Friday Five - the Pacific Northwest Edition

My travels have been epic this month! So epic, in fact, that I haven't had enough time to sit down and handle email, let alone blog.

Today, that changes. Today, I update you on my life and travels. With pictures. :-)

1. At the end of February, I left Healdsburg and drove north to Eureka in Northern California. Why Eureka? a) it has an awesome name. (That was seriously and non-ironically a contributing factor.) b) Redwoods. There are parks with redwoods both north and south of the town, and I've wanted to see some redwoods since I was a kid.

And beaches!! You drive north, the highway curves, and suddenly the whole Pacific Oceans is spread out glittering below you. And you can stop and check out the pocket beaches like this.

2. Then, I drove north to Portland on March 2 on a wet and rainy night. I held out less than 24 hours before I drove downtown to visit Powell's and the main library. I doubt that surprises anyone.

This is the library. By sheer chance, I parked right across the street from it.

I also took advantage of a gloriously sunny Sunday and went to Washington Park.

3. A week later, my friend Arielle and her boyfriend Zack came out to visit me and see Portland.

She is the epic planner of all things vacation, and thus began the food tourism. It was too delicious for us to remember to take pictures, but I managed this one before I gobbled the rest of it down:

From the Pine State Biscuits.

SO tasty. Totally worth the long line.

Wine tourism at Oregon Wines on Broadway.

I was the designated driver.

Arielle also wanted to go to the Grotto, which was extremely cool, but slightly creepy on a gloomy, rainy day. I cite this photo as evidence:

This is the elevator, btw.

But it was also very pretty.

We also left Portland and saw some cool stuff:

The Oregon wine country!

Multnomah Falls!

NOTE: Visiting the Pacific Northwest has taught me to recognize 50+ shades of GREEN.

Then they went home. I had an extra day between dropping Arielle off at the airport and my Seattle plans.

4. On Wednesday, I drove north again. (Basically, the last couple weeks have been a springtime migration North, like a bird.) It was a rainy day all the way from Portland to Seattle - giant trucks throwing up spray on my tiny MINI Cooper, like someone throwing buckets of water on my windshield. Honestly, it was some of the hardest driving I've done on this trip. And you know what? I can't imagine how the settlers did it!! When my car slid a bit, my thought was this: how did people do this with a covered wagon??

But now I'm here, staying with my friend Maria. We worked together in New York, and then she came out to Seattle to work for Amazon. Her apartment is full of books - four bookcases and stacked up on the edges of the spare room. Obviously, she's my kind of girl.

This is what Seattle looked like at dinner this evening.

5. Despite my multiple visits to Powell's, I've only gotten a chance to finish one book this past week:

I read a lot of Katherine Applegate's Animorphs series as a kid, but I usually don't like books with animal characters. I actively avoid them, to be honest. But I heard too many glowing reviews about The One and Only Ivan, and I had to pick it up.

It was SO good! I inhaled it in one day. It's one of those books that breaks most of the rules about plot and pacing, but it sears itself into your heart. I definitely, DEFINITELY recommend it!

The Beach Adventure, Or An Excuse to Post Pretty Pictures

I had my very first Writer's Retreat about a week ago.

It was pretty awesome. I mean, it wasn't organized. I just wasn't getting enough writing done. Most of the current WIP takes place by the ocean, so I booked a few mid-week days at the Sunset Inn in Sunset Beach, NC. (There may have been a hint of OMG-I'm-so-sick-of-packing-I-might-scream, but we don't need to dwell.)

I drove down. I walked for hours on a very cold beach. I picked up seashells. I found a sand-dollar. Well, technically, I found three, but I broke one and gave another way. But this is cool, because the last whole one I found was alive and thus un-keepable. The people at the Inn were unbelievably nice (and I totally recommend going to anybody near the Carolinas). I wrote. I unsnarled some annoying plot problems.

Overall, it was pretty productive. I plan to make these writer retreats a regular happening.

Besides that, there really isn't much to say.

But I have pictures. Check it out:

This is what it looked like the first day.
It felt like you could just walk forever. But actually,
I just walked two hours. Accidentally.

The sanddollar I found! Plus, some other shells

Did I mention that I had my own porch?
It was a little too chilly to hang out there, though.

The porch had a really cool view of the island's marsh.

But on Wednesday, it was ridiculously foggy...

I almost got lost during my walk, but then I found the pier.


But when I drove a couple miles inland for dinner,
the sky looked like this. Veeery weird.

But Thursday, it looked like this.
Gorgeous, right?

In Case You're Curious...

During my last post, I actually didn't mention what I've actually been up to in the past three months.

So, in case you're curious, and without further ado, I...

• Got my author photo (Actually, it was a bunch of photos, and I haven't picked one yet. Wanna see one? Wanna? Look right! Honour Hiers took them. She's absolutely awesome.)
  
  
• Replaced all the software on my poor crashed comp. (I actually like the new Microsoft for Mac. I even set up Outlook, because I missed its calendar. Yes, I am a dork.)
  
