"It's not rain, really, it's more like 'mist' here," my friend says...

I was in LA a couple of weeks ago, and while there, I found a cute, but sensible, green "weather-proof" jacket. This past Monday, I had the opportunity to test it out. I couldn't stand being in this house one minute longer, and the library up the hill had a book on hold for me (People of the Book). Anyway, due to a lovely case of hives, I hadn't been outside of our apt's four walls since last Thursday. I wasn't quite public-presentable, as my face was still slightly swollen and my lips would have made Angelina Jolie jealous, but I was determined. It was drizzling outside, so I thought.."Oh, this is the Seattle weather everyone talks about-"misty". No biggie – I'll just try out my new jacket!" I set out on my short journey, decked out in the rain-proof jacket and new "non-purse" messenger bag (thanks for the ebags tip, Harji!). Everything was fine…2 blocks up the road, the drizzle picked up. I thought, "Hm..do I wear the messenger bag over or under my jacket? What is the etiquette here? Oh, I'll just keep it over – it's not really raining." ½ mile in…it stops drizzling!!!

And STARTS raining. RAIN. I'm now ½ way to the library and decide to keep trudging uphill – why go back now, right?– I've put my rain-proof hood up and messenger bag now under jacket. I walk up a steep hill, finally making it to the library. I'm now soaked. Jeans are 100% wet – in fact, they've turned an entirely different color! The rain-proof jacket does have its limits, I'm afraid, and the inside was getting damp. Thankfully, it didn't completely seep through, b/c my shirt of choice that day? White t-shirt - whew! BUT – I made it. I definitely had my fair share of "weather," and was now ready to be back INSIDE. Thankfully, Craig was around to whisk me away shortly thereafter, b/c as hard as I tried to look and act comfortable, (well, I had made it there, so I couldn't give up the fight yet, could I? ha!) I was cold down in my bones!!! So we went to a Thai restaurant, and over a steaming cup of jasmine tea and spicy curry, we came to the conclusion that it might do me well to be a little more cautious as I continue to "absorb" life in Seattle. Unless, of course, I invest in an umbrella and rain-proof pants. The fashion statement attached to said pants, however, leaves me with a sneaking suspicion that another tale would ensue…

I'm over the moon!

For Molly Moon ICE CREAM, that is!
This delightfully sweet confection has certainly always rotated somewhere in my list of top 5 favorite foods, but I do think Miss Moon has driven it permanently to at least place #2...maybe even #1!!! Craig and I made an impromptu visit this afternoon to her recently opened shop. Thankfully, there was a "kid's scoop" listed on the menu, which helped me to feel A-Ok with ordering a double-scoop! I ordered honey lavender and salted carmel. Yes...honey lavender and salted carmel. Have you ever heard of such simple, yet indulgent flavors? And I had TWO of them in ONE bowl! I do believe the world stopped during my first two tastes. And, yet not as exotic, Craig's were nonetheless satisfying. He ordered chocolate (which he later told me might be one of the better "chocolates" he's had, and..for those of you who know him, my man knows chocolate!) and maple walnut. As good as these were...I wanted more. My good, *sweet*, husband jumped on the bandwagon and we promptly ordered one more kid's scoop to split - thai iced tea. Refreshing!!!!!

Other highlights from the weekend?

Friday night dinner and a movie-
We had a great salad:
dressing - dijon mustard, lemon juice, salt and pepper, and olive oil
drizzled over-
1 grapefruit, peeled and I took the fruit out of the individual "skins," so it was the fruit only
avocado
butter lettuce
red onion
cucumber
chilled shrimp

Flowers from my man, from Pike Place Market- beautiful purple and melon-colored gladiolas, lillys, and...I don't know what it's called, but it looks like baby's breath, but with a fresh lemon color...

*New "deceptively healthy" recipe alert*

Roasted Plums!

4-5 plums, quartered
cinnamon, to taste
juice of 1/2 a lemon
1/2-1T butter
1/4 c grape nuts (optional)
Pre-heat oven to 425.
Butter baking dish (not too shallow, my dish was about 1 1/2 " deep)
Mix all the ingredients
Roast for about 7 min, stir once, roast for another 7-8 min.
SO GOOD!!

THOUGHT DU JOUR:

TULALIP

PUYLLAP

How would you pronounce these words? They take me back to when I first moved to Los Angeles from Indiana and encountered street names like "SEPULVEDA" and "TUJUNGA." Quickly I learned that "Sep-ul-VEE-duh" was INCORRECT. It is "se-PULL-vi-da" "tuh-JUN-ga" wrong. "tuh-HUN-ga" correct. I've been quite confident over my word mastery for the last decade. Then I moved to Seattle. There are a few gems here too. I want so badly to say, "two-LAH-lip," or "tuuulip" I *think* it is "too-WHAH-lip." Puyllap is still a mystery - I can't begin to wrap any sounds around that one. And while these are cities, not streets, like Sepulveda and Tujunga, they are mentioned on a daily basis here. Yes, this was my thought as my morning coffee was brewing...

I haven't written in so long that I don't know where to start... Instead of writing a book, I thought I'd share a few pictures:

We have baby Seagulls on our roof...

WHALE WATCH 2008!!!




We had some extra time on Friday Harbor, so we took a shuttle over to the annual Lavender Festival - it was gorgeous!! The Chocolate Lavender Ice Cream was so good!!

