Week in review

Man, what a week it's been since I last blogged---there was the sad but really great trip to L.A. where we saw all the family and attended my gung gung's funeral...and then coming back to Seattle to experience the most amount of snow I've ever seen in Seattle since moving here in 1999.

The trip to L.A. was really great despite the unfortunate circumstances that took us there. Not only did we get to see Betina and Justin (we stayed with them) and catch up a bit, but I got to hang out with all the cousins on my mom's side of the family for the first time ever. Yup, you heard that correctly -- because of how far we are located from each other (2 of them live in Hong Kong...), we've never physically been in the same room together. There was always at least one missing...but this time we were together. And it was so fun hanging out, eating good food, finally learning how to play mah-jong (Matt wants to get this trend started in Seattle amongst our friends). Here are a few highlight photos:


3 generations: my mom, grandmother and me


All my cousins together with my grandmother


Learning to play mah-jong. That's a cheat sheet of Chinese numbers for Matt--ha!

We then got back to Seattle Tuesday night and were shocked by how cold it had gotten while we were away. We had heard reports of a bit of snow over the weekend and saw some remnants of it. The next day, there were warnings of a "major snow storm" and many of my coworkers didn't come into work...I took a risk anyway since I had missed 2 days and needed to go in anyway to download some software onto my laptop. Turned out that everyone stayed home for nothing -- the sky was snow-free and roads were clear all day......til 9pm that night. Then it started snowing and snowing and snowing. Since Wednesday night at 9pm, I think it's constantly snowed with the exception of Friday. Within Seattle city limits, we've had 1-2 feet of snow (or more) fall and STICK, which never happens. Here are some photos from the last few days:


Enjoying all the snow


The fountain at Cal Anderson Park


On Friday, 2 buses collided at the intersection of Thomas and Melrose in Capitol Hill, crashing into the guardrail and hanging over I-5. Photo courtesy of sea turtle


Seattle on Sunday morning after the 2nd snowfall


My poor herb garden by Sunday evening


Matt shoveling the driveway Sunday afternoon. Sadly, it kept snowing so much that by that evening, it looked like nothing was shoveled at all!


At this point, I'm most worried about flying out of here. Our flight to L.A. is tomorrow morning and then our flight to Hong Kong from L.A. is later that night at midnight....so we've got a good day of delays just in case, but I'm still worried. Over the weekend, many flights were cancelled -- a guy I know from work who was supposed to fly out Saturday got rescheduled to Friday (yes, after Christmas)---and that was after 12 hours in the terminal and 3 cancellations. Another guy I know had his flight cancelled yesterday--only to be told that there was no way the airline could get him home before Christmas...so instead, he bought brand new tickets on another airline for double the price of his original tickets to fly out tomorrow. It sounds like such a mess...and I'm just hoping now that my flight will leave tomorrow and get me to L.A....anytime, just sometime tomorrow.

It's been a tough week

I got home about an hour ago...yes, nearly at midnight..from work. Last night, I came home around 12:30am from work...been working all week on a VP presentation that's just been sucking so much time...and the presentation is at 9am tomorrow so I have to head back in about 7 hours now. Aside from work, it's been a pretty rough week....

Over the weekend, my gung-gung (maternal grandfather) passed away. He and my po-po (maternal grandmother) lived with us in Kansas for many years during middle school and, of course, I often visited and stayed with him when visiting Hong Kong through the years growing up. He's had cancer for 8 years or so and it probably was only a matter of time...although I guess I wasn't expecting it to be this month necessarily. In fact, Matt and I had planned to hang out in L.A. for one day on our way to Hong Kong this Christmas just to visit him. [sigh] I was fortunately with a good friend (thanks Jessica!) when I found out so I instantly got a loving hug. I'm still a bit in shock that he's gone. My mom sounds like she's holding up really well considering the amount of planning she's had to deal with in the last few days. We're headed to L.A. this weekend for all the funeral activities and....it's going to be tough. I definitely will shed some tears and it'll be hard. He was a quiet, good man who did nothing but love his family and be there where he was needed. I'll miss his smile and the silly Chinese karaoke singing he'd do with po-po. I learned today from my mother that because I'm the oldest grandchild, I'll need to give a speech at the funeral service. [gulp] I hate giving speeches to begin with...much less at an event where I know I'll be emotional. I know it's important to do so and I'll be proud to do so, but I'm nervous! Despite my trepidation, I'm very much looking forward to this weekend and re-connecting with all of the family. This will be the first time I'll be in the same room with ALL of the cousins since....well, I can't remember when since we all live so far apart...but we will all be together again and it'll be nice to see everyone. We'll also get the chance to see some old friends since Matt and I will be staying with Justin and Betina.