  
• Started walking again (although less now since it got so freaking cold)
  
  
• I found Sarabeth’s jam at Sur La Table and have used up almost the entire jar. (If you are wondering why this is worth mentioning, you probably haven't ever had Sarabeth's jam. Go get some! Totally worth it!)
  
  
• I knitted and embroidered four Christmas gifts. I would be more specific, or maybe even post pictures as evidence, but some of my family members read this blog. - I don't want to spoil the surprise.
  
  
• Watched ALL of Avatar: The Last Airbender (so CUTE! I know everyone says this, but the series is much much better than the movie. Even if you've seen the movie, don't give up on the cartoon without watching a few episodes. )
  
  
• Reread EAS#1 and made a TON of revision notes
  
  
• Wrote a more detailed synopsis for EAS#2 for Jo (yaaaaaay! I actually don’t mind synopses so much. It’s more the timelines I set for myself.)
  
  
• Was sick – like SICK IN BED and totally out of it – for two weeks straight
  
  
• Sickly, I watched a ridiculous and random amount of films on my laptop, including all of the Harry Potter movies (I, uh, bought the box set at Target *whistles awkwardly in her fandom*) and Anne of Green Gables (Does anyone else remember this one? I loved it so much as a kid. It's the only time I ever had a crush on a dude named Gilbert.)
  
  
  
• Wrote and rewrote the beginning of EAS#2 at least six times. Sigh. Still not totally happy with it.
  
  
• Filed ALL of my receipts from the past 18 months (I think I also caught some sort of organizing bug right after my flu phase.)
  
  
• We did Thanksgiving, and I ate a ton of Turkey and took a four hour nap.
  
  
• Saw Harry Potter 7: Part I with Angela over Thanksgiving (OMG!! Did they really have to end it there????)
  
  
• Reread HP7 (Yes, after the movie. The order is important. I enjoy the movies so much more if I don’t read the book beforehand.)
  
  
• Actually, I only read 18 books.
  
  
• But I finally finished the FABLEHAVEN series, and OMG, they just kept getting more and more awesome.
  
  
• Visited my sister in Charleston for her birthday. (Actually, this was my first trip driving on the highway by MYSELF – at least outside of Montana.)
  
  
• Snuck in a half-hour trip to the beach on the way back from Charleston, where I had lots of epic EAS#2 thoughts.
  
  
• Did the dreaded Christmas shopping. (I even braved the mall...)
  
  
• Went to my high school and told my advisor (ie. homeroom teacher) that I’m gonna be published. *grins* He was excited. (And now you know what I looked like the day I graduated from high school....about the same, actually. I wonder if Waps minds that I put his picture on this blog. Hmmmm. I will have to ask him when I see him in January.)
  
  
• Wrote some Christmas cards. (Before Christmas even!)
  
  
• Sent some Christmas packages with the cards. (Also before Christmas! I'm totally on a roll this year.)
  
  
• Helped my mom and dad put on a company party for 30+ people (Except for the meat plates, Mom and I made all the food. I swear, my arms are STILL sore from mashing those potatoes. In fact, we may still have some of those mashed potatoes.)
  
  
• Relocated to Montana for Christmas and New Year's, which is where I am now. I am aiming to write as much as possible (Hmmmmmm. So far it's working pretty well, I'd say) AND to reach my goal of reading 100 books this year (two more to go!).
  

Adventures in Homecoming

DISCLAIMER: Skip this entry if you're a neat freak, or if you're going to judge me forever for being incredibly messy.

After being back in Charlotte for a week, I've realized one important thing: Dude, home doesn't change.

My room is exactly how I left it, and that isn't a good thing.

Exhibit A:

(The ones under the desk are full of books, btw.)

These are all the boxes I failed to unpack, because I was sure that my move to California would be incredibly, incredibly soon. It wasn't until I walked into my room that I remembered that I had originally planned to head out late January or early February. (Hmm. How plans change.) No wonder my mom asked me about moving whenever I called home - she was tired of looking at the boxes.

The random nature of my closet also astounded me.

Exhibit B:

The second clear drawer is where I keep all my journals.
That pink one in the front I started in third grade. There are four entries.

This is where I keep all my early writing memorabilia. Back in college, I got in an organizing mood and filed all the writerly stuff dating back 10+ years - in rough chronological order. (Not every notebook is completely filled.) It was a good idea at the time, but then I started just pulling stuff out and shoving stuff back in.

I suppose, it could use some organizing again. Maybe next week.

Exhibit C:


In my shoe bin, I found this unfamiliar bouquet and stared at it for ten minutes, wondering where it had come from. (Did I take flowers to prom? Had I got married and forgotten about it?)

Answer: Debutante bouquet - it looks suspiciously like my sister's.

So, I have some cleaning up to do around here.

But it is going to have to wait until Monday. I am off this evening for a mother-daughter, long weekend trip to the BEACH!!!! This is part a late Mother's Day excursion and part a reward for finally getting back down to one project on my to-do list (until I get notes from people, I mean). I'm bringing four books and no work.

It will be AWESOME. :-D!