Hillybilly paradise

I mean......why not?

Neti Pot

Thank you Neti pot for tonights giggles.
Oh....and it works too!

In case you are wondering how it is SUPPOSED to work, check out THIS tutorial video.

I heart NiJo Sushi and Grill (oh, and Seattle too)

Last Friday was glorious. Beautiful, sunny.....G-L-O-R-I-O-U-S. You hot weather folk can scoff now, but for us....it was perfect. Great day to wander into Seattle for a cash register. I know, random right? Well, I have been very stubborn about not spending a lot for one and lucky me, my weeks of patience (big deal for me) paid off . I scored a next to new cash register for just 30.00! Never you mind that I ended up parking 7 stories up in a parking garage farther than ones that would have been tons closer ( I didn't notice those). It was creepy, dark and I was in fear for my life that a rat would pop out. Don't worry......I survived and was able to take the below amazing shot of the water coming back from Seattle.
You may remember THIS post last month. Friends and I found this amazing restaurant "NiJo".
"Nijo"? You say? Yes....not NOBU like I posted. Darn those chinese/japanese/koreans? and their tough words.
Anyhoo...ever since that night, I have been hoping,dreaming,wanting,praying (well, not praying) of when I could get back there. It just so happened that I missed the 12:20? ferry and had to wait until the 1:10 which gave me 40 minutes to head straight over and even have time to greedily eat my nummies. First on the menu......fried banana. I am showing you the next photo because frankly.....
By the time I took my camera out....they were gone. I was so excited that I didn't even think about the bill until I opened the box. 16.00 for a sushi roll and seriously 4 bites of fried banana goodness. 8.00 for 4 bites! As I took each bite....I chewed as slowly as I could because no way will I ever pay that much again. Seriously though.....the best thing I have EVER tasted. Temple night when we all went, we were there so late that we got Happy Hour prices. 5- for each plate of food.
After this photo, I candidly licked the entire box.
The next, I took time to photograph while chewing the first piece. This roll is called "The Bainbridge Islander". Fresh salmon, shrimp, cucumber, spicy sauce...roe. etc.
Best sushi roll I have ever had.
Well, there you have it. Anyone ever in the downtown area after 10pm, check out their happy hour and please....get me a fried banana dessert!!

Update

Grandma Sandra came to visit around the time of my last posting. We had a great time as usual and headed into Seattle to get some retail items for the shop.

You'd think that living on an Island would make the kids "un" enamoured with the ferry system. Nope.

Here is my new home away from home. Not really, but I have frequented it few times in the last two weeks. Grands & Benedict.

I just love this shot. When I get into Seattle, I become giddy almost instantly. I love it THAT much.

On my last trip to G&B we were told that the below pizza joint in the SODO district has the BEST pizza in Seattle. It was okay.....not the best but the employees were RAD so we will for sure be going back.

They loved my little Mae.

Back to the shop. Chantal, my design guru has been my savior during this whole ordeal, showing up every day and helping me get my head straight.

In the midst of all this craziness, Nathan and his friends decided that my shop would be the best place to hold his sweet 14 party. Two boys, two girls, scary right? Naw, they are all the best of friends. The sweetest two girls you could ever meet. They opted to have Bryan (Nathans idol) come to play some tunes with them. He was a great chaperone while I went to the store to get goodies for the teens.

Seriously......how cute are these guys?

Happy Birthday to Nathan. So low maintenance this year. We gave in and bought him a cell phone. I dont even have one. Seriously though, I am already regretting this decision thanks to the constant phone calls and texting since LAST NIGHT. It was nearly taken away just hours ago due to his bratty disposition. Sorry Nate, but it's true.

And yet....here is my musical genius in all his glory. He is a good boy.

On to the sweet. Tonight was our bi monthly meeting with these amazing Achievement girls.

I just adore each one of them. They were so cute helping to fix up the shop tonight.

Mae and Nora looking up to these amazing sweet girls. It will be soon enough that they will be in their shoes.

Finally! The shop. It has really come a long ways thanks to Chantal. I am falling in love finally. It really isn't all roses opening up a store. I had NO idea the work behind it.

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Lovely

Beautiful and nearly done

That's all for now! Come on by and say hallo!

Shop progress and Vi's baby shower

Before up above......
And after.......below. Shane lowered the "counter" so that my office would feel more open. It looks great!

