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!!

Vegas: Cloudy day on the Strip

Las Vegas is nothing if not a city of extremes: popular settlement for Mormons in the early days (and frequently seen riding bikes in their dapper missionary uniform throughout the city to this very day still) and den of hedonistic revelry, debauchery and sin, there's something for everyone! The weather itself follows this pattern of extremity, due in large part to being situated squarely in the midst of one of North America's deserts. Drive beyond the dazzling neon of Las Vegas Boulevard for more than 30 minutes in just about any direction and you'll find yourself gazing into the abyss of sand and stone, the occasional shrubbery or cactus daring to break the monotonous landscape's overarching tone. In some directions you'll notice an increase in the Joshua trees, others the elevation, and some even lead you towards some small reservoirs of water lingering in the lowlands or dripping off a snowmelt in the mountains, where even the pale looming trees keep their sun-bleached eyes on you...as do the coyotes and cougars, from their dens in the dark.  

Of course, the ravenous cougars aren't just limited to the mountains here, so don't let your guard down too much in the city if you're easy prey. In a city of extremes, just like the intensity of the environment that surrounds it, there's a certain degree of toughness needed to survive the long haul. Skin grows thicker, leathery and tanned by the blistering sun that makes it's brilliant presence well known for the vast majority of the year, and when the chill of winter finally does sink into the land it brings a bracing grip with it. As few and far between as they tend to be, any cloudy or otherwise alternate form of weather that brings a break to the endless routine of boiling hot and baking is a welcome respite from the intensity that makes Vegas. People are a little less angry, a little less harried and hostile, when the sun retreats for a little bit and the heat dips back into a reasonable level.  Enjoy it while it lasts! These things have a tendency to blow by as quickly as they appeared, unfortunately. 

Nothing last forever, especially not in a city like Las Vegas that's built on constant evolution. 

Photos kindly taken by Antho!

Vegas: Summer nights and nostalgia part 4

Believe it or not, it's not impossible to maintain some form of zen-like calm while in the city of Sin. I'm not saying that it's easy- this is a city that gladly swallows entire savings accounts and spits the sad, spent losers out onto the streets with hardly a cursory glance (though it's getting better with a newly opened secured 24/7 site open to the homeless population of the city). There's a strong religious presence both on and off the strip, whether it's the guys with megaphones shouting at people to repent on a corner of the Las Vegas Boulevard proper or the multiplicity of religious buildings, temples and centers dotting the city, so if you find your zen in godliness you've got plenty of places to turn to for your gospel. If you're more into stones, and hippie-dippie granola type stuff, there's plenty of that to be found throughout the city too! Whether it's the psychic eye bookstore or any of the countless stone and gem shops, yoga or a vegan lunch you're pretty well covered in the metaphysical shopping department. 

Given that Antho and I were both born and raised here in Las Vegas, we've had little interest in exploring much of the city geared towards tourists... it's just kind of what you do, when you're a local, after all. This adversion towards the most consumption geared center of the city might help in our efforts to stay zen... We tend to spend much of our free time at the Springs Preserve (if you haven't noticed by now, with the prodigious amounts of posts I have about it) or driving out to Valley of Fire or Mount Charleston...  but when we do make it out to the strip, as we have been doing more lately due to my working in the area, there's more of an excuse to explore the area and play tourist. Due to my having to work, I was unable to tag along on most of the adventure so the photos in this post were all provided by Antho... when I was free for the night we were able to catch up and sally forth together, though! 

Vegas: China Lights Las Vegas 2018 part one

A much belated Happy Chinese New Year! 

I know this is nearly a month late now, believe it or not.. How the time flies! Hard to believe we're already sliding into Mid-March...Feels like just yesterday that we were saying our vows at the Viva Las Vegas wedding chapel but that was nearly a month ago now! Sheesh. Antho has already watched the entirety of the Office twice since then, and it's only a matter of time until he's finished it again. It's such pleasant background noise, though, and it's fun finding new dimension to the characters with the repeated viewings illuminating little details and interactions we'd missed previously... but anyway, enough lamenting the passage of time, let's focus on the pretties! This post will be focusing on the China Lights festival and there are going to be LOTS of photos, so I've split the photos into three separate posts with the next two coming out on the 14th and the 15th, so if you like these make sure to check back for the rest! 

And pretty it most definitely was!

Have you ever been to a Chinese Lantern Festival? I 'm a bit embarrassed to admit I haven't been to many, despite having lived in Asia for three years... I visited one when I was in Seoul in 2016 and I'll have a post about that experience up in the next couple of months, but this is the second one that I can recall ever going to. I mean, there would be lanterns abounding at festivals in Urayasu or at any temple I visited while in Japan, but they were a very different sort of variety. 

