In my final farewell to summer, I donned my bathing suit and drove straight out of the rainy day forecast to spend a four-day weekend with best friends at a cabin three hours east of Seattle. Hello, Lake Chelan (for the third time this summer)!

I sunbathed enough to finish an entire 400-page book (awesome) and probably drank enough wine to fill up the lake with wine instead of water (awesome squared).

Chelan is a well-known wine country in Washington State – home to more than a dozen estate wineries with sprawling green hills and views of the water. If you live outside of Washington and ever decide to take a trip to Seattle, you have to schedule in some wine tasting – in Woodinville, Yakima, Walla Walla, Chelan – or wherever you can make it out to. We’re famous for our wine, yo!

As for me, I’m starting to realize there’s nothing I’d rather be doing in life than wine tasting in the sunshine. Call me a product of my environment, if you will.

My goal of the weekend was to slow down, take it all in, turn off work e-mail and laugh with friends, soaking up every minute of sun possible – hopefully enough to last me until next summer. That’s what we do around here parts – tick the minutes away in dark bars and on mountain slopes until the sun cracks through eight months later. It might leave us Vitamin D deficient and desperate for beach vacations, but that’s Seattle for you.

What else we do – fill our time up with tons of fun plans to get us through the gray and rain. I have a full plate coming up these next couple months and into 2011…a trip to San Fran, Oktoberfest in Leavenworth, a bacon cooking class, a Girl Power Hour anniversary party, the return of trivia nights, a BIG out-of-the-country vacation (Australia and New Zealand) in January/February to save for, and a goal to get back into snowboarding with the purchase of a new board and my first season’s pass.

Lots of exciting things on the horizon – and that always makes me okay with the end of summer.

Currently Feeling: So glad to be back at hot yoga now that the weather has cooled down.
Currently Anticipating: Finally seeing “Eat, Pray, Love” tomorrow with a group of gals I don’t get to see very often. Judge me if you will – but it’s one of my all-time fav books!
Currently Loving: Red grapes. I can’t get enough these days!

Not only are my sheets now satin, they’re zebra print satin. (With a hot pink duvet on top, of course). Rawr.

Stella is NOT a fan. I think the design is totally bugging her eyes out. While I was putting them on my bed, she was spinning in circles and looking crazy eyed like when I dump cat nip all over the carpet. I wish I could have caught it on video, but alas, this photo l will have to do.

Hopefully these sheets won’t have to same effect on certain *ahem* other visitors.

I danced under the streetlamps and in front of a fan on high, trying desperately to beat the heat – to beats from a main stage, rock music filling the streets of Seattle.

I learned to hail cabs in New York City, danced until my feet hurt, spent 1 a.m. in Times Square trying to find myself on the jumbo screen, walked the spirals up Frank Loyd Wright’s Guggenheim Museum, sat under a tree by myself in Central Park and secretly stole pictures of couples lying on blankets kissing cause it was all too damn cute and reminded me of a place I was once at.

I picnicked and barbecued at the beach, watched the sun set, and found a new love for hippie reggae beats, which now follows me in headphones to work every week as I walk underneath the shadows of buildings downtown, discovering that there really is no better way to start your day than with a walk in sunshine and no better way to end it than in a bathing suit, people watching at the park.

I rocked a review, scored a raise, and successfully pulled together a conference and a local tech event that I planned all by myself – all while floating rivers and roasting marshmallows over a campfire on the weekends. I’ve let go of summer traditions in the past, and created my own traditions that include just me this time, and some with new friends.

I grilled salmon, churned strawberry frozen yogurt made from scratch, and picked tomatoes and basil from my garden in large quantities. I indulged in quail, rabbit with plum sauce, pork belly buns, watermelon gazpacho, German chocolate cake, and a few birthday cakes too. I enjoyed too many dinners with girls, happy hours on patios, and wine tasting that I care to admit.

I had a closure dinner with an ex, talking over months gone past as if nothing had ever changed, except one very important detail.

I’m independent now.

And underneath it all, I’m healing and the itch of dependence - of someone and something that makes me smile, laugh and want to hold hands and spend all my time with – is starting to take shape again.

And I might have even found someone I want it to take shape with.

Currently Feeling: So strange this week – tired, out of it. Is it the full moon?
Currently Anticipating: A bevy of trips coming up (and possibly a BIG one). Stay tuned for details.
Currently Reading: Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger.

And the spread- Oh the spread! Halibut with mango salsa, sweet potato mash, strawberries and candied walnuts tossed in spinach and balsamic, Brie cheese baked in puff pastry with raspberry jam and two jugs of iced tea. While everything was amazing, there was one salad in particular that tempted me back for scoop after scoop – a recipe I immediately picked up and then brought my own version to the bachelorette party I was at last weekend. I’m telling you – this salad is amazing, and the only thing you’ll need to bring along this summer to barbecues with friends (well, that and some sangria, perhaps).

