Everyday Delights

Europe 2011 day 2: Amsterdam

2012-01-25T15:03:00.000-08:00

We woke up on day two (Sept. 14) of our trip in Amsterdam and went out for a "traditional Dutch breakfast" - basically eggs, toast and bacon. Sealed the deal we are not fans of the Dutch cuisine.

Then we went to the Anne Frank House for our tour. My good friend Carrie recommended we get tickets online so we could skip the line and walked right in. Cameras weren't allowed inside of the museum but it was really an amazing experience. Like most young girls I read The Diary Of Anne Frank growing up so it was pretty surreal being in the attic she lived in. Everything was in its original places and it was a very moving experience.

sign at the door

The attic where Anne Frank lived

After the Anne Frank House we moved onto some lighter things on our Amsterdam to-do list:

We went to find the "I am sterdam" letters in front of the Rijksmuseum...

Went and walked around the flower market...

tulip bulbs

Tried pickled herring and as you can tell from the picture it was awful! We figured we should at least try it since it was another Dutch food - but again sealed the deal Dutch food is not good.

the pickled herring stand Rick Steves recommended

picked herring = yuck!

Did a canal cruise (interesting fact there are more canals in Amsterdam then there are in Venice) and it was a great way to see the beautiful city.

And something that was very high on my list - riding bikes around the city! I felt so European and tried to blend in with the locals. They even have special bike stop lights for the bike lanes.

off we go on our bikes!

riding along the canals

biking through the park

they have special bike lanes with their own stoplights

And lots of coffee to keep us going

coffee #1

coffee #2 (look how tiny it is)

coffee #3

Since we were way over Dutch food, we read in Rick Steves that Indonesian food is very good and really popular in Amsterdam so went to a restaurant he recommended called Kantjil En De Tijger. The food was fantastic!

Indonesian food + Belgium beer = happy travelers

After dinner the last thing we had to do on our Amsterdam list was check out the Red Light District. It was needless to say very interesting. We felt safe the whole time, there were lots of police officers and it was mainly tourists like us not there to "shop" but just check out the area and see what it was all about. And as as you would expect, everything is just right there in the open - the ladies just stand there in their "shop window" waiting for "customers."

After our Red Light walk we kept walking around the city and took some night pictures of the lovely city. We had a great couple of days in Amsterdam and are so glad we added it onto our trip! Next stop - Venice!

goodbye Amsterdam - may we meet again!

Europe 2011 day 1: Amsterdam

2012-01-22T21:04:00.000-08:00

Time to finally getting around to blogging about our Europe trip back in September! Our first stop was Amsterdam!

fresh off the plane exploring the city

Nick and I landed in Amsterdam in the morning (Sept. 13) and made our way through the huge airport. We then took a train from the airport to Amsterdam Centraal Station and then took the tram to our hotel. It was an easy flight and figuring out the public transportation once we landed was really easy too.

Nick and I were staying the the Jordaan neighborhood - right in the center of town. It is very picturesque and one of the hippest and most popular places to live in Amsterdam!

lovely day, lovely city

I was really excited for this stop because I was meeting up with my friend Anne from my old workplace at Fred Hutchinson. We've remained friends and since she was studying abroad (she is getting her Masters in Urban Planning) two hours north in a town called Groningen she said she would come down at meet up with us. Yay!

Anne took a two hour train ride to come visit - so nice of her!

Even after a long flight from Seattle we weren't about to slow down on our first day of the trip, so we dropped off our bags, did a quick freshen up at our hotel and hit the town with Anne!

The Jordaan neighborhood was was so pretty but a little confusing with all the canals. We broke out the Rick Steves book and did his Jordaan neighborhood walk and saw some of the sights he pointed out.

standing in front of the smallest house in Amsterdam - it's only a little wider than the door

all the unique rooftops of the city

bike + cheese = stereotypical Amsterdam

touring the city

After our walking tour the three of us made our way to Vondelpark and walked around and did some people watching.

After the park we decided to make our way to dinner for our first taste of traditional Dutch food - to be honest, pretty boring food. I wont be making my way to any Dutch restaurants anytime soon. One thing I read about Dutch restaurants is that they are slow - very slow. And we found that to be true. It's not that they are trying to be rude - they just want to give you your time to eat, even more so than what I have experienced in Italy and France! After dinner we saw Anne off on her train and then strolled home and I took some night pictures on the way.

The Royal Palace in Dam Square

Westerkerk church

Seattle snow week

2012-01-20T21:44:00.000-08:00

If you've been watching the Today Show or any other national news program this week you've probably heard our city had quite the week with snow! We revived about six inches of snow in the Seattle core which is our average yearly snowfall for Seattle - it was crazy! It's not a lot of snow for most places in the US, but for hilly Seattle it certainly did cause some problems.

It was a work from home week and Nick and I are very thankful we both have the opportunity to work from home and are thankful for all the emergency personnel working hard to keep the roads and everyone safe out there. Also very thankful we have power as my parents are on day two in the dark!

Luckily we have lots of stores and a Starbucks all within walking distance so we didn't get cabin fever. And it was fun walking around the snow. Here are some pictures of the snowfall in our neighborhood!

Hana hair dryer

2012-01-18T20:54:00.000-08:00

I am well on my way to a 2012 goal of mine - taking better care of my hair thanks to a new hairdryer I got that I am loving - the Hana hair dryer!
I did some research and discovered it was rated the best blow dryer and I've been using it for about a month and am really happy with it.
The best part is how fast it drys my long hair, it's cutting my time in half! It also has a cool blast button which I have heard is good for setting your hair after you dry it.
They also have a line of professional hair straighteners that I really want to check out!
Now hopefully I'll have this much luck with all my other goals!

2012 Goals

2012-01-10T20:30:00.000-08:00

2011 Goal Review

1. Travel someplace new - big YES to this one! (Blog posts to come form Europe trip). New travel locations were:

-New Orleans

-Amsterdam

-Athens

-Mykonos

-Santorini

-Ancient Olympia

-Crete

-Croatia

-Corfu

2. Learn something new - yes! For the holiday season Nick and I made multiple batches of caramels for family and friends! I had never used a candy thermometer before (without the help of my mom) so this was a new experience for me.