Anyway, time to go to bed.....

Only 2.5 miles left!

I forgot to mention that I woke up early this morning, grabbed my bike and headed to the bottom of Belmont Ave. (where it meets Lakeview Blvd) because the Seattle Marathon (Half and Full) was crossing there...and I wanted to go and cheer on some friends that were running the Half: Marissa, Asayo and Matt H.! For the half marathoners, I stood somewhere between mile marker 11 and 12, right at the top of this long hill (I think their last) and the point in which they can turn and see the city of Seattle again and their ultimate destination, EMP (the finish line). It's a torturous spot because it's one last hill so late in their race, but the sweet smell of the finish line is so close with that beautiful view right around the corner. I was lucky and found Marissa and Matt but sadly never saw Asayo! I'm so bummed since Asayo was just a few minutes behind Marissa...I can't believe I missed her! In any case, congratulations folks! You all did a great job! I'm in such awe because I'm terrible at running and can't fathom the idea of doing a marathon or half-marathon. Here are some pictures I took this morning, and here are a few of Marissa and Matt!

Christmas tree -- lit up!

I went out today to Costco and Home Depot and got a bunch of white lights, then I came home and finally decorated the tree! Pretty simple with just a few ornaments but it's a good start! The only decorative ornament is the one I gave Matt last year to symbolize our first Christmas together...which I hope to continue as a tradition to symbolize each year. Here are some pictures!

Our first tree

Since we were around for Thanksgiving, I thought it'd be a good opportunity to finally hunker down and get a tree. After a bit of persuading, Matt agreed to getting a tree...and we didn't have to go very far---we just drove 5 minutes to the Dunshee House, picked up a 6' Noble Fir and brought it home! After much fussing around with getting it set up in a tree stand, we finally had it upright!I had some very basic decorations and threw a few lights on...but I'm not a fan of the multi-colored lights...so I'll spend tomorrow shopping around for some good tree decorations and go with a classic all-over white light. Otherwise, we're pretty happy with the tree---our first! I'll post more photos once I get it finally decorated.

Thanksgiving at the Sousas

By Thursday, my food poisoning symptoms were lightening up--I still felt pretty weak but I took a good shower, snagged a lunch nap, donned on some nice clothes and makeup (somehow dressing up always makes me feel better) and got the spirit to help Matt complete making our first ever home-made Thanksgiving dinner together in time for Jigna and Matt to arrive and enjoy it with us. The result was something we were proud of! We had taken out our fine china, set out the nice candlesticks on the table and laid out one moist turkey in addition to some delicious sides dishes. For Jigna, I experimented and made a Truffled Butternut Squash and Wild Mushroom Risotto---I heard it was good as it was a bit too complex for my stomach at the time. I also made classic mashed potatoes and a Green Beans with Sliced Shallots and Almonds dish. Matt made his favorite Portuguese Stuffing (with spicy chorizo) and totally owned the turkey. On a whim, we got inspired watching some episode of the Regis & Kelley show and ended up brining our turkey overnight with a concoction of apple juice, bourbon, brown sugar, peppercorn and water. We then put a nice rub of salt, pepper, paprika, sage, thyme, onion powder, olive oil...stuck it in the oven for about 3 hours and then we were done! Dinner went well and we were satisfied. Yay Turkey Day!

To add to the day, we all went over to the Shahani's for dessert to congratulate Kabir and Noreen on their engagement---woo hoo!