It was a cold night in late February when we went, and unfortunately by now the event has long since closed up and moved on. It ran from January 19th to February 25th and we caught it very near to the end of it's stay. Because it was so cold and windy on the night we visited, the evening performances were cancelled and we were left to simply meander about the lights listening to the ambient music as we wished. It was a wonderful experience and despite the cold we enjoyed ourselves. There were several vendors providing hot foods, from grilled chicken to yakisoba and donuts, and we were extremely grateful for them! We got some pork yakisoba and the freshly fried donuts, with the vendor using a fun contraption to drop the little balls into the hot grease as you watched. This meant SUPER fresh, steaming hot donuts coated in sugar, perfect for the cold weather! Anttho also kindly got me a cup of coffee, which didn't take me long to drink but helped warm me as the temperatures grew colder as the night crept deeper.

I would wholeheartedly and happily recommend anyone curious about the event simply bite the bullet and go! I was a bit trepidatious about the $20 per person fee, but we really had a nice time walking through the park taking in the displays. Excellent date night idea, just make sure to bundle up to stay warm!

More photos below!

Art: February 2018 Round up and ice dye round four

With February coming to a close, we'll wrap with another batch of tie-dye rinsing photos to try to take us out on an upbeat colourful note. It's been a busy month despite being a brief 28 days! We set up our first pop-up retail tie-dye spot at the Bubblegum Gallery here in Las Vegas's own Art's District, we've processed several photoshoots and posted lots of new items on the Etsy shop, so very much tie-dye was made, had a commitment ceremony performed by Batman, lost our little buddy Zinni to natural causes, discovered our new favourite neighbourhood pizza joint (they have anchovies! Not every place has anchovies, and one of our first big relationship realisations was when Antho and I both confessed to liking anchovies on our pizza), my hours at my day-job were cut tremendously, threatening our financial stability some and causing me to have to refocus my energies elsewhere after being dedicated to the job for the nearly a year... Overall, it's been a bit of a rollercoaster of a month! In a lot of ways I have to say I'm not terribly worried about having the hours of my day-job cut, as I was able to spend a lot of time with Zinni while he was struggling in his final days and that means a lot to me. We've had most of our pet rats for their entire lives, from their very first squeak to their very last, and while it still hurts so badly to lose any of them I have to say that I'm grateful to have been able to be there for them from start to finish like that. Having a pet is a large responsibility, and whenever I take in an animal I truly hope to be there for them throughout our lives together. Humans typically outlive our animal friends, after all, and I don't think it's fair to shuffle them around from home to home where they might not lead such happy lives...and with rats, there's always that chance someone's going to use them as food for a predatory animal, a fate I'd hate to consider being possible for any of the docile little goofs we've raised. And to think, it all started when we spontaneously agreed to adopt an old rat boy named Pendleton. Anyhow, this post isn't about rats or day-jobs or any of that nonsense, we're here for the PRETTIES!

For the colour!

FOR THE TIE-DYE!

Hoo-RAH!

💖

Until next time, catch you next month!

💕

XOXO,

NAU

Art: February 2018 ice dye round three

Splish splash, ever more tie-dye shirts taking their baths!  It's always fun to try to capture the ephemeral process of dye runoff because the colours bleed away and grow ever fainter as the water rushes off down the drain. It's a colourful process no matter what shades we use, though some colours do have a noticeably longer rinse time. Maybe the dyes are more pigmented and all that pigment just takes ages to dissolve? Or perhaps we just went a little overboard when applying that particular dye powder and it ended up being a larger pile of powder than we anticipated. Whatever the case, there's ample opportunities for me to experiment with my camera and see what fun new angles or moments I can capture of our creation process and sometimes Antho will even jump in and play photographer, which is always great! Each and every one of our shirts is hand dyed by Antho and I, with occasional help from our friends when they want to jump in, and we put a lot of time and effort into the process. 

Beyond the dye process and rinsing, which tend to be rather photogenic and feature heavily here, there's a lot of time spent tying and untying, then sitting around the laundromat waiting for endless rinse cycles to work their magic before waiting around for another hour or two for the dryers... it's a labor of love, though, so even though it can be quite a time consuming endeavour we keep doing it time and time again! We've found that we can space out our tie-dye rinsing trips to the laundromats and do one large batch at a time to save some trips and time, but we rinse our newest ice-dyed (or regular tie-dye sometimes) shirts throughout the week so that they don't soak too long in the spent dye. Having Vanticore added to our family has made the time go by a little more pleasantly, too, as we can retreat to the solitude of our vehicle and relax or run errands between loads of laundry.

 We're happy you're here to share in the whole experiment with us and we hope you enjoy the behind the scenes peek! It's always so colourful, and it's fascinating to see how the different colours play together in the dye process. We've been experimenting with some different methods of applying the dye powder recently, and been fairly pleased with the results. It's not a super radical change, but it's enough of one for us to feel a rejuvenated curiosity and push to explore all the various results available. That's one of the most gratifying things in any creative hobby, though, in my opinion- there's perpetual room to evolve, learn and grow as you practice! The more you practice, the better you get, and the more excited you get to try new things that might have intimidated you before and on and on it goes.  

More photos below...