3. Read more - yes, thanks to book club! :)

4. Learn more about my SLR camera - kind of... I still have lots more to learn, but I'm getting there

2012 Goals

1. Travel someplace new

If it's not a new destination for me, at least a new one for Nick

2. Take better care of my hair

Kind of a lame goal, I know. But really, my hair needs some TLC in 2012

3. Do more strength training

I am pretty good about getting the the gym on a regular basis, but always default to the cardio side of the gym. This year I'm going to try to tackle the weights more

4. Learn/try something new

Considering how many things I pin on Pintrest - this should hopefully be an easy one

5. Learn more about my SLR camera
This needs some more work in the new year. Adding this one again.

Thai Cooking Class

2012-01-09T12:48:00.000-08:00

On Friday four of my friends and I took part in a Thai cooking class at a place called Hipcooks. If you are in the Seattle, San Diego, LA or Portland area I highly recommend this place - we had a blast!

We learned how to cook the following:

-Veggie Spring Rolls
-Chicken Satay with peanut sauce
-Coconut rice with shrimp and cilantro
-Pad Thai
-Papaya Salad
-Green Curry with eggplant and mushrooms
-Red Curry with chicken and cashews
-Black rice with coconut cream

I've always been scared to even attempt making Thai food but after our class I learned it's actually really easy and quick! I need to make a trip to our nearest Asian grocery store to stock up on ingredients but next time we are craving Thai food I'm going to pull out my class recipes and give it a shot on my own!

Happy weekend

2012-01-06T11:29:00.000-08:00

Happy Friday everyone! Tonight my friends and are are doing a Thai cooking class at a place called Hipcooks here in Seattle and I can't wait! I don't really know how to cook Thai food so I'm excited to learn a new cuisine.

And speaking of food - yesterday I got to meet Tom Douglas! He was at our work as part of a Visiting Chefs Series and my friend Meredith reminded me he was here so I ran over to see him. For those non-Seattleites, he's probably one of our best known and most popular chefs in the Seattle area. (This is actually my second run-in with him!) He's also been a judge on Top Chef before.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Merry Christmas And Happy 2012

2012-01-03T13:45:00.000-08:00

A very belated Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all! December was so busy (as I'm sure it was for everyone) so blogger suffered the consequences.

Hope everyone's holiday season was amazing and can't wait to catch up with everyone in 2012!

Holiday catch-up

2011-12-07T17:38:00.000-08:00

Forgive the absence - like everyone else I've been busy with lots of holiday activities!

In November we celebrated Nick's birthday with a small dinner with a couple of friend and then I took him out to dinner at an Asian-fusion restaurant in the Ballard neighborhood called The Root Table. Super yummy and I'm sure we'll head back sometime.

I've also been busy organizing all our Europe pictures from September and with a high of 41 today - I'd love to be back in warm Greece right now! I'm hoping to get to posting soon once I've sorted through all the picture.

I've also been been keeping busy posting on UKate - a Kate Middleton blog some friends of mine started. I've now become a resident blogger there! Its no secret I'm a huge Kate fan, so I've enjoyed blogging on there.

This weekend I'm looking forward to Nick's company party, a fun (and annual) holiday dinner with Meghan and Brynn at The Book Bindery (recently named one of the top new restaurants of 2011!) and a relaxing spa day with my mom!

Hope everyone has been having a great start of the holiday season!

20something wine event

2011-11-21T14:10:00.000-08:00

For the past 3 years (I think...) Nick and I have gone to this event in Seattle called 20something The New Vintage. You buy a ticket and then you get a wine glass and sample Washington wines.

There are over 75 wineries pouring their wines, a number of different restaurants with food to sample and a DJ.

We will be returning next year!

Also, great version of a healthier mac and cheese I found at Cooking Light - here. And the dress I wore at Meredith's 11.11.11 party was borrowed from my friend Jessica and it's from Express!

11.11.11 birthday bash

2011-11-15T19:37:00.000-08:00

My friend Meredith's birthday is on Nov. 11 so with such a cool date - 11.11.11 - she threw herself a fantastic birthday bash.

It was a black and white themed party held downtown event space. Good food, drinks, music, a champagne toast at 11:11 p.m. and even a cupcake bar - seriously she went all out! Such a fun night and the perfect way to kick off the weekend!

our lovely birthday girl in the middle

birthday girl pretty in white

cupcake station - yum!

Happy birthday sweet friend, here's to a wonderful year ahead!

Week in review

2011-11-11T09:15:00.000-08:00

Bring on Friday! We supposedly have a little wind storm coming through Seattle so I came armed with my Hunter boots and rain jacket, but so far all is quiet here.

A highlight of my week was Where In The World Is Matt Lauer! I love this series and my favorite location was Jungfraujoch, Swiss Alps:

image

The Swiss Alps have been called the visible throne of God - and wow, I can certainly see why. I thought Malaysia was pretty cool too but I think Switzerland just jumped up a few notches on our travel list.

image via Pintrest

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend and of course - a huge thank you to all our veterans who selflessly give to protect our country. (Especially my dad!!!)

Weekend update

2011-11-07T09:17:00.000-08:00

Hope everyone had a great first weekend of November - I can't believe it's practically mid-November! I haven't done a weekend update in a while but I had such a great weekend I had to do a blog post!

On Friday night my friend Angela, her husband Jake and their adorable twin babies came over to Seattle for a visit! So Friday night a big group of us went out to a little Mexican restaurant called La Carta de Oaxaca in Ballard. It was really great food and obviously really popular as the wait was about an hour for our gruop. Afterwards we went to a French restaurant/bar called Bastille. And I realized when we were there that exactly 2 years ago Nick and I were in France - le sigh! (And I realized I never finished blogging about that trip - maybe someday I'll finish it! haha!)

Saturday we did the UW football game and sadly lost to Oregon, but it was a really great game to watch! And it was the last one in our old stadium before it goes under a $250 million renovation.

And Sunday continued with fun with a girls lunch at Homegrown! And Where In The World Is Matt Lauer is starting this week - so excited! I so wish I could tag along on all his awesome travels.

Megan and Brian's wedding

2011-10-26T17:20:00.000-07:00

After such a long blogging absence I would normally just jump right to my vacation pictures - but I have to go a little bit back in the archives to August. Our friends Brian and Megan got married and I just have to share the pictures.