Food poisoning sucks.....

Ugh....shortly after lunch yesterday, I started feeling terrible. I ultimately left work a bit early, around 4pm, and ever since have been completely wiped out: food poisoning. I know it with the telltale signs of...well...signs that I'd rather not describe in this blog. I was up all night tossing and turning. Ugh. I really hope this goes away soon....

Meanwhile, I attended quite the monumental concert over the weekend----New Kids on the Block! I'll admit that they were the first concert I ever attended (I think in 7th grade?) and I jumped to buy tickets the minute I knew that they had reunited and were touring. So on Saturday, I along with 3 girlfriends (Suzanne, Amanda, Katie), headed down to the Tacoma Dome to scream our heads off like we were 13-yrs old again and it was a blast. The stadium was filled with a bunch of 30-something year old women...ha! I even wore the concert t-shirt that I bought in 7th grade (and I wasn't the only one wearing an old school t-shirt) Here are some video and pictures I took from the night....

One of my favorite moments from the Capitol Hill Obama Block Party.......

.....was when I started walking up Broadway to find Ajay in the crowd and Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'" started blasting from Neighbours. This got the crowd all riled up and it just put a smile to my face.

Obamania + Star Spangled Banner

Here are 2 videos I took last night:

Panorama of the crowd

Singing Star Spangled Banner

An election to celebrate

I can't believe the amount of celebration last night! I mean, I can believe it....but it's still incredible to me to see such passion and excitement from an ELECTION! As mentioned in my last post, I was at Kabir's to celebrate and watch McCain and Obama's speeches, waiting for Matt to get out of class and join us. When he was finally free, he called and was like "um..I'm not sure if I can leave our place". I was like "what do you mean?" Apparently, a "parade" of people was marching up on Pike St at the time, right in front of our building. I soon convinced a chunk of folks from Kabir's place to head over to Cap Hill to see where the party's at...and man, a LARGE crowd took over the corner of Pike & Broadway, only 2 blocks from where I live. Apparently, it was a convergence of 2 crowds: one that came up from downtown and another that came from northern Broadway. It was a controlled crowd of excited and happy people, waving flags, openly drinking beer, shooting fireworks, singing "The Star Spangled Banner" and "My Country Tis of Thee", and giving hugs for Obama hugs. Asayo took a number of great pictures with her phone which I'll post later when I get them, but here's a few from my phone....and the rest are courtesy of The Stranger:

Me & Sri with "Obama"

Matt and Ajay
Kabir and Noreen

GO OBAMA!

How can I not blog today? I just got home (7pm) after work and have been eagerly awaiting election results. About half an hour ago, it was announced that Obama took Ohio---woot woot!!! Suffice it to say, us Sousas voted for Obama this year. Matt went to the booths this morning while I cast my ballot last week via absentee ballot. I'll be heading over to Kabir's in an hour to watch the rest of the results with friends...and hopefully we'll be toasting in champagne shortly after. It is so exciting, if anything, to see the fervor for voting and for the election this year. I've never seen such excitement and it makes me so happy to see so many around me care so much. I was most excited to see that after many many weeks of talkin' to and lecturing about it, my boss decided to cast his vote for Obama as well (I will duly thank Greg for pushing on that).

As usual, I always find it interesting to see how different the results are per network. Here's how it is right now (7:07pm PST):

Obama	155	195	207	199	207	206	207
McCain	17	75	135	135	129	83	129

Although Kansas was naturally going to go McCain, it still makes me so happy to see that little bit of blue around Douglas County (go Lawrence!!)


Go Obama!!!

I'm still here....

Oh lord, I've been terrible at updating this blog. All right, time to get back into it. Meanwhile, gotta update you with stuff since my last post:

• Aaron's bouncing alarm clock story on Everyday Edisons concludes with the idea getting sold by Spencer's Gifts (I remember going there when I was a teeny bopper to get a lava lamp and all sorts of gimmicky gadgets). Congrats lil' bro! Here's a video of him finding this out:


• We went down to New Orleans to attend Paul and Teresa's wedding and had an awesome time. First time in the city and we really enjoyed our stay there. Here are our pictures from trip there as well as the wedding. Awesome weather, delicious food, great company, fun ghost and cemetery tours and an overall good time.
  
