Yesterday was beautiful outside.
It was the quintessential day of all summer days. Ever.

Bright blue sky, a gentle cool breeze off the water, zero humidity, every flower in full bloom, the sun providing enough warmth to keep you comfortable and sun-kissed in a tank top and shorts without breaking a sweat, yet if you do decide to climb a giant Seattle hill for entertainment, the shade provides the perfect spot to recover, cool down, and restore your body temperature.

Hit repeat for ten more days and there's our future forecast. Rain is nowhere to be seen.

Seattle Summer really does arrive July 5th.

And this weather has me thinking in short lists because I can't wait to get back out and enjoy the sun!  So here are ten things we've been up to since Seattle summer started.

1) A Surprise Massage
After two long weeks of evenings packing and moving our belongings to a storage unit, we were beat. Saturday, Mark surprised me with a 1 hour massage at a local spot in West Seattle. He arranged everything, down to having my Starbucks drink ready for me when the massage was over. He's a good man. And the best part? Insurance pays for most of it. SCORE.

2) Pirates Landing
Last year we volunteered our time to work at the Hi-Yu Summer Festival promotional table at Pirate's Landing where the pirates traditionally take over the city of Seattle each summer. We had such a blast watching the pirates land on shore at Alki that we had to volunteer again this year, and it definitely did not disappoint.

We spent most of the day selling water and buttons and watching the crazy come out in Seattle.

SO MANY PIRATES.

There was a costume contest, a live band, lots of yummy food, and, get this--pole vaulting. It appeared to be athletes from the local high school competing on the beach and it drew quite a crowd.

I nabbed a few handfuls of free LARBARs. I love the sample size because they are only 100 calories. Which is better than the normal 220 calories in a full size one. Even though they are all natural and made from simple ingredients, they are still full of sugar and fat. Bite size helps with portion control.

4) Interior Decorating
I found a new-to-me website that I'm in love with. Houzz.com is a home design website and I've been scrolling through thousands of pictures and adding my favorites to my ideabook (think boards in Pinterest) and saving them to show Mark later. You can also pin them to Pinterest, and I may do that eventually. Seriously though, this website has been such a godsend because I did not inherit the color and design gene from my mother and I really struggle to know what looks good, what's trendy, what's classic, and what I actually like.


5) Chasing Ferries
Well, not really. But Lincoln Park is just across the street from the house we're currently living at, and I've been taking full advantage of the nature trails and waterfront running path.



6) Riding Ferries
Mom is watching our cats for the month of transition and we had an emergency situation pop up on Friday that prompted us to head straight to her house after work. Mark had already pulled a long day and took the 45 minute ride as an opportunity to lay down and close his eyes. I love riding the ferry, even after all these years. It's just so...Seattle.

7) Searching for Cats
That emergency was that my mom accidentally lost Achilles, our male cat! She actually lost him on the 4th of July but neglected to tell us he was missing for nearly two days!! We had a little heated discussion about that one, and its safe to say we are all on the same babysitting terms right now. But the best news is that once we arrived we headed to her back yard and started hollering his name in the voice he knows, and within my first holler, I heard him echo back from deep in the blackberry bushes. I continued to call his name, and he continued to call out to me. His voice became louder and louder and finally he emerged!!! We we seriously so relieved and thankful that he was not only in one piece, but he didn't have a scratch on him. There are some big raccoons and coyotes out in her neck of the woods! But God protected even him for two whole nights.

8) Eating mainly while at work
I'm a lover of all things kitchen, but sharing a house that is not ours has left me not having quite as much cupboard and fridge space as I'm used to in the kitchen. So Mark and I both moved our breakfast, snack and lunch foods over to the fridges at our work offices at the beginning of each week and we've been able to adapt to the shared kitchen for just dinners in the house. We weren't asked to do this, but doing so has turned out to be a great idea. And anyway, it's only a few weeks until we move into our new place and this seemed like the most logical plan for us at this time.

9) Urban Hike
Today Mark and I set out to enjoy the gorgeous weather I mentioned above and did a five mile stroll (2.5 one way) to our new house and investigated the yard a bit more. I think we decided where we want the garden and chicken coop to go. We're just a few steps ahead of ourselves but its so FUN to plan our new home! We sat on the front steps for a while, anxiously chatting about the things we want to do to the yard before heading back to our current home. I love dreaming with him.

10) Last, but not least, we slept.
We did a whole BUNCH of sleeping. I could probably sleep all day if I had black out curtains. I honestly look forward to bedtime and I'm quite a stickler about getting to bed at a decent hour. Clearly I'm no longer 21.

A busy weekend warrants extra sleep. I think I'm recharged enough to get back to work this upcoming week, and it will be a busy one!