Thanksgiving Turkey Day is so fabulous. Especially with a whole group of pilgrimers. I mean everyone who crowded around our two dinner tables are pilgrimers of a sort, ones have settled on new land, land that is unfamiliar and new to them. Of the ten attendees there was a grand total of six University of Michigan grads, three USC grads and a Texas grad.

The dinner reminded me of home with the family at Grandma’s house. We did a really great job and I am impressed with everyone’s contributions. The menu looked something like this:
Turkey and slow cooked gravy (Mary), stuffed with stuffing, broccoli casserole and cranberry sauce (Chelsea), cranberry relish and homebrewed IPA (Tyler), waldorf salad (TJ), King’s Hawaiian rolls, mashed potatoes and lots of wine and champagne (Alex and Sam), sweet potatoe pudding and real pumpkin pie (Liz and Josh), apple pie (Bryan), fruit, cheese and cracker appetizer plate (Rob), blue cheese stuffed bacon wrapped dates (Mary).

That’s a full table and one I got to sample a little bit of everything from. People started arriving at one, of course by then the Detroit Lions had already finished playing lol, and dinner was served at 3pm and we were right on time. Naps followed shortly after and then arguments over watching NFL or the UT vs. Texas A&M game. And then of course much wine, beer, champagne toast, and nibbles. Ahhh!!!!!!!!

The rest of the weekend was also so amazing! Seriously, can we please have more three day work weeks and four day weekends, that seems to be a much better balance in life. Friday morning we woke up nice and early to hit the road and hit the slopes of Crystal Mountain, two hours southeast of Seattle. It was so strange driving in the sun and 40’s and not seeing snow until just before the base of the mountain. I actually kind of like leaving the mountain at the end of the day and being free from persistant snow. Crystal was fabulous! The runs were longer than anything I have ever been on, going to the top of the mountain was far higher than anything I have been on, the lifts seated 6 people and ran smoothly, the ski traffic was light, the waits were short, the sun was out, the scenery was amazing, the view of close Rainier was breathtaking, the lodge food was of course mediocre and expensive, the price of tickets was more, the talent of skiiers was higher, the air temperature was right on, and the snow was nice and light. Amy, Bryan and myself enjoyed ourselves thoroughly. We met up with three Boeing coworkers already there for a few runs and a brewski afterwards but it was mainly just Three’s Company which was fun. And what better way to end the day then a piping hot bowl of turkey white bean chili at one of go-to spots Slims Last Chance as we came into Seattle, and then a movie, a bowl of ice cream mixed with Mary’s legendary cookie dough and the couch butted up to our stellar fire place.

Oh, and then did anybody hear about what happened Saturday morning? Anyone, anyone??? We finally beat OSU after nearly 3000 days. Fortunately, fresh air and skiing got me to bed early and waking up to get to Buckley’s sports bar by 8:30 was not a problem. Cafe Vitta, eggs and toast, two UM marching band alums and an OSU wooping made me a very happy, teary-eyed girl. I couldn’t care at all about the rest of the games being played this weekend.

And when you thought that was all I had an amazing last day of the weekend to spend shopping and dining with Amy. We hit up UVillage and Northgate mall and I made out like a bandit. Scored a holiday party outfit, some steals, a birthday gift for my AA bestie, and made some returns. Cherished the Christmas music in all of the stores and then treated Amy to a burger and fries (but mainly we were all about the fries) at the Counter in Ballard with my near-expiring Groupon. Great place!! Great friend!! Great weekend!!

I love this time of year.

Chelsea

To do what you need to do for yourself is not always a simple task, though it may sound quite reasonable. This weekend I zoned into myself to listen to what I needed. It went something like this:

To call the Q Cafe and tell them on Friday that I needed sleep even though I also wanted to volunteer at the concert that night, I just couldn’t do.

To park my butt by the fireplace all weekend long, watching football, movies, and doing lots of reading.

To sleep in on Sunday.

But to still attend a later class at Sutra yoga because I still needed to decompress but not because “I usually go to a yoga class on Sunday”.

