Keeping Up With the Allens

Fitness Training

Since Alex and I are going to be spending most of our summer home in Seattle, or at least in the Pacific Northwest, we are both “in training” for a summer fitness achievement. Staying active and being in shape is really important to both of us. It is definitely a motivator to have something to work towards, but in reality, I think we would both still remain active either way.

Alex is currently training for a bike ride from Seattle to Vancouver. It’s about 180 miles and he will ride over two days. Alex’s friend Nigel is also training for this same ride, so the two of them frequently ride home from work together or they’ll go out for longer rides on the weekend. The ride is in mid-July and he has been training for this for around 6 weeks or so.

May is Bike to Work month which has been a great excuse for Alex to get into a bike commuting schedule. His office is 19 miles away by bike and it’s a really nice distance to keep him in shape and to break up his longer rides with.

While Alex is training for a bike ride I am currently training for a half marathon. My race isn’t until mid-September, so I’ve got a little while longer than Alex does, but this week I am going to start focusing on my distances a little more than I have over the last few weeks.

Last weekend my running buddy and I had a really nice run down along Lake Washington. The road is closed to cars on Sundays in the spring and summer so it’s filled with bikes and runners. Jackson is a great running partner, though he still has a few things to learn. He will join me on 2-3 short runs each week, but as I ease into runs longer than 4 miles once a week, he’ll have to stay home.

{taking a quick dip in the lake after our run}

As a balance to this cardio it is becoming apparent that we really need to do yoga or Pilates. I won a gift certificate to a Pilates studio nearby, which I tested out last week and it felt great to get a good stretch!

I just signed up for ClassPass, which is basically a limited membership to most of the studios in Seattle – you can go to 3 classes per studio each month, but the total number of classes you can take is unlimited. The point of it is to get you to try out a bunch of new studios. I had seen a bunch of advertising on Facebook, but then a girl I work with spoke so highly of it last week I decided to give it a shot. Below is a screenshot of what it looks like to sign up for a class – you basically take a look at all of the studios in the Seattle area and pick a time and class and location that works best for you. SOLD!

Stay tuned for progress on how our training and rides/races go… We both use the app “Strava” to track our rides/runs, so that’s a great place to keep tabs on us and cheer us on 😉

Low-Key Seattle Weekend

One of our themes as of late has been to explore the wonderful city in which we live. This past weekend’s neighborhood of choice was Ballard. We very seldom make it to Ballard because it’s not easy for us to get to, but there is a lot that neighborhood has to offer.

{view looking out towards Golden Gardens on the Ballard waterfront}

After Alex ran a few errands on Saturday morning we headed over to Ballard to grab lunch, visit a furniture consignment shop and take a stroll on the beach at Golden Gardens.

{lunch at Porkchop & Co was delicious, albeit quite expensive for lunch}

{toes in the sand... ahhhh summer is almost here!} — {toes in the sand… ahhhh summer is almost here!}

The weather was spectacular all weekend. I just can’t get over how fortunate we have been to have had such a truly gorgeous spring here in Seattle. It has been really hard to remember that it is only the beginning of May because it sure feels more like July here.

{we've all but given up on our backyard until later this summer when we re-do it, so for the time being, it is Jackson's territory to do with as he pleases} — {we’ve all but given up on our backyard until later this summer when we re-do it, so for the time being, it is Jackson’s territory to do with as he pleases. we’re fine looking out above the grass as we sip our summer roses on the patio}

Aside from our day in Ballard we had a lot of time at home to enjoy the nice weather and get some things done around the house. We spent a lot of time enjoying our new Adirondack chairs, courtesy of Alex’s parents, and hanging out with Jackson and Henry. Of course on Saturday evening we found ourselves at Bottlehouse – we had to stop in for a nightcap after our dinner at the Madrona Alehouse.

