This week was different…it started out normal and then all of a sudden Bryan was gone and spending the end of the week and weekend with his boys for his Bachelor Weekend. It was really the first “wedding” related event we have had so far, aside from engagement photos, and I did feel a little…different. It’s good to have him back now and it was honestly good to have a few days to myself, something I used to really need and value and something I haven’t had in what seems like a long time. I’m sure Bryan feels the same way still.
Throughout the week I was keeping my eye on these bad boys that are holding steady and growing at an alarming speed in my opinion.
Monday night Bryan and I shared one last dinner alone at Eastlake Bar and Grill. It was a late dinner but always a good one at one of our favorite spots in town. Crispy curried cauliflower, three pig mac and cheese, chop chop salad and a Kilt Lifter amber to split.
Tuesday night was an impromptu birthday party for Polly’s big 3-0. We all met up at this event called Opera on Tap at the High Dive bar in Fremont to celebrate Polly. We surprised her by all being there when she got there and she was most definitely surprised. We ordered drinks while snacking on chips and salsa and a large spread of tacos. Ewelina brought her a German chocolate cake from Macrina for us all to sing to her. It was a fun night with friends and an interesting one watching opera in a bar. Can’t say I’ve ever done that.
And Wednesday Bryan left me…
I tried to entertain myself:
I had lunch with some coworkers at the relatively new Chop Shop in Capital Hill for the end of Dine Around Seattle. For $15 I got one fantastic chopped salad with kale, white beans, avocado, tomatoes, bacon, and Gouda, some cocoa and spice dusted and seared Albacore tuna from Washington, and then finished that up with the salted caramel and chocolate tart and rolled myself back to work.
I started biking into work. Mostly because warm and rain-free spring weather is upon us and also because I had to ease into the 20 mile bike ride on Sunday. I rode my bike to work twice and went the long way home each time.
I went on a 20 (actually 25 mile bike ride getting there and back from my house) for the grand opening of the new 520 floating bridge with my friend Tina. This 20 miler Emerald City Bike Ride was put on by the Cascade Bicycle Club and was honestly a very cool and fun ride. It started EARLY because of all of the roads that it was blocking so I was at the UW Husky Stadium start line around 7 am. The route took me over and back the new 520 bridge then over the I-5 express lanes to King Street in the International District. This is where they had their first pit stop and were serving up neighborhood delicacies like spring rolls, dumplings, and green tea cream puffs in addition to fresh fruit and granola bars. After a few minutes rest I was back on the bike to continue on a more familiar trail to me. We then went through the I-90 Mountain to Sound bike tunnel and then connected with Lake Washington Boulevard to head more or less towards home, though not to home but to finish back at the UW start line and then bike back uphill to home. At the end of the ride we got our t-shirts which are actually pretty sweet. I felt extremely good on the ride even after running my 6.5 mile run the day before.
Ah yes, I went on Bryan and my usual 6.5 mile run along Lake Washington and around Seward Park on Saturday. It was a beautiful day and a beautiful run with the trees along the lake just starting to pop with their beautiful color. I rode my scooter to and fro and on my way home I picked up a bag of mulch and a bag of topsoil. How did I get that home? Definitely should have taken a photo…
I went to dinner with Polly on Saturday night. We actually went to Bellevue for a Chinese dinner at the somewhat swanky (for a Chinese restaurant when you are used to the International District for Chinese) La Bu La. We had a very good and spicy dinner. We spent a longgggggggggggg time chatting at the restaurant and we both realized it was so overdue. I haven’t spent one-on-one time with Polly since probably November.
I took a coffee break with countless samples of cold brew and espresso at Pioneer Square’s Coffee Break on Thursday. Completely free and 100% buzzed.
I volunteered, per usual, at FareStart for the restaurant Urbane. They served up some delicious fried Beechers cheese curds with a spicy salad, baked black cod with a chorizo potato hash and asparagus that was great, and a very rich chocolate cake with an espresso caramel ganache and rhubarb compote. Nice not having to eat alone but boy was I exhausted foodrunning this night!
I basked in the sun at Starbucks with my free hazelnut latte between the Sunday bike ride and the Hipcooks cooking class. I’m so ready for spring and so happy next weekend is supposed to repeat this gloriousness.
I volunteered for a Hipcooks class. This class was titled Healthy, Fresh and Zingy and was a great class to take/assist for the beginning of spring. The flavors and ingredients were fresh and delicious. We made two different roasted pepper soups to start and then followed that up with some great seared tuna with a colorful chopped mango salsa (three tuna steaks in two weeks is probably a record in my book) and finished that off with a tart and sweet strawberry sorbet. I’ve always been scared to cook tuna so this was a good class for me to take. And I always love learning a new creamy but healthy soup to make.
And I got a ton of stuff done around the house:
- I hired a cleaner from Handy who spent 3.5 hours cleaning our kitchen and top floor bathrooms. I then proceeded to spill ground coffee all over the kitchen.
- I went through ALL of our toiletries in our bathroom to chuck things we haven’t used in a year and to organize my earrings and makeup. That was a good chore done.
- I washed our bedding for the first time in forever.
- I gardened outside in the glorious sunshine. I directly planted: zinnias and sunflowers in the front yard and peas and beans in pots. I love working outside in the garden but didn’t get nearly as much as I wanted done and have a lot more to clean up and plant.
- I cleaned inside and out my scooter. Bryan will be happy about that.
- I sewed my little bag back together that I use riding my bike and super glued my (meaning Bryan’s old) sunglasses back together just so I could manage the Sunday bike ride.
- I separated my toes…
Ouch…bunions are a new thing for me.
Bryan’s back!!!
Chelsea
Evolving in the Emerald City 