We have been anxiously awaiting our venue searching trip in Michigan this Memorial Day weekend but until that time Bryan and I had a mixed bag of things going on to keep us busy:

• Took a float test in a City Park pool with Bryan for his rowing class (fully clothed in the water)
• Picked up Ezell’s fried chicken and rolls for dinner afterwards…forgot the Faygo
• Had Polly over for a much needed friend dinner (tried my hand again at the paprikash and spaetzle = delish)
• Had our last play for the season at Seattle Rep; OutsideMullinger.  Phenomenal Irish romantic comedy followed by Yeti yogurt while walking in the rain!

  

• Had a happy hour dinner with Bryan before the play at the Ethan StowellBelltown restaurantTavolata for some super delicious and inexpensive $8 bowls ofhousemade pasta and garlicrapini!  I can’t wait to go back already for happy hour!!

  

  

  

• Took another break fromFareStart while Bryan made dinner for Billy, Valerie, Jeff and myself of a new to us recipe for chicken mole with lime cilantro rice.  Bryan tried this recipe from Blue Apron and it was relatively simple and super delicious:  https://www.blueapron.com/recipes/chicken-mole-with-green-rice

  

• Took a work break Friday afternoon to go toFrolik’s rooftop patio for a Yelp Play Hookey event; drinks, food, shuffleboard, music, henna tattoos,photobooths, etc. with Ms. Pollyanna

  

• Biked to work three days this week and last, including Friday 5/15 for Bike to Work Day.  Helped our company host a bike station with donuts, coffee and swag.
• Found out I have a couple cavities at the dentist 🙁
• Had a double header Game of Thrones watching night at Luis and Carina’s NEW TOWNHOUSE that they bought in Ballard.  Brought over champagne for them and a cauliflower and quinoa tahini salad for everyone else.
• Tuesday night we had our annual FareStart Guest Chef Night volunteer meeting.  Along with talking about roles, likes, dislikes, complaints we shared laughs, wine and small plates in the ol’ FareStart dining room.
• I sampled lunch atFrolik Wednesday with their radish salad and crab cakes

  

  

• FareStart night featured aThai restaurant with four courses:  crispy rice salad,khaosoi noodles in curry broth, fried fish in curry sauce, and a black rice pudding for dessert.

  

• Lots of laundry and packing.
• Converted leftover chicken mole into chicken mole enchiladas for dinner
• Planted some tomato starters that already have red ripe tomatoes on them!
• Heading to Michigan tonight!!!

Chelsea

This weekend Bryan and I were treated pretty swell as we were considered the “Prospectives” for potential wedding clients at the Roche Harbor Resort on San Juan Island.  We were excited to have a little getaway from Seattle (something we haven’t really had just the two of us since New Zealand) and were excited knowing that is was more or less not on our expense.  We were pretty excited but unknowing of what to expect for the weekend.

Saturday morning we woke up at 7:30 am to get our bags and bikes packed in the Jeep to set out for the Anacortes ferry at 9:30 am.  Unfortunately, our 8:10 am departure from Seattle was not early enough for us to make the 9:30 ferry, much to my dismay, and the next ferry wasn’t going to depart until 2:40 pm!!!  Oh my goodness we had five hours to kill in Anacortes and I didn’t know how we were going to.  We browsed through West Marine for a while and Bryan bought sailing gloves.  We then walked to Calico Cupboard for a so-so breakfast.  I was still bitter about making the ferry and wasn’t letting go of it.  We drove to some random park that ended up being beautiful, despite the clouds and dreariness of the weather, and we walked and explore around there for awhile.  We finally headed back to the ferry terminal at 1:30 pm, parked the Jeep, got our bags and bikes out, and bought walk-on ferry tickets.  We were finally on board and ready for the vacation to begin.

The ferry was smooth sailing of course and we pulled into the island’s port just before 4pm.  And we were greeted with super sunny, cloudless skies the entire rest of the weekend.  We immediately hit the road for our 10 mile bike ride from Friday Harbor to Roche Harbor.  We had rescheduled our tour for the morning so we were no longer in a rush to get there.  I loved the hills and the scenery.  We stopped at the San Juan Winery briefly but forego a glass and proceeded on.  We rolled into Roche Harbor at 5pm, checked in, were greeted very warmly and got our keys to the McMillen Suite.  Our room was located in a super old house set up on the hill right there in the harbor overlooking the boats, the harbor, the restaurants, and with stunning views of the Vancouver Island and what eventually became sunset.  The room had a huge tub and shower, bathrobes, a glorious king size bed, sitting area with TV and gas fireplace, and balcony with chairs, a table, a bottle of red wine, Lindor truffles, a card welcoming us, and a Roche Harbor wedding lookbook.  We were in heaven.  We kicked off the biking shoes, opened the wine and leisurely enjoyed a glass or two in the sun on our balcony.