To get groceries and make a PHENOMENAL pork chile verde on Saturday with a homemade green chile sauce and everything. First time roasting peppers and tomatoes to make a salsa and first time ever cooking with tomatillos (or pork shoulder). Next made the most bomb delicious enchiladas ever. This link has a great step by step recipe and was what I used to make it. Make. this. now.

Order a new phone..because I wait until mine is completely donezo…obviously.

Have breakfast for dinner with friends at SNF because obviously good friends and food always make your weekends end right.

Set the DVR to record the Maui Invitational and get so excited for the games even though the only thing Michigan fans really care about this week is

“Beat O-hi-o,” the whole stadium roared — louder than they had cheered all game

.

Chelsea

Sometimes it’s weird thinking about not being in Ann Arbor anymore since that was basically where I spent the last six years of my life. And sometimes I think I forget I am not in Ann Arbor anymore. Like when I jaywalk without a care, when I spend any amount of time with UM past or present students, when I go to one of the many small, old theaters to watch a movie, and honestly whenever I go and actually stop and sit in a coffee shop. But then there are times that I think of what if I was still in Ann Arbor. That’s where this post comes in. If I were in Ann Arbor right now…

…I would get to celebrate my brother’s birthday with the family
…I would see Sarah instantly
…I would seek out jazz jams on Thursday night
…I would probably know less about the UM basketball team than I do know from my reading of the AA news everyday
…I would eat at Jerusalem Garden in a heartbeat (oh middleeastern food how I miss you)
…I would see the changes to Crisler Arena
…I would probably still be single
…I would probably not have to fix my scooter’s wet battery every other week
…I would go sit in the piano gallery and nap
…I would go serve a dinner at the League (the League ballroom was shot in a few scenes in the Ides of March that I saw last night at the theater and I got all excited)
…I would walk through rain and snow to eat apple oat bran pancakes at Northside Grill
…I would not ride the bus as I do that enough here (alcoholic even gloriously sat next to me on the ride to work today, even popping open a bottle of beer at 9am to pour into her Starbucks paper cup)
…I would probably be cold
…I would not dress as cute, the city definitely has sparked something in me to dress slightly trendier
…I would miss the landscape of Seattle (mountains and water)
…I would not have Sunday Night dinners with friends most likely
…I would still be living in a dump, buying cheap food, or buying wine out at restaurants
…I would be going to a concert at the Ark tonight, or try to
…I may forget the cold and get Stucchis

Chelsea

So the lazy couch potato came on the weekend apparently. I guess I needed to catch up on sleep because I did just that. Friday = major crash on the couch, as in do not, will not, can not move from the couch all night. Despite lounging around catching up with my DVR and finishing a book I still managed to sleep until the crack of…11am on Saturday. I was literally shocked at myself but no worries, we didn’t cream Illinois until 12:30 pst. Glorious! Saturday night I moved. I went to a dinner at an adorable Greek diner in lower Queen Anne with B. We had a good dinner though I’d like to go back and try something else and I absolutely loved the decor, our waitress who was evidently one of the owners and VERY Greek, and that they served the wine in little rocks glasses. We then moved on to Lucid to catch some jazz in the U District. Unfortunately the group who was having their CD release that night were not really jazz and we didn’t really care for them.

Sunday was great. I discovered great online yoga videos at home due to not wanting to go out to U Village to Lululemon, took an hour and a half nap (?) and then was a good UM citizen by volunteering four hours of my time to preparing and serving dinner to the families at Ronald McDonald House. The 15 UM alums were busy bees all during our two hour prep and then served for an hour before dining on our own work, getting to know one another, and conversing some with the families before cleaning up and heading home. I loved this event. I got to know several UM grads, one super sweet girl who I found out lives on 42nd and Stone only a 5 minute walk from me and who works a block down from me. We made plans to do lunch one day and figure we will be seeing each other on the bus now that we know who each other is. It was also very touching to see the House and the families. We made them beef stroganoff, spinach salad, fresh fruit platter, crescent rolls, and brought desserts from Costco. The dinner was funded through generous UM grads donating over $300 at Buckley’s during football Saturdays. We got lots of appreciative thanks for serving beef, apparently volunteers never make it for them. I like doing charity…especially this time of year.