Megan looked so beautiful at her French themed wedding and she is a graphic designer so I knew all the details would be lovely! The ceremony was outside at the Columbia Winery and it was such a lovely Seattle day!

Her seating chart is worth an extra shout out - different wines in France and the regions they could be found in. We were the Cotes Do Rhone table and it had information about the wines, the soil, the taste, etc. I can't get over how cute and cleaver it was!

Congrats Megan and Brian!!

Catching up

2011-10-23T20:31:00.000-07:00

I don't even want to think about how long its been since I visted my neglected Blogger and Reader. Things have been so crazy and hectic since I got back from our trip! I thought I'd be sorting and posting my pictures by now, oopsy!

The weekend after Nick and I got back from Europe we went to Leavenworth, Wa. for Oktoberfest with friends and had a blast even though we were still a little jet-lagged. We also had family in town from Australia for a party Nick's sister threw for her one-year wedding anniversary and finally made it to a Husky football game - my first even though we have season tickets!

Go Huskies!

Brynn and me in Leavenworth

Leavenworth

The whole group in Leavenworth

And I'm also happy to announce I am a guest blogger for 10-days on my favorite Kate Middleton blog - UKate! If you haven't already checked out their site make sure you do for all of the latest news on the Duchess Of Cambridge!

So looking forward to getting back in the blogging groove and of course catching up with all my blog friends!

Return from Europe

2011-09-30T17:03:00.000-07:00

I have returned! Nick and I are back from a wonderful 16 day vacation in Amsterdam, Venice, and a cruise through Croatia, Athens and the Greek Islands.

We had such a total blast, lucked out with fantastic weather and of course I took tons of pictures which I'll be sharing once they get organized.

We are now off again for the weekend to a small town in Washington called Leavenworth to celebrate Oktoberfest with friends but I can't wait to catch up on everyones blogs when I get back!

A preview of pictures:

Amsterdam

Venice

Athens

Santorini

Crete

Have a great weekend everyone!

Mini summer boat-trip

2011-09-12T13:08:00.000-07:00

During our high-school and college summer days, my best friend Courtney's parents would take us up to the San Juan Islands on a two week cruise on their boat. It would be Courtney's parents, and then each sibling would bring 2 or 3 friends so it was basically a "kids party" the whole time. Needless to say, it was a blast and always a highlight of the summer.

This weekend we had beautiful weather so got the crew back together and did a mini boat trip around the Puget Sound. An afternoon on the water with friends - I couldn't think of a better way to end summer!

Urban Tennis

2011-09-09T09:16:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago a group of friend and I got together on a Saturday for a little round-robin tennis tournament. It was a blast and Meghan brought her camera to document the game! We just took over some public courts up on Queen Anne for a few hours and played around. There was graffiti in the background so we decided to give it the name Urban Tennis.

I'm hoping the weather is still as great as it is now when Nick and I get back from our trip so that we can play another tennis match!

the whole group - I'm in the pink visor

with Meghan and Molly - we all had the same skirt

Ivy and David's wedding

2011-09-05T21:47:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone! I feel like its been so long since I posted something other than my wedding pics that I feel like I have so much to catch up on!

This past weekend we had the wedding of our good friends Ivy and David. Ivy and I have been friends since high-school and have over a decade of memories together. She and David are so wonderful together and Ivy is such a great girlfriend to have in my life. She is one of the most positive people I have ever met and I don't think I have ever heard her say something negative about anyone or anything - ever!

Nick and I were so happy to be at her wedding and we had so much fun and did tons of dancing into the night (there are quite a few embarrassing dance floor pictures I will refrain from posting)! It was such a beautiful and fun wedding and I couldn't be happier for them!

yay Ivy and David!

my beautiful friends

beautiful bridesmaid Courtney

Nick and (Meghan's) David

our beautiful bride!

Joleen and Courtney

father/daughter dance

hubs!!

high school peeps at the photobooth

with the lovely bride after she changed into her party dress

Our Wedding: Nick + Carol

2011-08-31T22:14:00.000-07:00

On our 1-year, 1-month anniversary (not planned) I'm sharing my final set of wedding pictures - of Nick and me!

Thanks to everyone for reading along and for all the sweet comment! It was fun going through all the pictures (there are literally hundreds) and reliving our wedding day!

Our Wedding: Details

2011-08-23T22:08:00.000-07:00

And some of the miscellaneous detail pictures from the day...

Dress details and shoes...

Wedding programs...

Bouquet and Nick's boutineer...

Menu card with note...

The head table...

Cake...

Our college: the University of Washington's Husky mascot

Seating chart and guestbook pages...

The rings...

The final wedding post is next: my favorite pictures of Nick and I!

Our Wedding: Reception

2011-08-18T20:59:00.000-07:00

After the ceremony it was onto the reception. Our reception was held at an event space called Pravda Studios. It had lots of windows, tall ceilings and felt like a fun New York City-style loft. We loved the location, right in the middle of Capitol Hill and easy access to cabs to make sure everyone was safe for the night and felt very Seattle to us. It also happened to be close to our ceremony spot which was an added bonus.

walking into Pravda

We did some chatting with guests...

Did dinner and speeches by Nick, our dads, my brother, maid of honor (Erin) and best man (Chris)....

We did our first dance to All You Need Is Love by Lynden David Hall (the version from Love Actually during the surprise wedding singer scene). My dance with my dad was to Sweet Pea by Amos Lee and Nick's dance with him mom was to Walk Like A Man by Frankie Valli.

We also did our cake cutting...

Bouquet toss (caught by my bridesmaid Brynn)

Took lots of pictures with friends...

lovely ADPi ladies

the high-school group

Nick's fraternity group

maid of honor and best man

And went into the night with lots of dancing...

Best night of our lives - ever!

Our Wedding: Marriage certificate signing and leaving the church

2011-08-15T20:01:00.000-07:00

Immediately after the ceremony Nick and I signed the marriage certificate at the church. Our maid of honor (Erin) and best man (Chris) signed the certificate but our parents watched us sign it too.

After we signed the certificate all our guests were waiting outside and then it was on to the reception!

Our Wedding: Ceremony

2011-08-10T22:06:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned in our last post, Nick and I did our ceremony at the Holy Names Academy chapel here in Seattle. The ceremony started at 4:30 p.m. and we did a Catholic ceremony without the Eucharist so it was about 30 minutes total.

