The Death of my iPhone 4S

I had recently broken up with my Droid in October 2011, and I was looking for a rebound phone, and it was love at first sight when I came across the iPhone 4S. I thought this relationship would last forever. My iPhone 4S seemed to be indestructible (just like the old Nokia phones): it had fallen down rocky mountains, been dropped in muddy puddles, flown off a moving vehicle, slipped from my hand and dropped on hard surfaces about a thousand times. How no one reported me to CPS (cell-phone protective services) for the abuse and neglect my phone had experienced is beyond surprising; probably because they knew my true love for my phone was genuine. I took it everywhere with me, and it experienced all the same memorable adventures that I did. My iPhone's final moments were spent down 4th Avenue in downtown Seattle. As I reflect on our time together, I cannot imagine sharing those experiences with any other phone device.

Thank you iPhone 4S for your almost four years of service:

• Asking Siri ridiculous questions and she never passed judgment on me.
• Giving directions from Omaha, NE to Seattle, WA and I didn't get lost once; thank you voice navigation, and the blue dot of Google Maps.
• Capturing photos from my first hike in Washington, and every other scenic photo I have taken since.
• Allowing me to remember every time I had an amazing cup of caffeine.
• Every shot of a delectable food dish that I made from scratch or enjoyed in a restaurant.
• Enabling me to keep lists (bucket list, reading lists) all in one place instead of millions of post it notes .
• Utilizing Instant Lab to discover my love and appreciation for polaroid photos without being separated from my iPhone.
• Entertaining me when I am waiting in a line at the store, at the same time, wearing headphones and making me instantly unapproachable to other people.
• Jamming to music as I was walk the streets of Seattle.
• Screenshot future hikes from Instagram.
• The moment I joined Instagram, and realized that Facebook was the social media of the past for me.
• Food-stalking on Yelp before I meet up for a meal with friends.
• Knowing when to leave to catch the sunset.
• Planning to watch only ONE video on YouTube and ended up viewing videos for two hours.
• When I lived without Wi-Fi in my apartment for two years, my iPhone was my connection to the virtual world when I didn't want to get out of my PJs and go to a coffee shop.
• Keeping contact information to friends and family since my brain seems incapable now of even remembering my parents' telephone numbers.
• Never missing appointments because of iCalendar app being sync to my MacBook.
• FaceTiming with fellow iPhone friends.
• Not needing to carry cash with me when I visit Starbucks; plus all the freebies accumulated with being a Starbucks Rewards member.
• Enabling my addiction to Groupon, and encouraging me to try things I would never consider, until they were 1/2 off in price.
• I never played Candy Crush or Angry Birds, but I think a person is never too old to play Bejeweled.
• Allowing me to continue not obtaining the skills to change a tire, because of the easy AAA app that instantly calls for roadside assistance.
• Foretelling the approximate time that raindrops will be falling from the skies with The Weather Channel app and it's new "real time rainfall alerts."

Although I have replaced my iPhone 4s, it is currently tucked away in the drawer of my desk, as I cannot let it go quite yet. I am sure I am not the only one enduring this struggle; therefore, here's some humorous link to help others through their grieving process.

http://www.dorkly.com/post/73164/cracked-phones
http://www.jokes4us.com/miscellaneousjokes/corporatejokes/iphonejokes.html

It has been a tough year for me with Apple devices. My decade old MacBook finally kicked the bucket. Along with my iPod nano falling (because of the force of gravity and not at all my fault) and the screen cracking. My iPod still worked but currently has been kidnapped or lost.

Smitten Kitchen V

I hate grocery shopping; motivation to finally accomplish this errand occurs because I am out of toilet paper, cookie butter, or coffee. The exceptions to the rule, are ingredients needed to make a recipe out of the Smitten Kitchen cookbook. I have the lofty goal of cooking every recipe out of this cookbook. My friends will not be surprised that I still haven't attempted a single salad recipe; but I am definitely attempting recipes in the sweets and party snacks sections; I know, shocking! Seattle's summer has been excruciating hot, and so I have limited my time using my oven for baking. I have been surviving on mostly cereal, ice cream, and fruit. However, on the few days that it rained or the sun was covered in clouds, I flipped through the pages of the cookbook to find my next food adventure.

