Briefing Book. by violet

There are times when my work life runs smack into my personal life. And I’m not talking about trying maintain some kind of balance between my work and life. I’m talking about when my work skills come in handy in my life outside the cube walls.

Part of my job has long been creating briefing books. These are intense documents that are designed to help traveling executives, typically while they go out and speak with media. They contain a detailed outline of the trip and serve as a guidebook.

I have been working on one such briefing for work and J.P. jokingly suggested that I create one for our upcoming trip. And so I took him up on it. I quickly realized that it’s WAY more fun to do research on a trip that you are actually taking.

So here’s how I spent my night tonight.

We might end up throwing the whole thing out once we get into town. But you know what? It’s been really fun putting the whole thing together.

Violet in Sofft Freeda Bootie – black, ankle booties 

the show. by orange

So you know that I really enjoy Greg Laswell - from here, here, here and here.  Well this weekend, Greg Laswell was at Tractor.  The night was fantastic.  He is one of those artists that sounds even better in person and interacts genuinely with the crowd the whole night.  The evening was filled with:

delicious burgers and sweet potato fries from King's Hardware in Ballard

lots of laughter

good friends

pomegranate 5 hour energy

and of course, amazing music

til next time greg.  thank you!!

In preparation. By violet

We leave for New York in a week. Next Thursday night, J.P. and I will be boarding a plane and heading to the Big Apple for a week’s worth of vacation.

We’ve been planning to trip of awhile but really only now are things coming together. And in preparation, I purchased a few items that I knew I would need.

J.P. seemed perplexed that I would buy anything before the trip. Wouldn’t I just want to get everything there?

Well, clearly, I am going to be doing a significant amount of shopping while there but there were a couple of things that I didn’t want arrive in the city without.

One, a good pair of walking sneakers

Since we plan on walking a lot during the trip, I didn’t want to ruin my feat. While I would love to wear a cute pair of flats or wedges, I just don’t think it’s possible. So I searched for a hip pair of sneakers that wouldn’t make me feel like a middle age tourist at Disney World.

These red Sauconys are just the thing. Plenty of padding and trekking and a bold color to make a fashion statement.

Two, a large cross-body purse

I wanted large in order to carry all the stuff you seem to need when you travel - maps, guidebooks, umbrella, scarf, bottle of water, possibly even a pair of flip flops for tired feet. And cross body so my shoulder didn’t give out carrying all those things. And also as a theft deterrent – harder to swipe off your shoulder or lift the wallet out of. I was looking for a color that would go with both black and brown.

This Sak purse fits all my requirements. The blue color will go with just about anything – and will look awesome with my new red sneakers. It’s big enough to get a bunch of stuff in without feeling like I’m running away from home. And the adjustable strap assures that I can go from touring to dinner. 

Now I just have to decide what else is going in my suitcase.  What else should I be sure and pack?  What do you never travel without?

Violet in Frye Campus 14L boots in Saddle Montana

take a bow release. by orange

As you all know...I heart Greg Laswell.  Well this weekend, he is going to be here in Seattle playing his tracks at Tractor.  And today...is the release of his new CD!

Besides being an amazing songwriter/artist - he is pretty funny too...check it out.

oldies, but goodies. by orange

I'm trying to learn to love my mac computer.  I have just not conquered learning how the mac operating system works and I like things that I'm used to - like the PC set up.  Not being able to right click ... kind of kills me.  When I post to orange violet via FireFox and then the post looks different the next day when I open up orange violet in explorer it makes my head hurt just a bit.

But alas, I've been opening up and using my MacBook more and more in the past week to go from just having a mac to actually using my mac.

One thing that I have enjoyed about my recent return to the Mac - is all of my photos stored on the machine.  I thought I'd share some of my favorites:

 portugal

our wine making gloves for the portugal trip

halloween a few years back - lesbian soccer moms

at my bachlorette party - I'm trying to get everyone to do the "Freddie" from Troop Beverly Hills

our little schnoodle Payton, right when we brought him home

From the Heartland. by violet

A couple of weeks ago, a small group of us went out to dinner at the new Heartland Café in west Seattle. As the name suggests, Heartland serves Midwestern comfort food. The menu lists things like biscuits and gravy and something called a Juicy Lucy burger which, turns out, is a burger stuffed with a molten core of American cheese. I guess it's a midwest thing. 

The décor matches the theme with rustic and down home feel.

I ordered a Wisconsin cheddar cheese soup with a side salad. The soup was creamy and had that hearty, rib-sticking feeling that you would expect from a place like this.

Most people went with burgers and who could blame them with choices like the Juicy Lucy which despite the warnings, Dan nearly burned his hand on the cheese core.

Eric went with the Sheboygan which had a butterflied brat, caramelized onions, sauerkraut and beer mustard.

Orange tried the Johnny Appleseed with bacon, apples, beer mustard, caramelized onions and cheddar.

I even tried a bite of the mac and cheese the Kenz ordered – think that’s what I will be getting next time.

Overall, a delicious spot, I’m especially excited to give it a try for breakfast. Cinnamon Roll French Toast? Count me in!

Violet in Seychelles Fiddle - distressed brown booties

book club...er...wine club. by orange

A few co-workers put together a book club.  Over time, this book club turned into about 10 min of discussing the book and about 2 hours of catching up and wine.  This last time we ventured to a new place in the Mt. Baker area of Seattle.  Flying Squirrel Pizza.  So this book club included 10 min of discussing Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah, some damn fine pizza and, of course, delicious wine.