Follow Me!!

You may have been wondering where I have been since it's been awhile since you've seen a post. Well, I've been coming up with a new blog creation that I hope you'll all enjoy a bit more. I realize I do well with instructions and themes, so my new blog deals with certain themes, but a different one each day. It's slightly easier for me to write and keep me in line to be more creative and post more often. So far, I'm pretty in love with it and hope that you will be too. "Life's Lemons & Limes" has been good, but it might just serve as a mere stepping stone to becoming better at this whole blogging thing. So please, please follow me over to my new blog (and then keep following it!) @ http://c2avery.blogspot.com and enjoy! I'll see you over there.

iGoogle

How have I not discovered this until yesterday? Seriously, this page is great. If you don't already have it for yourself, I definitely recommend it. I already use Google calendar avidly, and now I have so many more gadgets to play with. Also you can customize it to your liking. It's so fun and useful, I love it!

A Quick Tip

This is just a quick clue in to something I've found very helpful. Over the past few years, I've purchased a few Women's Health magazines and they all come with good workouts to do at home or the gym. Well, I hate working out at home and I always forget them when I'm at the gym. So I cut them all out and pasted them into a spiral notebook I had lying around and it's the perfect gym companion. That way, you have lots of workouts to choose from and you can remember things that you may have forgot. Also, you can use remaining pages for keeping track of your workouts or putting in the great recipes that WH has to offer. It's been so useful, I just thought I would pass on the news!

Music Monday

So, this is Brandon Flowers. He is the lead singer of The Killers (who I love), but is trying some stuff on his own. This is his first single called "Crossfire" that I heard for the first time today. And then I heard it again later. I have to say, I'm not sure how I feel about it. So I'm asking your opinion. What do you think?

At first I liked it. It seemed genuine. But then when I heard it again I felt it kind of channeled Bryan Adams a little and belonged in an early 90's movie. I'm just not sure. It could be one of those songs that grows on me. Or it could be one where I change the station...Bah!

Music Monday

This song is #2 on my top 25 most played list in iTunes. I absolutely love it still after listening to it for a couple years. The first few instrumental measures just tug at my heart strings and the story is heartbreaking, but so enticing. It's pretty much amazing.

P.S. It's called "Cath..." by Death Cab For Cutie

Summer Lists

Reading List


These are the books I plan to pour through this summer whenever the sun decides to come out.

1. The Fountainhead - Ayn Rand: I've had this one on my list for a long time. Pretty much ever since I finished her other book. Her writing is so amazing and her stories bring up such interesting philosophy. I can't wait to see what this one is about.

2. Out Stealing Horses - Per Petterson: When I was younger, I had a big thing for horses, so this book caught my eye. Then I read the summary and it sounded really interesting and from a different point of view so I added it to my list.

3. Eat Pray Love - Elizabeth Gilbert: Not gonna lie, I was totally hesitant about reading this book. But given my current state of life and my new found love for travel, I've decided to give this one a shot.

4. Road Dogs - Elmore Leonard: I randomly came across this book while at B&N. I'm very attracted to book covers (yes, I do judge books by their covers) and I read the summary and it has to do with Cuban culture as well as a mysterious story, so I'm hoping it will go along with my love for stories in other (Spanish-speaking) locations!



Movie List

These are the movies I will go see when the weather stinks.

1. The A-Team: Basically a two hour movie with a shirtless Bradley Cooper. That's all I need really...

2. Toy Story 3: I am so excited they made another one! I love these films and this one looks just as good as the other two. I can't wait.

3. The Twilight Saga: Eclipse: This movie is coming out on midnight of my best friend's birthday, and this is her activity of choice. I can't not go! Besides, it couldn't possibly be any worse than the last one, right?

4. MacGruber: I can't believe I haven't seen this yet to be honest. SNL stars and written/directed by members of The Lonely Island...winner.

Music Monday

After much, much listening of the brand new album from The National, I've picked "Afraid of Everyone" as my favorite track. There's just something very haunting and moving about the end when he sings "Your voice is swallowing my soul, soul, soul". Here is them performing this track on David Letterman. I cannot wait to see these guys in September. I can only imagine how moving they'll be in person. Buy their album!