{coffee on the porch is the best way to kick off a Saturday}

{WFP... working from porch} — {WFP… working from porch}

{first peonies of the season - so gorgeous!} — {first peonies of the season – so gorgeous!}

Wine Weekend Getaway

To celebrate our fourth anniversary, Alex and I headed east to Washington wine country this past weekend to enjoy a little getaway together. It’s a quick 2.5 hour drive over the mountains to Yakima, which is where Washington’s wine country begins. We have been to Yakima several times so we’re familiar with the lay of the land, but even so, we were looking forward to trying some new places.

Yakima is basically the gateway to Washington wine country. From Yakima to Walla Walla, which is right on the Washington/Oregon border, there are vineyards as far as the eye can see. Most people either go to Yakima or Walla Walla since they’re about 2 hours apart, but we were also turned on to a town in the middle of them both called Prosser, and it seems like that’s a town where you can stay and walk to more wineries.

There are a few tasting rooms right in the heart of Yakima but most of them are outside of the city. Our agenda had us going to Zillah, which is one of the next towns and about a 20 minute drive away.

We hired a driver to take us around to the different wineries. It goes without saying that it is the smart, safe choice, but it also makes it more relaxing to not have to worry about driving. Plus, Cindy knows what’s up and she’s well-connected within the wineries. We had hired her on a previous trip so it was nice to see her again and she definitely remembered us!

The weekend we set out for Yakima is apparently the busiest weekend all year – it’s the spring barrel tasting weekend in the whole area. We were really excited for the hoopla and to get back to Yakima.

Our first stop was Owen Roe Winery, which we had never been to before. This winery is quite substantial and was offering ten different tastings! Most wineries offer more like four or five. We weren’t super impressed with most of their wineries, but nonetheless, we had a great time checking out the vineyard and the view.

{two of the tastings were up this very steep hill...} — {two of the tastings were up this very steep hill…}

From there we went to J Bell Cellars, another new winery for us. We were very pleased with the wine at J Bell! They had a food truck set up there, so Alex got some ribs and beans {perfect pairing to wine, right?} while we enjoyed our first taste, which was my favorite of the day {riesling, surprisingly!}.

My second favorite of the day was actually their barrel tasting, which was a merlot. It was SO fantastic. I always think of barrel tastings as drinking wine prematurely, but this wine was ready to go now. It had been hanging out for 30 months and they’re letting it go for about 6 more months. I can’t even imagine what it’s going to be like then!

The third stop on our tasting tour was at Cultura, which is probably our favorite winery in existence. We are wine club members at Cultura and absolutely love, love, love, love, love their wines. There’s really nothing else to say, other than I ate a fantastic hot dog here, too.

Our final winery for the day was Dineen Vineyards, which we had also been to before. Dineen has one of the nicest properties and views of the valley. And they also know how to make a great wine! We enjoyed chatting with the winemaker and also the chef.

The day went by so fast. After our last winery stop it was time to head back to the hotel and actually get checked in. We hung out in our hotel room for a bit and then moseyed our way down the block to Cowiche Canyon, a new restaurant in Yakima. We loved this new spot! Yakima is not known for it’s food scene, but this restaurant could definitely change that. We were so impressed and had a fantastic dinner. We shared deviled eggs, a bahn mi sandwich and chicken tortilla soup. Kind of a random melange but neither of us was particularly hungry after eating ribs and a hot dog in the middle of the day.

We really had a fantastic day. It went by way too fast, but we got up early on Sunday, thanks to our east facing room, and hung out in our hotel room before heading out. There was still one more winery we wanted to visit, but we needed breakfast first. I found a quaint little B&B that allows outside guests to come for meals, so we headed to White House Cafe for a delicious breakfast. It’s a very kitschy spot but the food was awesome.

Naches {pronounced nah-cheese} Heights Vineyard has been high on our list of wineries to try for quite some time now, but it’s sort of off in its own area and it’s not that conveniently located, so it took us a while to get there. We made it happen this time, though, and boy were we glad we did. They were pouring at least 13 wines and we enjoyed just about every one of them, particularly the whites. The best part was that they are very reasonably priced.

