Greetings from Worcester Center for Crafts

The weather is finally mostly clear, so I had a nice Friday -- did a bunch of computer stuff and some reading early in the day, then when Paul got home we went to Hot Night in the City, an arts festival at Worcester Center for Crafts, which had both stage and marching bands, food trucks, artist vendors (lots of stained glass and pottery) in tents outside, and craft demos and shopping in the center building. We got a bakery pretzel and I bought glass octopus earrings.

 

We came home and took a walk around the neighborhood now that the air is breathable, then came home and ate leftover pizza for dinner. Then we watched most of the Orioles win, followed by Apple TV Friday night: Sugar and Silo, both great. Now we're watching Heartstopper: Forever, the movie Netflix made to wrap up the series, which is sweet and melancholy and as with Good Omens I'm fine with nearly all the focus being on the characters from the main pairing.

Greetings from Desi

Wednesday was our 36th wedding anniversary, so Paul worked from home and we watched World Cup games and ate lunch together. I had a fairly social Wednesday otherwise -- chat with two of my high school friends after lunch, some Good Omens second season with Laurie and Cel plus the latter's husband who hadn't seen the episodes, and after Kremer led the Orioles to victory, we ordered Indian food from Desi for dinner, which was excellent. Paul drew me a KPop Demon Hunters-Good Omens crossover card, and I got a Kindle Colorsoft, which I've wanted for ages, and the second part of a Lord of the Rings game for which I already have the first.

 

We only saw part of the US World Cup victory so we could watch Enola Holmes 3, which I enjoyed, although it's more preachy-political than the first two and I really wanted to see Enola work more with Sherlock instead of him being the damsel in distress for her to rescue; also, I wanted to see Sherlock and Watson working together at least a little, though I'm always glad to see Enola working with her mom, and it's nice that her fiance is working with her even before he realizes he may have skin in the game this time. Now we're watching more season four Discovery, and sitting through this anomaly, I can't believe we complained about Voyager's anomalies of the week.

Greetings from Regal Bella Bottega

Most of my day was about Taylor Swift, which is a very good way to spend a day these days. I didn't stay up late to listen to The Life of a Showgirl when it started streaming -- I ordered the CD, but it hasn't arrived yet -- so I spent the morning doing little things on the computer while listening to it. Then we had lunch, I did a little reading, and in the early afternoon, we went into Redmond, where we stopped at World Market (where it's already Christmas, the Halloween stuff is on sale) before heading to the movie theater. 

The Official Release Party of a Showgirl is half a making-of video for the wonderful first music video from the album, "The Fate of Ophelia" (Taylor and I both love Shakespeare, Pre-Raphaelites, and old Hollywood, and all those things plus pirates are in this video, plus a loaf of bread Taylor baked that she's very proud of), and half the lyric videos for the rest of the songs introduced by Taylor; "Elizabeth Taylor" is my second favorite (I like them all on first listen except "Wood" because Travis's ego is already big enough). 

Only a few people had brought friendship bracelets to trade, so I only got three new ones, but Swifties are always lovely though we were the oldest people there even counting parents with their teens; the women next to us asked me if I had favorite song off the new album as soon as I sat down. Afterward, we went out for Yummy Pho and now I'm watching the Eras Tour movie. A closeup so you can see my Eras Tour guitar pick earrings, the hat I didn't end up wearing and purse I did, and the friendship bracelets I ended up with:

Greetings from Kirkland

Sunday was cooler and more overcast than Saturday, but all the rain happened overnight, so it ended up being a nice day to be out. After we ate lunch, we went to Kirkland, where the Mabon PNW Witches' Market was taking place, so we shopped around the Tarot readers and crystal sellers, plus we walked along the waterfront to see the boats and ducks in Lake Washington. We stopped in Fortunato to get cacao nibs for our acai bowls. It was also a Pokemon Community Day, so I caught a bunch of Flabébés -- including yellow, white, and orange shinies -- before we headed to Redmond Town Center, where we got drinks in Starbucks and I evolved them into Florges.

 

It was a busy sports day. We watched most of the Seahawks game in the morning since they were in Pittsburgh on East Coast time, while keeping tabs on the Ravens victory, occasionally checking in with the Orioles who did not have a good day, around a phone call with my parents and sister. We didn't see any of the Mariners game, but Cal Raleigh tied Mickey Mantle's record for homers in a season by a switch hitter with 54. This evening we switched between the Emmy Awards and the Falcons-Vikings game until too many people said stupid political things at the former. (I like Michael Penix Jr. but not Atlanta.) Now we're watching more Miss Scarlet.

Greetings from Marymoor

Quick post, we had a quiet morning watching sports and reading, then we went to Marymoor Park for Chomp Fest, the food and sustainability festival we went to last year. There's a section of local organizations with information about gardening, composting, fishing, and the like; a section of local young entrepreneurs, from whom I bought some beaded bracelets and admired Pokemon and Taylor Swift-themed crafts; a little section of baby farm animals including piglets and bunnies; a section of upcycled and crafty items; and a section of food trucks and a stage with local bands. We also took a walk on the river past the dog park.

We stopped at Safeway (well, I stopped in DSW and bought sparkly sneakers), then we came home, got organized, and went to meet Daniel for dinner at the Family Pancake House in Redmond (Cahaya, who's nearly finished with her MBA, had homework to do after they spent the afternoon fixing the fence for their dogs). He brought me a mom bracelet! So I'm very full of Swedish pancakes and eggs with hollandaise, and after a disappointing baseball evening (the Orioles and Mariners both lost), we're watching Poldark, which -- or maybe I should say whom -- I like less the longer I watch, as the writing gets soapier and more predictable every episode.

Greetings from Family Game Night

Another quick post tonight because Daniel just left after pizza, blueberry pie, and Wingspan. He had a stressful day, since Cahaya is in Chicago on business and he had to work while Thandi was being sedated for x-rays because she has a leg injury (it sounds like the x-rays were okay, but she's still uncomfortable because she doesn't understand "you have to take it easy for a few weeks" and keeps straining the original injury). 

So we had a nice evening hanging out with Daniel after watching Cal Raleigh win the Home Run Derby, with his dad pitching and his brother catching. It was otherwise a quiet Monday with laundry, computer work, and various chores. I finished reading By Any Other Name, whose Bassano-wrote-Shakespeare-era story, while not convincing, is much more enjoyable than its modern-era story. Some of the crafts at Redmond's Derby Days:

 

Greetings from Edmonds

Cahaya's mother has to work on Sunday, so we celebrated Mother's Day with her on Saturday instead, starting with a trip to Edmonds with what was supposed to be a quick stop at the beach, but we saw seals in Puget Sound and could hear sea lions by the marina, so we walked down to the boats where we saw a bunch of large sea lions hogging the docks and squabbling, blocking boaters from their boats! From there we went to the Edmonds Spring Fest off Main Street, where we looked at crafts and fancy food. 

Then we drove to Cahaya's parents' house, where we had all brought cheese, spreads, and meat (and fake meat) for a charcuterie board, plus rice krispie treats and brownies. We played Off Topic (I actually won!) and hung out with the dogs on the porch, where we watched birds in the trees. I tried on some of the dresses Cahaya's mother had considered and rejected to wear to their wedding, but none of them were quite right on me either. Daniel and Cahaya gave me the necklace I'm wearing in the later photos below: