She came, she went, she conquered. My mom’s visit is now over. 😦 It was so nice while it lasted but like all good things it had to come to an unfortunate end. We amazingly did everything that I wanted to do with her without feeling pressed for time or tired or overwhelmed.
She arrived around the noon hour at my office on Wednesday and after joyful hugs we walked in Seattle sunshine to a hole-in-the-wall must-have deli called Salumi’s (owned by Chef Mario Batali). We beat the lunch rush and shared a mouthwatering porchetta sandwich with onions and peppers. Holy yum! I worked through the afternoon and Mom explored on her own the Pioneer Square and downtown areas. We sat and talked near the harbor and market for a time before meeting Bryan for dinner at List. Like always we had a delicious and inexpensive meal and fantastic conversation. Mom had to try the sea bass, Bryan tried the chicken with mushrooms for the first time, and I ventured out and tried the grilled octopus salad with citrus emulsion, with of course their happy hour special $14 bottle of wine and a shared plate of baked broccoli. Then I finally got to show Mom my house!!! I think she liked it…the view takes some soaking in.
Thursday I again had to work the full day so I left mom to her own meanderings; including a bike ride around Queen Anne, a walk to Kerry Park and lunch at the cute La Reve Bakery and Cafe. I was jealous for sure as my only excitement during the day came in the form of a site visit outside in the sun. But after work Mom picked me up to head over to the eastside where we attended a Google Places event at the Beach Cafe in Kirkland. The setting was pristine, eating out on the deck overlooking Lake Washington and Seattle. The food and cocktails were ever flowing and we got to try a whole sampling of their menu including: butternut squash soup with cilantro and spicy crema, coconut shrimp (mom’s are better), Northwest cioppino filled with seafood, grilled salmon tacos (meh), vanilla bean cheesecake with bananas and sauce, and two prosecco drinks and a prickly pear margarita. There was even a jazz band of what looked like 12-year-olds playing for us in the background.
Friday was Bike to Work Day, the official one, so I rode in my bike and stopped at two commuting station pit stops. After annoyingly working through the majority of the day I took off a little bit early to meet mom for some shopping downtown. We shopped through Nordstrom Rack, got a mini makeover at Aveda, and then stopped at Francesca’s and Express in Pacific Place for some new buys for me. We bussed back before picking up Bryan for dinner at Pecado Bueno. The three of us each ordered various tacos (their fish tacos are their best), piled on the unlimited and fresh salsa bar, and sipped on $3 margaritas. We headed to Lucid after that for some very good live jazz and drinks before calling it a night.
Saturday was mostly lazy but had countless errands mixed in. We first took my scooter down to Pike Market for their annual cheese fest. It was a mad house but we did try some very, very delicious cheeses and breads. We found Cafe Yarmarka, a Russian food cart in the market and had a fun and filling lunch of Russian delicacies. Mom and I split their beef cabbage rolls which came with countless sides of sauerkraut, bacon fried onions, a variety salad, a roll and spicy carrots. We also split the borscht which was so delicious. We worked in my garden, picked up some new herb and tomato plants for me to add to it, stopped at the various stores around Queen Anne and then headed for Mom’s Mother’s Day gift of mani/pedis at my favorite Savvy Nails in the U District. It was so relaxing and so needed. Mom picked out a fabulous shade of pink for her fingers and red for her toes and I went with a bright, sparkly pink on my toes and a lavender on my fingers. In love with them. We stopped for BBQ sliders and southern greens at Pinky’s food truck on 45th in Wallingford, then groceries for the Mad Men dinner, and fell asleep to the crazy confusing Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy from Red Box.
Sunday started with prep for Sunday dinner and then a fun breakfast out to IHOP for pancakes in Capitol Hill. The day was dreary and rainy and we stayed in most of the days fighting my clogged toilet and cleaning (fun stuff!). We did listen to several records and in no time we were sipping sangria and the crew was over to grill up steak fajitas with delicious guac, complements of Luis, sauteed corn made by Mamasita, Spanish rice made by my rice cooker, and a coconut rum flan experimented with by me before watching the next Mad Men episode. Another great dinner with my friends and my special house guest, who fit in so well with the crew.
She left me bright and early this morning and now the fun with Mom is over…until she visits me next time.
Chelsea
Evolving in the Emerald City 