The secret ingredient? Newman’s Own Light Lime Vinaigrette – a rare salad dressing that I scoured FIVE grocery stores to find. But it’s the peanut butter to this salad’s jelly! You have to try this:

Just right click and save to print for your records!

By the way – did you know quinoa is pronounced KEEN-WAAH, and it’s a “grain” that was cultivated more than 5,000 years ago by the Incas. Here’s why you should eat it: compared to other grains, quinoa is higher in calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, potassium, iron, copper, manganese, and zinc than wheat, barley, or corn, and it’s been linked to preventing and treating diabetes, breast cancer and more. (It’s also gluten free). Hello superfood!

</dorkyhealthrant>

I’m in love with quinoa – but I’m absolutely obsessed with this lime vinaigrette! Next stop – a recipe I found on the site for the dressing – Scallop Ceviche w/Watermelon & Cucumber.

I love summer cooking!

Do you have a quinoa go-to recipe? Share it with me, lovelies!

Currently Feeling: Excited for a desk/space change at work – I love event the slightest bit of change.
Currently Anticipating: A cooking party at a new friend’s house tonight and Girl Power Hour on the patio at Joey Lake Union tomorrow!
Currently Needing: To ditch the book I’m reading and get a new one – I haven’t been reading cause it’s too slow-paced!

Life has been trucking along quite nicely these days – I’ve got a few little updates for you.

I finished my 30-day challenge – you can read my somewhat wrap-up thoughts here since they were the same for the last two weeks of the challenge. I was a couple days shy of the complete 30 days. It was tough to make it to class every day the last two weeks cause I became super burnt out. But for the most part, I did it! So, I’m back to boot camp a couple days a week, and hot yoga a couple days a week. I’m also walking to work now that the weather is nice! Two miles – 45 minutes of walking a day – so it’s been a great addition to my workouts.

Me putting the last star on the challenge board

My Fourth of July holiday weekend was one of the best ever. Choosing Lake Chelan over Seattle turned out to be the best decision I could have made since Seattle gifted everyone with grey skies and rain for the holiday. Meanwhile, I hung out in my bathing suit, drank BLs on the beach all day and finished the evening up with a crazy dance party boat ride to watch the Chelan city fireworks. Lots of funny pictures and memories of the weekend that, unfortunately, don’t belong on the Internet. Good times were had by all.

Left: All the girls at the beach. Center: Boating it. Right: Wine tasting on our way back.

My summer garden is rockin’ and rollin’. I had to upgrade my basil plant because I used it so much, I dried the first one out and killed it. So, I purchased a bigger and better one. I have basil for days! My favorite summertime dinner meal these days has been some whole wheat pasta tossed with olive oil, garlic, fresh mozerella, tomatoes and basil from my garden – finished with salt and pepper. Mmm. Someone told me our summers in Seattle don’t usually last long enough for peppers or strawberry plants, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed there. And I have a couple tiny green tomatoes that I’m watching with much love!

Caprese pasta - my summertime staple!

Turns out my work is sending me to New York City for the BlogHer 10 conference the first weekend of August. I’m super, duper excited and geeked out to meet so many bloggers and make some (hopefully) lifelong connections. I’ll get to hang out with Doniree for the first time, which I’m fantastically excited about. I feel like I’m the only 20-something blogger left in this world that doesn’t know her personally. I’ll also be hosting a fun Sex and the City walk through the city with a Kindle giveaway at the end. I think it’s going to be a fabulous, successful event, so that pushes my excitement that much further. Have I mentioned lately how much I love my job? By the way – this will be the first time I’ll have visited NYC while 21 and over. Trouble to be had! NEW YORK…. These streets will make you feel brand new…Big lights will inspire you…Let’s hear it for New York, New York, NEW YORK.

Can you think of a better event?! Excited!

I’m heading over the mountain pass again this weekend for a bachelorette party for one of my high school girl friends – lots of longtime girls of mine will be there. I hang out with all 10 of them about twice a year, so this should be interesting and fun. We’re starting off with a night out in the tiny town our cabin is in, wearing ugly bridesmaid dresses. (Thank you, Goodwill, for mine). We’re also floating a river Saturday in intertubes and then heading back out in matching tie-dyed tank tops with nicknames on the back. Mine? G-Spot Je-Spot. Yeah. That’s right. High school nickname I can’t seem to freakin’ get ride of. (For no other reason than my name being Je Anna). Should have some fun stories and pictures to share with all of you. Happy weekend!

