DAY 1: Seattle, WA

Hey Folks,

Mom and I arrived in Seattle, WA around noon, picked up our FABULOUS cherry-red Mustang Convertible and met up with some of our favorite family friends, the Flora's. John, Brenda, and Sarah took us around downtown Seattle and Pike's Place market and then we returned to their beautiful home where we enjoyed a fantastic feast and the best coleslaw I've ever had! Kristen, Jason, and Ana joined us for dinner and it was great to catch up with them since I haven't seen them (and hadn't met Ana until then) in at least 10 years! It was great to spend time with some familiar faces before we embark on the rest of our trip. Here's some of the highlights from today:

A view of Mount Rainier from the plane

Our ride: Tabasco

Pike's Place Market

Beautiful bouquets everywhere!

The first Starbucks.... I wonder where the first Dunkin Donuts is....

Downtown Seattle

Mom with Brenda and John Flora

Two little hookers and their spicy car!

MOMMA'S NOTES

Great launch to our adventure, thank you fabulous Flora family.

I had forebodings at the car rental check in line. We hadn't seen a convertible in the lot. Eliza told me to think positive and sure enough, an almost brand new, red-hot car was pulled up for us, now dubbed Tabasco. The GPS we've renamed a few times but is now Queen Anne. A crazy pairing but then so are we.

Here's an update of how fabulous my summer has been. Being in Grad school has it's perks and I made sure to take full advantage of it!

Of course I begin my summer back East with a nice cold cup of essential liquid!

YAY Stonington!

Can't get sick of these sunsets!

The first time our family was together in Stonington in years!

A visit to the Mystic Aquarium

A beautiful sunset at the DuBois beach in the Boro

Nice catch huh?

Man I love NYC

The Alexander McQueen exhibit was the best show I've seen in years

Pineapple soaked vodka leads to successful and terrible pick-up lines

Jennifer's baby shower

Tobe's birthday party

A reunion with Moosie and Lexi

Marc's birthday in Misquamicut

Tubing down the Farmington River with Mumsy

A fabulous getaway in Forestport, NY with one of my favorite people, JoAnn

A few days with the world's greatest kids and my favorite Mom (besides my own)

Belgium Best friends reunion

Round 2

Hello again!

It's two years later and mom and I are finally finishing the last leg of our cross-country road trip - - - minus a few of the boring states, ie. IDAHO!

I have been spending this summer back on the East Coast in Stonington, CT with my family and my East Coast friends.

On August 24th, mom and I will be flying to Seattle, Washington where we will rent a car (a convertible to be more precise), stay with friends for the night and explore the pacific coast highway and end in Los Angeles to visit my Uncle, Aunt and Cousin.

This is just a brief introduction to the second round of the fun that will be happening!

am i in a fake land?

the mountains! my favorite flower...peony

hello all....this is claire.

i just got to bolder yesterday to visit miss eliza and let me tell you....i feel like i am in fake world. its almost like i am living in the truman show with jim carey.

let me explain. i am from the east coast and have never been to the west cost except to for a little trip to vegas. i am used to seeing really tall buildings and lots of traffic and not much green stuff. here all you see is everything in front of you and then BAM the rocky mountains. its pretty cool. i think it feels so different for me because everything just looks brand new.

everything is a superstore...target...DILLARDS...walmart..but all so nicely settled in alot of green. ohh and there are the cutest little bunnies running around everywhere.

tottles till tomorrow.
ck

My New Home

MY ROOM

YOUR ROOM

MY BATHROOM

ENJOYING SOME BUBBLY WITH MOM

Momma's additions: not sure I should call it an addition since I'm starting this entry while Eliza sleeps soundly in her new bedroom. I was up early with the light and birds chirping, looked out the guestroom window and saw masses of bunnies; came into the LR which is almost pulled together and caught a great view of the mountains before they became enshrouded with gray mist-laden clouds. 

We officially moved in yesterday, a BIG day with cable hook-up and furniture deliveries, unwrapping, unpacking and assembling much of furniture. We are pros now. The first dresser took 3+ hours, the second was finished in an hour. There are 3-4 items left to put together and 1 and 1/2 walls left to paint but today we are taking a break and going to Colorado Springs to visit an old friend from Brussels. All in all, we've had fantastic luck and a great time: good breaks and deals on furnishings and we are so in tune after this concentrated time together that we gravitate towards the same items without any "no, really, what are you thinking" choices. 15 years ago that was not at all the case when Eliza wanted to paint her room black and I still wanted  (probably) pink rosebuds. The apartment looks wonderful, all guests will be most comfortable. Two contacts have become friends and the guys living below are pretty agreeable. Eliza will be making them cookies before too long. But come one and all and keep my girl company while she looks for a job and settles in.