• We went on a hot air balloon ride for the first time also---it was a beautiful beautiful flight! Many thanks to Aaron who gave this to us a a wedding gift and it took us a good year or so to finally get on a succesful flight (we'd tried several times but wind conditions have to be *just* perfect). We experienced a gorgeous sunset and it was an overall pleasant experience. Here are our pictures from the experience.
  
• Matt got a G1 Phone and loves it. I know I know...how dare I since I'm a Windows Mobile employee?
• Saw Lang Lang in concert again at Benaroya...this time it was a Chopin concert. Again, brilliant. Just brilliant.
• Just last night, we went to a Haunted Corn Maze out at Maris Farms, about 45 min. south of Seattle. It's not really haunted, of course, but they've gone out and set up actors and traps and all sorts of fun stuff throughout the corn field. We had a great time--totally recommend it if you're looking for something fun to do in the area.
  
• Oh, and remember that trip up to Vancouver Island over Labor Day? Super fun hanging out with Matt and Asayo and the dogs. Matt S., Asayo and I went bungee jumping for the first time which was a thrill. Here's some good video of both me and Asayo doing our bungee jumps---whose scream sounds more scared?
  

Me


Asayo

And alas, the Fall is upon us, the leaves are changing and it's already nearly Halloween. I'm pretty excited about our plans this year---we're going to the Bonza Bash Masquerade Ball at EMP. Matt is going to go in classic masquerade (tux and mask) while I'm going to be an Asian Marie Antoinette! I'm getting a wig and everything! Should be fun as we join a good group of folks to attend.

Prototypes and Websites

Here's the most recent episode of Aaron on the show "Everyday Edisons" --- they now have a product name ("QuakeUp") and packaging....but the clock doesn't bounce at all yet...which is the whole point behind his idea. Hope to see more progress on the clock next week!

Ready for Labor Day

I'm pretty excited about Labor Day weekend this year. Once again, we're hanging out with Matt & Asayo and the dogs to go camping....and this time we're going up to Nanaimo, B.C. on Vancouver Island! Not only is it a camping trip but we're also going to go scuba diving off the coast where it's supposedly home to the second largest artificial reef in the world (guess they like blowing up ships off the coast and letting them sink). According to Jacques Costeau, as far as temperate diving goes, the shores of Nanaimo, B.C. is only second best to the Red Sea. Sounds awesome...I can't wait!

Goats in Seattle!

What a clever idea --- starting today, the city of Seattle hired Rent-a-Ruminant to help clear the vegetation, weeds and brush in this patch of land between the dog park at the base of Pike & Boren and I-5. Literally, goats in Capitol Hill! Instead of getting big gas guzzling weed whackers or mowers, they got goats! They will eat anything, go where machines can't go and are environmentally sound. I think it's fabulous...but I have to say, seeing 60 goats with the rush hour traffic of I-5 in the background is hilarious. Here are a few photos that I've found:


Courtesy of miss_villanelle

Courtesy of evil_robot_6

Courtesy of cleverclevergirl

Aaron on Everyday Edisons

As some of you may know, my little brother, Aaron, has made it on television again (previously was on "American Inventor")---this time on a PBS show, sponsored by the U.S. Patent Office, called "Everyday Edisons" which showcases the invention process and what it takes to go from idea to actual product on store shelves. He was one of 12 chosen to be featured in Season 2 (and note that all products from Season 1 contestants are now actual, retail products!). Again, he went with his anemone alarm clock which he designed sometime in college. Here are a few episodes that he's been on. I think there may be 1 more episode coming up this next week, which I'll post once that airs:

Show where he's introduced


"Ideation Creation" -- the beginning stage of the show's team working on his design


"Engineers Gone Wild" -- the design starts getting finalized



It's always exciting to see my little brother on TV---hope that the story ends with his clock being available on store shelves this Christmas!