Love/Hate Relationship

I love living in Seattle......most of the time. There really is everything here. Lakes and oceans, fun bars, great food and a huge sports scene. I was talking to one of my friends who mentioned that people who grow up in Seattle never want to leave. But honestly, I don't think that's me. Lately I've been thinking more and more about moving and exploring myself in another place.

The one thing I cannot stand, especially right now, is the weather. I feel like every year my Seasonal Affective Disorder gets worse and worse. It's almost June and I look outside and it's still gray. Gray skies, gray mood. Seriously, I feel like Eeyore. I wish the weather didn't affect me so much, but I think it affects a lot of people. When the sun is out, you just feel so great! Every year, we Seattleites joke that the summer weather comes on July 5th, but that's not always the case and is it too much to ask for it to come early!?

I've been working for UW this week and had to visit campus a few times and it really makes me think about going back to school. It's a pretty exciting feeling and will begin a new adventure. The school that I'm most interested in is in San Fransisco and I think that will be an excellent transition from Seattle. It's pretty much Seattle, but with better weather. While going back to school is a big commitment, it's possible I may be ready for that sometime in the next two years. It'll be tough to give up being here in the fall to root for my football teams (honestly I'm trying to devise a plan to fly back for games), but I think overall it will definitely be a huge benefit and so much fun!

I love Seattle, but I feel like I've seen it all (or most of it). I don't want to miss out on anything. What else is out there?

Lost Finale Party

On Sunday, my brother and I were lucky enough to get to attend a Lost finale party put on by 107.7 The End at Gold Class Cinemas. Being the trivia buff I am, I managed to answer a Lost trivia question correctly therefore putting my name on the VIP list. I have to say, this party was amazing and definitely a perfect way to say goodbye to a perfect show.


107.7 and Gold Class hooked us up! I was so amazed at how well they treated their guests and how plush the theater was. They had these big reclining chairs with a small table in between. We were given two drink tickets at the door, good for beer, wine, wells or one of the special Lost themed drinks the theater came up with! I chose an Oceanic Breeze for one of my drinks. It was delicious. Also, we were each given a choice of appetizer and entree on the house! We chose to have Caesar spears, basically a deconstructed Caesar salad, for our appetizer. I think it was actually a creative way to serve it and I might do that just to get myself to eat more lettuce. Then for our entree we got to pick between a Cuban sandwich and a chicken piccata. I went for the Cuban of course. We enjoyed all these while watching the recap with the lights up and were able to chat with some others, but when the finale finally came on, the lights went out and everyone stayed very quiet and enthralled. We even got popcorn for dessert!

I was so excited and had so much fun at the event and, although I was very sad about the ending of Lost, I was very pleased with the way it finished. Although my brother and I still have different ideas about what it actually all meant! I know I'm right. Ha ha. I'll miss that show for sure. Thanks again to 107.7 The End and Gold Class Cinemas. If you want to get in on any of these free shows or parties they put on, follow them on Twitter or visit their website here!

Make-up vs No Make-up

Every now and then I love getting dressed up. Putting on nice clothes, my MK heels and glamming up with some fancy make-up styles. But on normal days, I usually wont put on more than some bronzer and a bit of mascara. I like being natural and, hey, it's so much more comfortable. I like being able to rub my eye without worrying about smearing anything.

However, three times in the last week I have been mistaken for a high school age student! Someone asked me if I was the person who they had just seen in the Ballard High School talent show. Um, NO! I'm a college grad thank-you-very-much. And last night I was helping out my aunt and bartending for her at a party she was throwing. One woman asked me if I was old enough to be doing it. Then being drunk was mentioned and another woman said "You're too young to be drunk." Seriously? First of all, if my aunt was okay with someone underage serving, she would have asked one of her kids. And do I really look that young when I'm not made up? I'm not sure why it bothers me so much, but it does. At least I wasn't the 45 year old woman in a party top. No joke, there was a woman at this party who was wearing a top that one of my sorority sisters would have worn to a frat party our freshman year. AND she had raccoon eyes. As in way too much black eyeliner surrounding her eyes. Does that really look better than au naturale? No. No it doesn't.