Below are the latest scrumptious recipes from the cookbook:

Tomato Scallion Shortcakes with Whipped Goat Cheese

• Heirloom Tomatoes are in season and they were a great addition to this shortcake. I added a runny egg and smoked salmon to leftovers for the following days.

Avocado Tartine with Sesame Seeds

• This recipe originally had seedless English cucumbers, but I tend to only eat cucumbers when they are hidden in my sushi rolls, so that ingredient was left out. I first saw avocado toast recipes on Pinterest, but the rice vinegar, sesame oil, and black sesame seeds really made this dish addicting. Prior to this recipe, I did not have black sesame seeds in my spice cabinet. This was another dish that for the leftovers I put a runny egg on it for breakfast.  

Chicken and Egg Salad Toasts with Lemon Aioli and Fennel

• I am guilty of buying Trader Joe's White Chicken Salad and using it as chip dip; some of the salad does actually make it on bread to make a sandwich. Prior to this recipe, I had never utilized fresh fennel before; also, I admit if you shown me a fennel and asked me what it was, I most likely could not identify it. Therefore, thankfully Trader Joe's had them labeled in a plastic container so I didn't have to admit to others that I had only used dried fennel seeds before. I utilized the lemon aioli recipe again to make "hollandaise" sauce for some poached eggs for breakfast. I had a chicken salad recipe that I really enjoyed before trying the Smitten Kitchen one, and both are great substitutes if I am ever in a city without a Trader Joe's.

Jacob's Blintzes, or Sweet Potato Blintzes with Farmer's Cheese

• I made several alterations to this recipe; the main one being that I substituted farmer's cheese with goat cheese. Why, you ask....because Trader Joe's does not carry farmer's cheese. These blintzes were tasty; however, they were a lot of work and my kitchen was an absolute mess. In addition, I found them to be a little too heavy for breakfast; they might have made a better choice as a brunch item.

Sesame-Spiced Turkey Meatballs and Smashed Chickpea Salad

•  I rarely use ground turkey; I know, it's healthier for you, blah, blah, blah. HOWEVER, this recipe made me doubt that I used turkey because they were that delicious! They had a bit of a kick to them. It has been a while since I made them, and as I am writing this, I am reminded on how I devoured them, and I must make them again soon! The smashed chickpea salad I probably wouldn't make again. 

In the small skillet I am toasting the sesame seeds

 

The toasted sesame seeds have been added

 

Brownie Roll-out Cookies

• Whenever I am baking with chocolate, I make sure that I am attending a potluck or something, because a few bites of anything chocolate and I am done. These were really easy to bake and were a less severe level on the chocolate-o-meter.

White Chocolate Pudding with Blackberry Curd

• One thing that is really difficult for me to find is pudding that does not have a bad aftertaste. This white chocolate pudding...oh my goodness! I never thought I would rave about anything with the word chocolate in it, but this recipe must be the exception. However, I think I put too much fresh lemon juice in the blackberry curd, so it kind of overpowered the blackberry flavor, but was still delicious. When I make this again, I will most likely not put it in individual glasses, but rather just layer it in a bigger clear bowl.

Smoky Deviled Eggs with Pastrami Smoked Salmon

• This recipe in the cookbook is actually titled "Smoky Deviled Eggs with Crisp Jamon and Crushed Marconas." The alterations to this recipe are due because I do not eat pork, and I have a nut sensitivity, so I tend to only risk an allergic reaction with desserts that require nuts. The Pastrami Smoked Salmon I bought at Trader Joe's. I tend to put this smoked flavored salmon in my egg white omelets, so I thought it would make a nice substitute/garnish to the deviled eggs. I have made this recipe twice, and the second time I put crisp turkey bacon on it.

