The aftermath

The snowstorm has passed and dumped yet another few inches on the ground yesterday! A big branch in our backyard didn't survive though, and now it is laying on the ground, waiting for Scott to chop it up so we can feed the toasty fire!

The sun even came out for a few hours, but with the temperature still below freezing, everything just ices over. We went for a walk this afternoon and saw good 'ole #5 stuck on Greenwood. With the streets still a mess like this, we're a little worried about how we're going to get to the airport tomorrow. Not only that, but we're worried about whether our flight will even be able to get off the ground! Keep your fingers crossed for us!

Winter Wonderland

I found this wonderful old article on how Greenlake froze over in the winter of 1930! There was enough ice (13 inches thick) that someone even drove a car across the lake. The article goes on to describe how pretzel and hot dog stands sprung up, and how everyone came out to go skating on the lake. It would be so neat to see that happen again!

Since we've had at least a week of below freezing temperatures, we woke up bright and early and decided to go for a little snowy nature walk and check out Greenlake. With a Herkimer in hand, we trudged our way down.

The walk around the lake was gorgeous! Lots of snow everywhere. We saw many cross country skiers, a couple of snowshoers and lots of other people out for a stroll to take in the scenery. We lucked out and found several patches along our side of the lake that was frozen over too. It isn't too thick, but still, pretty exciting! Poor little duckies were still swimming around the un-frozen parts of the lake, and I bet their little tooshies are cold cold cold!

Snow Update

The big storm that was predicted to barrel down is well under way! The snowflakes are much smaller than the previous storm, but there's lots of them and the wind is whipping them everywhich way. So far, we have several inches of nice powder. The snow is supposed to let up sometime tonight, but tomorrow afternoon we may get some more snow showers.

Scott was unsuccessful in finding a sled today, but no matter - he decided to snowboard down our street! His idea has caught on, and now there's probably about half a dozen other snowboarders/sledders going down the street. Fun at (close to) midnight!

Winter Storm Watch

From what we have found, Seattlites take snow storms very seriously, the city literally shuts down... and for good reasons, including:

1. Hills, lots of them. We were sliding all over the place today.
2. People have no clue how to drive on snow. ALL Subaru drivers think they can drive fast on ice. Stupid. (there are more Subaru's banged up sitting outside body shops than any other vehicle).
3. Clueless when it comes to putting on snow chains (hint: those little bungee cords that come in the box, they aren't 'optional' equipment).
4. The local weather stations weild more power than the state governor. Take Wednesday for instance, ZERO snow fell yet their dire warnings caused ALL schools in western Washington to close, as a result, most parents had to stay home too. And today, people were panicking at the mall to scramble to get their shopping done because the snow was predicted to hit at 3pm (which it did).
5. Buses can't maneuver well; we have the extra-stretched buses up here, I watched a bus drive past and the middle wheels were off the ground, not turning... I can only imagine the scene when the driver tried to turn. Most local routes close with the snow, except for good ol' #5!!! Woohoo! (Our bus driver is fearless).
   
6. No snow plows, I guess with our budget deficit it's a good trade off. But the city doesn't even have much salt to de-ice the roads.
   
7. Seattlites value their snow days, who doesn't? It's like a national holiday, only better.

May and I decided to step up our snow game today. We went to REI and got May completely outfitted for a blizzard. Gloves, hat(s), snow jacket, neck warmer and snow pants. Gore-tex mania! All 15% off on top of the sale prices.

We had fun driving home from REI back home in the snow... it's now 5 degrees with the wind-chill factor (pretty steady 20 mph winds so far). Brrrr. Start up the fire and turn up the Christmas tunes!

Hoooray for Seattle!

Snow Day(s)!

