Flying High

Kelsey and I had been talking about taking some sort of aerial class forever.  I've never done anything quite like it and it seemed like such a fun and silly thing to do to celebrate my birthday, so we convinced Stacey to head down to Emerald City Trapeze with us last week for their Intro to Aerial class, having no idea what we were getting ourselves into.  After way too long of conditioning work {think burpees and crunches} we finally got to play on the silks hanging from the ceiling.  The one thing I learned? This is waaaaayyyyy harder than it looks - just to flip myself upside down took about 20 minutes of practice!  While we watched Crossfit Kelsey climb her way up to the top of the silks like a little monkey, Stacey and I alternated between laughing at ourselves hysterically and her taking pictures of me looking absolutely ridiculous.  It was probably one of the hardest things I've done {I could barely lift my arms for a week after}, but I had such a great time laughing with these ladies that I would almost consider doing it again. Almost :)

 needing lots of help to get into position

 ta-da!!!

Thanks for a fun birthday celebration, girls!!

xoxo,
stephanie marie

Summer at SAM

Last Thursday, Nicole and I headed down to the Olympic Sculpture Park for their Summer at SAM series, this time featuring the Pacific Northwest Ballet and other local dance companies all performing site specific work spread throughout the park.  I had heard about this at my yoga classes through the same program, and we had both separately thought it would be fun to check out on a beautiful Seattle summer day.  We clearly were not the only ones who had this thought.  When we showed up at the park a few minutes after the shows were scheduled to begin, we were greeted by thousands of other patrons clamoring to get a glimpse of these 5 free and original shows.  At first we tried to squeeze our way to the front of a few of them, but we soon realized we just needed to get to one super early, grab a spot, and wait.  The dancing was incredible, even if a few were a bit too modern for my taste {but I can still appreciate amazing dance!} and it was a fun way to experience the arts at a cool city event.  Had there been a few less people we may have enjoyed it a tad more :) but I'm glad I got out and enjoyed something fun this city has to offer that I wouldn't normally do.  And any time hanging out watching dance in the sunshine with a good friend will always be a great time :)

xoxo,
stephanie marie

24Ever

Ever since we found out that Ken Griffey Jr. was being inducted into baseball’s Hall of Fame and the Mariner’s were going to retire his number 24, Mom was adamant that she wanted to go to the game and watch the Safeco ceremony.  The tickets sold out in an instant last spring, but she kept talking about it, so right before her birthday I got us some tickets on StubHub so we could be there in person to witness this momentous occasion.  The stadium was packed – the lines to get in were sooooo long that we missed the giveaway, but we still got there in plenty of time to enjoy some dinner and a beer out on the concourse with a beautiful view of the city.  The ceremony before the game was awesome – most of the other Mariner Hall of Famers were in attendance, along with other notable Seattle sports stars, like Gary Payton and Steve Largent.  You could tell Griffey was overwhelmed with emotion, and his daughter unveiling his “24” plaque in Centerfield was a definite highlight {along with his impromptu phone call to Willie Mays}.  On top of the ceremony, the Mariners came from behind to win, starting an awesome winning streak!  It was a great way to celebrate my Mama’s birthday, and even better to know that the M’s may still have a shot at not being the worst this year :)

 

Hope you had a great Birthday Mom!

xoxo,

stephanie marie

{Introducing} Adelaide Joy

Yesterday morning I awoke to the best news, that little Adelaide Joy Hall had finally made her long-awaited debut into this world!  I couldn't wait to get my hands on this little angel, so Erika and I headed down to meet her just 12 hours after she was born.  Andy & Merith are already such amazing parents, and since I'm getting a lot of practice at this Auntie thing lately, I'm pretty sure this little lady and I are going to become instant buds :)  She's already slept soundly in my arms while we all chatted about how amazing she is, and I'm so glad this little miracle is finally here so I can snuggle her and love her and teach her all the important things in life :)  Congrats Andy & Merith - little Addie is the absolute best!!

xoxo,
stephanie marie

Training Camp

Since mom and I had so much fun at Training Camp last year, we decided we had to go again and bring dad along.  And since we had an extra ticket, Merith got to come too! {we made her promise she wouldn't have the baby while she was there...}.  We gathered bright and early at The Landing in Renton to be shuttled off to the VMAC, probably the most beautiful and picturesque training facility anywhere.  After obligatory pics with the SeaGals & Blitz, we headed up to the field.  This year, the guys were practicing on a field right in front of us, so we found a good spot on a {very} steep hill and camped out for the rest of the day.  It's so much fun to be right up close to the team while they're practicing - you see Pete running around throwing the ball like a little kid, the LOB laughing and joking with each other, the girlfriends and wives corralling their kids at the end of the field, and Paul Allen even made an appearance to check out this years team.  While the guys are working so hard, it's such a fun, laid back atmosphere, and you can tell they're so excited to be back out there doing what they love.  Those boys are looking good, and I have a feeling it's going to be another magical season :)  Go Hawks!!

 sherman stretching

 jimmy!  unfortunately he was on the sidelines when we went, but he was officially practicing yesterday!

 LOB

 russell leading the drills

 

 pete!

 baby's first game seahawks "game"

 the sunshine finally came out towards the end of the practice

 doesn't russell look pumped?!?!

 sherman signing autographs

 ciara and future playing on the field

xoxo,
stephanie marie

Birthday Happy Hour {Cinque Terre}

Monday night, since I haven't seen Zara in what feels like months, we met up for happy hour after work at Cinque Terre, a new hot restaurant right in between our respective offices.  This place has a great happy hour {just like it's sister restaurant, Barolo} and you can get a glass of delicious wine for less than $5 with italian bar food {think calamari, prosciutto with burrata, and fresh pizza} for half price.  We shared several glasses of wine and plates of food while catching up on the past month or so, and when I left to go to the ladies room, she surprised me by ordering the peach olive oil cake to celebrate my birthday - it even had a pretty gold candle for me to make a wish!  It was one of the sweetest surprises from my Barre bestie, and I love spending time with this girl that can have me rolling on the floor laughing.  I'm so glad she's back in town :)

xoxo,
stephanie marie