Tara and Bella

Hardcore

My friend, Lisa, and I are training for a half marathon over labor day.

The weekend we were camping, we were suppose to run 9 miles.

Since we're trying to stick to our training schedule...we planned out a 9 mile run.

We used gmaps-pedometer to plan out our little jaunt and decided we'd drive it the day before, just to be safe. Good thing we did. One of the "roads" wasn't really a road. Be modified our original run and were set to go, bright and early, Saturday morning.

I was a little nervous about running 9 miles with no phone, water or food. So I invested in this little running-fanny-pack. It did the trick. It takes a little getting use to, but I can appreciate the easy access to water and snacks.

Our run was a total of 8.6 miles. Yes, we skimped a little....but we were at 5600 ft of elevation and the first 3 miles had a 1000 ft gain. So we figured we were good enough.

Gross

It's pretty amazing how low our standards for cleanliness drop while camping.

I don't think I touched soap all weekend. At one point, I had dirt smeared above my eye - thanks to no one for pointing that out.

Here's a picture of our feet. So gross!

Really?

See the boys standing by the tree with Mochi? See the chairs all folded up?

Yeah.

It rained on us.

Wtf? Definitely didn't pack ANY rain gear.

It started literally 2 seconds after we started to make dinner. So I cooked dinner in the rain.

Luckily, it didn't last long and we remained relatively dry.

Here's the slightly rain soaked dinner. Tri-tip, potatoes, carrots and celery.

Not a camping dog

Shih tzus aren't typically touted as excellent camping/hiking dogs.

But that doesn't stop us!

For starters, we have a little "white" dog. I say "white" - because as soon as he gets out of the car, he turns brown and sometimes a little black.

The dirt adds amazing body to his fine hair.

He stole, Lisa's chair.

We later learned he was incubating something......

Marshmallows!!

Sunday morning, he was surveying his domain. Maybe he is a good camping dog after all.

Tyler makes fire

One of the best parts of camping is making a campfire. Lucky for us, there was tons of fire wood around our campsite. The boys decided to go on a little hunt, and Tyler came back with this "little" gem. It was about 8" in diameter and 6'+ long.

It was clearly too long for the fire pit. But that didn't stop them.

There were enough engineers and wannabe engineers in the group, that a plan was hatched.

3 boys + 2 trees + 1 fire log = - picture below -

The piece they broke off was probably 3-4 feet long.

But later that night, it made it into the fire.

Here's Tyler, surveying the fruits of his labor.

Party Boat

To change things up, we rented a party boat for a few hours.

We cruised around the lake and had lunch.

Tried jumping off the boat (I didn't, but others did). It wasn't a good idea, so then we stopped.

Mochi was helping us drive the boat. He used his tongue to navigate.

Camping - 2010

We headed to Pinecest Lake this weekend for some camping fun with some of our friends!

Here's Mochi, "helping" us put up the tent.

We walked to the lake and Mochi took a little swim - here he is, drying off.

"Swimming"

Our friend Timmy

Timmy has gotten better.

But then he forgets the microphone and has to start again.

Mom has also improved as the cameraman.

This is love

Nick was in New York until Tuesday night.

He flew out of OAK and back to SFO, so leaving a car was out of the question.

I said I'd pick him up - I was in Seattle so I hadn't seen him since Wednesday.

His flight got in at 11:10 PM.

And then he was delayed.

Until 12:35AM....so I really picked him up on Wednesday morning.

But I brought his little buddy (Moch) and he was very happy to see us. Albeit tired.

A lovely bit of trivia - it took Nick over 13 hours to get back to CA from NY. It took us less than 13 hours to get to Amsterdam a few years ago....that sucks.

Tale as old as time...

We had a girls night out in the city on Thursday.

Dinner out and a show! And what a show it was!

Beauty and the Beast - the musical! It was great. Outrageous costumes, great songs and good company.

