The view on my way to the airport this evening

Blue Angels in Seattle

This weekend is Fleet Week here in Seattle! I watched the Blue Angels as they were flying around (practicing) this morning while I was out on my walk. I walked to the end of the little dock at the Meydenbauer Beach Park, and had a great view.

It's a little confusing to me, as Fleet Week is always the second weekend of October in San Francisco. It confused my two sister-in-laws when they saw my photos of Facebook, too. :)

I'll actually be back in SF this weekend, leaving tonight, so today was my only chance to see the Blue Angels here. I feel lucky that I had a chance to see them!

Beach Study

I've been meaning to work on some quick study oil paintings lately. Dean pointed out to me several months ago that this is important thing to do - to "practice" painting, creating quick pieces, without the pressure that each painting has to be "great".

I did my first study with him almost two years ago, from a photo of a boy running on the beach. It was a very good lesson in quick study, and color mixing. I think the entire process of that painting took under 30 minutes.

Today I decided to do a study from a photograph I had taken of the beach in Cape Town. I tried to remind myself not to dwell too long on details, and to paint with larger, broader strokes.

I mixed the paints of the different colors in the water first - five at first, as well as the sky color and the beach color.

I put these in on the canvas with larger brushes, just filling it in without worrying too much about the details.

After, I worked on the figures, which, while there is some amount of detail, are still quite loose. It's not perfect, by any means, but that's kind of the point I guess. (Now that I see the two images next to each other, my rocks in the background and the waves near them, are much larger in my painting. It's a much more tumultuous day at the beach in my interpretation!) I like the looseness of it, and how (I think) there's still motion in it.

I spent about 2.5 hours on it in total. It was a really good exercise for me to try. I should try to do more of these to loosen up and just practice. :)


original image


"Study - Cape Town Beach"
2014
oil on canvas
6 x 12 inches

The Big Decision of the Day.

This must be what it feels like to have a twin

I've been using the photo of myself posing with Old Navy Mannequin Trina as my profile picture on Facebook. I noticed today that even Facebook thinks that the mannequin is me! :)

Funny and creepy, all at the same time!

Dick's Drive In

We've been meaning to try this place for a while - if only for the photo-op. :)

WebTrina Stikes Again: Bargains at Banana Republic

So, while I was at the Bellevue Arts Museum today, it started to downpour. I made the rookie move when I left home of believing my iPhone (liePhone) when it told me that the rain had stopped for the day. So, there I was wearing a white t-shirt, no jacket, and no umbrella. Rather than brave the wet and chilly weather home, I decided to cross the street and kill some time in the mall. I figured my chances of the rain stopping while I was in the mall was decent.

I've been looking for some summer tops that are casual, but nicer than my basic t-shirts. I had found a really nice sweater/tank at Banana Republic earlier this month, and wanted to see if they had any other colors. I had received an email this morning from them stating that if you spent $100 in store, or online, you would get $50 off. I also saw a sign at the front of the Banana Republic store in the mall stating that all sale items were an additional 40% off today.

I went around the store, actually found quite a few items. I got a pair of shorts, another sweater/tank in a different color, and four cotton shirts that all fit the bill of being slightly nicer than t-shirts. Six items total. All of them were on sale.

So, went I went to the register, I asked if I understood correctly. First, I started with, "are all items that are on sale an additional 40% off?" The reply was, "Yes, and they are all applied to the $50 off if you spend more than $100".

:-o !!!

I was pretty sure that my items, on sale, with the additional 40% off would total around $100, but I knew it would be close. In the end, the sub-total for my six items was $100.75.

So, yes, take an additional $50 off of that, and my new subtotal was $50.75.

After tax, $55.57.

I walked out of Banana Republic with SIX items for $55.00.

Unbelievable!

I haven't had a bargain shopping experience like this in a very long time.

Score!


my receipt from today's bargain shopping

BTW: I just checked the email I got this morning sale goes through tomorrow, 7/26 online or in stores. Enter code BRTAKE50 at checkout.

Origami Exhibit at the Bellevue Arts Museum

I had a really wonderful afternoon today at the Bellevue Arts Museum. I'm a little embarrassed that it has taken me this long to go into the museum. I live about 3 blocks away, and pass by it frequently.

I met my new friend, MaryAnn, there. We met last week on the Early Bellevue Walking Tour, and had an immediate connection. We set a date to go to the art museum today. MaryAnn has lived in Bellevue 50 years, and is full of interesting stories. She also has a history of being very involved in the arts community in the area. I look forward to another outing with her soon!

We met at the museum at 1:00, and were lucky with our timing: we were offered to join in on a docent-led tour of the origami exhibit "Folding Paper: The Infinite Possibilities of Origami". Now, I admit, my knowledge of origami only goes as far as paper cranes. I was full-on blown away by this exhibit. We learned about the history of origami, and saw some very impressive, almost impossible-seeming displays.

Traditionally, origami consists of only a single sheet of paper (of various sizes) with no cuts, and no glue. Most of the pieces in this exhibit were just that, with a few that were specifically marked as more than one piece of paper, or having had cuts.

