This week both Bryan and I have been filled with love and positivity. I don’t know if it is just because it was the week of Valentine’s Day, if it was the sun, or what it was, but it was there. And boy did Bryan outdo himself on Valentine’s Day…
We were already in good spirits from hearing the baby’s heartbeat for the first time first thing in the morning, despite the dreary morning weather and the 30 minutes sitting in traffic to get to Seattle and work. After a shorter day at work, mani-pedi finally for me (long overdue because of how busy the salon has been), a barre class for me, I headed home expecting a simple dinner at home. I arrived home to a sparkling clean house, beautiful dainty pink tulips, a box of chocolates, sparkling juice chilling and Bryan starting on dinner of ribeye, truffled mac and cheese, and salad (with help from our last Hellofresh box of the week). I was stunned and elated of course. He even set the table with the little framed picture of us at our wedding that we got for Christmas and the two ultrasound photos of the little one. We finished dinner together and it was excellent, as was the juice! It was a great Valentine’s night at home that didn’t even feel like we were at home.
We had another wonderful night out just the two of us the day before Valentine’s Day, thanks to a mystery shop, at the newly renovated Outlier (was Sazerac) downtown Seattle. And dinner was fabulous! For starters we had an amazing beet-cured salmon plate with crisps, fennel and herbed cream cheese for their take on bagels and lox which was gorgeous and nice and light, as well as a plate of amazing curry roasted multi-colored carrots with a carrot puree, sheep’s milk feta, dates, pistachio and yogurt sauce. For entrees we got the black chile roasted half chicken which came with a super savory and delicious au jus and a ton of perfectly roasted vegetables as well as the Columbia River steelhead which was also just perfectly cooked and complemented by a mushroom tamale, poblano corn relish and tomatillo salsa verde that sounds like an interesting combination with fish but let me tell you did it ever work! We were stuffed by this point but had to order dessert so we chose the salted caramel chocolate tart with malted chocolate ice cream and bruleed bananas which was rich and certainly not light nor small and this is where we were sent over the edge.
Monday was my dad’s birthday and I got to talk to him and wish him a very happy birthday. It sounded like he had a good one. I got to enjoy a Britney Spears vs. Christina Aguilera themed cycle class beforehand that put me in a good mood. And we enjoyed another great Hellofresh box of spinach and ricotta ravioli with a luscious creamy chicken sausage sauce.
And Thursday, at FareStart, we decided to announce that we are expecting to our good friends. We brought a bottle of wine and another bottle of sparkling cider to enjoy with our group at the end of the night over dinner. We stayed at the restaurant until midnight talking to our closest friends and now today I’m practically falling asleep on the job. We have literally no plans for the weekend and I have Monday off for President’s Day so we will see if we keep it chill or if we actually do something…but right now I feel like sleeping.
Chelsea
Evolving in the Emerald City 