Feel Good Mood

Basically since I have overcome my sickness I have been in a feel good mood.  I’ve been accomplishing a whole lot at work and that has felt amazing…especially with review time right around the corner.  I was elected SEAW social chair for the young members forum, which basically just translates to I get to plan happy hours and the summer picnic and get a little recognition for involvement and networking on the side.  I have been making amazing progress on my t-shirt quilt.  I have been enjoying the sunshine, music, food, and friends.

After a fun staff meeting on Friday with a taco salad bar I volunteered at the Fremont Abbey for another concert and EP release party.  The band was called the Joy Kill Sorrows who are very folky and bluegrass and from Boston.  They were fantastic.  Saturday Bryan and I biked to Ballard for lunch at Plaka Estiatorio (Greek restaurant).  We had a nice, but overpriced meal, went to Full Tilt so I could play Pac Man again and Bryan could get the salted chocolate ice cream (and me tastes) and then biked back to Queen Anne.  We talked on the porch for a long time before he left with David to go camping.  I got to work again on my t-shirt quilt.  I was on the last step (turning the quilt) but layered it wrong somehow so when I went to “turn it” the batting was on the outside.  I could have burned the quilt right then and there.  Instead I put it in the guest room where it will probably sit for eons before I feel like fixing it.

And Sunday was my first day back to yoga in a really long time (felt sooooo amazing), ran several errands and then came back to prepare the first Mad Men dinner in a really long time.  The Mad Men theme was Lebanese; my love.  I made a Lebanese feast that would have made even Detroiters proud.  Everyone loved the meal but probably none more than me.

Tuesday held the SEAW Spring Social dinner.  It was held at the Lake Union Cafe in Eastlake, a banquet facility overlooking Lake Union.  We had cocktail hour overlooking the Lake and then a fabulous buffet dinner set up for us including a great salad with cranberries, nuts, and cheese, grilled marinated veggies (LOVE!), beef medallions in a bourbon porcini gravy, grilled salmon with an apple salsa on top, and a rustic pear tart with caramel sauce to seal the deal.  The keynote speaker was a lady named Helen Thayer, an adventurer who was the first lady to hike to all four poles (didn’t even know there were four), and has hiked pretty much all over the place with her husband including the Gobi Desert, Saharan, and more.  She was very interesting describing her epic hike to the North Pole and it was a good send off for all of the SEAW members for our meeting-free summers.

Wednesday night Bryan and I made dinner of spicy citrus glazed shrimp with angel hair pasta (used a Good Earth meal kit and liked it quite a bit) and salads.  We actually planned our coming weekend plan…stay tuned.

Thursday I made it back to Farestart to volunteer for their Guest Chef Night.  These are sooo much fun.  I swear I am somehow going to end up in the restaurant industry, maybe.  The guest chef of the night was the chef from Plum Bistro on Capitol Hill.  I had actually been there this winter with Marika on a Groupon and liked it.  It is a vegan/vegetarian restaurant that serves up some really delicious food without missing the meat.  On the menu was:

First Course
Charred Asparagus

Entrée
Oyster Mushroom Fettuccine, Kale, Seitan, Parsley, Garlic

Dessert
Lemon Mousse

I took a shot of the fettuccine because it was really delicious.  I am also getting quite into the veggie protein, seitan.  That’s what the steak is in the sandwich I like at Veggie Grill and I think it tastes very delicious.

Friday we hightailed it out of town, I’ll let you know where when I get back.

Chelsea