Tea Anyone?

Last week my friend Taylor and I went to the Trellis Restaurant in Kirkland for lunch. This restaurant is located just down the street from my job and I have been excited to test it out for quite some time. I'm usually not a tea drinker. To be honest I'm kind of a water girl but I wasn't feeling too well and when the waitress offered their tea service I decided to give it a shot. I had a white Orchid tea that had hints of peaches. It smelled and tasted delish. Since that day I've been thinking of how much fun it would be to go to High Tea.

I've been to the Fairmont Olympic Hotel's Georgia Tea with my mom quite a few times and it is always a nice time. I remember when I was younger I going to the Four Season's High Tea with my friend Ashley and her mom. It always was really fun and felt special especially during Christmas time.

Hmm.... maybe I'll start planning a tea party!

images: Bing Images

Blog Inspiration

A few of my blogger friends have been inspiring me have a little more fun with my blog. My friend Miss Carol at Every Day Delights has such a cute blog and has introduced me to other fabulous blogs. She's like the Queen Bee of blogs and I'm just waiting for the day she becomes a Blog of Note.

I also have two new favorite blogs that I was introduced to from Miss Carol. The first one belongs to my friend Brynn. She's super stylish and chatty and just made her blog debut at the Simple, Sweet, and Silly Sophisticate. The other blog I've started reading is called the Seattle Smith's and it's about a couple from Dallas who adventerously moved to Seattle. It's a fun read and I reccommend it.

In an attempt to start having more fun with my blog I'm taking the bloggers thirty day challenge and I'm going to attempt one post everyday. To help with inspiration I'm going to do a few themes. In the spirit of Whishful Wednesdays I'm going to post Twitter Tuesdays where I post my favorite tweets from the week. This week my fave tweet is from John Mayer who said, "Why are we calling him Balloon Boy if he wasn't in the balloon at all? Isn't he just Attic Boy?"

Another theme is going to be Thankful Thursdays. I know that's cliche but I've been blessed with a lot of wonderful people and experiences and I need to spend more time being thankful and appreciative. If anyone has some tips on how I can improve my blog please let me know!

Thanks!

Justified Hypocrisy

I recently saw a Facebook post from someone I know that read: "Show your respect for your married friends and family and REJECT R71. Marriage is between a man and a woman ONLY!"

For some reason I had a really strong reaction to this statement. I was equally offended and angry at the same time and I really wished Facebook would come up with a dislike option. However, the first thought that came to mind was, "I have no tolerance for this type of intolerance." Is that not the most hypocritical statement ever made?

I strongly believe in human rights. I believe Gay rights will be the civil rights issue that helps define my generation. I don't understand why it is so divisive and I don't understand why people don't support civil rights for homosexuals. It's crazy and archaic and I don't think the world will be negatively impacted if we provide equal rights to everyone regardless of their race, religion, creed, gender, or sexual orientation.

Anyways, back to the comment: I think the reason I reacted so strongly to what was said had less to do with the author and I having differing opinions and more to do with the manipulative wording of the statements. "Show your respect for your married friends and family and REJECT R71. Marriage is between a man and a woman ONLY!" Could you find a more misleading argument? It's one thing to say, I believe marriage should be between a man and a woman. So I'm voting no to Referrendum 71. To that I would say, "Sounds good. We'll agree to disagree." However to say that it is disrespectful to married people is deplorable.

Beautiful Story

A friend of mine directed me to this story recently published in the New York Times. It left my eyes a little wattery at work:-)

Compromise... the win/win or the lose/lose

Like most normal and rational people I believe in compromise. It's a key societal value and it's truly impossible to imagine a world without compromise. Commerce wouldn't work, relationships would be impossible, and families would not exist. As todlers were taught the lessons of sharing and it later becomes the platform for comprimise. With that being said I believe in the power of mutual understanding and accepting that conflicts are never one sided. Parties are always going to share responsibility in a dispute. They may not share equal responsibility but it will never be 100% one parties fault with 0% of the responsibility landing on the other party, excluding random crimes.

On Tuesday I went to court. It was small claims court and I was suing my former landlord. Without getting too deep into details she acted super sketch to avoid a move out inspection and then without communicating with me at all said I owed an exorbitant amount of money in damages. I questioned this and she sent me to collections. There was no communication or response until a lovely woman (sarcasm) called me from a super low budget sketch collection agency.

I quickly found out that sending someone to collections is a total bully move. It doesn't matter if the debt is valid or is being disputed once you're in collections the option are to pay within 30 days so it is not reported on your credit score or refuse to pay and take a heavy hit to your credit score and continue to be harrassed by the collection agents until you actually do pay. Either way you're totally bullied into paying. It's awful.

So I sued her for the amount I was unjustly forced into paying. It was a really interestin experience. The judge was a spitfire named Judge Judy and she forced all the litigants to leave the court room and discuss settlements. I hate direct confrontation and I was confronted by the owner and her property manager. Initially they did not want to discuss a settlement and tried to convince me that I had no case. They barely let me speak and dismissed everything I had to say. However, after seeing how prepared I was and the documentation I had they started to discuss settlement. I stated I would be willing to split the difference. At the time it felt fair and I felt like I was being the bigger person.

They accepted the agreement and we moved into mediation. Boyfriend joined me in the mediation room and I was really glad he was there. It was difficult for him because the owner had made some hideously untrue accusations directed toward him. During the mediation they were very disrespectful and it was difficult not to take some of what was said personally. I so badly wanted speak my mind and stand up for myself. It would not have been the appropriate time to do so but I think I would have felt better.