We've had a really chilly front this past week (the high is below freezing!) and the weatherman predicted that we'd get a big snowstorm yesterday. Their warnings were so dire that schools were closed in anticipation of the snow, and Scott and I decided to work from home so we wouldn't have to deal with traffic. Well, turned out Seattle saw a 'donut effect' yesterday - because we're boxed in by several mountain ranges, all of the surrounding areas got tons of snow but the city saw nothing. Nada, zilch. In fact, I saw patches of blue sky yesterday! We were sad we didn't get any snow and felt sorta cheated.

When we woke up this morning though, we were greeted with snow slowly falling and about an inch on the ground already! I guess our weather from yesterday got delayed a bit; it has been snowing steadily all day and the snow just keeps piling up! As of 3pm, we have several inches on the ground. Not much, but enough to make snowballs! Some of the neighborhood kids have even gone sledding down the street. We ventured outside for a short walk around the neighborhood to stretch our legs and play with the snow. I think everyone else is staying home today and feeling cooped up too because the streets were packed with people walking around. So far, these snow days are really fun! Can't wait to get more of them!

p.s. I realize now that I need some waterproof/snow gloves because when I wear my knit mittens, I just can't make many snowballs!

Lobster goodness

Last night May and I dined like kings and queens while feasting on a few lobster tails. May saw an ad in one of the mail fliers for a sale on lobster tails. Hook, line and sinker we fell for the bait and went out of our way to find an Albertson's. It was worth it, the little guys were indeed very tasty. Next time we know to buy more. May broiled them for approximately 10 minutes. (Word to the wise for visitors, try and come on lobster sundays!)

Snowflakes in Phinney

Last night May and I watched "Fred Claus" while monitoring the snowflake density outside. The movie was pretty bad, but our fire was warm. Around midnight the snow fall started to pick up, at one point the snowflakes were the size of a Canadian Loonie (May says they were nickle size, I admire her patriotism). Unfortunately, it looks like 1.5" is the most we'll see from this storm. It's looking like it will clear up today, settling in to a brisk 20 degrees!

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas!

We went for a walk around Greenlake tonight becuase it is the annual Pathway of Lights night. They line the path around Greenlake with luminarias and everyone in the neighborhood comes out for a little stroll. It was VERY chilly out, but no one seemed to mind. Families were out decked out in christmas gear and everyone was singing christmas carols as they walked around. On our way back though, the snow started to come down a bit harder and even starting to stick to the cars and trees! I'm so excited! Hopefully, it'll stick through morning and we can take some pictures to document our first snowfall in Seattle together!

pizza pizza

I have decided that Seattle is a pizza town. They don't have a type of pizza that they've made their own (like Chicago style pizza or California pizza), but still, there's lots and lots of pizza places in the city. I wonder if there is some sort of correlation between number of pizza places and number of microbrews!

Anyway, since my good friend Barb was in town for a few days, I looked up a few good restaurants we could try to meet up at and Via Tribunali, a Neapolitan-style pizza joint in Capitol Hill that I've heard about, was walking distance from her hotel. Her sister had been before and gave it a nod of approval so off we went!

From the outside, the restaurant looks small and cozy, but when you walk in, you realize that the brick walls are VERY tall and that the room extends pretty far back. With all of the dim lighting and tall booths though, it actually felt quite cozy. It somehow felt old-world European, and just right!

We each ordered a starter salad (I got a classic salad of arugula + parmesan) and then split 2 pizzas: the Via Tribunali and the Salsiccio. Both were very good, with top-notch ingredients and a nice thin, but chewy, crust. The Salsiccio was the better of the two and I have a sneaking suspicion that it may have been due to the tasty little sausages on there.

So now, I think I've tried most of the big pizza joints in town except for Serious Pie (which I've heard good things about and I am trying to find an excuse to go!). My general assessment so far is people take pizza pretty seriously here and load the pies up with good, interesting toppings. I don't mean they use funky combinations like you can find at CPK, just more like high-quality types of salami. Probably because of that, pizza isn't a cheap meal here though.