Rosemary Gruyere and Sea Salt Crisps

• I had ever intention of sharing these, allowing others to try them; but I ate ALL of them. They were so easy to make, because you put all ingredients in the food processor. In the directions, the author used a fluted pastry wheel to make the shapes of the crackers; I used a pizza cutter.

All the ingredients in the food processor

The dough that forms in the food processor

The best cheez-its you will ever taste!

 

French Onion Toasts

• The only substitute I made to this recipe is that I used low-sodium chicken broth instead of beef broth. The first time I made this recipe, I baked the bread in the oven. The second time, I put them in my toaster oven, and they still came out tasty.

Chocolate Chip Brioche Pretzels

• I used only 1/4 of the chocolate that was indicated in the recipe. Also, I do not have a standing electric mixer, so I "mixed" the dough with a wooden spoon. I think by kneading the dough with a wooden spoon, the dough ended up too airy. The cooked pretzels still tasted fine, and I liked dipping mine in warm honey while I drank my coffee.

As you can see, the chocolate is very limited, and no two pretzels look alike

Almond Date Breakfast Bars

• Due to my nut sensitivity, I did not use almond butter or thinly sliced almonds; however, I did use the almond flavoring. I used Trader Joe's Cookie Butter instead of almond butter. That's right, I made Cookie Butter Breakfast Bars, because Trader Joe's does not make them yet. The leftover breakfast bars I crumbled and added to my Activa Yogurt...the irony is not lost on me.

 

No-Obligation Book Club

Summer cleaning is what I am currently doing to avoid the sunshine and heat outside in Seattle. Part of this cleaning and organizing process has included recycling college notes and the many years of subscriptions of magazines, along with shredding old bills and paperwork. So far I have recycled 113 pounds of paper...yes 113 pounds; I finally used my bathroom scale to actually weigh something! I couldn't believe the magnitude of paper accumulation I have moved from apartment to apartment.

One of the magazine subscriptions that I had for four years was Real Simple. My three favorite topics in the magazine are The Simple List, Food, and No-Obligation Book Club. I kept all my magazine issues mainly for the information of these topics, so I thought I would share some of this information virtually, and then I can removed them from the prime real estate that are my bookshelves and into the recycling bin. Also, I love making lists and I know some of you are also addicted to list making; so you are welcomed!

Here are some of the book recommendations from the No-Obligation Book Club pages of my magazine subscriptions. The books I have read are highlighted yellow...happy reading!

What books will you pass down to your children:

1. The Neverending Story by Michael Ende
2. A Woman of Substance by Barbara Taylor Brandford
3. The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
4. To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
5. Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney

What to read this spring:

1. Bark by Lorrie Moore
2. Black Moon by Kenneth Calhoun
3. Cambridge by Susanna Kaysen
4. Cementville by Paulette Livers
5. October by Zoe Wicomb
6. The End of the Point by Elizabeth Graver
7. Her by Christa Parravani
8. The Blue Book by A.L. Kennedy
9. Mary Coin by Marisa Silver
10. Middle C by William H. Gass

What book taught you an important lesson about love:

1. Rascal by Sterling North
2. The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo
3. Me Before You by Jojo Moyes
4. Nicholas and Alexandra by Robert K. Massie
5. The Color of Water by James McBride

What to read this summer:

1. Fractures by Lamar Herrin
2. Death of the Black-Haired Girl by Robert Stone
3. We are Water by Wally Lamb
4. A Permanent Member of the Family by Russell Banks
5. My Mistake by Daniel Menaker
6. Visitation Street by Ivy Pochoda
7. The Silent Wife by A.S.A. Harrison
8. The Night Gwen Stacy Died by Sarah Bruni
9. The Yonahlossee Riding Camp for Girls by Anton DiSclafani
10. Gloria by Kerry Young
11. I Am Having So Much Fun Here Without You by Courtney Maum
12. Mambo in Chinatown by Jean Kwok
13. Stars Go Blue by Laura Pritchette
14. The Arsonist by Sue Miller
15. The Ice Cream Queen of Orchard Street by Susan Jane Gilman

