What a quick last week of work and festivities.  Christmas is here and I am adios’ing out of Seattle.  If its going to be so chilly I might as well be skiing.  At least the first few days of winter have actually been on the warmer side.

To wrap up the annual MJA Christmas Party, Bryan and I had a good time getting dressed up and going out for the night.  We ubered there and back so that we wouldn’t have to worry at all about drinking and driving.  It was a frigid night and so the outdoor tours of the otters and other exhibits was cut short for me to go back in and get something more to drink.  Dinner was a delicious buffet and I received my 5 year service award certificate to the name of “Chelsea Miller” which almost had me waiting for whoever that person is to go up and get there certificate.  Very few people have probably heard my name out loud (including myself) so I’m sure there was a bit of confusion.  Dessert was amazingly rich, the president’s “State of the Union” address was 100% positive and my supervisor won the honorary award, rightly so.  Then began dancing and of course much more drinking before Bryan and I returned home to warmth.

Sunday morning was our last lazy day.  We spent it at church and then made a hash at home to enjoy while watching NFL.  I didn’t have to clean the house because Bryan did that for me on Saturday while I was working!!!!  Such a treat for me.  I wrapped presents and then we went to receive packages delivered to my old house, returning with amazing burgers from Lil Woody’s to eat at home.  Best burger of my life pretty sure.  We wrapped up the weekend with the recommended-by-Lon movie, My All American, about a University of Texas football player.  Bryan really enjoyed it!

Touching movie

Great burger

Tuesday Bryan and I enjoyed one of our favorite places in Seattle to use up one of our certificates.  Like always, Harvest Vine was perfection.  We split a very decently priced bottle of Rioja wine to go along with some cauliflower with salsa verde, spinach with raisins, sherry and pine nuts, braised beef cheeks with potato puree, and their famous pork dish over chopped potatoes and cider glaze.  We finished the night with their delicious chocolate espresso tart with sea salt caramel ice cream.  Delicious and so nice to just be able to walk there and back.

Wednesday was the longest night of the year and Marika’s birthday so we joined her friends and family for an Italian birthday dinner at their friend’s restaurant, La Vita E Bella.  It was fun to see her family whom I haven’t seen in awhile and the dinner was actually extremely delicious and Randy footed the bill which was completely unnecessary.

Thursday night was a quiet night at our house, other than un-decorating our tree to sell to a family for $30!  And Friday I finished up thank you cards (finally!) at work since no one was in the office and Bryan was working on waxing our skis at home.  I got a free latte at Starbucks thanks to their 10 days of giving after a hot and sweaty yoga class at lunch and then met Bryan after work at Outdoor Research to gift myself a new toasty down jacket, the same color and style as Bryan, so now we are twinners!  We grabbed a spicy bite to eat at Ti22 before heading home to finish up our packing to head out for 10 days.  Woohoo!

Chelsea

Excuse me?!?  How are we only one week from Christmas?  How has that already happened?  Obviously from the lack of post after last weekend time is slipping through the cracks and it’s been difficult to find time to even rationalize this in my head.  But it’s here I guess, “it’s actually here!”.

These past seven days have been eventful for sure.  Here’s a little rundown:

Friday:

• Dinner with my beau for hot ramen on a chilly and wet day
• Bryan tried on his new sailing gear for me which was just too cute
  

  Gyoza yaaasss

  

  Ramen…yaassss

  

  Sailor Boy

Saturday:

• I work from 9-4 (two thumbs down)
• Bryan sailed in a 5 hour race in Shilshole Bay brr
• We both cleaned up and headed over to the Witte’s for a nice dinner, drinks, and conversation

Sunday:

• Went to church service
• 1st ever 1-year old birthday party for Bryan’s childhood friends that are new to Seattle
• Rushed home for the Seahawk’s game
• Crummy game
• Made fettuccine, watched a movie and wrote thank you cards (almost done)

Monday:

• Enjoyed a random Monday night holiday party with friends at the Vidal’s.  We did bring a dish but we failed to have time to shop for a white elephant gift for the party.