A few funny moments:

One of the characters takes a swig from a flask and the little girl behind us asks her mom, "Mom, what is she drinking."

The little girl getting soooo excited when Belle comes out in her beautiful gown - and then proceeds to sing along with Mrs. Potts (we never meet Mr. Potts....funny).

Another interesting observation - the dress Belle wears for the big ballroom dance sequence is NOT the same as the one from the movie. The use the dress in parades at Disneyland, so they are perfectly capable of replicating it. Weird.

Get a closet, Southwest

So I was in Seattle to see the fam. But also to do some dress fittings.

The end result of the dress fittings was that I was taking the dress home with me to "wear around" before the wedding. Then, I'll take it back for a final fitting - right before. I assume it's to keep my from "freaking" out on the wedding day because it doesn't fit right or something like that. Whatever. I don't plan on freaking out....but who knows.

In any case. That meant I had to take it on the plane. Since it's going to have to be on a plane a few more times, I figured it was good practice.

I get on the plane and ask the "nice" flight attendant if there is anywhere I can hang it. He says, no, you can put it in the overhead bin." Really? Really? ugh. The flight attendant probably didn't believe me when I told him it was a wedding dress - they aren't typically fluorescent pink. Right?

So I folded it as nice as I could and put it in the overhead bin. Was it a little painful? Yes. Thankfully, it hasn't been pressed yet - since this is "practice time" (something I can pretty much promise I won't be doing). I pulled it out when I got home, no wrinkles. Thankfully the polyester/fleece mix remained wrinkle free.

In any case, it wouldn't kill Southwest to get a small closet....then again, it would only get used a few times a year when crazy soon-to-be brides need to take their dresses elsewhere.

I love birthdays!

Birthdays are fun.

I got this GIGANTIC box from Jody and Steve for my birthday. And everyone knows, the bigger the box, the cooler the gift.

But before we get to the gifts. Lets talk about the box. As a child, our family moved into a brand spankin' new house - one that had to be outfitted with brand new appliances (duh?). My sister and I played in those boxes forever! Better than toys.

So what better way to celebrate the gift, than play with the box. Nick and I are too big....so the natural victim would be Mochi. He wasn't super thrilled. He needed coaxing.

Chicken! He tried everything he could to get it out without getting in. He tried tipping the box over (smart dog). But then we held it (mean parents).

Then he gave in.

Victorious!

Back to the gift. Awesome square plates! Salad and dinner! The best part? The salad plates are the perfect size for lunch - sandwich, fruit and some veggies.

Thanks, Steve and Jody!

Marination

Did I mention I went to Seattle last week?

Anyways. Stace and I met my dad for lunch. Where? Think "gourmet roach coach." It's all the rage with foodies.

This specific "food cart" was named "Best Food Cart in American." I mean, with those kind of accolades, how could we resist?

We met it in SODO - its normal Friday hangout. Right outside Safeco field. My favorite stadium.

See the line? Legit.

And because we'd never had any before, we pretty much tried everything. Menu here. Basically it's like Hawaiian food with a twist. We had spam and kahlua pig sliders, some tacos with non traditional fillings and kimchi fried rice. Sooooo good!

If you live in Seattle, chase this cart down. Totally worth it. And it's not very expensive. Tacos are like $2 and the fried rice (which is pretty big) is $5 (most expensive thing on the menu.

Mad Skills

My sister has mad skills.

She writes the chalkboards for a restaurant in Seattle. And as you can see by the prices, it's not exactly a cheap place.

She had to go in and change the board last Saturday. So I tagged along. (In reality, she can't drive herself....so I had no choice. But it was still fun to see her in action.....so much patience).

Before

After. I actually had the Filet Caprese Salad and it was one of the best things I've ever eaten. Heirloom tomatoes, aged balsamic, mozzarella and a little filet.

Black Forest Cupcakes Take 2

After my run this morning, I headed to the grocery store to find the "cherries in light syrup."

