Creative Blogger Award

It’s another cloudy, cool day in Arizona. It looks like we’ve finally decided to get with the program and adapt to the fall weather. I’ve got my pumpkin pie latte from Dutch Bros., a cinnamon spice candle lit and a plushy crocheted blanket. Everything is in order, and life feels perfectly peaceful.

I know, I know, it’s super basic of me to like pumpkin spice drinks. I don’t care. I genuinely love pumpkin and I will milk this season for all it’s worth.

So, the lovely Alanna over at Alanna Bakes nominated me for the Creative Blogger Award quite a while back (yay, thank you!). What sweet, creative and unique ideas you can find on her blog. Check out her Flowerpot Bread post here.

The rules of the Creative Blogger Award:

⭐️ Thank the blogger who nominated you and link to their page

⭐️ Share five facts about yourself

⭐️ Nominate up to 10 other bloggers and provide links to their pages

The Facts:

1. I love to draw cartoons. I used to get in trouble for not paying attention in class because I was doodling some weird comic strip.

2. I won an award at a film festival in California for a music video I made in high school with my best friend, Sarah. The director of the event had found my video through a student filmmakers’ site and asked if he could enter it into the competition. It was held like two days later, so I had no way to go, but I got the award in the mail!

3. I love all dogs with smushed faces. They make me go EEEEP!!! and generally melt into a giant puddle of love. They are so dang adorable. Here are some mega cute puppies for your enjoyment.

4. I love anime. I’m mostly interested in dramas with very character-driven stories. Clannad, Kanon, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood and Toradora! are a few of my favorites.

5. Mundane fact: I absolutely cannot go to sleep without a cup of water next to the bed and the sheets pulled over my shoulders. Just a weird thing I can’t get over.

My nominations for the Creative Blogger Award are as follows:

Natascha’s Palace

Smiling Notes

OUT OF THE WOODWORK

Jane’s Patisserie

Ariel’s Cute Blog

You are all amazing in your own ways. ❤

Sights, Tastes & Magic in Seattle (And How I Got Engaged to My Best Friend)

My trip to Seattle was perfect in every way. Side by side with Brayden, we dove into the world of the Emerald City.

We walked along Elliot Bay and the waterfront of the Puget Sound, tried every morsel that caught our interest at Pike Place and sipped coffee and hot chocolate with a gorgeous window view of the water. We learned about the history of Seattle: how someone spilled a can of highly flammable glue, causing the Great Seattle Fire of 1889 that destroyed an entire city and how the citizens of this lumber-industry town came together to rebuild it. We learned about the Native American tribes that inhabited this land before us and how the city of Seattle came to be named after the Duwamish chief, Seathl.

We tried foods like freshly caught king salmon, truffles (the most expensive food in the world), samosas, shots of pickle juice, Chinese medicinal tea, crumpets, clam chowder and salmon burgers. And of course, we couldn’t pass up a hot bowl of Beecher’s mac n’ cheese made with their famous flagship cheese.

At midnight, we stopped for a drink in Capitol Hill, a district teeming with an exuberant nightlife culture.

A ferry took us from the harbor of Seattle to Bainbridge Island, where we rode bikes up and down the winding slopes of the densely forested island, taking in the crispness of the open air and the vibrant autumn colors of sienna, gold, mahogany and deep red on the trees.

At the Seattle Center, we went on an otherworldly trip through the spellbinding glass art at the Chihuly Garden and Glass exhibit.

By the end of the trip we were exhausted, but we’d had the absolute time of our lives. Unaware of what was to happen next, Brayden led me to the pier where all of the boats sat nestled in the harbor, small flickering lights gently gleaming from within them. The lights of the city and the Seattle Great Wheel shone in the backdrop like twinkling stars. It was just the two of us, and in that moment, everything else seemed to stop.

It was here that Brayden pulled out a little box, got down on one knee and asked me to be with him forever. I said yes (would it have gone any other way?). I would say yes to him a million times. He is the love of my life. It still feels as though I’m in a dream sometimes. That’s the only way I can describe the feeling of the moment and the feeling I still have now. A beautiful, magical, unbelievable dream. I will never get over how amazing he is.

So, it’s quite safe to say that our trip was an amazing adventure. I learned so many new things, tried so many new foods, saw so many new sights and went from calling by boyfriend my boyfriend, to calling him my fiancé. 

Boats docked in Elliot Bay

Rachel the Pig

Pike Place Market

Freshly caught fish for sale

Pike Place

My favorite dork

Pioneer Square Totem Pole

Pioneer Square

Tribute to Chief Seathl

Locally grown vegetables and fruits at the market

Some awesome, jazzy musicians

The Gum Wall in Post Alley under Pike Place

A view of the city from the water

Bainbridge Island

Chihuly Garden and Glass