Our priest was absolutely wonderful! Nick and I are so blessed that he came into our lives and his faith in God is truly inspiring. He will always be so dear to us.

After all the guests were seated, my dear friend Molly (who is one of the most gifted singers I have ever met) sang a beautiful acapella version of "What A Wonderful World" to start off the ceremony. It was so beautiful, we were standing there waiting to walk down the aisle with our jaws dropped at how amazing she was. The wedding coordinator at the church said she was one of the best singers she had ever heard! Bravo Molly!

We had a string trio playing the music for us, they did a fabulous job!

Our wedding party and parents walked in to "Jesu, Joy Of Man's Desiring" by Bach.

Nick with his parents

My older brother Mike and my mom

I walked down the aisle with my dad to "Canon" by Pachelbel. I had so many (good) butterflies!

Father did a greeting and opening prayer and then we did our readings we chose:

First Reading was Tobit 8:4-8 read by Nick's sister Julia

Responsorial Psalm was 145:8-9, 10, 15, 17-18 “The Lord is Compassionate” read by my cousin Bill

Second Reading was Philippians 4:4-9 read by my Godmother Kate

Gospel was Matthew 22:35-40 and then Father gave the Homily

Father is a funny guy too!

We then did the Rite Of Marriage, our exahnge of vows and the prayers of the faithful was read by my Aunt Janet

We did one final blessing, first kiss and intorduction by Father as the new Mr. and Mrs. and walked out to "Spring" by Vivaldi.

final blessing

first kiss as Mr. and Mrs.

Yay! We're married!!!

Our Wedding: Pre-ceremony pictures

2011-08-03T21:59:00.000-07:00

Here are some random pictures of us all hanging out before the ceremony and before the formal pictures were taken. I love the pictures of my dad holding my train and veil!

Our ceremony was in the chapel of an all-girls Catholic school here in Seattle - Holy Names Academy. I didn't go to this school, but fell in love with it the second I stepped inside the chapel, it was perfect. And it was a very short distance to our reception site, which was great as well.

I got to show off my dress to our family that was there early for the pictures. Before we went out Meghan led a prayer and my bridesmaids prayed over me and then it was time for the big event!

my brother hanging out with the bridesmaids

trying to hold it together

1-Year Anniversary Weekend in Vancouver

2011-08-01T12:41:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone! Hope the weekend was fantastic!

As I've been blogging about, Nick and I had our 1-year anniversary on July 31 celebrated up in Vancouver, B.C.!The whole weekend we were saying 'why don't we do this more often?!' Vancouver is such a fantastic city with so much to do and great food, and only a 3 hour drive (including crossing the border) from Seattle. We'll be sure to go back hopefully soon!

We did lots of walking around the beautiful city and lots of great eating. Our first stop was to Japa Dog. A Japanese style hot dog that gained a ton of press from the recent Vancouver Olympics. Giada and Justin Bieber are fans!

celebs who love Japa Dog

showing off my Jappadog

Site of the 2010 Winter Olympics

Olympic arena

We also had a fantastic dinner at a restaurant called The Italian Kitchen. It was great Italian comfort food, and a really swanky atmosphere. We had calamari and panzanella salad to start, and Nick had spaghetti and Kobe beef meatballs while I did a big calorie splurge with a lobster tagliatelle.

image: Italian Kitchen

Just by chance, we happened to be in Vancouver during a weekend a lot was going on. There was a huge fireworks show over English Bay we got to see and also the second biggest Pride Parade after San Francisco which we checked out after doing dim sum at a restaurant called Kirin! It's actually one of the largest Pride Parades in all of North America!

Another fun thing we did to top off the weekend was rent cruisers and bike around Stanley Park and the waterfront, about 7 miles. It's a great ride, meant for walking and beautiful views!

city skyline from Stanley Park

Stanley Park beach

Our first year of marriage has been wonderful and we're looking forward to many more years to come!

Oh and regarding gifts - the first year is traditionally paper - so we look a little twist on it and did tickets to Europe in September (blog post about it here)!

Our Wedding: First Look Pictures

2011-07-27T21:13:00.000-07:00

I love the idea of doing the first look at the alter - so so sweet! However, knowing me - I knew I couldn't do it! I would be a crying, bubbling mess and makeup would be running down my face. Not cute!

So we did what a lot of people do: first look pictures! We did it at Volunteer Park in a shady, grassy area and it was just perfect. Nick finally got to see the dress I had picked out six months earlier and it was a memory I will have with me forever.

Our Wedding: Bridal Party

2011-07-25T21:34:00.000-07:00

Moving on to our fabulous bridal party! Nick and I are so blessed to be surrounded by such amazing friends and we were truly honored to have them stand next to us on the most important days of our lives, they truly are like our second family and we adore them. I could gush for hours, literally.

The majority of these pictures were taken at Volunteer Park, a lovely space in Seattle on Capitol Hill, where Nick and I did our first look pictures.

my stunning ladies
Erin - Maid Of Honor and friend from my sorority
Meghan - Bridesmaid and friend since 9th grade and roommate after college
Brynn - Bridesmaid and friend since 9th grade
Angela - Bridesmaid and friend from my sorority
Courtney - Bridesmaid and friends since Kindergarten

Nick's handsome guys
Chris - Best Man and friend from Nick's fraternity
Nolan - Groomsman and friend from Nick's fraternity
Scott - Groomsman and friend from Nick's fraternity
Sam - Groomsman and friend from Nick's fraternity
Tyler - Groomsman and friend from Nick's fraternity

Thank you again dear friends for everything - much love to you all!

Our Wedding: Getting Ready

2011-07-24T20:34:00.000-07:00

Well since we're approaching our 1-year anniversary (wow how time flies!) I figured I should probably blog our wedding pictures. Better late than never!

The night before the wedding my five bridesmaids and I stayed in a hotel room in downtown Seattle. I loved having all my best friends with me on my last night as a Miss, it meant so much to me.

The next morning, my mom joined us and we went to a salon down the street and got our hair and makeup done and got dressed in the hotel room. I fell in love with my dress the second I saw it and I must add that my mom made my beautiful, long veil! She did such a great job and I loved it!

Here are some of my favorites from getting ready.

Europe bound in September

2011-07-20T11:32:00.000-07:00

I am beyond excited - Nick and I just booked a trip to Europe for September!!

