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Happy Days 62 and 63
I WILL reach 100 here. (I am not a quitter!) I think this is about when I stopped tagging pics on Instagram with #100happydays, but the hashtag or lack thereof doesn't really matter. Like I said when I began, it was the meditation on gratitude that made the project so appealing to me. And that sentiment is stronger than ever now, almost a year (!) later, reminiscing on the days just before and the weeks after I became a mommy as I finish up the project.

I believe the first pic was exactly a week before Ida arrived and the second two just a couple of days. It was the height of beautiful weather in Seattle, so it would have been criminal not to get out and enjoy even though by this time the stroll down the street and back left me huffing and puffing and ready for a bowl of ice cream.

Breakfast, Blooms and Dinner

Happy Day 61
At about three weeks before due date, we were really savoring the final weekends before parenthood. And by that I mean frantically trying to get everything ready for baby. But we did take some time for relaxation too. In the form of vanilla custard stuffed french toast topped with peaches to kick off this Sunday.

Then a trip to the farmers market for dahlias. I remember thinking this would be a perfect bouquet to have on the table when bringing a baby girl home, but seeing as how we weren't quite ready for her yet, glad she didn't pick up on those brain waves.

And to conclude the day, a lovely seasonal dinner on the patio.

Last Supper

Happy Day 60
One of our last nice dinners out before baby was a business one. Copperleaf Restaurant at Cedarbrook Lodge was the go-to for taking Greg's associates to during our time here. Just a couple minutes from Seatac, therefore very convenient to take out-of-towners to, it's tucked back in woods and feels a million miles away from the usual strip malls, chain hotels and so-so dining options that surround any major airport. The food is all regionally sourced, so it offers a taste of the PNW for those looking for an authentic Seattle dining experience. Knowing we weren't going to have many more chances at leisurely dining, we came a little early so we could sit in the bar and enjoy a little plate just the two and a 8/9 of us.

Atmospheric Conditions

(Happy Day 56)

being just so were the cause of this spectacular sunset. We see a lot of wonderful sunsets here in West Seattle, but I hadn't seen one like this before and haven't since. It was a little bittersweet as Greg was away on business that particular evening. Luckily the pictures do it some justice.

Own Backyard

Happy Day 52

After a trip to Pike Place on our friends' second day in town we wandered along the waterfront to Seattle Art Museum's Olympic Sculpture Park. One of the best parts of having visitors in a place like Seattle is being forced to be tourists ourselves and actually get out and see and do all the things we've not yet gotten around to.

Written On Stone

Happy Day 51
Our first visitors of the summer were friends from home (Illinois) who came over the Fourth of July. They arrived pretty early in the morning so we fed them and then took them straight to Lincoln Park here in West Seattle for some instant PNW gratification. Lincoln Park is right on the Sound with lots of nice wooded paths in addition to the walk along the beach. Down by the water someone had left this nice sentiment behind.

Date Night

Happy Day 49
Pizza in Seattle is bad. All but five places specialize in wood fired pizza and three of those five (estimates based on my own meticulous research) do some sort of kinda-New York style. Wood fired pizza in and of itself isn't bad, but being from the midwest, we desperately miss the deep dish and the thin and crispy and cut into little squares varieties. The remaining two pizza places here that don't do wood fired do deep dish, and one of those just didn't cut it for us. The other, Kylie's Chicago Pizza in the Fremont neighborhood is actually quite good. This was our first time trying it out and we've gone back whenever the opportunity has presented itself. Desperately wish it was located in West Seattle instead of up north (see previous post for reason).     

Besides discovering (in our humble opinion) the best pizza in Seattle, our evening also included a stroll under the Aurora Ave. Bridge to visit this guy,

the Fremont Troll.

Working Conditions

Happy Day 47
One thing I loved about my job in cultural resource management was NOT being chained to a desk in a dreary cubicle day in and day out. I got out in the field regularly, usually a construction site of some sort, but on this particular day the field consisted of the Central Seattle Public Library to conduct some research. I must say, the post-modern structure is pretty cool to behold inside and out. Though some of the earlier editions were definitely worthy of mourning the passing of. 
I am not working currently (that is, as an archaeologist). I am very much enjoying stay-at-home-mommyhood. Baby update coming up. 

Iconic

Happy Day 40
Downtown for some reason and got stuck at the light. Just appreciating this landmark.

Brunch Beauties

Happy Day 38
Sweet little table arrangement at our go-to brunch spot Fiddlehead. Love that they always have fresh flowers out.

Evening Stroll

(Happy Day 37)
pre-dinner, on Alki, way back when (June-ish). Just going to keep making my way through my very happy summer here. Someday I might catch up. :)

Food-Induced Happiness

(Happy Day 23)
it's a trend. This time a banh mi and rice soup from the Monkey Bridge in Ballard.
I dropped off with the Happy Day-ing for the last week and a half on Instagram, and obviously I haven't caught up here either. Not that there hasn't been subject matter, just no time to acknowledge it in any formal way. Which is kind of a bummer. I am ready for a slower pace for the next two months or so before it's all little one all the time!

A First

Happy Day 19 
I've been trying to convince Greg for 10 years that we deserve to celebrate Mum's and Dad's Days since becoming parents to one then another species of lovely, furry child. But he's never really bought it, despite the fact that I think I actually did give him a card or two over the years. But this year the burgeoning baby belly convinced him to celebrate and so we dubbed usual weekend brunch at our favorite, Fiddlehead here in West Sea, Mother's Day Brunch. And purportedly I have a gift of some sort coming. :)

Too. Many. Plants.

Happy Day 9
After work today I visited Swanson's Nursery up on Seattle's north side at Kelly of Botanique's recommendation for the diversity of choices on offer. Even though I was armed with the plant list she provided me post-cutting garden consult, and an idea of what areas of the garden I wanted to tackle next, I still ended up getting totally overwhelmed by the massive selection spread over such a massive area. And I didn't even venture out of the annuals and perennials into the trees and shrubs. So overwhelmed that I walked away totally empty handed! Planning to regroup, sharpen my focus even more, and try again next week. :)

Never Gets Old

Happy Day 8
Sunset over the Sound and Olympics from the lookout down the way (on aptly named Sunset Ave.)

Let Us Out

Happy Day 6

After being stuck inside working most of the day, a nice long walk through the neighborhood this evening, taking in the sunshine, scenery, and high spring.

West Seattle Garden Tour

Not exactly a seasonally appropriate subject, in fact as it's pretty much the opposite of the height of the growing season and smack in the middle of the holidays, it's not really timely at all. But as I'm trying to progress chronologically through my backlog of posts and thoughts of what to do garden-wise next year are already creeping into my mind, what the heck. It was still fun to look over shots from warmer days and dream.

Back in July we got tickets for the West Seattle Garden Tour. We saw a talk and arranging demonstration by Debra Prinzing, the queen of "slow flowers" and then made it around to a few of the gardens.

Beyond that, I guess the pictures speak for themselves.

Below are just down the street. Let the record state we scored the smallest house on the smallest lot in the neighborhood. We've been here just long enough I don't feel totally out of my element anymore. :)

Going to try to take some photos of our holiday decorations today and break with the chronological order to bring something that pertains more to December.