The big sister's toast.

I'm switching up Friday posts a bit, because I want to share the toast I gave at my little brother's rehearsal dinner one week ago in New Orleans. I had fun writing it, and it garnered way more laughter than I expected, which was fun for this gal who definitely did not get her brother's comedic side. All the more apt that writing about him would bring it out in me. We had a fantastic weekend celebrating M&M, and can't wait to see what's next.

Mason is the cause of my first memory, and it's a bad one.

For those of you who don't know, he was born on October 30, which meant that I, a toddler, got to spend a couple of nights at Nana and Pop-Pop's house, including Halloween night. I still have an image--may I repeat, the first thing about life that I actually remember on my own-- of the front door opening to reveal a cluster of scary monsters.

And it didn't get better. As you can see from these photos, I was clearly not pleased at the new little thing that was now taking up my parents' attention. [Claire takes time to show the gathered wedding party the two photos that she made sure to print out before leaving for New Orleans.]

I suppose I slowly got over the shock. Mason was annoying, as most little brothers are, but the times I was most frustrated with him were when we'd play one on one basketball and he'd demolish me, even though he was smaller than me. Being the perfectionist older sister, I'd start to "beat up" on him, and he would just laugh and laugh. But we'd also have fun skating on that same patio pretending we were the Mighty Ducks.

Once we hit high school and had pretty much the same friend group, I realized my little brother is pretty cool. He is hilarious, and can always make me laugh. Even though we're two years apart, we got our drivers licenses on the same day (oops, my bad); He introduced me to some of my favorite rap songs, and I would always willingly let him drive us around, blasting Outkast or Flo Rida around Decatur.

Along with these great qualities, though you may not be able to tell from his teeny tiny first grade level handwriting, he is clever and sharp, incredibly smart. For a kid who hated school, he sure does well at it. He has a strong moral compass, and has always known what he believes and why he believes it. If he wasn't so set on PT school, I'd say he would have a good career in social justice--and maybe he'll find a way to do that too.

Of course, being not just a man but an Asbury man, he loves sports, and being an Asbury man from Atlanta, he isn't surprised when they disappoint him. But he keeps coming back. How many Saturdays growing up did I spend at Briarlake soccer field, basketball court, even for one season the baseball field? And then he found tennis, which catapulted him into high school and through college and beyond- without which he wouldn't have made many of the friends in this room. As an Asbury woman who also grew up with sports ingrained in my psyche, I'll never forget sharing my experience of being Steph Curry's college classmate with my NBA-loving, Duke-hating brother; getting to introduce the two of you is still one of the best gifts I'm grateful I could give. (We won't talk about last Sunday night.)

Mason dated a lot more than I did in high school, so when he told us that he was "kinda" dating this girl from college, I took it in stride. Then we found out her name was Macie, which, not gonna lie, made us all do a double take and then laugh a little. The best part may have been the first summer they were dating, in 2009, when they showed up to a party both wearing the exact same yellow Ralph Lauren polo. Twinsies!

But it was clear that Macie wasn't just any other girl, and I could tell that as I spent more time with the two of them on trips and weekends at home over the next seven (!) years. They have the same sense of humor, which is what stands out to me most, because if Mason is going to spend the rest of his life with someone, she needs to have a sense of humor. Macie also pushes him to be his best, and vice versa. It's wonderful to see how content Mason is when he's with Macie. They support and ground each other, and have succeeded in dorms, long distance, and now as the proud parents of two cats (which you can officially thank me for, since I'm the one who found Lucky on the side of the road at the beach).

 For me, Macie "officially" joined the family when she was so involved in helping to care for our grandfather after his stroke before he was moved to hospice care. She was in nursing school at the time, and would go over to Emory ICU when she had time and be with my family and help the nurses. This is when Mason and I both lived out of state, and so it meant extra much to know that Macie could be there when we couldn't. My favorite story is when Pop-Pop-- still feisty, though he couldn't speak-- tried to pull out his catheter, and Macie had a fierce but silent fight with him to make sure it stayed in. I wish I could have seen that! Your care of him and our family during his final days made me really feel like you were part of the family. He called you his little New Orleans girl, and I know he's celebrating with us in spirit.