Winter Beer Fest

Last weekend May and I went with our friend Eric to the 4th annual Winter Beer Fest at Hales Ale Brewery in Ballard. Who can pass up an event with that name? We started our adventuresome evening by hoping on the nearby #5 bus and taking it to down to Fremont. We climbed out and walked a 1/2 mile in the brisk evening air to the Hales Brewery backdoor. We joined a few work colleagues from Expedia who called ahead and mentioned there was a long line to get in. Thankfully, by the time we arrived it was a short wait.

All in all it was a fun event where you could try local winter beers, but way too crowded. My usual style is to go to each beer brewer booth and try a sip of their suds, I mean that's the whole point, right? Unfortunately, the lady (most likely owner) of the Big Al brewery made a very snarky comment that we "tried" two of their beers and then instructed her staff not to let us sample any more.

Well, let me be the first to tell you Mrs. Big Al, this household is boycotting your beer and spreading the word! Hope it was worth it.

My favorites:

• #1 Lazy Boy, Mistletoe Bliss
• #2 Lazy Boy, Dubble (Naked City private label)
• #3 Whoop Pass, Double IPA
• #4 Chuckanut, Schwarbier
• #5 Northern Lights, Winter Ale (newbie brewer)
• #6 Red Hook, Double Black Stout

See the full beer list here.

NKOTB!

This is a long overdue post. I couldn't NOT write about this though, so better late than never!

Several weeks ago, I joined Way and several of her Berkeley colleagues to watch New Kids on the Block at TacomaDone. It was a fabulous night! We were surrounded by NKOTB fans who knew all the words and the steps to the songs, and their exuberance was contagious. Before we knew it, we were swinging our arms back and forth and whoo-whoo-ing at the top of our lungs too! Here's a few pics and videos from our night:

Late fall gardening

Two weeks ago May and I decided to do a little late fall gardening in our back yard. We swung by Swanson's nursery and picked up a winter berry bush, 3 kale / cabbage plants and two Japanese maple trees.

It took awhile to dig the holes because our yard was at some point a dumping ground for gravel and small rocks.

In the end we were pleased with the results... even if some of our neighbors were not. Although it will take 10-12 years for the Japanese maple trees in the side yard to grow and we plan to trim them into an espalide, our neighbor with the 4 story box home was deeply concerned about his ability to put a ladder in our side yard to paint his home. Fair enough, but we wouldn't have put any plants in the side yard if the entire underneath side of their porch wasn't littered in trash.

Not Fit For a King!

Last weekend, our good friend Emi was in town from Hawaii so we decided to meet up at Palace Kitchen, a restaurant I've been wanting to try. It's another Tom Douglas place but one of his more casual ones. I'd heard good things about their burger and their drinks.

Some of us (me included!) started with the Penn Cove oyster on the half shell. I love me some oysters... can't seem to get enough of them! This one was on the smaller side and not too briny. The verjus shaved ice that it came with really didn't seem to do much for it, but I'm okay with that since I usually just like mine with a sprinkle of lemon juice.

The meal went downhill from there though. Scott ordered the burger, which ended up being fine but not great. I thought it had too much lettuce, making the burger taste sort of watered down. The bun sogged up a bit from the juicy patty, but Scott thought it just lacked flavor so had to douse on the mustard. For me, I ordered the Whole Idaho Trout, grilled on their Applewood Grill. Honestly, I thought this tasted like something anyone (Diana especially!) could make on their grill at home. Nothing spectacular. It was accompanied by mashed potatoes (bleh) and kale. I usually like my greens, but this kale was so vinegary it was just weird. Me no likee.

Eric ordered the crab appetizer as his entree and he was licking his fingers clean so I hope that I just ordered the wrong thing? In any case, I've tried 3 of TD's places now and 2 of them fall short. Dahlia Lounge still sticks out in my mind as a very good meal though, so that's enough to make me go and try the rest of his places! I'll report back when I do!