Blast. all they had was cherry pie filling and tart cherries in water. My friend, Cath, sent me some useful info - so I got the cherry pie fillings and decided to also make my own from fresh cherries. More on that later.

The basic chocolate cupcake was pretty easy. Your typical cupcake - with some sour cream and buttermilk - which typically makes the cupcakes super moist.

Guess who's out of town? Yep, Nick! That means he didn't get to lick that FABULOUS-LY chocolate beater. I'm not one to eat cake batter, but this was delish!

The annoying part was dusting the cupcake tins with cocoa powder. Annoying. An I'm so cheap I don't want to waste any cocoa powder so I did each "hole" individually. Poured a little cocoa in, and then tapped it into a bowl, then moved on to the next one. It took way too long and I don't actually think it didn't anything.

So, I need to remember that pitting cherries is a HUGE pain in the a$$. It took my about half an hour to pit 1 lb. of cherries. They make a machine that does it for you....but I'm not about to spend money on something like that until I know I'm going to be making cherries-in-syrup more often.

Insert a few more hours and a few more ingredients. And there you have it. The final product. Pastry cream and chocolate ganache were added - as well as the cherries.

Still not sure if the pie filling or homemade is better. I actually like the pie filling. This means I'll never have to pit a cherry again!

Black Forest Cupcakes

So I'm making Black Forest Cupcakes for someone at work.

I went to my trusted Martha Stewart Cupcakes book and found the recipe.

It says "cherries in syrup."

I sent Nick to the store to acquire the necessary ingredients.

He came back with Marachino cherries (he also came back with fresh cherries - to his credit).

I'm pretty Marachino Cherries does not equal cherries in syrup.

HELP! If you've ever made black forest cupcakes, what kind of cherries should I buy?

Thanks,
b

What's going on here?

So a few months back we were "randomly" chosen to have our house evaluated. This meant that some contractors came in and cut HUGE homes in our walls to check out what was going on inside. There were a number of randomly chosen homes and the work was probably finished at least a few months ago.

The other night we were on our walk and we noticed one of the contractor's trucks in the development. The following conversation ensued:

B: Huh, XYZ contractor
N: Yeah, I thought maybe they were back to do more touch ups, but I think they've been done for awhile.
B: Weird, maybe one of them lives here.
N: Um....I think one of them may have a little something going on with one of the neighbors.

Oh Nick. He sees so much being home all day.

The Rack

This is an obvious filler post as I'm completely without things to write at the moment.

I'm currently sitting at my mom's computer in Bellevue. I'm home for the weekend. Why do I love coming home? Besides to see my family and enjoy the (currently beautiful) Seattle weather - The Rack! What's The Rack? It's the cheap version of Nordstrom. The stuff that didn't sell at Nordstrom or is from a previous season gets sent to the Rack. You can score an AWESOME deal - i.e. my fo snake skin, cole haans for more than 50% off. Score!

I use to get homecoming and prom dresses here and continue to shop for the latest and greatest. And it's like 15 minutes from my mom's house. Double score.

I hope to visit there soon. Sigh.

3 for 3....

...power bunts!

Today was the first game of the season and I am currently batting 1.000!

I take a full swing but it didn't go very far today...that's ok, the other team was slow. So I got on. Even an RBI.

How'd Nick do? 1 for 4.....but he DID get a homerun.

I think this is the first time I've ever had a better batting average. I should probably quit today.

Spam Musubi

When I stayed home sick, I thought spam musubi sounded good.

What is spam musubi? It's a Hawaiian snack made from spam, rice and nori (Seaweed).

1. Get a brick of spam....yum

2. Slice the spam into 8-10 pieces.

3. Saute the spam pieces in some teriyaki sauce. I like Yoshidas.

4. Take some sheets of nori and cut them in half.

5. You'll need a musubi form. We got our plastic form in Japantown for about $1. Put it on the nori. Like so.

6. Add some rice. About 0.5" worth.

7. Add the piece of spam.

8. Add a little more rice.

9. Remove the plastic form.

10. Wrap the nori around the rest of the rice. Tada! Good stuff! Nick's hooked.

Coolest (small) apartment ever

When I need a break at work, I read CNN.