What book is unforgettably eerie:

1. Memoirs of an Invisible Man by Harry F. Saint
2. Zombie by Joyce Carol Oates
3. Mrs. Penegrine's House for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
4. In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
5. Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger

What book is a great Valentine's Day gift:

1. Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner
2. The Griffin & Sabine Trilogy by Nick Bantock
3. Desire: Women Write about Wanting by Lisa Solod Warren
4. Heartburn by Nora Ephron
5. The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov

What is your favorite short story:

1. The Most Dangerous Game by Richard Connell
2. Bernice Bobs Her Hair by F. Scott Fitzgerald
3. Hills Like White Elephant by Ernest Hemingway
4. Neighbour Rosicky by Willa Cather
5. The Storm by Kate Chopin

What book helped you through a tough time:

1. Blue Jelly by Debby Bull
2. Gift from the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh
3. Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson's
4. What Happened to Lani Garver by Carol Plum-Ucci
5. When Bad Things Happen to Good People by Harold S. Kushner
6. Breeding in Captivity by Stacy Bolt
7. Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
8. My Life in France by Julia Child
9. Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell
10. The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch

What is the most gripping true story you've ever read:

1. The Journals of Lewis and Clark
2. All But My Life by Gerda Weissmann Klein
3. Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer
4. An Unquiet Mind by Kay Redfield Jamison
5. To Sleep with the Angels by David Cowan and John Kuenster
6. Lost Moon by Commander Jim Lovell Jr.
7. The Secret Life of Marilyn Monroe by J. Randy Taraborrelli
8. Carly's Voice by Carly Fleischmann

What is your favorite fictional mother:

1. Hester Prynne in The Scarlet Letter
2. Mrs. Madrigal in Tales of Two Cities
3. Ma Joad in Grapes of Wrath

What book should be on the president's nightstand:

1. His Excellency: George Washington by Joseph J. Ellis
2. Bossypants by Tina Fey
3. The Once and Future King by T.H. White
4. Redemption Falls by Joseph O'Connor
5. Stranger Things Happen, Magic for Beginners, and Pretty Monsters by Kelly Link
6. Winter's Tale by Mark Helprin

What book should you read this autumn:

1. At the Bottom of Everything by Den Dolnick
2. After Her by Joyce Maynard
3. Nine Inches by Tom Perrotta
4. The Partner Track by Helen Wan
5. The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell
6. Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
7. De Potter's Grand Tour by Joanna Scott
8. How to Build a Girl by Caitlin Moran
9. Bespotted by Linda Gray Sexton

What book reminds you of home:

1. The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
2. My Invented Country by Isabel Allende
3. A River Runs Through It by Norman Maclean
4. Walking Across Egypt by Clyde Edgerton
5. The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame

What contemporary book will stand the test of time:

1. The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins
2. The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
3. The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
4. Animal, Vegetable, Mineral by Barbara Kingsolver
5. The Giver by Lois Lowry

What is your favorite book to read on vacation:

1. Dave Barry's Greatest Hits
2. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
3. A Room With a View by E.M. Forster
4. Hoot by Carl Hiaasen
5. The Beach Book by Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Ronald Dahl

Could use a laugh:

1. A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole
2. What's Not to Love? The Adventures of a Mildly Perverted Young Writer by Jonathan Ames
3. Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris
4. Meaty by Samantha Irby
5. The Will to Whatevs: A Guide to Modern Life by Eugene Mirman

50 books that will change your life:

1. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
2. Black Tickets by Jayne Anne Phillips
3. The Best American Short Stories
4. Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain by Betty Edwards
5. The Inn at Lake Devine by Elinor Lipman
6. Cookwise by Shirley O.Corriher
7. The Benchley Roundup by Robert Benchley
8. The Queen's Gambit by Walter Tevis
9. Day of Honey: A Memoir of Food, Love, and War by Annia Ciezadlo
10. The War of Art by Steven Pressfield
11. So Long, See You Tomorrow by William Maxwell
12. The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
13. The Education of a Gardener by Russell Page
14. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
15. Katherine by Anya Seton
16. Betsy in Spite of Herself by Maud Hart Lovelace
17. Colefax and Fowler: The Best in English Interior Decoration by Chester Jones
18. A Much Younger Man by Dianne Highbridge
19. Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury
20. Foster by Claire Keegan
21. Apartments for the Affluent: A Historical Survey of Buildings in New York by Andrew Alpern
22. Early Autumn by Robert B. Parker
23. Making Faces by Kevyn Aucoin
24. King of the Hill by A.E. Hothner
25. I Captured the Castle by Dodie Smith
26. The Seven Storey Mountain by Thomas Merton
27. Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton
28. The Lover by Marguerite Duras
29. The Moviegoer by Walker Percy
30. Being Peach by Thich Nhat Hanh
31. Breaking Night: A Memoir of Forgiveness, Survival and My Journey From Homeless to Harvard by Liz Murray
32. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor
33. The Essential Dykes to Watch Out For by Alison Bechdel
34. Autobiography of Red by Anne Carson
35. Kitchen Literacy: How We Lost Knowledge of Where Food Comes From and Why We Need to Get it Back by Ann Vileisis
36. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
37. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
38. The Little Engine That Could by Watty Piper
39. Without Feathrs by Woody Allen
40. The Street by Ann Petry
41. One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish by Dr. Suess
42. A Kiss Before Dying by Ira Levin
43. Common Sense on Mutual Funds by John C. Bogle
44. The Gay Place by Billy Lee Brammer
45. About Alice by Calvin Trillin
46. The Second Shift by Arlie Hochschild
47. Years of Grace by Margaret Ayer Barnes
48. The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin
49. The Last Lion by William Manchester
50. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

Summer Book Bingo

My main interests in life are hiking, photography, traveling, eating, and reading. With my love for leisure reading, my second home in Seattle is the Central Public Library. Every month at this library location, they come out with books that they recommend members to read; however, for the summer, they have a new reading adventure for Seattle Public Library members. They have a Summer Book Bingo challenge. Always up for a reading challenge, I am definitely participating in this fun competition, and wanted to share it with others in Seattle, and also allow others to participate with it in other cities. Another reading challenge that I am doing this year is from Goodreads.com.

The fine print on playing Summer Book Bingo: You are on your honor to read books before adding them to your Summer Book Bingo card. Cheating, skimming, or reading Cliffnotes will invoke bad summer karma, which may include sunburn, ants at your picnics, or marauding mosquitoes.  Also, book titles may only be used once per card. The competition started on June 11^th, so you can only count books that you started and finished during that time. The competition ends on Labor Day. you complete the challenge when you have a Blackout Card. This is when you complete all 25 squares of the bingo card.

The bingo squares consists of the following reading challenges:

• Checked out from the library
• From an independent bookstore
• Set in the NW
• #WeNeedDiverseBooks
• Translated from another language
• Collection of short stories
• Out of your comfort zone
• Set somewhere you've always wanted to visit
• You own, but had never read
• Prizewinner
• Banned
• Local author
• Passionately recommend a book to a friend (FREE SPACE)
• Author under 30
• Turned into a movie
• Graphic novel
• Collection of poetry
• Young Adult Book
• Memoir
• Published the year you were born
• Re-read
• Recommended by a friend
• You've been meaning to read...
• From your childhood
• You finish reading in a day

The first book I am reading for this fabulous summer reading competition is Stay Awake by Dan Chaon. This book is going to be my “Collection of short stories” bingo square. Happy reading and share any worthy books!