Another Star Sighting!

I don't have to be in LA to see stars! I was enjoying happy hour with a group of coworkers at Beach Cafe at Carillon Point when we spied the newest Bachelor! Some of the gals might have had one drink too many becuase when they saw him walk by the glass windows outside, they shrieked and screamed. I thought I was back at the NKOTB concert from all that noise! I have to clarify that I did NOT scream (heck, I didn't even know who he was), but I did laugh so hard I started to cry becuase I couldn't believe the kind of star treatment this guy was getting! He heard us through the windows, and since he was filming a segment for the local KOMO4 news, he came in to meet us. So, folks, yours truly may be on the local news, gawking at the Bachelor amongst a group of 8 girls + 1 boy. Makes for good (local) news and publicity!

In case you are interested: the Bachelor is a local Kirkland man. The show has wrapped up and the new season airs Jan 5. And yes, he found love, but wouldn't tell us any details other than "she's amazing".

Bus Newbie No More!

Since the bus stop is conveniently located about a block away from us, it's super easy to hop on and off. Scott loves to take the bus to work (just ask him!) and tries to recruit as many riders as he can. I decided to join him today and am proud to say I didn't get lost once! To get to work, we have to transfer in downtown; Scott goes towards Bellevue and I go towards Factoria. I was a little worried on the way back that I didn't know where to get off to connect to the express bus in time, but it all worked out well. I just waited inside Macy's shoe department until Scott got to Downtown and then we took ole #5 back up to Phinney Ridge!

Gobble Gobble!

This was the first time we've hosted Thanksgiving and it was a good thing that our only guests were Way and Kevin! After much discussion about what to make, our dinner turned out to be a motley crew of food. Here was our menu:

• Salami and Cheese (brie and havarti) appetizer platter
• Duck Pate (purchased on our honeymoon last year!)
• Chinese-style Soy-Sauce marinated Turkey
• Chinese Broccoli with Oyster Sauce
• Roasted Brussel Spouts
• Whipped Potatoes
• Stuffing
• Cornbread
• Baked Sweet Potato
• Turkey gravy and cranberry sauce
• Veuve Cliquot Yellow Label Champagne
• Troon 2006 Merlot
• Lazy Boy Dubbel
• Spatten Optimator

Way and I smacked our lips to the chinese turkey, but Kevin and Scott thought it didn't go right with the (american style) stuffing and potatoes.

Verdict for next year: make 2 turkeys! One for Way and May, and one for Kevin and Scott. And, Kevin and Scott will have to cook their own turkey.

Lazy Boy Thanksgiving Merriment

This weekend, while originally in-route to visit the Boeing factory tour with May and my brother-in-law Kevin, I decided to take a little detour to check out "Lazy Boy Brewery" in Everett, WA. Having previously sampled their beer at the Phinney Ridge winter beer fest, I was intrigued to see their local shop. While May took a (long) nap in the car, Kevin and I sampled a few of the Shawn's (brew master) latest creations. The belgian style "Dubble" Shawn made for Naked City Taphouse was an absolute treat; true to the belgian tradition the beer had a little spice to it, but very tasty all the way around. We got the grand tour, heard all about the beer industry and purchased an assortment of treats to take home (t-shirts, mug, a 'growler' of Dubble and a Mistletoe Bliss). We had an absolute blast and plan to make this an annual tradition for Thanksgiving weekend in Seattle.

Upcoming events:

• Saturday December 6th, 2008 Winter Beer Fest from 1-10pm.
• Tuesday December 16th, Brewers Night featuring Lazy Boy Brewery at Naked City Taphouse in Greenwood at 7pm.

Ocho Ole!

I like tapas a lot. I like the communal aspect of sharing plates, of having a nice wine with your food, and that the food is usually small app size portions enabling you to try lots of things on the menu! I've been dying to try Ocho, a small little tapas restaurant in Ballard, for a while now. It's a tiny place (around 10 two-tops and a small bar area)that gets great reviews and always seems packed. And, after having gone to Toro Bravos in Portland, I've been dreaming about tapas.