We'll be spending a few days in Amsterdam:

image

Then flying to Venice for a couple of days before board a cruise...

image

going through Croatia...

image

...and then through the Greek islands!

image

I've been to Venice a couple of times before, but all the other places are new destinations to us - so any suggestions are always welcome! :)

Weekend update

2011-07-19T09:32:00.000-07:00

Hope everyone had a great weekend! I cannot believe that its already mid-July, this summer has flown!!

On Monday some friends and I rode our bikes to dinner at Uneeda Burger and then over to the beautiful Woodland Park Rose Garden. The weather was perfect and I snapped a few pictures on my phone camera. I really need to come back here with my new camera and get some better pictures.

Also, I've been obsessing over Gwyneth Paltrow's new cookbook! I just adore her and made her turkey bolognese Sunday night which was fantastic. Nice work Gwyneth! I highly recommend the cookbook!

And I made it to the final book of The Hunger Game series - Mockingjay! Great series!

Dinner at Revel

2011-07-13T17:04:00.000-07:00

For our birthday tradition, my lovely friends Meghan and Brynn took me out to a wonderful birthday dinner at a new Seattle restaurant called Revel.

It was fantastic! A unique urban-style Korean restaurant with a lovely open kitchen layout. We were watching the talented chefs make our food all night. And I couldn't get over how calm they were. If I were a chef in a packed restaurant I would be a mess!

It's been raved about by New York Times food critic Frank Bruni and now we are raving about it too!

Aladdin The Musical

2011-07-11T16:10:00.000-07:00

Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend! My Sunday was extra special because I got to use my birthday gift - a ticket to see Aladdin The Musical at the 5th Ave Theater in Seattle. It was SO much fun and the show really was fantastic!

I love Aladdin (and musicals) and have been wanting to go so badly. Since Nick wasn't super excited about going, it was a perfect gift my mom and dad!

Here is a picture from our seats - 7th row!

And I wont lie - the other highlight of my weekend (well the past couple of weeks) has been Kate Middleton's (Dutchess Catherine) outfits on her Canada/USA tour. Seriously - she can do no wrong, I just love her (as those of you who follow me on pintrest know from my many pins of her).

Some of my faves, all images from this Daily Mail article:

And I finished The Hunger Games and loved it! Thank you to everyone for the great recommendation and I'm already on the next book of the series, Catching Fire!

Birthday/4th of July weekend

2011-07-07T13:39:00.000-07:00

First of all - thank you everyone for the sweet birthday wishes, it made my day even more special!

For most of the weekend Nick and I were up at my parents cabin doing lots of hiking and biking and we lucked out with great weather. I took the camera on some hikes and poor Nick had to carry it quite a long ways!

On Saturday we did a hike called Little Ranger Creek, 6 miles round trip with a 1,500 elevation gain:

view of Mt. Rainier peaking over the hills

On Sunday we went to Snoquera Falls, also 6 miles round trip with at 2,800 elevation gain:

I swear this picture had not been altered, the sky was really that blue!

And around my parents cabin we came across some really pretty flowers and I couldn't help but do a photo shoot with them:

And of course the main event - the 4th! Our friends were having a BBQ at their house which was also walking distance to Gasworks Park, where the Seattle fireworks were being shown. It was perfect! Great weekend had by all!

Happy 27th birthday to me!

2011-07-01T00:01:00.000-07:00

Thank you 26 for a fabulous year that included a job change, getting married (and I am finally going to post pictures this month!) honeymooning in Tahiti, New Orleans trip, baking classes, Lady Gaga concert, learning to golf and lots of memories in between with family and friends.

I feel very blessed, full of happiness and looking forward to what the next chapter brings for me, bring on 27!

Weekend update

2011-06-27T15:13:00.000-07:00

Hello friends! Hope everyone had a great weekend! We had lovely summer weather so Nick and I made the most of it and headed outside.

Sunday we broke out the bikes and did an 11 mile bike ride on the Burke Gilman trail. It's a well-paved, off the road trail that is perfect for biking and running and very safe. I snapped some pictures of our view of Lake Washington on the ride.

This is a map of the route we did, although the whole trail is much longer - 27 miles total!

And I also finished a very light read, William, Kate, and Harry - A Look Behind the Palace Walls

And at the suggestion of other bloggers started The Hunger Games

And watched No Strings Attached (it had its funny moments)

Oh and did I mention its my birthday week! :)

Summer flowers

2011-06-23T20:55:00.000-07:00

Remember back in April when I posted about my awesome balcony flowers, well sadly they did not last through the spring. So it was time for a refresh of the flowers! I went out a couple of weekends ago and did a refurbish of my planters. I'm still waiting for some pink flowers to come in but I think so far so good!

I also got a hydrangea plant for my balcony but I'm now worried about how big it will get...

And to top it off, when I went to Whole Foods yesterday they had my favorite flower - peonies - on sale! And they smell amazing!

Hope everyone has a great weekend! (This was taken a couple of weekends ago at Golden Gardens Park in Seattle).

Jacob and Janelle's wedding and Spokane weekend

2011-06-20T21:01:00.000-07:00

Going way back into the archives sharing some pictures from Memorial Weekend! Nick and I headed to the East side of Washington state to Spokane to go to our friend's Jacob and Janelle's wedding.

The wedding was so lovely and Janelle looked gorgeous! And even more fun, one of the priests from my high school was the officiant!

Congrats to the beautiful couple!

And to make the weekend extra exciting - we also got to see our friends Angela and Jake and their beautiful 6-month old twin babies!!

Connor and Jocelyn hanging out on the couch

And here are some shots I took on the drive...

New Orleans trip: Food

2011-06-14T21:22:00.000-07:00

I saved my final New Orleans to be about my favorite topic: the food! Wow - we seriously did not have a bad meal there! Wonderful, rich and unique food - I wish we had more cajun/creole restaurants in Seattle.

I have to start out with Cafe du Monde - wow, yummy! We ate there four out of five mornings and the only reason we couldn't one of the days was becasue we had to go to our swamp and plantation tour and didn't have the time. Otherwise it would have been an every morning deal.

Another place we loved was Cochon Restaurant, and I even had fried alligator there. Tastes like chicken! A few days before we left (luckily we already had reservations) the head chef and owner won a James Beard Award and the restaurant has also been written up in the New York Times with rave reviews.