Mason, I'm so proud of you and I'm so happy for you both. Sean and I want you two to know that we'll always be here to encourage you, listen to you, and have fun with you. You're the best brother ever, and I'm so happy to be getting an official sister! May you have a long and happy marriage, full of laughter. Cheers.

The Friday Five: or maybe more than five.

Slowly getting back into the blogging groove. Since I haven't posted Friday Five weekly updates in awhile, I thought I'd do an overall "good things!" post from the last couple of weeks since we returned from our PNW adventure. Here we go!

Staff summer potlucks have returned at work! I have a special place in my heart for these weekly traditions because my first day on the job two (!) years ago happened to be a potluck Thursday, where I first began to get to know my awesome coworkers. This week I contributed to our "breakfast for lunch" theme, with two quiches (spinach + onion, broccoli + garlic, both with gruyere cheese) from the Moosewood Cookbook. Pretty proud that they turned out well on my first try!

A dear coworker had her healthy + adorable baby boy, which brings a lot of joy to our community, and obviously to their family. I felt very much like a proud office little sister running up and down the halls after getting the text, shouting, "We have a baby! We have a baby!"

I took my folks to see Garrison Keillor's final Atlanta taping of A Prairie Home Companion, which they raised me on as a child. We'd been to see a show once before about 10 years ago, but it was special to know this was the last time he'd be in town. We sat in literally the top row of the fabulous Fox, and enjoyed the news from Lake Wobegon, Guy Noir, and the amazing Ricky Skaggs and the Kentucky Thunder. But maybe my favorite part was walking into the theatre as Garrison was leading the audience in old time hymns. It was wonderful to have a bit of worship together. (Then Mom and Dad took me out to dinner at The Colonnade, open in Atlanta since 1927. Whoa!)

Peaches. And blueberries. And raspberries. All summer fruit. But mostly peaches. They make breakfasts so much juicier.

Got a chance to have a good catch up with my grandmother this past weekend, eating lunch with her and other church members and then spending time with her one-on-one. I am always grateful for those moments!

Also caught up with my dear friend Liz on the phone--it's such a gift to have friends that you feel close to no matter how often you get to chat!

Since May, I've been meeting with a gentleman to help him write his memoir. It's been so fun and rewarding to hear his life stories, to have valuable discussions about the decisions we make in personal writing and why, and to see his own writing voice develop. He's teaching me a lot!

I didn't pay much mind to National Doughnut Day the other week, until a marvelous coworker brought in a whole box of Sublime doughnuts for our office suite. Then I started paying a lot of mind. Yum!

We had a fun night out at Sweetwater Brewery last weekend, supporting JDRF Rock the Cure for Type 1 diabetes. Took a brewery tour, ate delicious Roasters bbq, and had fun rocking out to the epic '80s cover band Members Only.

The Emory community held a service of remembrance for the victims of the Orlando shooting on Tuesday. It meant a lot to come together in silence, song, and prayer to celebrate their lives and cry.

It takes some time to get back into regular life after a big trip, and I'm grateful that we have. I'm grateful for our little house, my husband's delicious meals, the hum of the dishwasher, the daisy on the front porch (that I'm actually watering enough for it to stay alive). Even though we're both working and it's insanely hot, it still feels good for it to be summer, and to be at home.

But soon we're headed for another adventure: my little bro is getting married! I can't wait to celebrate with them, plus see a bunch of family and friends who don't get together often. Closing out June (did it fly by or what?) with joyous celebration!

145,254 steps: Pacific Northwest adventures.

We spent May 19-29 on the West Coast, first celebrating a family wedding (congrats, Signe + Drew!) and then heading out on our own adventure by the Pacific. Here's what we got up to, and some places we'd suggest for folks heading out that way (though there are many more that we didn't get to this time around!).