Last night we decided to celebrate my first week at my new job with a date night and of course my dinner choice was Ocho! We got there early, around 6pm, but it was already packed! We ended up displacing two single patrons so we can eat at the bar! The waitress asked them nicely, and I guess this happens alot becuase the restaurant is so small.

The menu is listed up on a chalkboard, and the bartender/waiter told us they update it weekly with seasonal items. We ordered:
- Chorizo with olives and fried egg
- Lomo and Manchego Cheese plate
- Gambas al Ajillo (spicy garlic shrimp, a classic tapas!)
- Sauteed wild mushrooms with purple kale
- Warm Octopus Salad

The food ranged from good to very good (Warm Octopus Salad and the Chorizo were our favs), and the service was attentive throughout. Prices are good too (everything is under $7)!

Final verdict: I loved the lively atmosphere, service and prices, which is what I want a tapas restaurant to have (because, you know, I'm an expert on tapas restaurants since I've never been to Spain! :P)! It beats out Toro Bravo in these 3 areas. However, none of the food was spectacular, although it was definitely capable and satisfying. Regardless, I'd go back and would place it on my list of favorite restaurants (so far) in Seattle!

Multnomah falls

Last weekend May and I trekked down to Portland together for a little weekend R&R with Way and Kevin.

To my delight, May suggested that we check out the Deschutes brewery in downtown Portland for dinner (for those just tuning in, Deschutes was a featured beer in last weekend's Phinney ridge beer tasting). It was a hip and happen'in place. We ordered a beer sampler and some tasty hot wings...boy were they good. I ordered the Beervlaka entry, which was quite tasty. I think everyone else hated their dishes. Oh well, can't win them all.

Saturday we drove east to the beautiful Multnomah waterfalls. There were dozens of waterfalls along the drive, but Multnomah was the largest. In fact, it's the second tallest (year round) waterfall in North America, right behind Yosemite. It was packed, everyone and their mother (and in many cases grandmother too) climbed the mountain. It's not much of a hike if parents with strollers can scale the switchbacks. Surprisingly, most of the trail is paved, making the hike pretty quick. We decided to continue beyond the waterfall to the 6 mile loop, but about a mile in we decided we might not make it back before nightfall. Good decision.

Wine tasting in Oregon

We've done many wine tasting trips down in Southern Oregon's Applegate valley, thanks to the generosity of the Lind family allowing us to stay at their ranch each summer. We love wine tasting there (favorites are Wooldridge Creek and Troon Vineyards) becuase the wineries are mostly small, intimate and not crowded. You end up chatting with the wine makers themselves more often than not. We keep hoping that area will gain recognition, but it is constantly overshadowed by Oregon's more popular wine region: Willamette valley.

The top of the Willamette (Will-aaaaaaa-met, not willa-met) valley is only a half hour drive from Portland so Way, Jimin and I headed that direction on Veteran's Day (holiday!). We wanted to check out just how fantastic these wines are, and if they can rightly bully our fav Southern Oregon wines.

Our first stop was Argyle's tasting room to try out their champagnes. We were super impressed they serve these champagnes in the White House, and they have the menus to prove it! I don't know much about champagnes, but thought they were tasty (albeit pricey).

Next, we went to Erath winery. The server was delightful - very friendly and chatty, so thumbs up for good service! The wines were okay, but mainly due to her friendliness, we ended up buying a few bottles of white.

Lastly, we stopped at Torii Mor, mainly becuase it was open and down the road from Erath. The wine room is a cute little house with lots of Japanese influences (including a small garden). This was our most disappointing tasting though - out of the 6 pours, 4 were pinot noirs! None of us are big fans of pinot so it was a bit wasted on us. That, and the bottles were on the expensive side (~$60) and the wine pourer seemed a bit full of himself (referring to the winery as "I" when he was obviously not the owner, as evidenced by the picture behind him).