A couple of other delicious places we went to were Mr. B's bistro, Emeril's Nola, Mothers and of course we ate lots of po'boys!

Thank you New Orleans for a fabulous trip, we'll be back!

New Orleans trip: City Exploring

2011-06-12T21:06:00.000-07:00

Back to New Orleans posts, just some random pictures I took while we were exploring the city. I loved having my new camera!

Golf lessons

2011-06-07T09:52:00.000-07:00

I've been a little bit behind on blogging due to my new obsession - pintrest! Blogging time has quickly turned into pinning time but I'm back in the blogging game! (And here is a link to my boards!)

Something I have to look forward to after work - Nick and I are starting golf lessons! I've taken lessons before in high-school and I'm so excited to take up the sport again!

image: Pintrest

Book review: Bossypants

2011-06-03T09:05:00.000-07:00

I've been seeing a lot of people talk about this book on the blogs and I'm going to echo everything they say, such a fantastic book! I was in public places (gym, bus, etc.) literally laughing out loud as I was reading this book. I've always liked Tina Fey, and after reading this book I am even more of a fan of hers!

Some other books I've been enjoying from the library recently are:

Love Gwenyth and Mario, I wish I was friends with them!

This is her cookbook, different than her book I did for our last book club

It's no secret, I love Kate! And yes, reading another book about her!

images: Bing images

New Orleans trip: Evenings out

2011-05-31T21:16:00.001-07:00

Of course a trip wouldn't be complete without trips the proper nightlife of New Orleans. We of had to check out Bourbon street:

And got lots of recommendation to check out Pat O'Briens, the birthplace of the (very) sweet hurricane. They had a great courtyard too!

Another thing I loved about the city was the music everywhere. Bourbon street, Faubourg Marigny, Frenchmen street and even just on the side of the street.

a second line parade for a wedding

The Spotted Cat

The Maison

And some quieter evening sights

New Orleans trip: Swamp Tour and Nottoway Plantation

2011-05-26T21:56:00.000-07:00

A few days into our trip Nick and I rented a car for the day and drove outside of the city. This day was one of the highlights of the trip, we did a swamp tour and plantation tour!

For our swamp tour, we drove about 30 minutes west to Laplace for the Cajun Pride Swamp tour. It was a blast! We were out on the bayou for about 2 hours driving around on the boat and feeding the alligators. Our guide was awesome and it was fun to see a completely different terrain than I had ever seen before.

Another thing I was not expecting to do was hold an alligator! Behind that smile I am terrified - I am not a reptile fan. The guide assured us Elvis's teeth were really small if he did happen to bit us it would just feel like a kitten bite and I figured if I can feed a sting ray in Bora Bora, I can certainly hold little Elvis!

And we even saw an old trapper's cabin - complete with an out house!

After the swamp tour we grabbed a craw fish and shrimp po'boy to go at a local restaurant then continued driving west until we got to the Oak Alley Plantation. We didn't have enough time to go inside, but we did get to see the beautiful exterior and the lovely oak trees leading up to the plantation. So beautiful!

Our drive west continued (we were about 1.5 hours outside of New Orleans in White Castle) and we reached the Nottoway Plantation, the largest plantation in the south, hence the reason I wanted to go out there! The house was beautiful and we walked around the gardens then did a 45 minute guided group tour of the inside. The house was right on the mighty Mississippi river and I felt like I was Scarlett O'Hara in Gone With The Wine (I tried to do my best impression of her but it wasn't nearly as good as the movie).

Overall an awesome day and great time seeing more of the beautiful south!

Farewell to Oprah

2011-05-25T21:26:00.000-07:00

Did anyone else watch the Oprah finale tonight? I had some girlfriends over to watch the final three episodes (DVR marathon) and inspired by our New Orleans trip I made gumbo, jalapeno cheddar cornbread and green goddess salad for dinner.

I called my mom after the show to tell her about my dinner that her southern cooking roots are strong in me (she was born in Dallas and raised in Memphis - a true southern lady!).

We also talked about how sad it is Oprah is over. One of the reasons we liked her show so much that she was such a positive influence on people and her show have the emphasis on bettering people lives and bringing them up. There is so much negativity on TV today and people making fun of other people and Oprah always had her show have a core value of doing good things and helping others. I admire that so much!

And with that, farewell to my favorite hour of television!

image: Oprah

New Orleans trip: Garden District

2011-05-23T21:44:00.000-07:00

I decided to try blogging about my vacation in topics and areas instead of days.

Most of the pictures were taken with my new camera! My dad let me borrow his 18-200 mm lens which I loved using and will have to get my own one soon.

Probably one of my favorite things about the trip was an area called the Garden District, which is located west of the downtown area and the French Quarter. We took the St. Charles streetcar to get there, I wish Seattle had fun streetcars like this.

taking a ride on the St. Charles line

The area has a ton of beautiful houses, including the house where The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button was filmed. One of the things I love about all these houses were their big wrap-around porches, I am a sucker for a good porch and sadly I feel like Seattle architecture lacks them!

beautiful tree-lined streets

an old carriage house

they call this the wedding cake house

After seeing all the lovely homes we went over to where Tulane and Loyola University area. More lovely homes and the beautiful Audubon Park.

Mardi Gras beads in the trees

Audubon Park

Loyal University

I went to Catholic school growing up so I had to take a picture for the Jesuits!

Book club: The Pioneer Woman: Black Heels to Tractor Wheels

2011-05-22T21:53:00.000-07:00

Tonight my friend Baillie hosted our book club, The Pioneer Woman: Black Heels to Tractor Wheels by Ree Drummond but better know as The Pioneer Woman. And of course the meal was complete with two Pioneer Woman recipes - sooo yummy!

I think most people know her blog and story and this book was the love story between Ree and her husband. A quick back story is that Ree was a big city lover and then while on a break from moving to Chicago met her future husband, a cattle rancher who lived in the middle of Oklahoma on a ranch. Their story is so sweet and as a admirer of her blog I was excited to read this book!

I thought the book was really fun and liked reading her sweet story about meeting her husband. I wish the book went more into the start of her blog but maybe that means there will be another book in the future.

Fun read especially for fellow Pioneer Woman fans!