The other day I was reading it and noticed an article for the "One Studio Apartment, 20 Rooms." WHAT?

So I had to read on.

This genius Chinese architect transformed his 350 square foot apartment into ~20 rooms. The catch? You can't use all 20 at the same time. It's a series of rolling walls. You move the tv wall out of the way and you're now in the kitchen.

For some reason CNN won't let me share the article on blogspot....so you'll have to follow the link. Watch the video, it's pretty cool. Makes you realize that we really don't need THAT much space.

Really Small Apartment

Creepy or Cool

So back in April, I posted about my Taylor Swift concert. One of the posts was about Kellie Pickler - former American Idol. I was never a fan when she was on Idol, but she had impressed me at the Taylor concert. So I blogged about it.

Fast forward to today.

I'm going over my google analytics numbers. Because I'm an engineer and if I can't attach a stat to it, it's not important. I took a look at the "Top Traffic Sources" and noticed that one of my referring sites is "kelliefans.com" - me, being stupid, automatically thinks it's a page for my friend Kellie - she's thin, tall and beautiful - why wouldn't she have a fan page dedicated to her.

So I visit the site. Nope. Not for my Kellie. It's for Kellie Pickler.

Now I'm curious. So I google kelliefans.com AND brynashley. Look what I found! Scroll to the 7th post, a little over half way down. Yep. That's my blog post. They gave me credit, and there were only good intentions. But still. Kinda weird. Right? I feel mildly violated. A little heads up would have been nice. That's all I'm saying.

Also ironic...the person that posted my blog is named "chriskelliefan." Remember my friend Kellie - the one I thought the webpage was for - she's married to chris. Woooo.

Best Birthday Ever?

Out of the 27 I've now had, this one ranks pretty high! Right up there with the Cabbage Patch birthday (2?), the white mountain bike birthday (8?), the surprise sweet 16 (16, duh) and the quarter century was pretty good as well.

It all started last Friday with a BBQ at our Simon and Karen's house. I was surprised by a homemade coconut and pecan cake by Lisa - she even piped "Happy Birthday Bryn" on the top!

On my actual birthday, August 6th - also known as the day the US dropped an A-Bomb on Hiroshima - we decided to go to the Toby Keith and Trace Adkins concert at Shoreline!

We "tailgated" before the concert. And by "tailgate", I mean "act like we're still in high school as we hide drinks from the police." Apparently you can't really do anything.....like have food or drink. We couldn't even have food on the ground...we had to have it on the "tailgate" - ironically. Anyways.....

We made some tailgating "friends" - a group of girls not wearing enough clothes that needed "help" getting their tailgate down. Apparently the white Ford Bronco had a sticky tailgate.

We went to the concert with Lisa, Sterling, Karen, Simon, Caresse and Tyler. Caresse is NOT a country fan. At all. But she's such a good friend that she came anyways! And I think she even enjoyed herself! It also helped that the entire concert was sponsored by Ford! Here is Nick and Caresse, posing in front of the American Ride truck! Yay Ford!

Caresse really wanted the full experience - plaid shirt and boots! We were twinsies!

Here's a portion of the group - I think the others were taking pictures, getting beer and or going to the bathroom.

Picture fun!

Instead of cake, Auntie Lisa made Caramel and Chocolate dipped Pretzels! INCREDIBLE!! She's already baked twice for me in the matter of 1 week! Such a great friend!

For not being much of a country fan, Caresse knew more Trace Adkins songs than I did. Here she is, "dancing" to one she recognized.

Later that night, a random family stopped right in front of us.....honestly.

You know it's a good night when your tongue turns pink from the cotton candy.

Thanks for a great birthday, guys!