Has this ever happened to any of you!?

Looking Back One Year

It's amazing to think that one year ago today I was embarking on a journey that has completely changed my life. And while plans didn't necessarily pan out like they were supposed to, today is when I emotionally left for the amazing country of Chile.

Imagine spending weeks preparing for a big trip, packing, running errands, making sure you have everything, etc. Then the day finally comes when it's time to leave. You get up early, get yourself ready, say goodbye to everyone and head off to the airport. Only to find out that your first flight is delayed therefore preventing you from catching your next two flights. Man, that was not the best day. I was so excited to leave and get to Chile a day before orientation and spend time with the other people in my program. But no, I was forced to wait a whole other day! Moral of the story: Don't fly United Airlines.

However, when the next day came and I made my flights and made it to Santiago, it was such an amazing feeling. I can't believe a whole year has passed already. I miss it every day.

Goodbye Lost

Don't get me wrong. I love "Lost". But this is pretty funny. Must be the cats...

Our Own Blustery Day

This weather we're having in Seattle is a bit strange. I remember waking up to sun yesterday. Then while I was at the gym, all of a sudden I look outside and it was dark and cloudy. Then I'm driving to pick up my grandpa up north and it's POURING!! Seriously, the rain was beating down on my car so loud, I couldn't even hear my radio. And those who know me, know my radio is always turned up to a high volume. This weather totally reminds me of "Winnie-the-Pooh and the Blustery Day". Has anyone else read/seen that? It was a favorite of mine when I was a kid. Who knows? Maybe our houses will flood and we'll be forced to travel by upside-down umbrella to visit each other. And if someone is stranded, they'll have to send a message in a bottle. Sometimes I think it would have been fun to live in the Hundred Acre Wood. Awesome.

Malena's Tacos

Whenever I don't know what to have for dinner, I always lean towards Malena's Tacos. It's a small little shop on the top of Queen Anne and it is delicious! My favorite is the adobada burrito (pork) and of course add extra guacamole because I love it. The ingredients are very fresh and the salsa is probably the best I've ever had. The price is right for how much you get. Really, you can't go wrong here. Try it out!

Music Monday

This song was just world premiered today. It's Muse's new song called "Neutron Star Collision (Love is Forever)" that will be featured on the Twilight Saga: Eclipse soundtrack. While I always feel it is important to state that I loved Muse WAY before the Twilight hype, I still think the songs fit well into the stories and this new one is pretty awesome. Enjoy!

Weekend Rewind

This weekend was a pretty epic start to summer. And it goes as follows:

Friday night, some of my girls and I went to a birthday party for a friend. The party was being hosted on an old ferry boat out of Harbor Island and had an appropriate "I'm On A Boat" theme. Basically a dream of mine since we all know how much I like that song and The Lonely Island. Plus, I was super psyched because I already had an outfit, given I used to work on boats. (Don't worry people, I covered up the logo of my shirt with a pin...and my hair.) But it was pretty sweet when someone told me I had the best outfit of the night.

The funny thing was, I was the only one with an actual boat uniform. The crew didn't even have them! I thought that was a little sketch and was glad there wasn't an emergency as I probably would have been the first one everyone came to for help. Ha ha!

But it was definitely a solid night full of dancing and one that took almost all of Saturday to recover from. Totally a good time and one I wouldn't mind recreating for one of my birthdays! Although, I would use my old company of course.

Sunday was the Alpha Delta Pi Founder's Day celebration at the chapter house. I was real glad it was there because I hadn't seen it since the remodel. Let's just say it made me pretty jealous that the remodel didn't take place when I was there. But it also made the event more personal and short and to the point. Not gonna lie, when it's at a different venue, it tends to drag on sometimes. But it was really nice seeing a lot of the sisters and hopefully I can get more involved with the chapter again.

Hope more fun weekends are to follow! I am so happy that summer is almost here!