Return from New Orleans + Reggie Bush encounter

2011-05-20T09:33:00.000-07:00

Hello friends! Nick and I are back from a wonderful trip down to New Orleans- what a fantastic city!! We had such a fabulous time, amazing food and such nice people! We lucked out with amazing weather and I can't wait to share everything and all our pictures!

Cafe Du Monde

And to top it off - guess who I met on our Nola to LAX flight - Reggie Bush (Saints player and ex-bf of Kim Kardashian)! After a very polite "excuse me sir, are you Reggie Bush" (yes, I said "sir" - I don't forget my manners!) he was so nice to take a picture with me and I immediately uploaded it to facebook!

Mark Ingram was also with him, but I didn't know it was him until I sat down. If you aren't in the pages of US Weekly for dating a celeb how and I supposed to know what you look like under your helmet?!

New Orleans Saints - Who dat!

Off to New Orleans

2011-05-13T11:16:00.000-07:00

After work Nick and I are heading to a fun (and food-filled) weekend in New Orleans! Thank you for the many suggestions and I'll come back with lots of pictures. Have a fabulous week everyone!

image: Bing

Rob Dyrdek visits Seattle

2011-05-09T09:51:00.000-07:00

How was everyones weekend?! Nick and I had a great and busy weekend hanging out with our families and celebrating Mothers Day with our amazing moms! We spent Saturday with Nick's family and celebrated his nephews 4th birthday and Sunday we cooked dinner for my mom - and it was a success!

Last week was fun too - does anyone watch Rob And Big or Rob's Fantasy Factory? Well to be honest, I don't...but he was at our work on Thursday since we are sponsoring a skate competition over the weekend and I couldn't help have a little fun with our picture and have him "sorority pose" with me.

He also signed autographs, but since I don't watch the show and my friend Brynn is a huge fan, I had him sign it for her and she loved it!

Fudgy Rocky Road Bars

2011-05-04T09:15:00.000-07:00

I don't know about everyone else, but I must always have something for dessert after dinner. Preferably for lunch too but that doesn't always happen.

My Martha Stewart Everyday Food magazine had an awesome dessert in there that has been a staple in my fridge because it is beyond easy to make. The recipe calls for almonds but I used peanuts. I think any nut would be good - hazelnuts, macadamia nuts...yum!

Did I mention its beyond easy, and only 5 ingredients! Recipe found here. Martha scores again!

image: Martha Stewart

Week update

2011-05-02T19:44:00.000-07:00

On top of all the Royal Wedding excitement from last week, Nick and I also had some other fun things going on. Still trying to catch up on sleep from it all!

Wednesday night we went to Seattle Weekly's 2011 Voracious Tasting & Food Awards. I had never been before, but it was quite the event. We paid a flat ticket fee and got tastings, mixed drinks and wine (all unlimited) from over 50 Seattle restaurants. So you just walk around and literally eat and drink as much as you like! We also walked away with two cookbooks. Needless to say we'll be back next year!

images: Seattle Weekly

Then Friday night (even though I was exhausted from the Royal Wedding) we went to a concert by The Head And The Heart, a local Seattle band.

Saturday night we had had some friends over for dinner and a game night and I made Ina Garten's lemon chicken, mustard roasted potatoes and snap peas with pancetta.

And of course like most Americans sat and watched the TV Sunday night with regarding the news about the death of Osama Bin Laden and of course keeping the people in the South in my prayers.

Royal Wedding Perfection

2011-04-29T11:03:00.000-07:00

A very sleep deprived blog post - but oh it was so worth it! To be perfectly honest, I been obsessed with everything Royal Wedding since the day they got engaged and have loved following all the coverage.

My friends Meghan, Brynn, Megan and myself gathered at 1 a.m. to watch all of the festivities live and had a blast. We drank tea, had biscuits, tea sandwiches and popped the champagne when Kate arrived at Westminster Abbey and toasted to the bride. It was so fun watching the event curled up on the couch with friends and squealing with excitement all morning long.

I thought Kate was absolute perfection and looked stunning in that amazing dress. Love her! Did other people stay up and watch? What did you think of the dress? I loved it - classic and perfect!

images: US Weekly, People Hello Magazine

Tahitian honeymoon day 10: Goodbye to Bora Bora

2011-04-26T21:06:00.000-07:00

The day had come - our last in paradise before the 11 hour journey back to reality. Back to Seattle we go and onward to a happy lifetime together!

Last pictures around the hotel

Nick picking me up for a kayak trip

On the boat back to the airport...sigh...

And a final southern hemisphere sunset

Tahitian honeymoon day 9: Bora Bora over water bungalow

2011-04-25T21:45:00.000-07:00

Since this was the one (and most likely only) trip of my life I will ever stay in a room over the water, I figured I would do some pictures of our over water bungalow.

Our bungalow:

Relaxing on the deck

View from the bedroom

Glass bottom coffee table and living room

Bathroom

Since I didn't do the best job of taking pictures indoors I stole some from the hotels website

And our hotel was the InterContinental Bora Bora Resort and Thalasso Spa - good times!

Happy Easter

2011-04-25T09:23:00.000-07:00

My post is a little delayed, but nonetheless - Happy Easter to everyone! Christ is risen!

We had a burst of beautiful sun for the weekend, perfect for BBQing with friends Michelle and her fiance master chef Bobby! Before that Nick and I spent the whole afternoon at a park north of Seattle and then went to Church.

Nick enjoying the sun

Turtles enjoying the sun

My favorite cat - Missy!

Dinner at Tilth

2011-04-22T09:14:00.000-07:00

Last night was the last day of Seattle Restaurant Week and we hit another (sold out!) winner - Tilth! I went a few years ago with my parents when it first opened and I am so glad I got to go again. And everything is organic too!

the restaurant is in an old house - so cute and cozy!

images

Just a few of the many awards this restaurant and head chef Maria Hines has won:

James Beard Award winner for Best Chef of the Northwest
One of Food & Wine Magazine’s 10 Best New Chefs of 2005
A winner on Iron Chef America (against Chef Masaharu Morimoto)
In 2008, the New York Times named Tilth one of the best new restaurants in the country

For dinner we had:

Fraga Farms Goat Cheese Tart - caramelized onion, nicoise olive, white anchovy
Lamb Meatballs - pine nut, capellinni, rosemary jus
Carnaroli Risotto - english pea, basil, parmesan
Theo Chocolate Pudding - toffee shaved chocolate, chantilly

Can't wait for Seattle Restaurant Week next year!