After a weekend filled with wine and time to relax together it was time to head home. We had such a great time recharging the batteries and enjoying each other’s company. While we do our fair share of traveling it is quite rare for us to take trips just the two of us. Our fifth year of marriage will be a year where we focus on us and really make sure to take time out to travel together {just the two of us!}, enjoy date nights out and make our marriage and each other our top priority. We have a lot to look forward to this year!

Backyard Update

After nearly four weeks of trying to grow grass seed and rejuvenate our backyard it has become quite clear that the weeds and the mud have teamed up against us. We set out to join forces with the weeds and dominate over the mud and rehabilitate our backyard, but instead, the weeds really just took matters into their own hands and abandoned us by taking over the entire yard.

It certainly isn’t for lack of trying that we are fighting with the backyard again. The damp mud has just created a perfect breeding ground for the weeds to grow and they seem heartier than the new grass seed, which just isn’t taking off.

{Yesterday... it certainly looks better but the grass seed just isn't coming in as thick as it needs to and it's been four weeks. Also, the entire right half of the yard is 100% crabgrass.} — {Yesterday… it certainly looks better but the grass seed just isn’t coming in as thick as it needs to and it’s been four weeks. Also, the entire right half of the yard is 100% crabgrass. On a positive note, the plants in the retaining wall are growing really well and look pretty nice!}

Both Alex and I are extremely frustrated to be basically back to the drawing board again. If someone comes over and happens to have a cement truck full of extra cement I would happily allow them to dump it and spread it across our backyard right now.

In reality we are backtracking to instal a partial patio/walkway by way of pavers and small rocks so that we can minimize the area of our backyard that contains grass.We now fully understand why our neighbors loath grass, why one family literally blacktopped over their backyard, and why most people in our neighborhood have turned their entire yards into beautifully landscaped masterpieces to avoid grass. It is just that hard to maintain it in this dog loving, wet climate with clay soil.

{our intentions...} — {our intentions… I’d love to have some fun planters next to the house by that lovely ADT sign, and we could move our grill out to that area, too, and add a bar under the overhang of the house}

We’re ~~patiently~~ impatiently awaiting the call back from the landscaping company we liked the best to hear just how much this will set us back. Initially back in February we didn’t want to spend any more money on our backyard but we’ve reached the point where the weather has been so nice that we’ve been quite disappointed to not be able to go back there, plus we’re just so tired of dealing with it that we’re willing to compromise.

Here are some ideas we like:

{pavers with river rocks in between will hopefully become our new patio/walkway} — {pavers with river rocks in between will hopefully become our new patio/walkway – I’d like rocks between pavers that are bigger than the ones shown in this photo.}

Spring in the City

The weather in Seattle this past weekend was nothing short of amazing! The sun was out… the birds were chirping… it hit 70 yesterday… the flowers are blooming… leaves are really starting to emerge… I don’t think I have seen a cloud since Wednesday or Thursday of last week. It has really been a treat to live in Seattle this spring (which started in January). Well, except for the fact that we got gypped on our ski season.

Much like the weather, our weekend was fantastic. It always goes by too fast, but we really enjoyed it. Our Friday evening started out with a delicious glass of rose on the porch.

We made spontaneous plans with Patrick, Carrie, Ryan and Mary to meet up Friday evening for dinner and drinks, so after our glass of rose, we headed over to Phinney Ridge, which is the neighborhood that the Millers live in, to grab some dinner and catch up. We ended up settling at Cornuto for traditional wood fire Italian pizza which was excellent! From there we went across the street to a German bar called Prost where the group split a boot of beer.

Alex’s plans for a long bike ride on Saturday morning ended up changing, so instead of riding his bike around Lake Washington we went for a run with Jackson through the arboretum. I am “training” for a half marathon, which I’ll do in September with Ryan and Mary, but right now I am just working on running short distances a few times a week to build up a good base. My biggest challenge currently is figuring out Jackson’s capabilities and limitations and also mapping out routes. We live on top of a very steep hill, so it’s nice to have a good 3 mile route that doesn’t involve a very steep climb back up. I am still trying to find that one!