All in all that was how exciting my weekend was. Here are some other thoughts I have for you:

I have indeed started my list for things to do at home over break. It is far more important to me than a Christmas wish list…in fact I guess it is my Christmas wish list.
I am very excited to help host Thanksgiving. I am still not entirely sure what all I get to make or help out with but am requesting the following recipes: Mom’s broccoli casserole, what Grandma does with her turkey and how and what she uses to stuff it with (really need timings), thus stuffing recipe too, and cranberry sauce.
Having a gas fireplace is a very dangerous thing for me. It is addicting and way too easy. I’m trying to defend this habit of gas consumption by the offset costs of reduced furnace heat. Yes/no?
Rediscovered stovetop oats and despite the time suck don’t know if I can go back to microwave again but also dissapointed that making a big batch and reheating it during the week does not keep the integrity and deliciousness of fresh off the stove oats.
Found a place that does bran muffins quite similar (just not quite as good) as Afternoon Delight.
I am having great fun curling my hair these past weeks/months. Curling iron > straightening iron. It also works really well with the haircut that I got at my birthday and am still really in love with.
I did not go to Amy’s this weekend because of the volunteering but B ended up going to my surprise. Don’t know how I feel (or should feel) about this.
ESPN3.com is a great service for letting me watch even the exhibition UM basketball games online. Crisler arena from looks and from friend’s opinions is so much better now after it’s renovations.
This video makes me smile:
And this story about Seattle’s history is fascinating!!

Chelsea

Daylight Savings Times that is. I don’t see us saving any daylight this way. Quite the contrary. As we were heading over to Ashley’s for SNF dinner on Sunday night at 5pm I was pondering the fact that I would probably still be at work at this time and yet it was basically pitch black. Not good considering that we still have over a month left to go of diminishing daylight. I’m beginning to think people weren’t kidding when they said it will be dark out by 3:30pm. Hmmph. I am seriously considering a “happy lamp” as they call them here and Vitamin D pills that they also recommend here. I’m just now keeping in check my spending after the VS obscene order with Ashley, a scooter cover, looking to get plastic sealant to try and bandage my scooter, scooter registration, an apron (?), my fancy shampoo that I love, and now looking at another Groupon buy for the Seven For All Mankind jeans on sale. Adios mios. Am I aware that the holidays are coming up? Apparently not. The weekend was L.A.Z.Y. Like whoa. I did not have much energy for whatever reason and even though it was delightfully sunny out I favored reading books in my bowl chair in the sunlight with a cup of coffee. It was deceivingly chilly out anyways. I’m over football and ready to move on to basketball. I finished the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo trilogy finally and now am reading Water for Elephants which I think I might finish in record time, because I like it that much! So good. I did manage to get my scooter registered, get groceries, do laundry, clean the bathrooms, and make some super tasty banana peanut butter chocolate chip muffins that have been perfect for breakfasts this week. They are yummy and the first thing I have baked in forever!!!!!!

SNF reminded me of Grandma’s house, yup, confirms why I like these weekly dinners so much. We had pot roast with baked potato bar and a rum cake for dessert. It was everything I could have asked for. Though no one else followed my lead of the ketchup with the roast (guess I learned that one from Grandpa and no one else does that, oh well), and I would have done the small potatoes in the roast or mashed potatoes, and when I think of rum cake I think about Jessie Cory’s mom’s chocolate cherry with chocolate chip rum cake that she would make and I still to this day think about, and I thought to myself how moist the roast was and then quietly laughed to myself hearing Mom’s voice in my head, “He (Dad) always comments that it’s a little dry”. But I was full and happy…and ready for bed by 9. I like work again. It goes in cycles. We had a coordination meeting to recap what has been done, what needs to be done, what changes to expect that would affect design, and everyone’s vacation schedules. Phew, it’s okay I can go home for Christmas. Hadn’t exactly got that approved yet. But the next several weeks should be pretty busy here at JA. So my philosophy for the winter is to keep busy and scheduled after work to prevent the inevitable “crash on the couch at 6pm wondering how it is not possibly 11pm yet” syndrom. Good on some days but I don’t want to waste away my evenings on the couch everynight. This week is looking good with an appointment on Monday after work, a SEAW happy hour at the Diller Room around the corner Tuesday, a documentary movie with B and late night sushi happy hour with the girls on Wednesday, and an ATC – Earthquake Damage Safety Assessment Training at the Convention Center for 4 hours AFTER a full day of work on Thursday. Apparently it is a part of my “duty” as a structural engineer in the Pacific Northwest…and I will serve my country even if that means that I will be working 24-hour days for a week post-earthquake.

