just laura

I has a meeting for work yesterday morning and scheduled it at a local coffee shop. (It’s hard enough to work on a holiday… figured coffee would be a good thing). After I got my cup of chai, the hipster barista boy called me darlin and said it’d be free for me. Unfortunately, I’d already paid the nice barista girl, so he said if I’d come back tomorrow morning he’d make me a better one for free. You see… I’m now starting to understand how people become addicted to the caffeine. Cute boys offer you free drinks and get you to keep coming back again and again and soon your dying and can’t work if you don’t get your daily coffee fix. It all makes sense to me now. :)

Tis the season for live music! Summer in Seattle is great for live music. Not only are there tons of festivals with live music, there’s also Summer Nights at the Pier. I’ve finally got the complete list of shows I’ll be attending and I’m quite excited!

* Gypsy Kings (so neat)

* Travis Tritt (getting in touch with my Southern roots)

* Cyndi Lauper (a childhood hero)

* Indigo Girls (I love them!)

* BB King (an American classic)

* and David Byrne (he’s so cool!).

If you’ll be at any of these shows, let me know and we can meet up! Anyone else going to other exciting shows this summer? I heard G-Love was coming to the Gorge at some point…

I’m heading out of town this morning for a conference in FL and then a cousin’s wedding in NC. Not sure when I’ll have access again, so hope everyone’s well! Take care!

Well… I finished the conference in Florida and am now in North Carolina to see family and attend my cousin T.Mox’s wedding. I’m still working on finding a decent internet connection, and when I do I’ll post some pics and blog a bit more.

Song stuck in my head: Listen

Breakfast: instant oatmeal.

Movies I watched on my plane trips this week: 50 First Dates and Under the Tuscan Sun

That’s it for now. Take care! :)

Last Wednesday I took off for a conference in Florida. I met tons of amazing individuals, made some exciting decisions and commitments, and know my mind will be reeling for a long time to come! One a more specific note… weather was hot and rainy most of the time, though we did manage some time on the beach, in the ocean, and in the hot tub.

The conference ended Sunday afternoon and I’m now in North Carolina for T.Mox’s and Kelly’s wedding! Yesterday was my first day back and I got to see tons of family already! Mom and I went to lunch with aunt Bobbie. We did dinner with Mom, Dad, uncle Terry, Grandpa, cousin Steph, and Jordyn (the first great grandkid who also happens to be the world’s cutest kid. It’s true… she’s even going to be featured on the cover of a parenting magazine next month). After dinner Kelly and T.Mox and lil Kenneth (Kelly’s son) all came over and hung out for a while. Not a bad first day back, eh? That’s just a small portion of the family and I expect to see many more before the wedding happens on Saturday. I also hope to find out more about some naked bike ride happening this Saturday. Anyone know anything about Asheville? Do share! Take care!

For Steven: I just posted pics of the new Seattle Library. :)

For everyone: Have you been there yet? What did you think? Love it? Hate it? Do share!

Grandpa has cable TV and tonight Mom, Dad, and I bonded over a stomach turning episode of The Human Canvas on The Learning Channel. Yikes. They had footage of branding, neck stretching, foot binding, BDSN, etc. They also had lots of footage of Erik (aka Lizardman), and I got to share my stories of when I spent some time with him in Houston (he was dating a college friend of mine and spent the night in my apartment). I’m sure Mom and Dad were quite impressed. :)

Tattooing and piercing are everywhere. There’s even a tattooed Barbie doll. Just when you thought the body modification fad had gone completely mainstream, a new “bleeding” edge is pushing the limits of this ancient art form. Get under the skin of this recent phenomenon and track down the most outrageous trends in “body mod” – from a Minneapolis group with outrageous facial tattoos to a secretive Japanese brotherhood of tattooers to people on society’s fringes who are engaging in branding, implanting and stretching.

In other (more family oriented news), today we made our first sight seeing trip in over 20 years… we went to the amazingly extravagant Biltmore Estate (owned by the Vanderbilt family). There are wineries, gardens, an inn, and a house that take up over 8,000 acres of land. “Four of the most fascinating acres at Biltmore Estate are all under one roof. America’s largest home boasts 250 rooms, 65 fireplaces, an indoor pool, bowling alley, priceless art and antiques.”