Tuesday:

• Met Polly for a free screening of the new movie Collateral Beauty
• We had dinner and good conversation at the nearby Jewel Box Cafe after the movie

Wednesday:

• Made it to a hot pilates class with already sore leg muscles = bad idea

Thursday:

• Last Guest Chef Night of the year with Cedarbrook Lodge for roasted delicata squash salad, braised short ribs with greens and yams, and a excellent s’more cake

This weekend is our last weekend before Christmas so there is a good amount to get done.  However, the company’s Christmas party is Saturday night so lets see how effective we can be post-party.

Chelsea

This week we have gotten something that we haven’t gotten in two years…SNOW!  We woke up to a surprise bout of big snowflakes on Monday but that didn’t last long.  However, Thursday after FareStart we left in a beautiful frenzy of falling snow that was actually sticking to the ground, and stayed there through Friday morning.  It really was beautiful for the short time that we had it.

This week went quick…as they always seem to do around the holiday time.  I made it a hot and sweaty yoga class Monday after work and we enjoyed some homemade chicken fried chicken dinner from a Blue Apron recipe I stole off of their website.  Tuesday was an early morning meeting for me in the frosty eastside and then after work Bryan and I got to enjoy a mystery shopping dinner at Capital Grille downtown with a fantastic meal that left me stuffed.

My luscious sliced filet with dungeness crab and bordelaise sauce.

Bryan’s cognac cream and peppercorn new york steak that was killer.

Wednesday I attended the annual FareStart holiday community dinner which was really well done and highly attended this year.  Roast beef, roasted juicy turkey, a pasta bar and a thousand sweet treats to seal the deal.  And Thursday night we were back at FareStart for a busy night with the Sky City at the Needle restaurant pulling out all of the stops with a butternut squash soup with crab salad, exquisite beef wellington with mashed potatoes and au jus and a chocolate pot de creme for dessert.

Today doesn’t feel like Friday to me because I plan to work tomorrow to catch up and earn back more vacation time.  I’ll still be enjoying my Friday night somehow.

Chelsea

This weekend was the first weekend that really felt like we were actually moving into the holiday season.  Late last week decorations were going up around town and Friday night was the annual Figgy Pudding Carroling Competition that I stumbled upon as I was leaving work.  Temperatures dropped and even Monday morning greeted us with giant snowflakes that was beautiful to watch but didn’t last long at all.

Figgy Pudding Caroling monstrosity.

It’s snowing.

…and Bryan is ready to go before our street gets slick.

After working late on Friday I grabbed a quick bite at Buffalo Wild Wings to catch a small part of the UW vs. Colorado game before heading to the Cathedrals concert at St. Mark’s Cathedral that was sold out, including standing room only.  Meanwhile Bryan grabbed pizza and beers with the Dodds and Jason before heading home to finish watching the game.

Saturday was our usually lazy morning, not waking up until 10:30 am.  It was cool but rain-free so after a lazy morning we did our usual route around Seward Park.  Once home I prepped a dish to take to Anita’s Holiday Party.  The party was a cocktail party and we talked with the Dodds and Anita until fairly late.

Sunday morning we headed up to Lynnwood for Philipp’s birthday brunch hosted by Philipp’s parents.  I wasn’t really sure what to expect but I was amazed at how good their brunch spread was.  Served buffet style but beautiful we helped ourselves to:  hard boiled eggs, rye bread, baguette, dips, meatballs with tzatziki sauce, sausage with curry ketchup, deli meats and a full cheese platter, crudites, two potato salads, a lentil salad and strawberry tarts with homemade whipped cream plus coffee and mimosas.  Everything was so good and so high quality.

After staying for some time catching up with the crew Bryan and I headed out to Goodwill to drop off things and then to Farmer Brown’s Tree Farm to U-Cut our first tree ever.  Neither of us knew what we were getting ourselves into and after waiting in a long line of cars, finally finding a parking spot, and then scouring the vast farm in the slim pickings we finally compromised on a tree.  Bryan sawed it in no time and we carried it to throw in the Jeep.  We made the hour drive back to Seattle just in time for the Seahawk’s SNF game against the Panthers.  We waited until half time to put the tree up and once erected I think we were actually very pleasantly surprised at what a good tree we picked out.  After the easy win (what really did happen in Tampa?) I finished the tree with the lights, ribbon, and new decorations we got.  Bryan topped the tree with the star and the rest of the night we watched TV in the glow of the tree lights.

Our perfect tree!

Decorations up while Bryan makes me watch the movie Angry Birds

I cannot believe how soon Christmas is coming up.  It really snuck up on me this year and I’m only finally starting to accept the fact that its already here.