Tahitian honeymoon day 8: Bora Bora dinner on the beach

2011-04-20T20:39:00.000-07:00

Last night in Bora Bora...some pictures from our final honeymoon dinner!

Open kitchen where we could see the chefs

Tahitian gardenias, the national flower of French Polynesia

Passover meal

2011-04-20T09:17:00.000-07:00

Last night we had these two lovely ladies over: Erika (and fellow blogger!) and Jessie. I lived with these girls for three months while we studied abroad in Rome (basically the best three months ever) and we try together together every few months for a catch up session.

hanging out at the Colosseum in 2006

Scheduling issues led us to finally find a day - last night - that would work for all of us, but it happened to also be Passover meaning Jessie couldn't eat anything that rises (bread, pasta, rice, etc.) so I decided to create our own Passover meal!

Complete with matzoh crackers and Israeli wine I made my first attempt at Matzoh Ball Soup, made a roast chicken and mustard roasted potatoes.

image

Who needs leavened food anyways!

Dinner at Canlis

2011-04-19T12:44:00.000-07:00

On Thursday night, Nick and I were lucky enough to get reservations at Canlis for Seattle Restaurant Week! Seattle Restaurant Week is amazing, at 150 Seattle restaurants, you can get an appetizer, entree and dessert for $28, an awesome deal!

the view

Ever since Nick and I went to Canlis last year for Restaurant Week, I've been anxiously awaiting the right moment to make reservations. We found out from our waiter that reservations sold out in less than 48 hours and the wait list was currently at 300, lucky for us I am on top of all things food related!

We both had the Canlis salad, I had pappardelle and Nick had the salmon for his entree and for dessert I had the chocolate covered chocolate (molten chocolate cake, cocoa nib shortbread and chocolate covered salted caramel ice cream) and Nick had the rhubarb financier. Our dinner was wonderful (2.5 hours in total) and the service is some of the best I've ever received at a restaurant.

And the chef, Jason Franey, was named one of Food & Wine Magazine's Top New Chefs of 2011. Pretty cool!

I planned on taking pictures of all the food, but someone (me) forgot to charge her camera battery before leaving the house. But I did end up with this picture that I submitted for a Restaurant Week photo contest - I hope I win!

Canlis salad - recipe found here

Rock climbing for beginners

2011-04-17T21:51:00.000-07:00

Yep - I'm a rock climber now! Well, a beginning indoor rock climber, not like 127 Hours style.

Over the weekend Nick and I took an introduction to rock climbing class at a rock climbing gym called Stone Gardens close to where we live. It was so much fun! I was pretty nervous at first, but we both got the hang of it and did pretty well for newbies.

Here's the gym we are going to:

image: Stone Gardens

And on our first day we made it up to the top, a whopping 35 feet high! It may not sound pretty high up, but when you are looking down and realize you have nothing but a rope holding you up. Here's the wall:

Tahitian honeymoon day 8: Bora Bora underwater

2011-04-13T20:45:00.000-07:00

We did snorkeling on all the islands, but Bora Bora was the best. All of the hotels had designated area where they had coral that wasn't allowed to be touched so that it would stay alive and fish would live there.

And on the way to snorkeling I saw over to the little island with a hammock!

And got some pictures of some fish...

Tahitian honeymoon day 8: Sting ray feeding

2011-04-10T19:06:00.000-07:00

I am so excited to post these pictures because I never thought I would say I did this - I fed sting rays! I was beyond terrified but I didn't know if I would ever have the chance to do this again so decided to just go for it and I'm so glad I did.

Everyday at 3 p.m. at the hotel guides would come out to lead everyone who wanted to in a sting ray feeding of raw, cut up fish. I figured if they did this everyday it must be safe!

It took me about 10 minutes to actually get in the water near them (Nick did much better than me) but I did it and have pictures to prove it - yay!

one of the guides

Tahitian honeymoon day 7: Bora Bora swimming

2011-04-07T08:14:00.000-07:00

The best thing about the over-water bungalow at InterContinental Bora Bora Resort & Thalasso Spa was the fact we could jump into the water from our own private deck! The water was like a swimming pool, crystal clear and a perfect temperature. And yes, the water really is that color! It's beautiful!

yay!

New Orleans in May

2011-04-05T20:44:00.000-07:00

We're so excited - Nick and I are off to New Orleans next month! It was a total spur of the moment trip decided on last week and we are so looking forward to seeing a new city and of course all the food! I remember when I was little my parents going and always brining me back the coolest Mardi Gras masks and now I get to see the for myself!

We've never been and would love some suggestions of what to do and of course where to eat!

Spring images

2011-04-03T17:25:00.000-07:00

I'm taking a break from my vacation pictures and sharing some recently pictures I've taken around Seattle. It hasn't exactly been spring weather here, but the flowers are out and blooming!

Remember the flowers I planted on my balcony - they've grown more!

Fresh daffodils in the house

After Church Nick and I went over to our alma mater - University of Washington - and took some pictures of the beautiful cherry blossoms that have been blooming. And as you can see in the first picture, we weren't the only ones with the same idea!

Tahitian honeymoon day 7: Bora Bora morning

2011-03-28T12:18:00.000-07:00

Good morning Bora Bora! In the morning Nick and I stuffed ourselves at breakfast and walked around the resort - InterContinental Bora Bora Resort & Thalasso Spa.

Sunrise over the bungalows

Off to breakfast

Pool area

The place where we had dinner on the beach the night before

Walking along the beach

Little island with a hammock

Tahitian honeymoon day 6: Bora Bora dinner on the beach

2011-03-23T21:43:00.000-07:00

I'm doing a quick post tonight because I'm watching the Top Chef season!

It was evening when we landed and got checked in and decided it was dinner time. The hotel had a couple of restaurants and the one we decided to do that night was Le Sands - the one on the beach!

Dinner was wonderful and I had a mahi mahi salad for my started, lobster (my fave!) for dinner and vanilla creme brulee for dessert! The Tahitian islands are known for their vanilla so I had to have that for dessert since it was fresh from another island called Taha'a (they were their on Ali's season of The Bachelorette).

The food was wonderful but the ambiance was unbeatable. It was just so cool to eat right on the beautiful Bora Bora beach!