Sunset Supper at the Market

We just got back from a fabulous event with Jessica & John that I can't believe I've never discovered until this year. I won an auction item last year to attend the Pike Place Market 13th Annual Sunset Supper at the Market. The event features food and beverages from 50+ restaurants, wineries, and breweries in the Seattle area---and all the proceeds go to the Market Foundation. Over 1,400 people showed up to the market and it was like a bacchanalia of delicious food. Here's a sampling of some of the food that was there:

Restaurant	Food Sampling
Canlis	All Natural Prime New York Steak with Soy-Madeira Glazed Mushrooms & Heirloom Tomato Vinaigrette
Sorrento Hotel	Anderson Ranch Lamb Chops, Northwest Bing Cherry Glaze
Kaspar's	Northwest Red Snapper Tacos with Corn Salsa
Cafe Campagne	Petit Burger D'Agneau--Grilled Lamb Burger with balsamic onions, roasted red peppers & aioli
Fish Club by Todd English	Lamb Tounge, Chickpea & Catelevetrano Olive Pimenton Smoked Heirloom Tomato Relish
Tango	Paella Mixta
Volterra	Bellini Gelle
Le Pichet	Chilled Summer Melon Soup garnished with melon rind pickle, smoked prawn & chive creme fraiche
10 Mercer	Warm Fig & Prosciutto Crostini
Chez Shea	Kobe Style Beef Salad with Arugula, Parmesan & Balsamic Vinaigrette
BOKA Kitchen	Peach Cobbler w/ginger creme fraiche & candied ginger
Andaluca	Gazpacho with Dungeness Crab
Purple Cafe	Champagne Watermelon Gazpacho with Feta & Mint
Serafina	Chilled Cauliflower & Leek Soup w/Salsa Verde
Palisade	Ceviche with Watermelon Salad
Troiani	Seared Ahi Tuna with Artichoke Heart Salad

I could go on and on. All food and beverages (there was Hoodsport Wine, Redhook Brewery beer, SKYY Vodka cocktails, all Starbucks beverages, etc.) were included in the ticket price. By the end of the night, we were so full we could barely stand. Here are a few iPhone pics that I took:

We definitely want to go next year -- talk about a wonderful sampling of some of the best restaurants in Seattle! It's totally worth it and you'll eat til your heart's content.

Another year goes by....

I turned 31 this year and had a pretty laid back celebration, inviting a few friends over for a birthday bbq on the rooftop. Thank goodness for the sun coming out last minute! Here are photos that I took. On my actual birthday, on Monday, Matt surprised me by taking me to dinner at Tilth, which was delicous. Tilth is located in Wallingford and specializes in using local, organic foods. I've only had brunch there and the dinner was equally as delicious. We happened to be there on an evening where there was a set menu featuring Alm Farms from Emerson, WA. The menu was:

Fennel Soup
fennel, breakfast radish, purslane

Purple Potato Salad
bacon, frisee, sous-vide duck egg

Skagit River Ranch Pasture Raised Goat
farro, sweet corn, goat milk

P, B & J
blackberry smoothie, almond butter, pain perdu

City Chase Recap

City Chase was a ton of fun! Matt and I spent 5 1/2 hours walking + running around the city, taking buses, and participating in all sorts of various challenges. About 130 teams of two participated and we finished #47 out of all of them....not bad considering that only 71 teams even finished in the allotted 6 hour timeframe. We will definitely do this next year and I'm actually hoping the challenges end up being harder.

The day started at Westlake Center and teams had to complete a scavenger hunt in the area before receiving our clue sheet. Some of the "items" we had to return with:

- Race shirts worn backwards
- Lipstick kiss on the cheek
- The number of bookstores featured in Seattle Weekly newspaper's "Guide to Good" this week
- Find out the number of Palm Centro smartphones sold in this last year
etc etc etc...

