Welcome to Seattle!

It took me 24 hours to get here but I'm here now and loving it! Being back home in Seattle is so awesome and slightly strange. Its like nothing's changed and yet everything feels so fresh. I'm see it all through new eyes and appreciating it all so much more! Perhaps that indicates that Seattle always been fresh & it's me that has be re-freshed. 

Here's my journey so far (thank you Instragram! lol)....

The contents of my bag....who cares about clothes & books? It's ALL about the camera equipment baby! :D

Here we are in the wee hours of the morning boarding the plane from Edinburgh to London...

And desperately trying to get some sleep while crammed in like sardines at Heathrow...

 6 1/2 hours later - finally on the plane from Heathrow to Vancouver. I had two seats to myself (win!)...

 Finally after 5 movies, 2 slightly yummy vegetarian meals and two attempts at falling asleep that didn't succeed I spotted my mountains!!!!!!!!!! These are the Cascades & I grew up with them ALWAYS on the horizon. No matter where you are, in which town or part of the city, there's probably  a 99% chance you can see at least one mountain poking its little Cascadian (or Olympic — we have two mountain ranges here, one on each side of Seattle) head out at you. This mountain backdrop is one of the things I miss the most about the Pacific Northwest. In the UK, you often look out and the land just keeps going and going and going until the horizon. It always feels like something is missing.

 No photos from the Vancouver airport — I was too exhausted to even lift the camera! hehe Vancouver airport is however, the most beautiful airport I've every visited — no joke. I walked off the plane & into the airport to discover that the arrivals walk on a skybridge over a beautiful indoor shopping plaza that has a stream running through the middle of it. Tons of trees (inside!) and wooden sculptures that are iconic of the Native American cultures in this part of the world. The airport was decorate with painting and sculptures, massive wooden carvings hanging on the wall above streams of water that little trickled down beside you as you rode up and down the escalators! How AMAZING is that! I'm so 

totally taking photos on the way back!

So mom, dad & grandma greeted me at the airport (big smiles and hugs). Stayed up late the first night talking with my mom & then passed out instantly in bed. Woke up on Monday morning for a day of appointments. I got to drive my car!!!! yay — driving my little bug (whose name is KUBU which means hippo in an African language!) makes me so happy!

I went out to start the day with my dad. We drove around a bit so I could remember how to drive (like riding a bike) & then he took me out to get coffee & a morning pastry. I had a yummy banana bread! We spent the whole coffee talking about camera white balance — love it!

First appointment of the day was at the dentist. All's well with the teeth :D

Then on to Jene Guarez (special treat from mom!).... I was in the spa for eyebrow waxing....

& then the chair for a hair cut with styling. I LOVE my hair dresser! She did such a lovely job — my hair feels like silk now. How long will it last? No idea lol I've never been very good at keeping up with pampering myself. Maybe this time...

Jenn's handiwork... yay!  

After hair I had an appointment with my mom. We ate bagels & carrots by the Redmond Town Centre fountain while strangers came up to pet our massive dogs. 

Then we went to Value Village (the biggest charity shop you've ever seen — it's like my heaven!). I found a fun dress for the wedding on Friday & lots of new yoga leggings! I love new yoga leggings because the seems rip so easily and I can't very well teach classes with holes in the crotch now can I? lol I also found a sexy pair of awesome shoes!! I don't know where I'll wear them — my mom said because I have these shoes I am now obliged to throw a party for them hehe

I had my doctors appointment at 5pm (again - another amazing lady!) I went through my list of everything going wrong with my body (rash on my foot, little lumps under the skin on my hip, my right ear has itched for 4 years etc...) & she nailed it all down to one problem. All the little things are symptoms of my systemic yeast infection. What does that mean? I have too much yeast in my body and  it shows itself in all these little ways. So I've finally got medication for it and in 6 months I should be just fine. I'll have to go on a stricter diet too apparently (we'll see how that goes lol).

On the drive home I stopped by grandma's to say hi to her (she LOVED it! yay — so did I!) Then I came back for vegetable soup dinner with my parents & then my dad and I played with my new camera equipment! AWESOME! 

I tended to emails in the living room with my mom while she read her book by candlelight & then went to sleep with my kitty cat (she purrs really loudly).

More soon my friends :) I hope you all have a fantastic day! 

xoxo