Top Ten of October

My birthday month is over 😦

1.  My Birthday

I had a fantastic 27th birthday, even being on a Monday.  I got Einstein Brothers bagels from my company, mani/pedis with Polly, a huge bouquet of lilies and roses from Bryan and we had a fantastic dinner at Ethan Stowell’s Staple and Fancy Mercantile in Ballard with a candle even in my dessert (which was soooooooo amazing).

2.  Pumpkin Picking and Corn Maze

The Saturday before my birthday I delightedly spent a festive fall day with a bunch of my friends.  We picked pumpkins and raced (seriously) through the corn maze in Puyallup, WA before heading back to our house for chili (made by Polly), chocolate and peanut butter cake (made by Bryan), a scary movie, pumpkin carving, and roasted pumpkin seeds.  I had a blast!!!

3.  Birthday Cake

As mentioned previously Bryan made my birthday cake this year.  He used the Cooking Light recipe method (but I’m pretty sure he didn’t get anything “light”) and a great peanut butter cream cheese frosting.  I don’t know what it is about birthday cake, especially this birthday cake, but I feel like I can’t celebrate a birthday without one.  Nor should anyone and that’s why I try to remember my friend’s birthdays too.  I had about six pieces of this cake in total.

4.  Nightmare on Lee Street Party

Let me just say that the girls at the Lee Street house know how to through a wicked party.  This was our second attempt at a party and was even better than the first.  We had so many guests, so much dancing, so much to drink, and such a good time.  From the decorations, to the food and drink, to the playlist, to the guest list, we did it up right.  Went to bed at 3 am!!!!

5.  Seahawks Winning!

So far this season I have gone to my very first Seahawks game, have hosted four Seahawks watching game nights, have bought my first Seahawks apparel, and the Seahawks are now 8-1 (first time ever in Seahawks history).  Bryan and I especially love them this year and my friends are getting on board with them too.  It’s fun to actually have a team who we can all cheer for…and better yet, who wins!!

6.  Purse Stolen

Though not a positive highlight of October, my bag being taken from the volunteer room at the FareStart gala, was indeed a mood-swinger and mini fiasco.  I’ve had to get all accounts stopped and cards replaced and had to work with Progressive on my first ever claim.  As much of a nuisance it was, it was also another life lesson.  From now on I am going to try to carry less with me.  I also am going to make sure that I keep more of my receipts.  And I am very thankful that I lost very few sentimental things in this incident.  The thing I currently miss the most is my great Coach wallet.  I haven’t gotten a replacement wallet for it yet and realizing just how much it carried and how organized it kept me is a real insight!

7.  Documentary Nights

Luis and Carina have started to host Documentary Nights, featuring wine, apps, dessert, and a featured documentary with voluntary discussion usually following after.  We have since watched Mansome and Detropia.  I’ve actually had strong opinions about each and it has been nice to see friends more on weeknights.

8.  New Friends

Billy and Valerie have recently jumped to our favorites in our group of friends.  They are extremely sweet, funny, cute together, and interesting.  They have interests different than ours but not conflicting of ours.  We’ve had them over a few times and they returned the favor with a Thank You card and a dinner at their place.  We are planning a weekend excursion with them to Friday Harbor in the San Juans in a week.

9.  Ms. Pacman and Blinky

Best. Costume. Ever.  It was like my dreams came true and we looked spectacular.  We had great fun making the costumes and even more fun dancing with them on.  I was first going to throw mine away after we used them but after our party and seeing the pictures I plan to keep them for one more Halloween at least.  And I might want to enter a Halloween Costume Contest in the near future.

10.  Seattle Restaurant Week

I was able to dine out twice for SRW, per my usual, once for dinner and once for lunch.  Both times were great and both were great deals.  The first time was for dinner on my birthday and I chose Ethan Stowell’s Ballard restaurant, Staple and Fancy Mercantile, a place that I wanted to dine at in the spring but that was already full up.  This year booking my reservation weeks in advance secured our spot and we had an exceptional three course meal with highlights being the braised pork cheeks, the pasta, and both desserts.  So rich and delicious.  For $28 each this was a steal of a dinner.

For SRW lunch I tried the newest Tom Douglas restaurant, Tanakasan, located in Belltown.  Again, a great meal with very good flavors.  My only critique for this restaurant are very high prices for small portions of Asian food that you can get really good in Seattle already for very cheap.  Might not come back but so glad that I tried it.

Chelsea