At the end of this experience I felt very conflicted. I didn't feel good or bad about the sitution. I value comprimise but I feel like I comprimised my values...

image: Bing Images

Falling in Love with West Seattle

When boyfriend and I first moved to West Seattle I was excited to move into our own home. I thought West Seattle was a nice area but to be honest it was really fourth or fifth on my list of desired neighborhoods. I viewed it as a good spot for us to live for a few years while we're starting out until we can afford to move to the Eastside or buy a home in the Queene Anne Area, but I actually have been pleasantly surprised by how much I love West Seattle.

Over the weekend I was on a mission to find a new coffee house to study in. I ended up trying out a few different locations and came across a great spot called C&P Coffee Company. It's super cute with really friendly down to earth staff. They also big tables where I can lay out all of my books which is a big plus!

I've been spending a lot of time walking and jogging. Most of the time I've been on Alki and I love it. It's so beautiful and it reminds me of the Kirkland waterfront which I loved. This last weekend I walked about 10 miles over the course of two days and found an undiscovered area of West Seattle. It's right where Beach Drive and Alki Point meet. There's beachy waterfront with gorgeous views and beautiful homes. While I was exploring my new neighborhood I can safely say I totally fell in love with West Seattle. It may not have been love at first sight but I'm very glad things worked out the way they did!

Boyfriend and I even found our "Lottery" house. That's the house we would buy if we won the lottery. It was super cute with gorgeous views. I heart West Seattle:-)

Read This!

Last night I finished a wonderful book called Eat, Pray, Love. It's a beautiful memoir written by a woman named Elizabeth Gilbert. I really enjoyed her perspective on life and her journey through life. I found a sense of calm and peace with my own life after I was finished. I really reccommend it to any and everyone!

Growing Up...

For my 25th birthday my parents took me out to dinner. During the conversation My mom said that she asked her mother (my grandmother) what the best year of her life was. Her mom replied the year she was 25 years old. I don't remember the reasons she gave for it being the best year of her life but it was an age that brought back found memories.

My mom then went on to tell me that 25 was her favorite year as well. She said it was before my parents had kids and they were still a young couple starting out. They vacationed together in Hawaii for the first time and stayed at a swanky resort. Hearing this caused me to wonder what the next year had in store for me. I dreamed up exciting possibilities and new experiences. I imagined adventures with new people to new places. I looked forward to the possibilities in the year to come.


I've always had a difficult time with birthdays. With the exception of a few milestone birthdays, namely 16 and 21, I have never looked forward to turning another year older. My earliest memory of this was when I was 8 years old and planning my 9th birthday. I'm sure I was excited for the party and the cake and gifts but I really dreaded turning nine years old. I felt like nine was a little too mature. At eight years old I felt like a kid and I loved the "cuteness" of being a kid. Turning 9 years old was like the exit of being a "kid" and the entrance to young adolescence and I didn't like that.


Each year had it's own set of problems, mainly new responsibilities and consequences that I never had any desire to accept or acknowledge. I've always craved freedom. When I look back on the mistakes I've made, most of them stem from this strong desire I have to be void of consequences and responsibilities. It's the nature of some individuals to be driven to achieve, others have tendencies to be sensible and balanced. Other people are content with their lives. I have always craved freedom.


The feeling of freedom is a little bit different than being a "free spirit." I remember moments of this feeling and I can only describe it the way addicts describe using heroin for the first time. Freedom has always been the drug I've craved. I remember as a young soccer player dribbling past defenders on an open field, delivering the ball to the back of the net and feeling free. I distinctly remember the first movie I went to unaccompanied by an adult. I went with my friend Claire Comfort and we saw The Net. That taste of freedom was so exciting. I also found it in roller coasters, heights, fast cars, college schedules when class was "optional."


I remember my first solo road trip. I was 20 and drove a rental car from my house in Seattle down to Santa Cruz CA. It was the most exhilarating time. No one really knew where I was and I didn't have a set destination. I just drove and when I was tired I stopped at inexpensive motels and I slept. I stopped at the beach on the Oregon coast line and remembered feeling free and at peace.

Had it not been for the structure and expectations of friends, family, and society in general I think I easily could have forgone education and made bigger mistakes and now in adulthood I would be facing consequences I tried to hide from during my youth.

Where all of this was going is... I think my 25th year has been my greatest year to date. Instead of bringing the adventure I had hoped for I've made peace with the maturity I've been dodging. It has finally caught up with me and I've found that I actually like it. I'm confident I can take care of myself. I've found happiness and contentment in my relationships. I'm embracing adulthood and I'm excited for the next chapters in life.

Resilliancy

Resently this week I had a girl who I worked with at the Group Home over for homemade pizza. She's had a rough summer but things have started to stablilize for her. I got to her know her girlfriend a little bit and she seemed very nice. We joked and laughed about some of our crazy memories from our time there.

I dropped the girls off at their apartment and they were really proud to show the new furniture they purchased from Ikea and it was appearant how two girls who grew up being shuffled between foster homes and group homes found such a haven finally having their own place to call home. I am really proud and impressed with these two young adults.

After I got home Boyfriend and I were talking about how resilliant some people are. Everyone is born into situations that present challenges and the idea of "equal footing" that was big during the Affirmative Action days of the '90's has become an unattainable goal that we can continue to strive for. However, foster children tend to get lost in the mix and foster children are faced with hardships that are completely unique to their demographic and the reality of the situation is that the majority of these kids will not become functioning members of society. Their situation is as close of a guarantee to failure as any lot in life is. They are forced to overcome a multitude of hardship that many of us will never be faced with and they have to do that at a young age with virtually no adult help or guaidance.