A., but we didn't go shopping. Is it weird that as a female I don't find clothes shopping an especially thrilling activity? Perhaps because I'm tall and have a hard time finding attire that fits me well (either due to weight fluctuations or my broad shoulders & broad hips/big bum) shopping for clothes has always been riddled with difficulties and challenges to me sense of self. Leggings and tunics have been a life saver (as has Uniglo while living in Asia). So, suffice to say, I didn't spend an exorbitant amount of time perusing the shops prior to the light show. After the show, however, I did stumble upon a rose blush pleated skirt that I really loved and ended up taking home with me. I found a surprisingly large amount of clothes in Hong Kong that fit me well, perhaps because of their long time as an international hub and catering to giant westerners such as myself. 

There were also some anime exhibits around the mall that were fun to see, and a lovely tea shop that I popped into. Many souvenir shops were scattered about, naturally, given the tourist destination nature of the locale.  

More photos after the cut!

Candy Warpop & 710 Visuals performance 11/2015

Candy Warpop recently put on a righteous show at 11th Street Records in Downtown Vegas and invited us to throw light at them. We happily obliged, and here's some of the results!

Josh, their guitarist, was a bit under the weather but still managed to do an excellent job of it. He even threw in a pretty rad solo later on!

"Exterminating Angel"