I've not been able to download Craigo's pictures yet, but here's the one picture from my camera, and a few from Nat's blog (thanks!)...
Our friends Dave, Natalie and Sydney came to visit this past weekend (I could hold and love on "Little" any day/all day!!!). We went to some really great restaurants in town - I'm still on a culinary high from it all...if you're so inclined, I've included the sites to check out!


Me and the girls Thursday night - www.canlis.com (thank you Jess and Alex!!!)

Friday afternoon - www.pesoskitchen.com (this is just down the street from us - one of our local faves)

Friday night - www.howtocookawolf.com This place is also in "our hood." Chef Ethan Stowell was recently voted one of 2008's top chefs by Food & Wine magazine. I loved the feel of this little place - Dave pointed out that they way the room was designed, it looked like we were inside a wine barrel..very cool.

Saturday morning - www.boatstreetkitchen.com Yummy french-country (I think) breakfast here!

Saturday night- we had dinner on our roof! I made halibut cheeks (bought from Pike Place Market that morning), gnocci, and a wonderful roasted beet salad


Sunday - Hi Life - www.chowfoods.com

Dinner that night - Crush www.crushrestaurant.com


And that is my CliffNotes version of our life over the last couple of weeks! :-)

Weekend Fun X 2

Hm..where to start... 2 weekends ago, we went to Orcas Island to visit the lovely Harji. They were missed....and were so awesome to invite us to spend the weekend with them. After catching the Anacortes Ferry, they whisked us away in a great little boat! FUN!!!


Highlights of the trip? Friends, conversations, friends, great food and wine, friends, charming house, friends, beautiful scenery, friends...:-)

Clean, crisp sea air

Fresh oysters at the Farmer's Market - shucked and grilled to order...must. go. back....


Big purple starfish - they were everywhere!
The lovely Cara and her famous Spedini, Spedini, Spedini!!! (Cara, did I mangle the spelling?) :-)

Mount Baker!

So that was 2 weekends ago....this past weekend marked the official first weekend together - just the two of us! Great weekend - I took Craig on an...interesting date. We had been hearing of something called The Underground Tour. My understanding was that the tour led you through underground bits of Seattle, while telling of some of the more seedy characters that made up part of the history here. Part of that was true...we were underground, and we did learn of Seattle's sordid past (Seattle, in part, drew most of its early income by a group of women and their "sewing circle" - they helped to service the loggers' "sewing needs" Funny...no sewing machines in town...) However, MUCH of the tour was about Seattle's sewage system, or discombobulated sewage system..mmmm romantic, right? We were even "dumped" *ha!* out into a gift shop that featured a Thomas Crapper Original. nice.

Sunday - Ikea, Ikea, Ikea!!!! Yay for Ikea and their storage department!!!! I finally have a computer desk, filing system, and we found 5 other pieces to help us sort through and organize our "schtuff." And I went grocery shopping. Real grocery shopping - first time since we moved here. :-)

The end.

Tuesday's Quick Thought of the Day...

I LOVE saying, "My Husband"....

Weekend Two!

So the peas I loved earlier in the week? Poison. Straight-up baaad news for me! I had/have hives - from Thur-till now. On my face (nose, cheeks) and ears. Sad!! Will look for an allergist next week...

My Craig left for a business trip (with a side of fun- he was at the U.S. Open today!!) on Saturday afternoon. I made my first trip to Target (yay!), and several hundred dollars later, headed back to the apartment to unpack and organize! I've made quite a bit of progress! (double yay!)

Sunday late morning I headed over to Pike Place. I even "tried on" the Seattle way to go about

town - backpack-style!

Did I pull it off? Not sure, b/c I've never ever worked a backpack as part of my "garb." BUT - I was out walking from 1130a-2p and it made for a much more comfortable outing!!

I had a great time soaking in the beautiful day, walk and ambience of the market. There's so many people, shops, energy...I loved it! Here's what I came home with:

Garlic Spears - I've never heard of these..they were wonderful - very mild garlic flavor..(they're in the back)
Asparagas - yummmmmm
nectarines
fresh figs
"Temptation" melon - never heard of this gem, but it is fantastic!
Dark Chocolate linguine...yes, chocolate pasta...it's dee-lish!
Goat cheese w/ truffle - I learned about this from Cara - she found this last weekend and I couldn't help but go back and get more!
Piroshky Piroshky - famous Russian bakery...this time I got sauerkraut, carrot, and cabbage. Was trying to be more "authentic" in my picking, but next time? I'm going for a potato/cheese or something sweet. This was a bit tooooo interesting for my tastebuds.

It was good to be out today...

I'm looking forward to what God/life will bring my way next week...especially my husband. I miss him...:-) Speaking of, I passed Mars Hill Grad School yesterday. Craig starts in the Fall. Exciting!!!

My two favorite "P"'s

My kitty's Paw:


Yes, you heard me right..
A. I said "my" kitty
and
2. it's true. It's a pretty cute paw.

My new favorite snack! I'm addicted (thank you, CraigLockhart)! Wasabi Peas...yummmmm


That's about all I have to say for today...it was a "sort-of" gnarly Tue and Wed this week, so...I thought I'd dwell on some things that make me smile...Peace Out!