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!
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
Evolving in the Emerald City 