Ugh! Sunshine Season Arrives

Today's Weather Alert for Seattle

Seattle...known for it's cloudy and rainy days, but what nonresidents do no realize is that Seattle can be unforgivably sunny and the city doesn't receive that much rain annually. My favorite months of the year to live in Seattle are definitely October through April. Why you may ask....because 6 out 7 days a week Seattle is at least partly cloudy...sounds wonderful, right? Well, then there are the months of June-August, where rainfall is rare, and the newspapers here document the dry streak of Seattle's summers; and it's safe to say, that this is my least favorite time to be living in the city.

I moved to Seattle in 2012, and the city's dry streak was 48 days that year. Then in 2013, it was 35 days, and although 2014 didn't have a dry streak over 30 days, it was excruciating hot. In 2012, I remember that the temperatures were going to be in the low 80 degrees, and the Weather Channel was posting heat warnings; I was flabbergasted. Being from the Midwest, I am use to heat warnings being issued for high 90-degree weather with over a 100 degree heat index, but 80-degrees? I joked with my parents (who still live in the Midwest) what wimps Seattleites were about "hot" weather. But then....the 80-degree day arrived and I was no longer joking. What changed my sense of humor? No air conditioning in Seattle apartments. No air conditioning? Yep, you could be paying almost $2,000 for a studio apartment (which I was in 2012) and it doesn't have air conditioning, because Seattle is such a green city. My studio apartment in 2012 didn't have ceiling fan,  no screen on the patio door, and one tiny window that barely opened. In 2013, I moved into a one-bedroom apartment just a couple of blocks from my first apartment. This one has a ceiling fan, two large screened patio doors (one off the bedroom and one off the living room), and a window that opened; however, summers are still terrible, especially if there isn't a breeze.

I am constantly reminded of how I am the "minority" of Seattleites, because people wait all year for the sunny, summer days. In my perfect reality, Seattle would have only three seasons: winter, spring and fall. You must be thinking that Seattle must be having a long dry streak already, with me whining about all the sunshine...we are on day 4 of the dry streak. At this moment I bet you are glad you are miles from me when Seattle starts to get into double digit dry streak days. Here are additional reasons why summer is my least favorite season:

• I sneeze a lot in the summer; therefore, I have diagnosed myself with an allergy to sunshine.
• I hike a lot in the PNW, and in the summer, more people are on the trails. I go on trails to soak up nature and breathe the fresh air....not to maneuver around crowds people.
• The hot weather makes only ice cream sound good, and it becomes 2 out of 3 of my meals; cereal is usually the third meal of the day. Therefore, this makes my oven the most useless appliance in the summer, because nothing is worth cooking if it is going to increase the temperature of my apartment by a thousand degrees.
• Back of the knee sweat...a reminder to anyone that owns leather furniture or leather car interior that leather is not meant for summertime.
• No matter the temperature, the only coffee beverage I drink is hot coffee, so with every sip, I am just getting hotter and hotter. 
• I walk almost everywhere in Seattle; therefore, I show up to my destinations in the summertime looking like I just walked through a fountain.
• Also, walking to grocery stores, makes the return trip home a mad dash/marathon because things will melt or go bad in the heat. And who wants soupy ice cream...not this girl!
• The "unpeeling" of one's clothes when getting undressed, and you have to double-check that your epidermis didn't come off too.
• Everyone visits Seattle in the summer. I live near the Seattle Center (where the Space Needle is located) and my neighborhood is so busy. Reservations are longer in restaurants, and tourists clog up the sidewalks. 
• Since my body is made up of 70% coffee and Trader Joe's Cookie Butter, I become a walking mosquito target when hiking, and no amount of carcinogenic bug spray will keep them from devouring me. Also, every insect with a stinger, follows me; apparently the smell of cookie butter sweat is more appealing than pollen.
• The sun is always there...meaning you are up before 5am for no apparent reason for weeks on end. Then when it is dark, it's too hot to sleep.
• Seattle smells bad in the summer. Rainfall here always makes the city smell refreshing (Yankee Candle could create a Seattle Rainfall candle and it would be a major seller); however, with dry streaks, the city doesn't get a break from smelling like dead fish and stale urine.
• Most waterfalls are dried up in the summer. I expect even more this year, because the mountain areas had record-low snowfalls last winter. This also means this summer we will have more forest fires because of how dry the ground will be because of the lack of moisture from melting snow.
• You cannot get in the water (lake, rivers, puget sound) to cool off during the summer because they are still 40 degrees and you will get hypothermia. On the news, they are constantly reminding the public not to get in the water to cool off, because how quickly the onset of hypothermia can be for individuals.
• Some of my favorite fruits are no longer in season. And if they are in stores, they are not as tasty.
• The area becomes less green. The area is usually such a vibrant green, but in the summer, because of the severe decrease in rainfall, it is more a dull green and in some locations an unattractive brown.
• The oily sunscreen glow. When you have fair complexion, the occurrence of sunspots and sunburning is a real fear if you do not apply sunscreen every five minutes.
• Summer noise. People stay out later in the summer and overall noise level is louder. In the winter, the silence is so peaceful because most people are staying indoors.
• Sunshine is blinding and if you are a pedestrian, your chances of being hit by a driver or a cyclist is 100,000 times more likely to occur in the summertime.

