A Week and a Wedding, Part 2

On Thursday morning, DD#1 and DSIL borrowed DD#2’s car and drove out to visit his parents, who live about two hours from Seattle. The rest of us piled into the rented minivan and went to Bellevue Square to do some more shopping. (Shopping is a blood sport in my family.) We had lunch at Nordstrom Grill, which is one of our favorite places to eat.

And for dinner, we went to The Pink Door, a block up from Pike Place Market. Years ago, when the girls were little—probably 5 and 10 or thereabouts—we took the train, with my mother, from Kalispell to Seattle. My sister flew in and met us. We stayed at the Marriott downtown, and one of the places we ate was The Pink Door. DD#2 was able to get us reservations for Thursday night. We ate outside, on the patio, and enjoyed a great meal and the absolutely stellar weather.

I had gotten a text Thursday afternoon that my dress was ready to be picked up, so on Friday, my mother and my sister’s fiancé and I drove back up to Alderwood Mall to pick it up. The girls and my sister went to get pedicures. While Ty was shopping for a dress shirt, my mother and I also went to the Soft Surroundings store, which apparently is going out of business. I have had good luck at that store finding long tunics in bright colors, and I also picked up a T-shirt and a sweater.

For dinner on Friday, DD#1 had made us reservations at Sogno de Vino, in Poulsbo, WA. We took the ferry across Puget Sound to this adorable little Scandanavian town and had another great meal there. (I had my fill of delicious seafood last week.) Poulsbo connects to Bainbridge Island via a bridge, so after dinner, we headed over to the wedding venue where the groom’s family was throwing a welcome party.

It was so good to see my cousins! My cousin Amy and her husband, Matt, were there, too, which was a lovely surprise. They live in Columbus, Ohio, and decided at the last minute to come to the wedding.

Saturday morning dawned bright and clear and our group of seven boarded another ferry to ride over to Bainbridge again for the wedding. We arrived in time to have lunch at the Hitchcock Cafe. My mother and I had eaten there in June, too, and I had the most amazing grilled cheese sandwich both times. After lunch, we went to the hotel rooms we had reserved for getting ready. And here is yours truly in her new dress:

Yes, it is different than what I normally wear, but I loved the color and the style. I’m hoping to have another reason to wear it some time.

The wedding was held at a small inn on Bainbridge Island. The setting was just lovely (photo shamelessly borrowed from my sister):

We had cocktails, dinner, and dancing after the ceremony, and then it was time to head back over to Seattle on the ferry again.

One of the fun parts of the night was meeting my aunt and uncle’s friend, Marcie, who reads the blog (hi, Marcie!) She has been friends with them since they all lived in Peoria, Illinois (decades ago). I also got to visit a bit with her daughter, Stephanie, although it’s hard to have an in-depth conversation at a wedding reception.

Our group was tired on Sunday and mostly hung out at the Airbnb. I took DD#1 and DSIL to Trader Joe’s to get cheese and other snacks to take back with them to Alaska. Some things are hideously expensive in Alaska, so they try to pick up those items when they are in Seattle.

I dropped my mother off at the airport Monday morning and headed back to Spokane. The BMW was ready and waiting when I arrived and I was home by dinner time.

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Yesterday was spent catching up and checking on who is registered for today’s serger classes at the quilt store south of town so I know what supplies to bring. We are having trouble getting students to understand that they cannot just waltz in and register for a class at the beginning of a class. As of yesterday morning, I had one person registered for this morning’s class on rolled hems and we were thinking of canceling it. That has happened before with other instructors, and the store did cancel the class. It is not fair to the store and especially to the teacher, who might need to know class numbers ahead of time in order to put together kits and supplies. Another student registered yesterday afternoon, so I am going ahead with that class.

I also sent my proposed serger classes and schedule for 2023 to the other quilt store in Kalispell. I want as much of my schedule set ahead of time as possible so I know where and when I am teaching, although I am not averse to adding classes if needed. I’m teaching a home dec serger class next Tuesday and added a second session at the end of November for some students who couldn’t make next week’s class.

My next-door neighbor called Monday night. This is a lovely family with four little girls. She wanted to know if I would give her kids piano lessons. (I knew she was looking for a teacher because she posted on the NextDoor site a few weeks ago.) As much as I enjoy teaching, I don’t enjoy teaching piano. If I did, I’d be advertising myself as a piano teacher because I know it would bring in a significant chunk of income. She pushed a bit to try to get me to say yes, and I finally said, “I just don’t have time to do that.” She responded, rather incredulously, “You’re too busy . . . at home?”

From the outside, I know I look like a retired middle-aged woman with plenty of time on her hands, not someone who is teaching two serger classes today and going to a meeting after dinner tonight. LOL.