Back to Sac (Part 3: A week of Thanks)

Oh yes, where was I? Thanksgiving week!

Michael and I were really spoiled with such amazing food. There's really nothing like home-cooked meals made from ma mere. Thanksgiving seemed to last a week from all the spoils we got to enjoy.

This is just a taste of the deliciousness made by mom. This was one of Michael's favorites. Mine, as always, was her signature crab dish. It just cannot be replicated or imitated. Definitely one of a kind.

It's a bummer how time with loved ones always seem to go so fast. The week flew by right before my eyes.

This year, was a lot different for me. For one, I was coming home as a visitor, and two, I was bringing a significant other home with me. I don't think I've brought anyone home for the holidays since high school. Thanksgiving was also bigger than normal as our family shared the day with my brother-in-law's family.

Can you spot my head?

I'm so thankful for my family and the time we had together. Being with family truly is priceless.

Back to Sac (Part 2: Thanksgiving)

Take a moment and pause. Appreciate your life as it is now, because it will never be like this, ever again...

I'm a very nostalgic person. Though I shouldn't, I always look to the past, trying to make sense of it as if it could explain the person I had come to be. Sometimes, the past can do that, but sometimes it holds you down, shackling you, never letting you go, which in turn creates an environment of unhappiness in your present. You see, I have a hard time letting the past go.

Around the holidays and the cold weather, my nostalgia hits its peak. In my head I compare the current years to the previous ones and so on. Once I filter through in my mind do I see how much time flies and life changes.

This thanksgiving was no different. I was going home for the holidays. The act of going home and leaving home all over again created a mental fog and a feeling of displacement, because home had completely changed. It wasn't just my sisters, mom, and I. New additions had come to our family through marriages. Thanksgiving when I was seven was completely different to Thanksgiving now as twenty-two. Where did all the years go? Where is home now?

In the moment, life seems to be moving at a snail's pace, but when you take a step back, everything flies by.

It's hard for me to acknowledge this when I yearn for some comforting moment of the past, which I think, makes it hard for me to accept Seattle as my new home. Maybe I don't make much sense, or I'm not making it very clear. So to simplify: No point in life is ever the same, it changes even though you don't notice it. So appreciate it now, before it's gone forever.

An example of this would be my idea of home. I've always wanted to leave Sacramento. I always looked for an 'escape plan,' but now that I have it. I miss it, and now I'm looking for ways to go back home again. But even if I go back, it's not the same. Time has changed it.

So enough of my confusing spiel that has you scratching your head, and onto my narrative account of my time there in my next post!

Back to Sac (Part 1: The Drive)

My hiatus from my blog and Seattle is now over!

For a week and a half I went back home to Sacramento for Thanksgiving break to see my family. Words cannot express how excited I was to see them nor can they express how much I miss them now that I am back in Washington. I am so blessed to have them in my life and every day away from them is hard. We're a tight knit family, and it'll always stay that way.

One thing about me? I really hate long car rides. I just don't have the patience for it. I get antsy. I get sick. And I definitely get bored. But Michael and I buckled down and drove all the way to Sacramento. We started bright and early, and it was cold and below freezing.

But after only three hours in, we stopped in Portland for Breakfast.

Using Yelp, we found Mother's Bistro & Bar.

Then we got back on  the road only stopping for gas and bathroom breaks.

Unfortunately for Michael, he had to drive the whole way since I didn't know how to drive stick.

Long car rides are funny. Well actually not funny, because it drove me crazy (as you can see). The majority of the ride was flat and monotonous and music and audiobooks can only do so much.

But it was all worth it to be in the arms and company of my family.

Bottlehouse and Book Bindery

The title says it all. I think these two places are my favorites thus far in Seattle.

cheese, olives, and wine at Bottlehouse

Outside of the Book Bindery

On Friday Michael and I went to Bottlehouse, an urban winery in Madrona. We've been there a few times and continue to frequent the place just because of their amazing selection of wine. It's crazy, every glass I've drank there, I've never been disappointed.  They also have a cheese monger who pairs the cheese with the wine you order. This time around I wanted to buy a bottle of wine for Michael's family since we'll be away for Thanksgiving, but I didn't know what to get. Lucky for me, the staff was knowledgeable and recommended some great wines. They were so good I ended up buying two instead of just one.

For dinner Michael took me to Serious Pie in South Lake Union. I had never been there before and the last time he had gone was about four years ago. It was definitely a different experience pizza-wise. They have hand-tossed pizzas topped with pretty interesting toppings. I had a sweet fennel sausage pizza with red peppers and Michael had the soft egg, bacon, and arugula. It's funny, I ended up liking his more than mine and vice versa.

Did I mention I'm a lucky girl? Because on Saturday Michael took me out to Book Bindery which is located at the edge of the river in Queen Anne.

We were both first timers and upon entering, loved the atmosphere. It's split up into two sections, a bar and restaurant area. We were seated in the restaurant area which resembled a glass house/greenhouse that overlooked the canal. If I tried to describe it, I wouldn't be able to do the restaurant justice, so here is a link to their gallery: bookbinderygallery .

Our server recommended the 2009 Nebbiolo, which we loved. It was very light bodied, slightly floral, and opens up very nicely. There menus were really cute too since they were binded (get it? binded bindery?).

Sorry for the bad photo quality, I didn't want to put flash and annoy the other tables :P

To start we had butternut squash soup with vanilla oil and some bread. I'm usually not a fan of butternut squash soup, but this one was phenomenal.

For our starters Michael had the Salad of Pickled Hawaiian Hearts of Palm and I had the Maine Lobster Risotto.