Saturday afternoon was spent taking care of some projects around the house. I cleaned out the bathroom cabinets, washed the shower curtain liners and scrubbed the grout in the shower. Dear heavens will someone please remind me when we renovate our bathroom {this fall/winter??} to not pick those impossible to clean half inch by half inch mosaic tiles?!?! Thank you. So, while I was scrubbing those half inch by half inch tiles with a toothbrush, Alex was organizing our storage room and hanging some stuff on the walls, along with touching up some paint and stain around the house.

It was great to get some stuff done, but we had a big night ahead of us too! Saturday evening we spent at a fundraiser for PAWS, which is a really neat organization that essentially rehabilitates domestic and wild animals and either sets them back out into their natural habitat or facilitates adoption of pets. The fundraiser was very elegant and it was really an evening focused around an auction. There was both a silent auction and a live auction. I had never been to a live auction before, so I was having a great time raising my paddle at completely inappropriate times, much to my husband’s disapproval. I did come away from the silent auction winning a Pilates gift certificate to a studio I had emailed just that day to try out, so now I’ve got myself a private lesson and 5 group classes! The event raised more than $500,000, so I’d say that was a success.

We left the fundraiser a little early to make it downtown to the Showbox to meet Ryan and Mary for the Lord Huron concert. We all really enjoyed the music, but {in Alex’s words} the mix was off, so we couldn’t really hear them sing. Kind of an important component to a concert, but at least the music was nice! It was too early to call it a night so after the show was done we headed down towards the water to our old stomping grounds, Zig Zag, which was a block from our old apartment, for a nightcap and a cheeseburger {did I mention the dinner at the event was vegan? I suppose that makes sense for an animal-supporting fundraiser…}.

20150419_051948467_iOS — {excuse the horrible quality photo, but check out my edgy new Stella & Dot necklace!}

Sunday morning came too early. I almost never drink cocktails or mixed drinks because liquor does not agree with me, but my one cocktail at the concert ended up being one too many, so unfortunately, I spent the better half of the morning sleeping that off. By noon I had rallied and was ready to go, thankfully!

We got a few things taken care of around the house then hopped in the car to head off to Alki Beach, which is over in the West Seattle neighborhood. I had never really spent any time on Alki Beach, but it is on Puget Sound in a more open part of the sound, not tucked into Elliott Bay like downtown is. It boasts excellent views of the Olympic mountains, absolutely fantastic sunsets and you can sit and watch the ferries go by. There’s a cute little beachy vibe down there with fun restaurants and a few shops and a legitimate beach.

Seattle is such an amazing city and I continue to be surprised by exploring new pockets of the city or stumbling upon new neighborhoods. It truly is a city of neighborhoods – each one diverse and unique in its own way. This weekend was a really fun “Seattle” weekend where we got out and hit a bunch of different parts of the city – we started on Friday night in NW Seattle in Phinney Ridge, then Saturday worked our way down into Fremont, then downtown, and Sunday in the SW part of town, West Seattle. It is my intention to continue exploring our great city this summer. There is still a lot that I haven’t seen before.

Anyway, after our walk along Alki {and stop in the doughnut shop} we headed up the hill to my cousin Chris and Heidi’s house to meet their new baby! I had been dying to meet him since he was born on Thursday last week, but Heidi had a rough recovery and needed to rest up. They arrived back home on Saturday and began welcoming visitors the next day. Baby Henry Paxton is just adorable. He has really dark hair and super soft peach fuzz on his little cheeks. He slept the entire time we were there and was just a gem. I am so excited to have a family baby in Seattle who I can watch grow up!

What an amazing weekend we had… now it’s Monday and time for me to go to work!

Four Years

Today Alex and I are celebrating our anniversary! Last year I let the cat out of the bag that we secretly got married a year before our wedding, so in case you missed the memo, this is our fourth anniversary. While our short time as Mr & Mrs Allen has been wonderful, this last year of marriage has been particularly fantastic and full of travel, adventures and a lot of fun.

