Our cats.

Rowen and Margot.
[Blue point Siamese and Turkish Van, both females under 2 years old.]

brief update

The blog has been quiet for a while, but there should be plenty to come soon - we're getting married in a few weeks! On a boat! Then we're visiting the Olympic Peninsula (finally)!

Here are a few pictures including a couple of recent sunsets and a cat.

one more cat update for the weekend

Margot is a creative lounger, as I mentioned earlier. She was being extra cute again today in the office perch. Not to be outdone, Rowen had her own sleep-stylings going on in the lounge chair.













Lastly, we came back from the market today to witness this adorable scene through the window. We were originally worried the cats would only ever tolerate each other, so to watch them growing closer every day, rather quickly too, is fantastic and we are thrilled. We're so lucky to have two healthy, unique, lovely, affectionate cats. We are cat lottery winners.

Rainy Sunday at the Noble Fir, merging the cats

Last Sunday we went to Ballard and had a drink at our favorite bar, the Noble Fir. The Sunday Market was going on so it made for good people/dog watching.

The big news however is that our two cats are finally living together most of the (day)time. They chase each other a lot and get into occasional spats, but there is also mutual grooming happening, and they'll even share lounge space with Dustin on occasion. Margot loves to lay on and with Dustin in that chair, it is super cute. We keep them apart at night but hope to have full cat-merge in effect over the next week or two. So far so good!

Thanksgiving (Nerdsgiving) 2013

This Thanksgiving was very foggy, great weather for sitting around inside eating. We had our friends Brian and Pam over, for what we ultimately called Nerdsgiving -- we all cooked a bunch of food and had two separate rounds of eating interspersed with board games. I neglected to take many pictures once they were here (and none of them turned out very well), so here are a few of the prep Dustin and I were doing before they came over. Rowen was excited to watch us cooking for a while, then took a nap. Overall it was a great success.

November so far

Some photos from November so far.

Savoir-Faire Bag by Ferdinand's Supply Co

A local Ballard leather-working company, Ferdinand's Supply Co., has been a regular at the Ballard or Fremont Sunday Markets throughout the summer and I always visited their booth when we're there. They make some awesome leather goods and a few other interesting objects. We bought a coiled rope bowl from them at one point that currently lives on our coffee table as a catch-all for our various remotes and controllers. More importantly though, this little company makes spectacular bags out of domestically sourced leather that I have been admiring for months.

A few weeks ago, we were checking in at a favorite local shop called Velouria and found they had started carrying some Ferdinand's Supply Co items, including something called the "Savoir-Faire Bag." (Savior-faire: a French noun phrase that means being adaptable and adroit, knowing what to do in any situation.) I was immediately in love with the bag but hesitant to add to my already sizable bag herd. It had a black oiled leather body and vegetable tanned handles fixed with copper rivets. A hand-cut thin wood piece was used for structure at the base, and a small leather slip pocket was inside. Topping it all off, a stamp of Ferdinand's logo (a bull, naturally). I loved it because it was perfectly sized/proportioned, made of excellent materials, and basically looked like the pure essence of what a leather tote bag should be.

Well, this Friday Dustin surprised me with the very bag (grabbing it from Velouria), and I've been cavorting around with it ever since. The vegetable tanned handles should darken some and show an interesting patina over time, and the black oiled leather will repel water (good for Seattle!) and remain awesome looking for a lifetime. The leather is really thick and durable. This is definitely an 'heirloom' sort of thing and I'm really lucky to have it. I hope to run into the Ferdinand's people again soon at a local market or holiday show to let them know I'm savior-ing the faire now.













Rowen's pretty great too.

Rowen and boats

A recent walk around Lake Union, and a few more recent Rowen pictures.