So for those that love Seattle's summer, enjoy it, because it is only three months of the year....whereas, the other nine months when you are mourning the loss of sunshine...I will be annoyingly happy.

All Hail the Mighty Tulips of Skagit Valley

In the month of April, one million people travel and visit the Skagit Valley in Washington for one reason: to see millions of tulips. This year, the state of Washington has had an unseasonably warm winter and spring, which has caused all floral blooming to begin early; the tulips were no exception.

Roozengaarde is the largest tulip gardens in Washington; it's located in Mount Vernon. My first Tulip Festival experience was in 2013, and I visited Roozengaarde. It was definitely a wet, cloudy, gray, and rainy spring day; the puddles in the tulip fields were mid-calf deep; but the tulips were beyond amazing. I have so many things I want to do and see in Washington that I hardly ever repeat experiences, but I told myself that I would attend the festival again in the future, and hopefully I would get a glance of the mountains that surround the tulip fields.

Tulip Festival round two happened this year, on Easter Sunday at Roozengaarde; it was a sunny and an egg-cellent day for sharing the experience with my mom (who was visiting from the midwest). The tulip gardens were definitely much busier with the sunshine and the holiday traffic; but the views were beyond spectacular!

We were just a little early for some of the tulips to be in full bloom, but I definitely understood why some of the gardens opened earlier this year. When we arrived, the first thing I noticed was that we were almost too late to see any daffodils. The daffodils were mostly already wilted and turning brown; there was still a few perky, yellow ones left. The display garden was a little too crowded to spend too much time in, besides, my mom was very eager to start skipping through the tulip fields.

Since I attended the festival in 2013, the tulip fields seemed to have doubled in acreage this year. If you get a chance to attend the festival, you definitely should. After we left the tulip fields, we explored the adorable resorty city of La Conner. Oh my goodness, does La Conner have amazing bakeries, and especially scones. It was my first time exploring La Conner and I will definitely visit again. Enjoy the pictures and happy springtime to all!

It was a clear and sunny day to see tulips and mountains

These tulips are called Princess Irene 

The pastel Easter tulips were not blooming yet

It was hard to get a picture of the fields of tulips without people between the rows, because this was the most ignored sign ever 

Rainbow colors of tulips

Display gardens tulips

My mom and me and the beginning of the tulip fields

Staying on the main road (as the many signs posted asked for) and taking a picture among the tulips

Display Garden: Tulips with daffodils and mountains in the background

Display Garden: Abigail (my niece's name) strain of tulips

Display Garden: Aladdin strain of tulips

Display Garden: Ballerina strain of tulips

Display Garden: Fabio strain of tulips

The daffodils fields that were almost done blooming

Pompeii, Just Two Blocks Away

One of the great things about my apartment's location in Seattle, it is only two blocks away from the Seattle Center. The Seattle Center is a great place for tourist and locals to spend ample amounts of time exploring because it is the park, arts, and entertainment center of Seattle, and of course, the iconic Space Needle is there too. One of the museums located in the Seattle Center is the Pacific Science Center.