As we are entering into our fifth year of marriage now I have to take a moment to count my blessings and realize just how fortunate Alex and I are. We are so lucky to have met each other so early in our lives, and by some miracle, to realize at 18 how great we had it. We are two pretty different people than we were as college freshmen when we met – it is remarkable that we’ve not only stayed together through many of life’s big transitions, but our relationship has found strength and much joy over the years.

To celebrate our fourth anniversary we are taking a little weekend getaway to Washington wine country. We will stay overnight and check out some new wineries we haven’t experienced yet.

I am really looking forward to what’s in store for us this year – we have a lot of wonderful things on the horizon. For now, I’ll just take a trip down memory lane and re-live the best day of our lives so far and recall the wonderful, incredible marriage we pride ourselves on having.

Bucket List

A few months ago Alex mentioned an acquaintance of his was working on accomplishing several items on his bucket list. That got me thinking about what I would put on my bucket list if I had one. I’m very blessed to live a life where I am able to have so many incredible experiences, but nonetheless, I love to travel, explore and savor in the good life. So, one day while sitting oceanside in Mexico I decided to start my very own bucket list. Here it is {in no particular order}:

Drive the California coast
Become conversationally fluent in Spanish
Run a half marathon
Build a house
Become a mother
See the Grand Canyon
Ski in the Alps
Go to Asia, particularly China, Thailand and Japan
Take a Powder Highway road trip
Adopt a child and/or become a foster parent
Visit Yosemite National Park and also see the Redwoods in California
Get Jackson certified as a therapy dog and take him to hospitals/nursing homes
Volunteer at a homeless shelter
Be publicly recognized for my contributions
Visit Australia and New Zealand
Celebrate my 50th wedding anniversary
Publish a book
Visit the countries where my ancestors came from {mainly Sweden and Germany, but also Scotland, Whales}
Go to South America, particularly Chile or Argentina
Own a vacation house in the mountains
Visit a castle
Perform a week of random acts of kindness and gratitude
Throw a dart on a map and travel to where it lands
Volunteer at an orphanage
Go to all 50 states {I’m only about halfway there!}
Visit Zion National Park and Bryce Canyon in Utah

Twenty Nine

29 is an age I keep hearing people say they experienced for around three to five years or until they come to terms with embracing their 30s. I can’t say I’m particularly excited to leave my 20s as they have been such fantastic years, but the same people who told me that they were 29 for a few years also say that their 30s and 40s were some of the best years of their lives.

I see this next year as a year to spend wrapping up this phase of my life and I expect when I hit my 30s that a lot of things may start to change. But for now, just my hair is changing as a result of last weekend’s haircut!

From 20 to 29 I have changed and grown up quite a bit! Though I would have never admitted it then, I was so young and naive in my early 20s, and probably still am – I was a college student living in a $350/month apartment with three girlfriends, driving my cute little Alero and traveling back and forth from Minnesota and Iowa between Student Union Board meetings, journalism classes and babysitting obligations.

{at 20 I met one of my lifelong best friends, Julie, and am so honored to be standing up with her as she gets married this fall!} — {at 20 I met one of my lifelong best friends, Julie, and am so honored to be standing up with her as she gets married this fall! I only wish we could see each other more often.}

Now at 29 I am a married homeowner who runs a non-profit organization while taking as much time to travel the world as much as I can while I can. That sounds a lot more glamorous than it really is. While I have been exceptionally fortunate, I have also suffered from my fair share of challenges, including lay-offs, foot-in-the-mouth syndrome, rejection, financial limitations, loss and a whole lot of life lessons. It goes without saying that I have grown up an enormous amount in the last 9 years, but still have some growing up to do.

When I hit my 30s I am expecting a new set of life lessons to learn, challenges and experiences to face, and with any hope, an overwhelming amount of joy. As I wrap up my 20s I would like to do so with as much grace and as few gray hairs as possible. I hope to continue to have a good sense of humor, challenge myself mentally and physically, not take myself too seriously, donate some of my time to doing great things for others, write my personal mission statement {per the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People} and work towards being the best me I can be.