May 19-23: Portland, Oregon

We first visited Portlandia in the summer of 2013, so already had a sense of how cool this city is. It was fun to go back to what we consider "old haunts," because we'd been there one time before. But when you're on the opposite coast, it's cool to think of anything as familiar. Some of those "old" favorites: Kell's Irish Pub (and my first of many delicious meals of fish n' chips in ten days), Deschutes Brewery (I don't know how many times we've recalled their home-brewed ginger ale in the last three years, and I sucked down two and a half glasses of it), Voodoo Doughnut (duh), the Oregon Zoo, and Powell's City of Books (just block off a whole day for it. Because it's a whole city block). And we never go out to movies at home, but both times we've been in Portland, we've gone to a movie at Regal Fox Tower (last time Star Trek, this time Keanu), a theater in the heart of downtown PDX. 

Of course, there was plenty of time to explore new spots around town. We checked out Salt and Straw for ice cream, which is in a neat food court type place (minus the generic-ness of a mall) called Pine Street Market, where we also grabbed pizza on our first night. When we split up for pre-wedding festivities, we girls dined at La Provence in Beaverton (delicieux!) while the guys headed to Killer Burger. The gals also had a fun night out at Darcelle XV to see a drag show--singing along with everything from Broadway to Britney Spears to Cher, and cheering some epic dance moves. 

We also got more of a chance to explore Portland's waterfront on the Willamette River this time around, and even got to stay at the Waterfront Marriott for a couple of nights. We walked by the river early on Saturday morning, and were surrounded on all sides by what felt like HUNDREDS of joggers, all with multiple water bottles strapped to their sides. Hardcore, y'all.

It would be hard to beat those views on a regular day, but we had no idea what was coming next.

May 23-25: Cannon Beach, Oregon

Sean's folks, a.k.a. my awesome in-laws, discovered this gem of a seaside village a couple of years ago on a trip out to Oregon, and shared the beauty with us this time around. The hard-to-believe thing (at least to me) is that Cannon Beach is only about an hour and a half from Portland, so it takes nothing to get there, and yet they are different worlds. Cannon Beach is home to Haystack Rock, a 235-foot monolith known as a "sea stack." Wikipedia says it was formed by lava flows around 16 million years ago, which absolutely blows my mind, whether or not it's completely accurate. (Also apparently it was featured in The Goonies, which I wouldn't know because I was an unintentionally deprived child, I know, don't yell at me.)

In our 48 hours there, we walked this view as much as possible. 

And the town itself was just lovely. I could have stayed there longer than two days. Some of our favorite places: Cannon Beach Book Company, Crepe Neptune, Pelican Pub & Brewery, Ecola Seafood Restaurant & Market, Schwietert's Cones & Candy, and Lazy Susan Cafe.

We stayed at the Cannon Beach Hotel, which offered a yummy breakfast in the mornings, chocolate chip cookies in the afternoons, hot tea at all hours, and--maybe my favorite out of all of these--a non-stop jazzy French soundtrack that made me feel like I was in Something's Gotta Give or Midnight in Paris. Such a marvelous touch.

And the sunsets. Y'all. The sunsets. We stayed outside for nearly two hours both nights, wind brushing cold in our faces, walking and watching the sun dip closer and closer to the waves.

On our second day based in Cannon Beach, we drove a few miles down the coast to Hug Point State Park. I pretty much have to let the photos speak for themselves here. Truly.

We stopped at this overlook on the way back from Hug Point. I could have perched here all day long. (This was the day we walked the most-- 22,000 steps, around 10 miles, so it was nice to rest a bit!)

May 25-27: Lake Quinault, Washington

Our 3.5 hour drive from Cannon Beach into Olympic National Forest was a real landscape shift. The weather changed, too. We drove from Oregon into Washington, from coast into forest, from sun into cloud, from blue into green. It took a little adjustment (at least for me), but once we were settled at Lake Quinault Lodge and got exploring, we knew we were in another place that is gorgeous in its own right. We immediately went to visit the world's largest Sitka Spruce tree, and the next day did some hiking around Lake Quinault.