Seattle Cheese Festival

HOW DID I NOT KNOW ABOUT THIS!? I was just pondering the other day about doing a blog as an ode to cheese, thinking about how there should be an international day for cheese. Cheese is really one of the greatest foods ever. But hey! At least we have a festival! Unfortunately my weekend is pretty booked up so I may not make it, but now that I know something like this exists, I can plan ahead to next year! If you want to know the detes, here is the official website.

Bonus!

A 2010 Sub Pop sampler is now available on Amazon.com. And this is the great part: FOR FREE! That's right. Free music. It's magical. And it features some great artists like The Album Leaf and Cocorosie. It even has a stand up segment from a David Cross show. Brilliant!! Download the love.

Music Monday

When I first heard this song, I checked to make sure I was on my usual radio station. I said, "This sounds like a really old song..." And it totally does! But the more I hear it, the more I like it. It's called "Home" by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros. It kinda takes you back to the simpler days with few instruments and only a bonfire and some flowy skirts. Low and behold, the video also takes you there as well. It's a perfect song to get the summer started.

Seattle Fashion Week

Today is the kick-off for Seattle Fashion Week! It's going to be a fun time with expos and three runway shows featuring designers like 7 For All Mankind, Ducati, Andrea Voss and Blayne Walsh. So enjoy and be fabulous.

Feliz Cinco De Mayo

¡Feliz Cinco de Mayo a todos! Ojala que todos tengan un buen día. Toma esta oportunidad para comer la mejor comida del mundo y tomar cervezas. ¡Qué fantástico!

Music Monday: Three Goodies

So, I've had three pieces of exciting music news today. Okay, two today and one earlier this week, but they all deserve to come out today and not wait to be spaced out over a few weeks so here they are!

A First Listen: The National's High Violet
This is the much anticipated new album from The National that will be released on May 11 (exactly 4 months before I see them in Seattle). The whole album is currently streaming on NPR's website and you can listen to it in its entirety here! I already am totally in love with it.

A new Band of Horses Single
Their second track released from their new album Infinite Arms is called "Laredo" and is now being played on air. You can also, of course, listen to it here.

MTV2 Premiers Silversun Pickups' "The Royal We" Video
We all know how much I LOVE these guys. And this video is really cool. It's very artistic and has an interesting story behind it. It's hard to describe really, so you'll just have to check it out on the MTV2 website here.

Local Superhero

This story is so awesome. The Make-A-Wish Foundation along with a bunch of local volunteers and actors made this kid's dream of becoming a superhero come true. For the whole story, visit the Seattle Times website.

Amazing News!

I found out today that The National is coming back to Seattle in September!!! I've been regretting not getting a ticket to Sasquatch because I couldn't imagine not seeing them, but I am relieved to say that I don't have to feel bad anymore. I will see them anyway! I just have to wait a bit longer. Now I just have to wait for Silversun Pickups to post their Seattle tour date and I'll be a very happy girl. Yay!

Two-fer Tuesday

Here's a throw (waaaay) back! Lately, the Hallmark movie channel (channel 500 for Comcast customers) has been playing old Disney classics that my family and I used to watch when I was still in single digits. The best ones so far have been "That Darn Cat" and "Blackbeard's Ghost", both really funny and actually still enjoyable even now!

"That Darn Cat" is about a cat who gets caught up in a kidnapping scandal and becomes an informant for the FBI, whose agents have to follow him around at night to see if he leads them to the kidnappers. "Blackbeard's Ghost" is about an old pirate who haunts an old hotel, but only one person can see him, which leads to a lot of weird happenings that no one can explain.

Both are totally worth checking out and making you feel like a kid again. Did anyone else watch them when they were kids?

Has Anyone Been Here?

I have been wanting to go to this restaurant for a long time now. I only wish I had found out about it before my birthday so I could have chosen it for my family dinner location. I'm hoping that I don't have to wait until my next birthday to go! Barrio describes themselves as "an approachable and inviting representation of modern Mexico" with two locations, one on Capitol Hill and one in Bellevue. After looking at their menu, I was excited to see that they have some of my favorite dishes that I ate in Chile such as cazuela, chorizo, escabeche and, yes, PISCO for drinks. You can check out their full menu of food and drinks on their website here. I hope it's as good as I imagine it to be. Anyone want to go soon? What special occasions are coming up?