{so grateful to have been turned onto Pilates by my friend Mary!}

I’d like to savor my free time, maintain being in the best shape I’ve ever been in, take at least one impromptu trip to somewhere we’ve never been, have an enviable ski season next year {as opposed to one no one would envy like this year was!} and finally, celebrate the end of my 20s and my 5th anniversary with a big trip just the two of us next spring.

If your 30s are better than your 20s, as people say, I can hardly imagine what I am in store for once I hit my next decade… Stay tuned!

Stitch Fix #4

As a birthday present to myself I ordered my fourth Stitch Fix. I have previously been happy with the service, where the company basically becomes your personal stylist and sends you five items based on your style profile and requests. I was really looking forward to this one to jazz up my spring wardrobe. Here’s what I got:

Bleached denim jacket
White lace flowy tank
Geo print maxi skirt

The stylist sent me this as an outfit, which I’ve never had them do before. Usually it’s individual pieces that they make other suggestions about. I think it’s a cute outfit, but it’s not really “me.”

This corally/peachy lace dress was the only thing in the “fix” that I thought really looked like my style. I do like this dress and will keep it. I think it’s great for a rehearsal dinner or a casual wedding or just during the day in the summer.

This is the lacy top on its own. I am not one who cares for flowy shirts like this, so I decided to send this one back.

With a different shirt I started to like this outfit a lot more. I have a lot of tops that would work well on their own with this skirt, plus a few jackets that I can mix and match to switch things up. This is the jacket that I was sent with my Stitch Fix.

Here is almost the same outfit with a denim jacket I already had! Not much of a difference. I am surprised I like the denim jacket – it’s been quite a while since I’ve donned mine – but since I’ve already got one, I don’t see the need to have two.

I also got sent a very basic necklace – it is a “silver” chain with a little one inch by 1/8 inch blob of metal. Totally not my style and just unnecessary for me. That’s going back too.

Overall, I was a little disappointed with this Stitch Fix. It didn’t seem like the stylist paid much attention to my style. I’m not a trendy girl and I really don’t care for most of the clothing trends right now, so I think that was overlooked. But, I’m happy to have the new skirt, which I would not have picked out on my own, and a new dress.

Weekend Parties & Projects

As the saying goes “work hard, play hard” – we definitely can succeed at both! This weekend was a nice mix of getting stuff done and having a good time. It was a gorgeous day on Friday {goodbye productivity during the workday… hello spring!} so we kicked off the weekend with burgers on the grill and an amazing wine, followed by a movie night.

{Henry cat enjoying the nice weather outside}

Saturday was our big project day of the weekend. Alex tackled the backyard and I spent the day scouring the kitchen.

{our lovely backyard complete with some new topsoil, tons of grass seed, a fair amount of weeds and some new plants up in the retaining wall}

Alex’s main project is re-seeding the backyard. He and the weeds are united in the fight against mud right now. I really hope the new grass is the winner of this battle.

{the heavily trafficked area right off the patio needs the most love... check out the fancy sprinkler!} — {the heavily trafficked area right off the patio needs the most love… check out the fancy sprinkler!}

~~Last spring~~ The last three springs you may recall we did basically the exact same thing we’re doing right now. I can only hope the outcome is more successful and long-term this time around. One thing that we are doing differently has to do with watering, which was our achilles heel last year. We get a bit lazy with watering and for some reason last spring it didn’t rain at all, so our grass seed didn’t come in strong. This year we’ve got a fancy sprinkler set up on a timer, so it automatically turns on and off twice a day. Hopefully that does the trick!

I was able to squeeze in a little time in the yard on Friday and did some weeding and also planted some new fun stuff in the containers we have on our front porch.

After Alex got the backyard squared away and I finished deep cleaning the kitchen we took an impromptu trip to Marymoor dog park since it was Jackson’s birthday. I think it’s safe to say he enjoyed the swim, walk and ball playing he got to do! We are extremely lucky to have such a magnificent dog park nearby.

The birthday celebrations continued on Sunday when we went out to Salty’s for brunch to celebrate my birthday and my friend Mary’s, as well. We had a great time and thoroughly stuffed ourselves.