After refreshing showers, we dressed up and set out to walk about 50 feet to our dinner reservation at the McMillen Dining Room, also right on the harbor.  Our table was front row seats for the beautiful sunset.  We had $150 to spend and were looking forward to a good meal.  Bryan immediately knew he was going to get their prime rib that they are known for, the largest size, while I chose two small plates:  Dungeness crab stuffed spot prawns and salmon with an orange buerre blance, rattatouile and roasted redskin potatoes.  We also each got a glass of Cabernet and shared their super delicious and unique brussel sprout and spring greens salad with pistachios, feta, asparagus, fiddlehead ferns, and fried parsnip chips.  Both of our meals were delicious and we finished them without a problem.  For dessert we chose the cappecino chip ice cream with kahlua whipped cream and brandy caramel sauce with a decaf.  We left the restaurant full and happy and headed back to the room to enjoy our fireplace and get a 10 hour sleep (we fell asleep at 10 am!).

Sunday morning we woke up and got our bags ready to check out.  We left those with the front desk while we got our resort tour with Alyssa, from Livonia, MI.  She was super sweet and shared my tastes.  She was honest and friendly and we both really liked her.  She showed us the garden, the chapel, the reception banquet room with outdoor terrace and fireplace and then the shipwreck beach for rehearsal dinners.  She answered all of our questions and it was a good experience for Bryan and I to go through before heading to Michigan.  The tour lasted just under an hour which was also good for me to know before heading to Michigan.  It was about 11 am when we left Alyssa and strolled along the marina looking at boats before getting a table on the deck of Madrona Bar and Grill for lunch.  Bryan got the lamb burger and I got the chop chop salad that came with chicken, shrimp, crab and avocado and was delicious.  We changed back into our biking clothes and set out to head west and complete the loop around the island.

This time our bike ride included 1500 feet of climbing and 20 miles.  We also had those backpacks on.  We made our way to the west coast of the island and just after the 10 mile mark we found the perfect exposed spot on the coast to sit in the sun, share an apple and take a break.  After about an hour we were back on the bikes to finish our last leg of the bike ride.  I really enjoyed biking on San Juan Island and would love to do it again.  We got to Friday Harbor at 3 pm with an hour to spare before our ferry pulled in.  We got a double waffle cone of peanut butter and chocolate ice cream at Chico’s and walked to the end of the dock to lay on the bench and soak in more sun.  The ferry ride home was uneventful but sunny and we were back in our car about 6 pm with an 1.5 hour drive back to Seattle.

We stopped for a growler of a Baltic porter to take to our friend’s Andrew and Angela’s house for their Norwegian Independence Day party.  The beer was super delicious but even better were hanging out with our friends and enjoying their reindeer sausages, lefse (potato crepes), Christmas cabbage, cheese platter, smoked salmon crostinis, Aquavit cocktails and rhubarb pudding.  We stayed talking with the FareStart group we enjoy so much until 10:15 pm.  We still hadn’t showered and were tired so we headed for home to end our great weekend!

Chelsea

Oh this week has been a bit different than the past several weeks…one that is a little slower, which is good with me.  We actually had two nights in a row at home which is unheard of.  I got a little pampering, we took the week off at FareStart to attend a catered dinner as guests and we celebrated a friend’s birthday.  All in all very good.  Take a look:

• I rode my bike 3/5 days this week.  My roundtrip ride is only 7 miles but I did a little extra on Wednesday to bring my weekly total to 30 miles.
• I made two meals at home this week; the first using the spinach lemon and herb pasta Chad got us (have loved this pasta!) to make a white wine lemon butter sauce with spinach and grilled chicken and the second was acrockpot porkcarnitas tacos

  

• I won $25 to Mary Kay cosmetics as well as a free makeover and facial on Wednesday night.  Polly was also going to get to go but had to cancel last minute so it was a self-retreat that I needed.  I ended up getting the foundation primer and the finishing translucent powder to keep.
• It was my 3rd year in a row at the Construction For Change fundraiser gala.  Bryan and I got dressed up and shared a table with Marika and Randy and six others and were wined and dined to a menu influenced by Africa:  delicious savory beef stew, a couscous and vegetabletagine, saffron rice and perfectly roasted carrots and then a dessert platter assortment.  I had my fair share of some delicious Cabernet and then our table bought in on the $50 bottle of champagne.

  

• I tried this super healthful salad fromHealeo on Tuesday for lunch and also got a lemon ginger zinger tea (also with honey and cayenne) that warmed me up on the one cool day this week and that was so interesting and delightful.

  

• We headed over to Mark and Jeff’s place on Friday to celebrate Jeff’s birthday.  Beer, pizza, brownie sundaes, charades and getting to meet some of Jeff’s friends (and his girl) we’ve never met before but enjoyed.
• Watched my old favorite James Bond, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service on Tuesday night.