Music Monday

This song is feel good. It's called "Animal" by Neon Trees. It's perfect for a Monday morning when driving to work (or an interview like me). It's high energy with some cute lyrics about when you "kinda wanna be more than friends". It definitely fits into my positivity streak I'm trying to go on. Happy listening!

Book Review: Drown

After reading "The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao" and absolutely loving it, I had to check out Junot Diaz's other books. This book features 10 short stories about living in the Dominican Republic. I didn't like it as much as "Oscar", I still really enjoy Diaz's story telling. He really pulls you into characters and it's always interesting to me to read about other types of lifestyles. Again, he mixes his stories with English and Spanish and I love it. As dark as some of the stories are, the way he describes the DR really makes me want to visit it someday. It seems like a very interesting place. I really enjoyed these stories and Diaz is definitely up there on my favorite authors list. Check out any of his stuff.

Positivity

Lately, things haven't necessarily been going my way. As bad as it could suck, things could always get worse. But I need to put out some positive energy. Most people hate Mondays, and usually I do too, but today I'm listing things that I like about Mondays to make me look forward to it rather than dread it.

- New York Times Crossword, it's easiest on Monday so you can feel real smart!

- How I Met You're Mother, I love this show and I get a double whammy because it's on prime time as well as new episodes are added to On Demand so I can catch up on seasons I haven't seen yet.

- Employers are in their offices and more jobs start to be posted, so there is more of a chance that I'm going to get some good job vibes, hopefully schedule interviews and I can feel productive when I actually have positions to apply to.

- Music Monday, clearly my favorite blog entries cause music is my favorite.

Daydreaming...

I have a lot of time on my hands, and while sometimes daydreaming of my perfect apartment sucks because the reality is kind of far off, I do it anyways. I was at home eating dinner this evening...weird to say "I was at home" cause usually I live there, but I'm house sitting this weekend...but anyway, I found the CB2 catalog and started picking things to put in my apartment when the time comes.

Label Glasses: I really like these glasses in a cute kid kind of way. They remind me of being young and drinking juice and I just imagine them to be very fun to drink out of during breakfast. Plus they're so colorful and I like when things don't always match.

http://www.cb2.com/family.aspx?c=236&f=5382

Crossroads Bookshelf: When I'm older I want to have a whole library in my home. I don't think I have quite enough books in my collection for that yet, but I at least want to have enough room to display the ones I have. I like this bookshelf because the compartments are different sizes. I'm all about asymmetry.

http://www.cb2.com/family.aspx?c=118&f=5622

Curve Server: The way they had these displayed in the magazine was so awesome that it made me want some. I guess that's the point. But they're eccentric and different. I think they will fit well in my abode.

http://www.cb2.com/family.aspx?c=230&f=3970

Everyday On The Beach Print: There's a palm tree and it's in Spanish. Sold. I loooove it. It makes me want to create similar pieces of equal awesomeness. I want my place to be full of awesome art.

http://www.cb2.com/family.aspx?c=11011&f=5492

Serene Sunday

After a rather busy and draining week, I am choosing to take this Sunday and just relax and try to get centered again and ready for the week. Hope you all have a nice day as well.

The District: A Photo Blog

My trip to Washington, DC was so amazing. As you know, a picture is worth 1000 words, and damn, I took a lot of pictures. So enjoy my photo blog complete with monuments, museums and mischief.

The beautiful T Street, my residence for the week.

The lovely Ms Ramey and I ending our first night out.

Enjoying the sun atop our double-decker bus tour!

The National Cathedral.

Look! I found the Chilean Embassy!

Honest (and very majestic) Abe.

Loving the view of the Washington Monument and Reflecting Pool.

It's only this big!

A beautiful shot of the monument and the pond.

The Capitol!

Union Station and its gorgeous architecture.

Can't believe I got a shot this perfect on a moving bus.

Second night out: found a bar with Pisco. Sent me right back to Chile. I was in heaven.

Off to the Archives to see the most important of American documents.

And of course the American History Museum to see the most important items of American history.

A perfect end to an amazing trip!