The Cerulean Queen (The Nine Realms #4) by Sarah Kozloff 5/5 StarsWhat a great ending to the Nine Realms series! After I found the first book, A Queen in Hiding, and thought it sounded like a great book, I was so excited to find out that there would be only four books in the series and that they would be coming out in consecutive months. This makes for such a great reading experience; you don’t have a whole year in…
A few days before Christmas 2019 we decided to join two friends of ours at Suncadia Resort, a snowy winter getaway about an hour and a half from Seattle. We had only been once several years before for a “team building” weekend for a job I previously had. We wanted to go back for a more positive experience and to spend a few days relaxing with our friends.The plan was to spend a half day at the spa getting massages…
Before we get too far into Spring I want to share pictures from a park in our neighborhood that is a treat to walk through in all seasons. These are from last fall when everything had died except for the moss and the mushrooms that had just started to show.
Last summer I discovered that the aquarium hosts days where beach naturalists are available in various parks throughout the season to answer questions and track what life they find. I went to one near my house (can you believe I live 15 minutes from this?!) and had the absolute best time. I wanted to volunteer to be a beach naturalist this summer but it happens to coincide with the third trimester of pregnancy for me; not a good fit. I…
Beneath a Ruthless Sun: A True Story of Violence, Race, and Justice Lost and Found by Gilbert King 3/5 StarsThe description of this book led me to believe that it was largely about one woman’s rape, but it seemed to be about everything but that. That crime was used to kick the book off, but then we learned about everyone and their cousin’s family history. Black, white, lawyers, out-of-town military, law enforcement: no one’s history was spared. There is an…
I feel like LA was the last major US city to cross off my list. It’s one that I’ve wanted to visit but hadn’t taken the time to make it a priority. It was pretty close to how I expected it to be; the trendier places were mostly nice to visit and everywhere else is pretty junky, except for skid row which we drove through after arriving early for our dinner reservation and wow. I’ve never imagined anything being that…
My first visit to Disneyland in California! I grew up in central Florida and have spent many, many days at Disney World. After spending four days in San Diego we spent two at Disney, one day for each park. One of the biggest differences between this park and both Disney World and Disneyland Paris is how expensive the hotels are. I know there are much cheaper ones right across the street but sometimes you just have to have the full…
San Diego Zoo I’ve wanted to go to San Diego since I was about 16 and was absolutely delighted when Joe told me I could join him for a conference there last November. It was actually a Christmas gift; four days in San Diego and a few more in Los Angeles, and a weekend at Disneyland. It was my first time in Southern California and I have to say, I get the appeal. Of San Diego at least, LA is…
Maine Boston I love, love, love New England. This was my second time visiting (we went for a friend’s wedding) and we split our time between New Hampshire, Maine, and Boston. Highlights include an L.L. Bean outlet, Portland Head Lighthouse, visiting Andover Bookstore (at the time of visiting it was the oldest bookstore in the U.S.), and tours at King’s Chapel and Old North Church in Boston. It was also the first trip where I shot in manual mode so…
For the last stop of our road trip, we stayed the night in Jackson, WY. We grabbed breakfast at Persephone, a French bakery, before driving to Grand Teton National Park. We walked about 30 minutes of the Jenny Lake Overlook Trail, hiked the first part of Lakeshore Trail at Colter Bay, and did a lot of driving. We happened along Snake River overlook where Ansel Adams took a photo. I did my best to get the same shot though obviously…