Well at least I am not going to be a lazy couch potato this week. Chelsea

Excerpts from the Michigan Daily:

Hoke was still convinced Monday that Hemingway caught it.

“I thought Junior made a catch,” Hoke said.

In bounds?

“Oh yeah.”

Did he finish the process of catching the ball?

“You see, that’s where everything gets diluted,” Hoke responded. “What is that rule?”

How do you perceive it?

“I thought he caught the ball.”

And he finished the catch and everything?

“Hm-hm,” he affirmed.

Redshirt sophomore running back Fitzgerald Toussaint said every player thought Hemingway had caught it when they reviewed the game film on Sunday.

Hoke was never given an explanation during the game or at any point afterwards. He added that they didn’t have time during the game to explain why or how they ruled Hemingway’s catch incomplete.

Grr…

Chelsea

Okay, I may be a little tooooooooo excited for this year’s basketball season. I cannot wait. I have read so many things about this year’s team and next years preview that I just can’t even keep it contained. As much as I like college football, I love college basketball. Here are the things I have learned about the team:

Novak is back so that is all that really matters!



Hardaway played on the US National team this summer and rocked it out.
Jon Horford and Evan Smotrycz gained 28 and 36 pounds, respectively.
Trey Burke, the Ohio Mr. Basketball is going to be dynamite at point guard this year.
Crisler is probably looking slick with their new renovations.
Meaning Douglass can play the position that he is actually best at.
We got Mitch McGary over Duke and Florida, the #2 top recruit.
I would also like to thank Novak for landing McGary.



We are #18 in the nation going into the season, what?
There has been very little mentioned about Jordan Morgan, weird.
I wish I was going to the Maui Invitational for many, many reasons.
Local SPU already gave Arizona a 1 in the lose columen.
I can’t wait to go to a game when I come home.

Chelsea

I think I am starting to feel that restlessness that I was warned might happen after a semester-long length of work was over. I actually surpassed that landmark before feeling this way but now I feel like I NEED a vacation. It doesn’t help that I have a lot to look forward to in the future, Christmas and New Year’s in Michigan, Whistler skiing for a 3-day long weekend, multiple ski weekends I’m sure this summer, and Mexico with Rachel and others hopefully sometime in the spring (purchased but date not set yet). It hurts to look forward to them so much and to know that in between now and my first vacation work is going to be busy working on my first big deadline for the North Link.

I took one break this week, from Ashley’s. Instead, myself and B went to Roro’s BBQ down the street and I tried the BBQ sundae (why would you not try something that sounded as interesting as that?) this time and then we went to the cute Guild 45th for Moneyball with Brad Pitt. We both absolutely loved the movie but we also liked the looks of every single one of the previews they showed.

Monday night we celebrated Halloween in a great way!!!!!!!!! Ashley and I walked down 1st Ave. to my favorite List to meet the boys for their all day happy hour. Such a steal. I forced myself to try something other than the sea bass (which was hard because all three others ordered it) but opted for the ahi tuna which came with the kale, some great lentils, and a honey ginger sauce. I’m glad I tried it because like the sea bass it was a 10 and such a steal at $6.50 during happy hour. $6.50!!! I don’t think you could buy that cut of fish for $6.50 in the store. We also of course got the $14 bottle of red wine on happy hour which was again mindblowing for $14, a blend of Sangiovese, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Merlot. After I exclaimed how much I liked that wine, B said he was surprised since it had Merlot in it. 🙂