Currently Feeling: A little bit of a nervous belly.
Currently Anticipating: Relaxing this weekend in the sun before a SUPER busy work week next week. Time to recharge!
Currently Loving: The new Eminem CD. Seriously – it’s so good. He amazes me, and brings me back to memories in high school when I used to listen to his first CD, all at the same time.

This will be the first year in forever that I’ve spent the Fourth of July outside of Seattle, and I have to admit that I’m going to miss the rooftop patio parties and fireworks on Lake Union like you would not believe. But I’m looking forward to a girly weekend of boating, sunbathing in 80-degrees, reading mags and laughing.

Hope all of you have a safe and happy holiday weekend!

God Bless America!

This little gem was posted as part of the 20-Something Bloggers Blog Carnival, in partnership with Charles Schwab.  Read more about the carnival and add your own post by clicking here.

This weekend on my way back from camping, I was flipping through Glamour - my all time fav magazine. To me, it’s the smart girl’s guide to life. Not just beauty, fashion and sex tips – but real stories of survival, news, politics and finances are peppered throughout the more fluffy pieces. I like my fluff with a side of smarts.

Ironically, I believe the piece that caught my attention most was called something along the lines of, “The Smart Girl’s Guide to Finances.”

I’m not a smart girl about finances. Not one bit.

The funny thing is – I consider myself really smart. (If I do so say myself). In almost all other facets of life except finances. (I only scored 49 points on Schwab’s Financial Fitness Quiz). I’ve been through it all – too many credit cards to pay with a less than 20K salary a year at 19, resulting in a bail-out from the parentals. Collections for parking tickets, BlockBuster movies and forgotten medical payments. Bad credit marks because I consciously decided to buy new jeans and figured I’d just double up my payment the next month. The list goes on. Normally I’d be a bit embarrassed to share details like this, but I realize throughout conversations I’ve had with girl friends, coworkers and acquaintances that a number of women my age have been through the same stuff. Why so many women I know are Thought Leaders, Activists, Mothers, Business Owners and Influencers, but still kinda bad with money?

So I read on…

The article had some really great tips from not being afraid to tell your spending-happy friends that you “just can’t afford it” and not borrowing from your future just because you feel you have to have a two-carat wedding ring (Amen), to always having a $500 cushion in your savings and six to eight months in living expenses saved.

But the best tip I think throughout the whole article was this, in a nut shell: Don’t let the banks make money off of you, and clean up unnecessary expenses.

Do you know that U.S. banks make $38 billion a year from overdraft fees? Yeah, that’s a B not an M.

Holy cow. That’s crazy. I’ve fallen in the overdraft hole for a list of $2 and $3 purchases just because I didn’t transfer money from savings in time, and my bank refuses to link the two accounts. At $35 a pop for overdraft fees, on more than one occasion, I’ve racked up $300 + in one paycheck by small mistakes. I’ve used a bank for more than two years that nickels and dimes me, but I’ve been too “busy” to switch. Additionally, I have reoccurring charges every month from previously authorized purchases or subscriptions that I really didn’t need anymore, but have been too “busy” to cancel.

But this week, I decided to take back my money in a baby step toward being financially smart.

I canceled the BooksFree.com subscription that at the time seemed like a good idea, but really I’ve been paying $10 a month for a service I’ve used twice. (That’s $120 a year!) I canceled the Web site hosting fee for a site I started to build back when I was unemployed, but never finished. At $10 a month, that’s another $120 I’m spending a year on nothing. And I finally called to cancel the #$@& credit monitoring service that’s been charging me $14.99 a month for a service I didn’t sign up for, but never seemed to find the energy to call and dispute it with them. That’s $180 a year! $420 bucks a year I was spending on charges because I couldn’t take five minutes out of my day to fix it.

Finally, I used BankRate.com (also a tip from Glamour) to research banks in my area with the lowest fees, finding a bank that can transfer money from my savings to checking if I go over. This bank also has lower NSF fees (by $15!). Turns out the a-hole bank I was using *ahem, Bank of America, ahem* are near the highest rate in every category of fees a bank can charge.

It felt really good, I tell yeah, to make choices to take back my money. Because yes, at 28, I still don’t have all this figured out.

Obvs this doesn’t make me the next Suze Orman. But, I thought it was worth “sharing the wealth,” so to speak, in a really simple switch everyone could do that wasn’t necessarily apparent to me until I read an article in a beauty magazine.

To Wanda!*

*Reference here.

Currently Feeling: Excited today marks the end of a looong month of hot yoga. Recap of my challenge coming soon!
Currently Anticipating: A celebration party tonight for Sassy Fit (and myself!)
Currently Obsessed With: Cribbage! I’ve downloaded the Cribbage iPhone app, and now I can’t get enough!