Top Ten of August

1.  Yelp Elite Event

My first big Yelp Elite event was top notch.  Set on Puget Sound with great views of the boats and water, great food featuring some mighty tasty crab cakes, smoked salmon, a raw oyster bar, and tenderloin beef skewers with maitake mushrooms, and flowing champagne made for a really great party!

2.  Company Picnic

Our company was a true blast this year.  The BBQ was not up to par but the quality of the food didn’t matter and actually got more people active.  We had a 10 vs. 10 beach volleyball game going for nearly two hours in a cutthroat competition and the setting of Golden Gardens and the views of Puget Sound were really spectacular.  Great fun!!!

3.  Millers Visit

For a week I got to spend some good quality time with Bryan’s parents, dine around at my favorite places in Seattle, and essentially do what I do best; tour people around and make them fall in love with Seattle.  They enjoyed the city, the food we showed them, the frozen yogurt, and the activities.  I love visitors!!

4.  Celebrating Two Years

Bryan and I had a great weekend celebrating our two-year anniversary.  We had two great dinner at Spur and Harvest Vine (real winner and discovery), we took a nice long bike ride along Lake Washington and had brunch at Both Ways Cafe, home to our first date, we watched the SeaFair air show, we scootered to Alki Beach for a relaxing afternoon in the sun, we cozyed up to drinks and live Flamenco guitar music, and we made tacos and had a quiet night in just the two of us.

5.  Seattle Pop-Up Picnic

A spectacular event.  So much good food to try, and you better believe that I at least tried all of the 12 dishes that were cooked up.  I was a bit star struck from seeing so many good chefs.  And they were all doing variations of street food that I have had on my mind a lot lately.  One of the chefs even just got announced that she will be competing on Top Chef, which is a huge honor and very, very cool.  I even got my first request to write a food blog about the event.  Nothing big or special but hey, it’s a start.  http://theworldisfun.wordpress.com/2013/08/13/pitching-in-at-the-pop-up-picnic/.

6.  Fitz and the Tantrums Concert #4

I cannot believe that I have now seen Fitz and the Tantrums four times…not only that but four times in Seattle, with Bryan.  They are fantastic each time and this time they had a new album to add some more variety to the songs that they performed.  I’ve heard more of these songs on the radio, I think that has more to do with their popularity increasing instead of the songs being better, though I still really like them and their style.  The Showbox at SODO was a really good venue for seeing a band like this too!

7.  Banks Lake Boating Trip

My third summer in Seattle and my third summer heading to Banks Lake for a weekend of boating bonanzas was a success.  We stayed at a different (but better campsite) in Electric City, WA, right on the lake and again had the boat reserved for a full 8 hour day using up the full tank of gas.  On top of this we had a great camp dinner, saw the dam laser light show, and got to ski again on Sunday with roommates on the Columbia River.

8.  Last Season of Breaking Bad

We have only seen the first two episodes of the latest Breaking Bad series, but this last season is staying just as intense and dramatic as all the previous ones.  It is nice to have it back on and even nicer that AMC lets you stream it and watch it online for free.  I was going to do dinners for it but that never happened…oh well.

9.  Bryan’s New House

It started off on a bit of rocky start, as most new moves do, just because of no organization, boxes, and adjustment but the new house is going to be pretty cool.  David is a great roommate, the house is in a cool location with a great view, and the new paint jobs have really made it look nice.  It is also much closer to the Capitol Hill site for me!

10.  $.25 Happy Hours

So Chandler’s Crabhouse, positioned brilliantly on Lake Union, is usually a very expensive place to go for food and drink.  However, it is one that everyone wants to go because of their large deck and prime waterfront views.  This summer they have started a series of $.25 happy hours that is just awesome and genius of them to build and expand their customer base.  Each time the variety of appetizers changes and they basically just bring you out all four (for $1 total) when you put in your drink order.  I have really liked their tuna tartare and their blue beef, but I won’t complain about any of it.  And their $2.75 glasses of wine (again, I won’t complain that those choices are between Merlot and Chardonnay), it almost makes me feel like I am back at a tapas bar in Spain.  You just have to be in the know of what days they are happening and they only share that news 9am the day of.

Chelsea