It’s a 2.2 million sq foot castle here in Asheville that was built back in the 1800s. It features 43 guest rooms and all kinds of crazy touches like a chess set from Napoleon and indoor plumbing (very uncommon back then). Was a fun day… reminds me of the chateaus I visited in France, the castle in Prague, and the palaces in India. Quite extravagant indeed.

Last night I stayed up till 3am chatting with my uncle Terry. He’s lived a full, crazy life and it’s always fun to talk and catch up. Today was spent helping decorate for the wedding reception, wandering around downtown Asheville, and hanging out at Grandpa’s pool with some of my youngest cousins (they’re about 13 years younger). The rehearsal dinner tonight was quite lovely and I’ll have to post some quotes later if I can remember any. My favorite was one of T-Mox’s uncles thanking him for bringing Kelly into the family and “improving the family’s gene pool!” Many, many funny speeches! Hope everyone is well. G’night!

Tonight was Kelly and T.Mox’s wedding and the event was quite lovely… as was the after party at the Tavern where the crowd was working on draining the second keg when I left a little bit ago. It was nice to hang out with all of my cousins and family… they’re all good folks and very fun. [I'll have to post pictures later this week]. Going to the wedding reminded me of the last wedding I went to in Seattle a few months ago where they had a rather, um, unique, cake. :) Kelly & Mox had a pretty cake with flowers and pearls… not quite the stack of books pictured above. Makes me wonder what other people’s ideal wedding cake would look like…

Two reasons why the tiny little Asheville airport is pretty cool:

1.

Free wi-fi (yep, I’m blogging from Gate 3)

2.

Used book store that operates on the honor system and benefits the public libraries (how cool is that?)

Cousin Steph and super cute daughter Jordyn

Did I ever mention that babies were the topic du jour all this spring? My cousin Steph and I were discussing parenting this week while I was in NC (see above). I also spent many days and nights thinking about the circle of life earlier this spring. Seems a bunch of my cousins are dating single moms, and seems that tons of my friends from TX and WA have gotten pregnant lately. Mary and Dale had their twins last fall and send adorable pictures on a regular basis. Chris and Alyssa are now expecting (congrats!), Janine and Chris are pregnant (yeah!) and moving back to Australia to have the baby (very sad news!), DeAnza just had her baby (total cutie), ex-boyfriend Chris and wife Aimee are due in August (wow), as are Cathy and Jeff (double wow!), and Erin’s decided to adopt (exciting!). Anyway, just thought I’d share. Congrats to all the new mommies and daddies to be. And no, I personally don’t plan to have any babies for years and years and years to come. :)

Dieter graduated with multiple college degrees this weekend, so send him your congrats! Yea Dieter! :)

Tonight’s Blogger Meetup at Ralph’s Grocery featured free wi-fi, lots of food choices, and lots of Bloggers. There were over 20 people there, a pretty good mix of “regulars” as well as newer people I just met for the first time. In attendance were:

Jake

Chas

Jeff – check Jeff’s site for mug shots of the group!

Samantha

Me

Myk

Dennis

Matias

Tara

Ryan

Anita

Rose

Eric

Ed (of the mysterious secret blogs)

Scott

Kelley

Justin

Justin, pt 2

Justin, pt 3

JP

Jerry

Stace

Clark

Jack

and a guest appearance by tyd.

All in all was a pretty chill, laid back way to spend a Wednesday night. Oh! And did I mention there was Tupperware involved? TYD dropped by to hand deliver Tupperware to all of the good little boys and girls of the world. Yes, my friends, while I admit I’m a bit envious of Stace’s butter huggers, I’m proud to officially be the owner of one lovely new Jello mold! Yeehaw!

My mom and her younger sister. Aww…

Then (1950-something)

Now

Kodak Jiffy 620, art deco, folding strut camera. Manufactured 1933-37. Twindar Periscopic Lens. Film size 620. Negative size 6x9cm. Handsome, eh? Guess I just need to find film somewhere (or learn to roll 120 film onto a 620 spool). Yea toys!

Btw… If anyone’s interested in joining me for the Solstice Parade on Saturday, let me know. I plan to head down around noon, bring a camera or two, and enjoy all of the people watching.