My verdict: I still love Applegate, but Willamette might edge out Woodinville (outside Seattle) for the 2nd place finish. I'm going to have to try more wineries in both areas before I can make the final call.

Powell-mania

Becca insisted we go to Powell's Books while we were in Portland. She waxed on and on about how great of a bookstore it was. We relented since the store was right next to the restaurant we were going for dinner, and truthfully, I didn't think much about it even though I love books. A bookstore is a bookstore!

How wrong was I!! And, now that I've dragged Scott there too... how wrong was Scott! Powell's is gigantic, with rooms upon rooms of books all lined up neatly on tall tall shelves. You see it from the outside and think: it's just one city block, what's the big deal? Yes, it's one block, but with several floors - it ends up being 1.6 acres! Of books! Under one roof! Normally, you can spend an hour in Borders or B&N easily, but this is ridiculous - it's like Disneyland, you need several hours to enjoy yourself. You can wander from the blue room to the purple room to the gold room and find just about any book you want under the rainbow. The best part is some of the books are (gently) used and priced very reasonably! It's simple awesome.

It is a little overwhelming actually since there is too much to choose from. We did our best though, and got a few books. Scott has recently gotten really into Jeff Shaara books, so he grabbed a bunch at Powell's. I bought several ones I've been meaning to read, and some news ones that just caught my eye.

Yay! Now we have enough reading material to keep us busy until Christmas!

Star Sighting!

Even though I grew up in Los Angeles, I still get excited if I spot a celebrity in real life. The last celeb I saw was Bob Saget - he was sitting in a side booth at Katsuya in Brentwood. Karen and I kept craning our heads, trying to be inconspicuous, to see who stopped by his table to say hi.

Turns out I don't have to be in LA or NY to spot a celeb! While lunching at Pambiche today (plato cubano and a cafe con leche), Leann, winner of last season's Project Runway, walked in. My dining mate and ex-colleague Rachel almost screamed "Oh my god! It's Leann from Project Runway!" The restaurant is not so big and Leann sat 2 tables away from us, so I'm sure she heard us giggling.

Okay, so a reality TV star is not an a-list star sighting, but it was still neat to see!

Portland Weekend

While Scott was sampling all the beers at the Phinney Winter Brew Fest, I had a beer-tastic time of my own in Portland! I drove down here for the weekend to help Becca celebrate turning the big 3-0, and we met up with Way and her roommate, Jimin, too. It rained non-stop here (I thought I could get away from the rain if I left Seattle... ha!) so many of our plans were thwarted. Instead, we did a lot of eating and shopping, and shopping and eating. Not a bad way to spend a girls weekend!

On Saturday night, we headed over to Henry's Tavern for happy hour. It's known for having 100 beers on tap, and even though their drinks aren't discounted during happy hour, we still had tons of fun trying out different beers. I tried the local brew, MacTarnahan Amber Ale, and determined it was tasty. That's about as descript I can be when it comes to beer!

Later, we headed over to Jake's Crawfish for Becca's birthday dinner. Jake's is an institution here in Portland - it's the original McCormick and Schmick's, and has been around for over 100 years. It was packed when we got there, but lucky for us, Way made reservations. She had told them we were celebrating a birthday, so the staff was awesome and showed us to a nice booth table and even printed out custom menus that had "Happy Birthday!" at the top of the page. Cool, eh?

Since we were feeling slightly drunk and very decadent, we ordered oysters to start. And boy, these were YUM. I usually like the smaller oysters better, but the Netart Bay Oysters that came out were big, fat and oh-so-good. I think I may have to say they are the best oysters I've ever had! We tried a few other varieties, but none were as good as that one. Becca liked them so much that she decided to forego an entree and just go with more oysters (and a soup and salad)!