The event was sponsored by Seattle Works, Palm Centro smartphones and Advent X gym. The clue sheet contained 14 challenges and teams had to complete 10 of them in the allotted 6 hour timeframe and cross the finish line at Jillian's. We could only use our own feet or public transportation to get around. Teams could complete any 10 of the 14 challenges with one exception: there were 2 challenges where it was a requirement to complete at least one of them. The clues to the challenge locations themselves weren't too difficult, particularly if you were familiar with Seattle; otherwise, some of the clues would've required doing a bit of research. For example, one clue required knowing the location of the Seattle Works office (which I've been to) or knowing where "there is a library where all the books can only be read by touch" (I happened to know that the Braille Library is located across from Whole Foods). Anyhoo, without further ado, this is what we did in chronological order:

1. We were given an energy efficient lightbulb and told to exchange it for a regular lightbulb in a home or office, and then bring the old lightbulb to the Seattle Works office, which is in Queen Anne in front of Key Arena. So we walked over to 3rd Ave and grabbed a bus to Queen Anne, walked into an antique store and exchanged a lightbulb for a lamp. We then went to the office, dropped off the lightbulb as well as e-mail confirmation of raising at least $40 prior to the race (score!) -- 2 points achieved.
2. Our next challenge was at the Braille Library. We walked over to Denny Way and waited for the #8 bus to take us up the street. While waiting, a woman who'd been waiting at the bus stop for awhile came up to me distraught because a car had just come by and some guy whipped out, what looked like, a gun and shot a jujube at her. Yes--candy. What a strange start to our day. We made our way to the library and our challenge was a word puzzle. You know those puzzles you see where you see, say, a 20x30 grid of letters and there are words hidden with the letters that you have to find and circle? That's what we had to do --but it was all in braille! Fortunately, they supplied us with a braille dictionary but it was still tricky finding 10 words! (and one of them was upside down!) 1 point achieved.
3. We then walked over to REI and were handed two Palm Centro smartpones. Communicating via text message only, one team member had to go into REI to answer questions that were sent via SMS by the other team member standing outside, such as "what time is Backcamping 101?". Relatively easy challenge considering we were at REI. While we were there, I inflated 2 orange balloons to carry with us all day--if we crossed the finish line with them, then we'd be entered into some drawing. 1 point achieved.
4. Our next top was the Gage Academy of Art up on Capitol Hill on 10th Ave East. We decided to wait for the #8 bus to take us up to Broadway. From there, we hoofed it all the way over to Gage which is at the cross streets of 10th Ave East and Galer. We walked up to the 3rd floor of the academy into an art studio and....nude models! Our challenge was to sit for 15 minutes and sketch a nude model...of a dude Ha! Wish we kept our sketches. 1 point achieved.
5. Next up was Volunteer Park which was fortunately across the street and just up the hill it. This is where the Advent X trainer team was and the location of one of the more physically challenging challenges. An obstacle course was set up that involved us running back and forth, doing situp, pushups, burpees, etc. 1 point achieved.
6. All remaining challenges were back in the Pike Place market area so we went back to 10th Ave E and grabbed the #49 bus back downtown. We made our way over to the Campagne restaurant in the market and, again, were give a Palm Centro smartphone. This challenge involved taking pictures and videos of various things, including: you and 2 strangers doing the can can, 3 people drinking coffee, you and a stranger sharing some sort of food, you kissing a fish, etc etc. Pretty fun and required involving total strangers. 1 point achieved.
7. Next, we sauntered over to the City Fish Market where we were told to roll a die. Apparently, the number you rolled detemine what you had to eat: a "1" meant a swedish fish (darn!), and "2-6" meant any combination of salted herring or a whole, raw smelt. We fortunately got the herring (the smelt would've been tough) and we had to eat "2 shots of salted herring". I say "shots" because it was required to drink the liquid that came with it too. Ew! I shouldn't say "we" because this was a challenge that Matt made me do entirely on my own (no way was he going to eat fish). [sigh] The herring wasn't bad but it was insanely salty. I really felt it for the 15 minutes afterwards as I felt so nauseous. 1 point achieved.
8. After the Market, our next stop was Myrtle Edwards Beach Park. We didn't know of a bus over there so we just walked over....slowly since I was still feeling nauseous from the herring. Upon arriving at the beach, all we saw was a paint bucket and 2 helmets with bowls attached to the top. The challenge was to walk into the puget sound, fill the bowl attached to our helmets with water and fill the paint bucket with water until it was filled to the rim. Brrrr! Sounds crazy eh? Yeah, it was but we did it! 1 point achieved.