  

• Shopping on Saturday for spring work clothes of sorts.  Got a great slew of goodies from H&M and walked home with my purchases in 78 degree heat!
• Homemadechilaquiles with pork Saturday brunch and grilled T-bones Saturday dinner both eaten on the deck.

  

• Church Sunday morning was the best service that we have had
• Mother’s Day brunch at Harvest Vine in honor of our mothers!  Delicious as always!  Twohuevos a laflamenca, onegazpacho, onetostada con tomato withserrano, twocaffe vita coffees and one shared vanilla cinnamon bun.

  

• 6 mile run together along Lake Washington Sunday afternoon in perfect running weather
• Reading on the back deck in our lounge chairs in the sunshine!
• Getting a new Thai delivery to be lazy on the couch to end the weekend.

Chelsea

This past weekend marked our last sailing class in our strive to become certified to charter a sailboat.  Again, Mark, Philipp, Bryan and I were crew together on another 46.5′ foot sailboat.  This time we opted for the preboard option, sleeping on the sailboat, this one named Espirit de Mer, the night before the class so that we can get some more sleep and be up, packed and ready on board at the 9am class start time.  Mark rode up with Bryan and I, getting there around 9:30pm where we joined Philipp and Sara (who was just staying the night on board).  We had some brewskis, listened to music and called it a night at midnight.

Saturday morning we had sunny skies and warm weather.  We got egg sandwiches and coffees at the marina’s coffee shop.  We met out instructor, Chris, stocked our sailboat with our provisions, and got ready to set sail.  This class was much more relaxing, we had less to learn about sailing and more to learn about safety and navigation.  We set sail for our destination for the day of Cypress Island in the San Juans.  We had strong winds and were moving fairly steadily at 6 knots which put as to our destination early.  We doodled around the islands for awhile, had lunch of Trader Joe wraps and salads, and around 5pm we pulled up to our mooring ball for the night.  We made dinner of BBQ chicken, quinoa, and green beans (same as last time) and then all piled into the dingy to ride to the island.

Our instructor led us on a 1.5 mile hiking trail to the top of Eagle Crest to catch the sunset at 8:30 pm.  It was gorgeous.  We could see so many islands, Mt Baker under the moonlight, and the Olympics in the sunset.  It was a beautiful place.  As soon as the sun set we set back for the dingy and the boat, got back to the boat, uncorked the bottle of wine that we brought and chatted and listened to music until about 11pm when we went to bed.

Sunday morning was another beautifully sunny day.  We first made breakfast of scrambled eggs, toast, and yogurt with fresh berries and granola.  After breakfast we laid out our course for the day and then took our written course.  We all passed with scores in the 90s.  After the test we messed around in the dingy and then got ready to set back out for Bellingham.

We had decent winds and caught the sight of seals and several porpoises.  We had more TJ wraps and salads and snacks along the way.  We pulled into Bellingham marina, took down the sails, and fueled up, pumped out and then docked our boat.  We cleaned up the boat, inside and outside and got back to the Jeep just before 5pm.  We were exhausted from the sun and wind and the easy 1.5 hour drive back to Seattle made me super sleepy.

But we headed to Luis and Carina’s for Game of Thrones night, ordering Chicago deep dish pizza from Patxi’s Pizza in Ballard for everyone’s dinner.  This could be some of the best Chicago deep dish that I have had!  Along with salads we ordered, a fruit salad, and brownie sundaes that our friend’s made we were set for the night.  We didn’t get home until 10:20pm and immediately showered and zonked out.

Chelsea

What’s new?

• Have made it to a 30 minute yoga/barre class at Lorna Jane the past two Wednesdays
• Tried thebahn mi salad from Veggie Grill and am considering buying this salad every week, YUM!

  

• Game of Thrones Episode 3 was just as boring as the first 2
• Whiplash was an amazing movie that kept me tense the entire time

  

• Imitation Game was another extraordinary movie
• Made pad thai successfully again, and pork and shrimp spring rolls
• Ate outside on the patio for the first time this summer
• Seattle Rep’s Lizard Boy was so incredibly funny and musically talented

  

• Have my new business cards with the new company name on them
• The mums I got before Mom came are still holding strong…amazing
• The tulips that we got a week later died in a matter of days
• Haven’t touched the ASA 104 Sailing textbook yet
• Am through Numbers in the Old Testament
• Since sailing I have been wearing my Sperry’s quite a bit
• My hamstrings are still sore from Broomball?!?!?
• OutstandingFareStart dinner by Hitchcock; pork loin, fancy salad,panna cotta, rhubarb

  

  

• Half off pasties from Twisted Pasty after the play
• Bike to Work month is starting (oy)
• Getting a new dishwasher delivered and installed next weekend
• Going to get pest control to come and get rid of the squirrels living in our attic
• Found out that Fitz and the Tantrums are headlining the first night at Bumbershoot this year
• Found out that Milky Chance is coming to Marymoor Park this summer
• Got my ring resized

Chelsea