Nathan was in charge of painting my office. It wasn't until AFTER he left that we realized that he had used a different color of paint to touch up. Luckily we have the proof in this photo!
I took a break from the shop today to go to one of my best friends baby showers.
Vi and I were best friends in high school and still remain very close to this day. Her family owns two Thai restaurants here on the Island so we ate well today.
Vi's dear friend Suzanne threw the shower and I was in charge of games. We had a lot of fun. I even ran into some old classmates from middle school. It was just like old times.
Seriously.....Vi doesn't want me posting ANY photos of her because she thinks she is fat. HELLO, you are pregnant! Anyhow, I did tell the truth when I said I wouldn't post on facebook.
Beautiful mama.

The laughing is always at ME for something. This was for Suzanne trying to talk into my "bad" ear.

Grayson, Rach and I.
The gang, years (not telling how many) later.
Tu, Kk, Rach and Vi

Good times. The shop is looking great. I am so thankful for Sundays so that I can R-E-S-T.

T'was the night before leasing....

When Sandra (my godmother/second mom/big sister etc.) comes, she likes to get a hotel room here. This time she got a room with two queen sized bed in hopes of enticing me to stay the night with her and get a much needed good night sleep. Of course I didn't stay, that would involve me leaving my kids and you all know how I get about that. Anyhow, the plan was to get ALL the paperwork together, organized, and evaluated before signing the final lease on my shop today.
We (meaning she) got it all ready and we were able to soak in the hot tub for a little bit, eat at the buffet and enjoy each others company.
I have to stop and focus on Sandra as I write this. Since we first met when I was 12, we have always had this amazing friendship. She was that fun older spunky woman that understood everything I was going through as a teen and congratulated me on all of it! Here she is 22 years later and still in my life. Ready at the drop of a hat to drive the 4 hours it takes to get here, to pay upwards of 150.00 a night at hotels to help me look through my paperwork, get my business ready and have an arm around me the entire time to tell me how proud of me she is.
Today......this is my HAPPY!


PS- TODAY I am a store owner! I will be practically living at the store from today on (except Sundays), so if you ever want to come by and visit or take little Mae and Ry for a much needed walk, please please PLEASE feel free!

Happy Thoughts

First happy thought:
How much I love one of my best friends, Rachel. I feel so blessed to be able to live right where I grew up. So many familiar faces that have been through good times and bad with me. Rach and I have been the closest of friends since we were 13 years old. We have many many memories together. All silly and fun. I am so happy that she is on the Island and is a mommy to my sweetheart Grayson and is still in my life.
Second happy thought:
Today I met with the owner of our Bainbridge Blue Grass Festival for our walk through of the area. For those of you who do not know. Norm Johnson has been doing this festival for 6 years and it is his baby much like Indie Banditas is mine. I have tried to incorporate music into each one of my shows and I just haven't been able to put the energy into it like I would like to.
Cue Norm. From now on, Norm will handle the music. We had a moment today, standing in the rain at Battlepoint, looking at where the music festival will be which is next to where my bazaar will be. He put his arm around me and said..."my baby and your baby" and we got a little teary eyed. It is going to be amazing. Bluegrass bands from all over the West Coast and handmade art.

My third and very HAPPIEST are these amazing little women that are all mine for an hour every other week. What an amazing calling to get to teach these sweet girls what I know (or don't, but get to learn with them). Tonight we worked on babysitting bags to hold their informative but NONboring papers, fun toys and misc. to take on babysitting trips. These girls have the funniest sense of humors and I thank my lucky stars that I get to share their company.
Now, that's just three of my many many many happy's for today.

Team painting.....it should be a sport

I wish I would have taken photos of Gretchens new AMAZINGly fantastic new home. It is beyond huge and gorgeous. Some of us were able to make it out to help paint said ginormous home. It was a lot of fun thanks to Ralphs well stocked be it "anal" refridgerator full of diet cokes (all labels facing forward and perfectly placed) and Gretchens well stocked ipod full of good music.

We had fun painting the walls and each other. M painted an M on the back of my "I Love Football" tshirt freshly bought from Walmart for just this occasion. It made a perfect stamp afterwards.

This below shot would have been beautiful if I would have made sure that my flash was open.

Last attempt at a team photo. Go MK!

Next paint party.....my shop, Sat and Mon.