From there, we had to cross the finish line at Jillian's--and again, there wasn't a good bus to go there so we walked from Broad & Alaskan way to where Broad St. meets Westlake Ave and crossed the finish line at Jillian's! Woo hoo!

As I was running around the whole day, I didn't get a chance to take many photos, but here are a few that I did take.

Here are some more photos, courtesy of City Chase, that document the day of others doing the same challenges.

City Chase Bring it on!

Man, summer just flies by! Yes, I still need to post photos from Iceland (which I'm still working on so I can tell a nice story), but I have posted a few:

Album on Facebook -- this is a high level overview in 60 pictures of the entire trip (you don't need to be part of Facebook to access this link)

Landscapes - pretty photos

Food we ate -- from whale to puffin....

People & Experiences -- this is the album I'm still working on...but here, you can mainly see the photos of us and our traveling companions, Debbie & Saevar!

But anyhooo....what I'm really excited about is CITY CHASE USA! I just learned about this Amazing Race-type of event that is essentially an "urban race" around Seattle, involving challenges that are mental, physical, who-knows-what. The event itself is actually in 20 countries and many cities in the U.S. Matt and I are racing as "Team Moohaha" and so excited. The race is tomorrow and we have no idea what's in store for us. Here's a cool video to give you a sense of what this race is about.



We've prepared thus far with having camelbaks, prepping our cell phones and finding an "at home" contact to look things up for us on the computer (thanks Derrick!). Grr---it may rain tomorrow....Wish us luck!

Happy 1 Year

I just picked up our anniversary cake from Bonnie, even though our actual anniversary was 5 days ago....because we were out of town in Boston. Can't wait to eat it for dessert tonight! We are back now and I've got a TON of photos from Iceland and Boston. I'll post them up soon...but all's well and we loved our trip and had a ton of fun.

Since it's a ridiculously gorgeous day in Seattle today, we're going to attempt to go to Agua Verde and do some kayaking....

First 24 Hours in Iceland

Since arriving in Iceland, we met up with Debbie & Saevar, rented our car for the week and took off to head to Akranes, a fishing village about 30 min. outside of Reykjavik and Saevar's hometown. On our way, we stopped in Reykjavik as we were insanely hungry and stopped at the Bæjarins Betzu ("The Town's Best") hot dog stand for a hot dog. These famous dogs are made with Icelandic lamb and are reputable for being insanely good....and they certainly were. The meat was so delicious and the dogs were snappy. I've never had a hot dog like this---I have a feeling we'll be eating a lot of these while we are here.

We then made our way to Akranes, met up with Saevar's uncle's family for a quick 'hello' and then continued over to his cousin's apartment where we'll be staying for the next few days for some much needed rest after 2 red-eye flights in a row. After passing out for about 5 hours, we woke up, changed and headed over for a delicious meal at the Perlan Restaurant, this round dome atop a hill with a beautiful view of Reykjavik.

The food was delicious: salmon, prawn soup and lamb. When political or royal dignitaries visit Iceland, they are often greeted with a reception at this restaurant.

After dinner, we headed over to a large park where Björk was giving a free concert. We got a great spot near the front and I got some awesome photos:

Note that the majority of these photos were taken between 10pm and 11pm----that's how bright the light is here. Technically, the sun set somewhere between midnight and 1am...and even then, there was still a decent glow in the sky...bright enough that you would barely need to have your headlights on while driving. It is now 4am as I type this and the sun rose about an hour ago -- it's bright and sunny again. This is the most daylight I've ever experienced. Here's a photo of us stopping for some snacks at a gas station taken around 1:30am to give you a sense of what "nighttime" looks like during the summer

Anyway, I need to attempt to sleep now....