We still had time to spare and were a hop, skip and a jump from our second favorite place, Bathtub Gin, the speakeasy, for my Cain and Abel drink. Ashley and her dining partner said that B and I were 2 for 2 for our choices…they absolutely loved both of course! So the whole night was really for the Pike Market Ghost Tour that Ashley and I had Groupon tickets for. We opted for the Lust titled tour and for 75 minutes we walked around Pikes Market hearing scandalous stories of the legendary Seattle market intertwined with ghost stories. It was fun, but freezing! Good fun was had by all but I may have been scared of ever going to the Hard Rock Cafe again and now we all want to go to Kell’s Irish Pub which is located in an old mortuary.

So agree with this survey on funniest holiday movie…yeah Christmas Vacation!!! (Yes, I voted!)

I ordered this cute apron for myself. I don’t know why…it was there?

The Seattle Sounders are sadly not in the playoffs anymore. I watched them lose on TV on Wednesday night to Real Salt Lake. Well they won the game 2-0 but they needed to score 3 goals. Weird, yes I know. But they went out with a bang with a nice day long procession of the Sounders band down 1st Ave. which my coworkers and I thoroughly enjoyed!

And Friday I got to try my first ever Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives restaurant when I went with B out to lunch at Slim’s Last Chance Shack and Watering Hole. Yummmmm! I got the oh-so-good pork chile verde to warm my tummy. I loved this shack and want to go back. We also were provided with homemade pancakes and cantaloupe at our weekly Friday work breakfast that were seriously the best pancakes I have had in a long time. Friday night I stayed in with B to watch Donnie Darko and pick up Pagliacci’s special of the month, the chanterelle prosciutto pizza. It was fun and now I am looking forward to a weekend of football, sunny weather, a good book, and maybe some shopping thrown in there.

Chelsea

I really am in an appreciative mood. Thanks goes to:

* Key Arena and Seattle for hosting the amazing, not-to-be-missed lineup for the Deck the Hall Ball 2011 that I thankfully bought tickets for.

* Closely related to the previous, I would like to thank the great radio station 107.7 for having an online streaming listening station which I like even better to Pandora now. And again, Seattle for having 107.7 and 98.9 to give me such great tunes.

* Friend Ashley for keeping me fed well and making me feel like I am at a family dinner once a week.

* Scooter for deciding to work again and not make me buy a new one. I do love that thing and realize it needs a name given to it soon. Suggestions?

* The JA 401k advisor for not only telling me what funds to put money into but automatically changing them for me when there are better ones out there. I still don’t know what I am doing about that.

* This makes me so excited.

* Seattle weather for not being rainy, gray and miserable everyday yet like I fear.

* My slick rainjacket and rainboots to keep me dry and looking good when it does rain.

* Groupon and coupon servers for an unneeded but greatly appreciated obsession.

* My sweet bus pass. Sometimes it is swiped like 5 times in one day…that would be $12.50 in transportation without a pass.

* Michigan sports teams, for not embarassing me with their sports teams this year as a newbie to the city.

* My free movie screening account for keeping entertained during the week, stoking my movie interest, and saving me from the days that are gray and gloomy. I got another goody coming up Thursday of Like Crazy which after seeing the previews last night at Moneyball am sooooooo excited for.

* $30 Benihana’s birthday coupon just for signing up for their club. Free lunch for myself and coworker and friend on Tuesday!!!!! Yummy!!! I needed to repay her for her generosity and catch up with her and everything going on in her life. Benihana’s lunch entrees are so great. Soup, salad, vegetables, veggie fried rice, and a duo of steak and shrimp for $17. Plus they brought me out a birthday sundae which I was bursting in the seams to finish four bites. Friend had never been to a Japanese steakhouse so that is what I enjoyed the most. Though, for future I think Benihana’s should allow the birthday coupon to be used for both myself and friend, it would have pretty much covered it but it was still my treat to her anyways.

* For not snowing here 5″ like some other East coast cities yet. Eww.

* Washington apples!!

* Ability for Seattle to laugh at itself.

* Facetime…for being able to see my parents lovely faces from time to time.

Chelsea