The Pacific Science Center is definitely a fun, interactive, and educational destination when visiting Seattle. I took my niece to it, and we spent several hours exploring the museum. Another great option while visiting the Pacific Science Center is catching an IMAX movie; also, some great traveling exhibits circulate through this museum as well. For instance, I saw the traveling King Tut exhibit in 2012, and this year, the traveling exhibit is Pompeii: The Exhibition. I was able to see this exhibit with my mom, who unlike me, hasn't visited Pompeii in Italy. Seattle is the last stop for this exhibit's US traveling tour.

Pompeii: The Exhibition showcases the miraculous artifacts unearthed since the epic eruption about 2,000 years ago. One of the largest collection of body casts ever presented are part of this exhibition. Part of your museum experience will be getting to sit through two videos; one consisting of the history of Pompeii, and the other is a four-minute condensed movie of the three days of Mount Vesuvius continuous eruption. A little history of the city of Pompeii:

• In the year 79, Pompeii vanished beneath thick layers of volcanic ash left by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius.
• The rediscovery of this city was about 250 years ago.
• Some of the discoveries included garden frescoes, marble statues, helmets, shin guards of Gladiators, coins, religious altars and shrines, jewelry and so much more.

Overall, the exhibit was impressive and just illustrated that nature can be both destructive and restorative at the same time. At the end of the exhibit, there is a room devoted to the volcanoes of the Pacific Northwest. One of the questions pondered is: could what happened to Pompeii happen to Seattle if Mount Rainier ever erupted? The short version answer is no, because when/if it erupts, it will not be erupting the "mud" that Mount Vesuvius erupted. The mud is key to the preservation qualities that helped all the artifacts to remain intact. 

Here are some of the photos and commentary from the exhibit if you didn't get a chance to see the exhibit in your city:

Anchor: This anchor was found southwest of Pompeii, at the mouth of the Sarno River. This object serves as a reminder that 2,000 years ago Pompeii was an important port, a hub for markets and trade throughout the Roman Empire. 

Ptolemy II Philadelphus: ruler of Egypt from 283 BC to 246 BC

I think the middle statue (the one without a nose) looks like Lord Voldemort from Harry Potter in a toga. 

Wine Amphora: The pointed base of this amphora fit snugly on top of another of identical design. This allowed merchants to stack the containers, making for efficient storage and transport. It also enabled shopkeepers to keep the stock they needed to meet the demands of their customers.

Labrum: This marble fountain rests on three legs each in the shape of sphinxes, mythological creatures that were half-human, half-lion. The sphinxes here have bodies that are part-vegetable and end in lion paws. Acanthus leaves wind around the main column. This supports the pipe that connects to the water source.

Cast of Man: The volcanic eruption of Vesuvius is still being studied today. Recent research suggests that many Pompeiians were killed by surges of extreme heat (570 degrees Fahrenheit) resulting in an instantaneous rigor mortis, with bodies frozen in time. This fact would help explain the variety of poignant death postures.  

Statue of Ephebe (Young Man)

Fresco with Dionysus Enthroned 

Gladiator Helmet with Bas-relief Decorations and Shin Guards

Bathtub

Clay Figurine of a Gladiator 

Gold Necklace: This long, thick chain is made up of four strands of gold with delicate links that look like fabric. The pendant is shaped like a crescent moon,  an ancient symbol of Venus, Goddess of Love. The necklace was probably wrapped several times around the neck. 

Head of Gaius Caeser: This bust is thought to depict the 10-year-old Gaius Caeser, grandson of the Emperor Augustus. In an official work commissioned in 13 B.C., the 7-or-8 year-old Gaius Caesar shares the same large face, voluptuous lips, and bangs with dovetail peaks.