Chelsea

Well that’s a wrap for Thanksgiving week.  Siesta Key was a much needed retreat from the rain and cold and has cured my homesick heart I’ve experienced this fall.  We all had such a relaxing time and I have seriously had a hard time getting back to real life these past two days.  Let’s see, what did the week entail?

Wednesday we all arrived to the Tampa airport around 6 pm EST.  Bryan and I won for longest flight and it was great to stretch our legs in the airport for a bit while we waited for the others.  Once everyone was accounted for we got our rental minivan, piled in, and set south for Siesta Key.  We stopped in St. Petersburg for dinner at a random but delicious bar before finishing the 1.5 hour drive to the Key.  We had no traffic and no trouble checking into our two next door oceanfront condos.  Our grocery delivery service even arrived minutes after we did so that we were stocked for breakfasts, snacks, and Thanksgiving dinner necessities.

Thanksgiving day greeted us with sunshine and the beginning to what would become a routine for us for the week.  Wake around 9 am to full on sunshine beaming through our windows and views of the beach.  Head over to the “adults” room to make ourselves breakfast.  Head out for our first walk on the beach.  Proceed with the day.

Thanksgiving morning and Saturday morning we went for a run.  Thursday was killer as we went during the heat of the day and the sun and sand killed us.  Saturday was better for Bryan but not for me.  It was still hard.

Sunday morning and Tuesday morning we played on the tennis courts of the Sarasota Surf and Racquet Club.  After warm ups Bryan and I teamed up against Mom and Chad in doubles.  Though we came out tied in game counts on Sunday 1-1 we got beat on Tuesday 0-2…so we need to practice our doubles game and come back with a vengeance next time.  Tennis was so much fun though and a great 1.5 hour workout.

There was lots of beach time involving very little reading and sunning and much more frisbee, football, and velcro ball or paddle ball.  We walked the beach just about everyday for at least 2 miles at a go.  I could walk that beach every day of my life.

We dined for dinner in Siesta Key village two nights.  Friday we went to the fun and raucous Siesta Key Oyster Bar (SKOB).  Live band, grouper bites, lobster mac and cheese and rum runners completed the night.  Saturday night we enjoyed the more unique Peruvian tapas at The Cottage with glasses of sangria, lobster bisque, ahi tuna tacos, and a bunch of other fun eats.  Both nights Bryan and I enjoyed the 2 mile walk back to our condo talking to Chad.  Priceless moments.

There was a ton of football watching during the week, heavy on the front end, and it spent me.  Cheers to the Lions and Texas Tech winning.  Unfortunately Texas lost, Michigan lost in a heartbreaker against the worst school ever, Michigan State followed that up with a loss, and then to put a cherry on top the Seahawks played their worst game ever in front of our very own eyes against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium on Sunday.  Fun to go to the game but horrible outcome and showing by our team.

We got another dinner in St. Pete’s after the Seahawks game at Urban Brew and BBQ for local brews, large BBQ platters to share, and a Ghiradelli brownie sundae to seal the deal.  Our last night we also went out to dinner, in Sarasota to Walt’s Fish Market for a seafood feast of epic proportions.  Bryan and Grandpa’s meals won for largest size.  My ahi tuna was inventive and delicious.  I think I liked the mullet fish dip with crackers they started the meal with for free the best, surprisingly.

Grandma and her pina colada

My tuna

Bryan’s sizzling seafood skillet

Of course cooking Thanksgiving dinner together was fun and came out pretty well despite not being used to our kitchen and tools at hand.  Turkey, stuffing, potatoes, gravy, sweet potatoes, green beans, beets, cranberry sauce, and rolls plus apple and pecan pie hours later made the dinner complete.  I think I liked even better the night we grilled out at the condo.  Well Dad grilled out, he grilled us each a steak and us girls made blistered green beans, skillet potatoes, caramelized onions, and one whopping salad.  We all needed our greens and demolished the meal.

There were a few card games thrown in, several long talks, some crossword puzzles, some naps but all good quality time spent together.  It was so good being back to my most favorite beach in the world after a 10 year hiatus and it was also so sweet seeing that nothing much has changed there from my memory.  A week spent with the family was so nice and I’m not sure when I will see them again but it will at least fuel me for a while.

Chelsea