Here are some some of the examples that I saw today that were just stunning. Frankly, it's nearly impossible to believe that they are made of one piece of folded paper.






the skeleton on the right is made of multiple sheets of paper


believe it or not, this paper is not woven. Each piece is one sheet of paper


also one sheet of paper, no cuts


I LOVED this installation: sheets of US Dollar Bills, uncut, folded into dozens of locusts. You can see the flat sheets, then the steps in which the locusts are made. The flying locusts are suspended from the ceiling, and were swaying in the breeze just slightly. Very powerful


flying locusts


The sphere and cube are each made of one sheet of paper, with cuts, but no glue




here I am with my new 80 year old friend, MaryAnn!

Tuesday night at Downtown Bellevue Park

Dick and I just took an evening walk out to Downtown Bellevue Park. It's a beautiful evening (after it had been overcast all day) and there's so much activity! Tuesday Movie at the Park (tonight is Mr Peabody & Sherman), volleyball tournaments, frisbee tossing, runners, walkers, dogs, and families - everyone is enjoying the beautiful evening out.

Bear at the Seattle Center

I took Sherilyn to the Seattle Center this afternoon - it was a really beautiful day! The last two times I've come to the Space Needle and Chihuly Gardens were in the early Spring. I forgot how much busier this area would be during the Summer months. It was pretty crowded in comparison, but at the same time, it was the clearest view I've had so far from the top of the Space Needle. :)

Sherilyn hadn't been to the Space Needle before, and since it was such a nice day, there was not question that we had to go! We bought our tickets first for the Space Needle, with our entry time being 1-1/2 hours later. This actually worked out perfectly. We walked over to the Chihuly Gardens and spent just over an hour over there. Sherilyn had never seen any other Chihuly exhibit before, with the exception of the glass ceilings at the Bellagio in Las Vegas, so this was all new to her. It was fun to go through the exhibit with her and watch her reaction room after room.







The gardens outside were a different experience for me this time around. Again, it was a sunny, clear day, plus there were blooms/colors in the gardens that accentuated the glass sculptures around them.









After we finished at the Chihuly Gardens, it was perfect timing to go back to the Space Needle. There were a lot more people up there than I'd encountered earlier in the year, but it was also be clearest day and best view that I've seen up there yet. Mt. Rainer was even peeking out a little bit. It was the first time I was able to clearly see Downtown Bellevue from the top of the Space Needle, too.

Taking Sherilyn to glassybaby!!

It's not a visit to Seattle without Trina taking you to the glassybaby Madrona store for a visit and tour of the store and hot shop!!

Thanks to AnnJett for taking the time out of your busy day to give us a tour!! xo

Ramen!

My friend Sherilyn mentioned to me this morning that she loves ramen. We had a late lunch around 2:30, and I brought her to Santoura Ramen in Downtown Bellevue to see how it rated against the others she's had.

She loved it, saying it was very good and authentic. Well worth our 20 minute wait, even at 2:30 in the afternoon!!

Heron in the Dock

Today, I took my visiting friend, Sherilyn, on a nice walk around Downtown Bellevue. When we got down to Maydenbauer Beach Park, we saw something I've never seen there before: a heron sitting at the edge of the dock.

There was a mother and younger son fishing off the dock. Every once in a while, they would toss a small fish towards the heron. We only saw that happen once, but a lifeguard working today told me they had tossed a few fish already. The lifeguard also mentioned that she'd never seen a heron there in her two years of working there.

It was really a beautiful sight. I caught one photo of the heron eating the fish. Otherwise, it was just perched at the edge of the dock waiting for another one.

Din Tai Fung on the Weekend

Pro Tip #1: arrive at 10:00am when they open. There was already a very long line, but we were seated immediately.

Pro Tip #2: Truffle Dumplings are euphoric.

Roller Derby in Everett

"Let's get ready to RUMBLE!!"
(okay, this is not really the right sport for that, but it sounds good...)

Tonight, we went to our first Roller Derby game! My friend, Sherilyn (we've been good friends since junior high school) is in town this weekend. She is an enforcer/referee for a roller derby team in Los Angeles, and she is here to serve as a guest referee at a couple of games in Everett tonight.

Tonight is the Tilted Thunder Banked Track Roller Derby Championships! There were two games tonight: the first was for third place league, and the second was for first and second place.

Sherilyn (enforcer name: "Ridley Scorpio") had told me that she was coming up here for this game a couple of months ago. Dick and I thought it would be a fun thing to check out and we invited some friends. Unfortunately, Paula is away on a business trip this weekend, but Reeves, Nicole and Dan joined us. We had a lot of fun.

Sherilyn shared this video with us so we'd have a basic understanding of the game:



This was very helpful to teach us the basics. We also had a chance to ask her a few questions before the game, and during halftime of the first game. I think we all had a really decent understanding of the game, and were more or less able to keep track of what was going on.

We came for the first game, then watched the first half of the second game. We really enjoyed it, but it was a little chilly, and we were hungry. :)

The tournament was at Comcast Arena in Everett, which was only about 35 minutes away.

Here are some photos from the evening:


outside Comcast Arena


view of the track from the side


Tilted Thunder Championships!


close up of the referees. That's Ridley Scorpio on the left side of the inner circle, looking bad ass as usual.


Full view right before the first game


Dick, Reeves, Dan and Nicole


here we go! Royal Crush versus Sugar Skulls


Sherilyn and Grant visit us during half time


Start of the second game: Rolling Blackouts versus Saint Hellions!