Yet again, we'd found a really neat place to stay. Lake Quinault Lodge has been around since 1926 (and there was even one before that, but it burned down). When FDR stayed there in 1937, it spurred his decision to create the national park system. (Leslie Knope would be freaking out.) My favorite part was the lodge's Roosevelt Room Restaurant, where we ate dinner one night and breakfast both mornings. The view of the lake was so peaceful, and the largest number of hummingbirds I've ever seen were always flitting around feeders right outside the window. Not to mention that the food was delicious!

Even while we were in the forest, we couldn't quite get the coast out of our minds, so we drove the thirty minutes to Kalaloch Lodge for lunch, right on the Pacific. It was windy, cold, and gray -- but still beautiful!

Lake Quinault itself gave us multiple moods while we were there, and it was fun to see the sky over the water at dusk and in the morning. For our second dinner, we drove a couple of miles up the road to the Salmon House Restaurant, where we partook of sumptuous (you guessed it) salmon (Sean had garlic on his, I had dill cream sauce), green beans, rice, baked potato, and tuxedo cake for dessert. 

May 27-29: The Pacific Coast, Hoh Rainforest, Seattle

On Friday morning, we got up early and drove the route you see below--stopping at Ruby Beach on the coast (also pictured below), the Hoh Rainforest, Port Angeles for lunch (Cafe Garden--really good spot!), and then we took the Bainbridge Island ferry over to lovely Seattle.

In Seattle, we stayed at the Palladian Hotel downtown, which we really enjoyed. Let's just say it's not your typical Marriott or Holiday Inn. It's very modern (see: the "Sir" George Lucas pillow that greeted us on the bed, similar to "royal" portraits of Seattle greats Dave Matthews, Jimi Hendrix, Bill Gates, and Kelsey Grammer/Frasier Crane hanging in the lobby) and yet old-fashioned looking at the same time. (It was also sustainable--we had to slide a card into a designated place on the wall in order for our room lights to turn on.) Our favorite thing was probably the incredibly comfortable king-sized bed, which had to be some kind of memory foam mattress that we wanted to take back on the plane with us (unfortunately, that was a no).

We had the pleasure of eating a home-cooked meal with our good friend Sarah and her boyfriend on our first night in Seattle; oh, the joys of a cozy home and a non-restaurant meal! You start to miss that after ten days on the road. Not to mention talking and laughing for hours with friends. On Saturday morning, we slept in and then walked a couple of blocks over to Biscuit Bitch, which is clearly well-known because it took us about an hour to get our orders (Sean got the Bitchwitch Sandwich (egg, cheese, and sausage) and I got the Royal Canadian Bitch (maple peanut butter and banana). In the meantime, the people watching was pretty great, they had an epic hip-hop soundtrack, and I drank a delicious Seattle Fog.

After breakfast, we headed down one of the steepest hills I have ever walked (featured in Sleepless in Seattle, I believe) two blocks to Pike Place Market. I had last been in seventh grade, and back then I didn't realize what a maze the market is. Up and down stairs, on the Sound side and on the street side, every which way, there were booths and restaurants and crowds. We had fun wandering around (though I was again grateful for the countless time that my husband has a keen sense of direction) and exploring, and we wound up eating our last Pacific Northwest lunch at Lowell's, with a (not surprisingly) great view of Puget Sound. My last fish n' chips was great, too!  

It was cold and rainy, so after our Pike Place adventure, and after purchasing fresh berries from the farmer's market and cookies from Three Girls Bakery, we headed back to our cozy hotel room and unashamedly served our introverted selves by staying in bed for the rest of the day watching movies (The Intern -- not bad!) and Game 6 of the Western Conference finals, and eating cookies and berries for dinner. We had to leave for the airport at 3:30 a.m., so there was no guilt in lying around for fifteen hours, something we'd done precious little this trip (with good reason!). 

When we got home, I calculated it all up with help from my FitBit: in ten days, we walked 145,254 steps, or 63.45 miles. What a fantastic and memorable adventure exploring just some of the West Coast and its wild beauty. We'll be back!  

P.S. I took lots of these photos, but Sean took just as many (and most of the wonderful panoramas). He got his photographer dad's eye!