Oven Roasted Beets, Asian Pear, Micro Herbs

Black Truffle, Parmesan Mousseline

Besides being absolutely delicious, the presentation of the food was beyond beautiful.

For our main, Michael had the Grilled Mishima Ranch "Flavor Curve" and I had the Pan Roasted Grimaud Farms Duck Breast.

Creamed Spinach, Yukon Gold Potatoes, Hen-of-the-Woods Mushrooms, Red Wine Sauce

Isn't he handsome?

Confit Leg Presse, Red Wine Poached Apple, Wheat Berries, Spicy Duck Jus

Such great food, great wine, great service, and such a great boyfriend!

And to top off our meal, we had the Valrhona Chocolate Decadence.

Feuilletine, Candied Walnuts, Banana Ice Cream

It was such a memorable night and another amazing date with my Paris Beau. I'm so thankful for another great experience.

And of course since my blog is also about writing, I thought it wise to do a little update. Though I had fallen behind last week, I hunkered down on Sunday and caught up! I am now officially at the halfway mark, and let me tell ya, it only gets harder the farther you go. So for some guidance and inspiration, I'm currently reading The Techniques on the Selling Writer. After finishing I'll post a review on it, but so far it's turning out to be such a great book and investment.

The writing blehhhh

It's been a busy, busy, week. And I am so tired. Even with coffee and two cups of tea in my system, I feel so blehhhhhh, which translates into my writing (even this post is blehhh (sorry!)). I tried to compensate my low enerygy levels with food to fuel me, but it had the opposite effect. I can feel my lunch in my stomach and its tossing and turning, and just not being normal. Now, I'm swaying in my chair (as I count the minutes until I am off of work so I can sleep, oh but I shouldn't sleep since I haven't been too good at fitting workouts in this week so internally I debate if I should push myself to do it or just knock out).

So then I surf tumblr for some inspiration and I come across this pep talk of Neil Gaiman's that he posted. It discusses the need to keep going in your draft because there's always some point you hit that you're just so exhaustied, yet the only thing you can do is keep going, word after word.

But I haven't written in the past two days so I try to get back into it for fear of falling behind and take Gaiman's advice, but I'm just so blehhh. And my writing comes out blehhh and ewwww. Then the weather today is just so blehhh, ewww, and grey.

What a day!

Now, I should get back to work.

The endeavors of a writer

Reddit: Game of Thrones-Pressures of the 6th Book

The link above will take you to a thread on reddit. Michael came across it the other day and sent it to me. I thought I'd share it with you fellow writers because it sheds light on the truth about writing books-it's goddamn hard.

The past two days I haven't been able to keep up with my word count. Work has gotten really busy for the moment, and I'm just so excited to go back home, see family, and finally be with my pets again. This is a relatively short post, but read the reddit post. It'll make your hump wednesday a little bit better.

Try Something New

Sometimes it's really easy to get into a routine with things, which isn't a problem of course. The problem only occurs when you can't break out of that routine. So this weekend my SO (significant other) and I made it a point to try new things for the weekend, which turned out great. It resulted in cool new experiences and gave me a chance to be more acquainted with Seattle.

On Friday I was able to get off an hour early from work which was great since it gave me a chance to run before the sun set.

(Something beautiful on my run)

The only bad thing was that I forgot my building key. Luckily someone exited the apartment building within fifteen minutes to let me in, because it was freezing! My SO, Michael, however, beat me home by a minute and surprised me with these!

I know, I'm a very, very, lucky gal!

That night we went to The Garage on Capitol Hill to play pool, one of Michael's favorite past times, though I totally kicked his butt so we are now tied (again).

Afterwards, we decided to try something new for dinner. Nearby we found Fogon, which served some pretty delicious and authentic Mexican food. The vibe was really cool with its neon green walls, and I especially loved the light above the entry way.

Since the night was still young we decided to go out to a bar we both haven't been to. With a quick search on yelp, I found Pie Bar. It was a very small and cozy bar that made homemade pies and even paired drinks with the pies. Michael and I split The Deserted Island Pie, which had a blend of strawberries, raspberries, and marionberries. I had the recommended Strawberrry Champagne pairing and Michael got the Water Lily.

Michael's favorite dessert is pie, and he said it was the best pie he's ever had, and I could only agree.

Though I do miss my sunny California, I have to admit that Seattle is very eclectic with so many great places to eat as well as drink. Transitioning to this point in my life and moving has not been an easy feat. If you're ever in a similar situation, I think it helps if you emerge yourself in it. Like they say, "Be where you are, not where you want to be." It's taken me awhile to realize that when the longing for home is constant.

Another thing that helps is setting goals for yourself. Working on the manuscript has kept me pretty productive over the past three weeks, and because it's set in the middle of Oregon and Washington, it gives me a reason to explore the area. For example, a scene I was writing this weekend involved the EMP museum. Since I had never been before, I decided to go to take in the scene and imagine my character being there.

Despite the fire alarm going off and the need to evacuate, we really enjoyed ourselves. Michael enjoyed the Nirvana exhibit, and I enjoyed the fantasy exhibit. Below are a few photos from it:

Upon exiting we stuck our ticket stickers on this.

Which is soooo Seattle right?

For dinner that night we headed to Ballard, another cool neighborhood that we enjoy. We went to the Walrus and the Carpenter. We had never been there before and Michael had been wanting to for sometime. The food was french inspired but had a relaxed vibe. All of the walls were white with mirrors behind the tables, and the bar held the fresh oysters in ice. Not to mention they had a wicked looking white chandelier made from the top of a tree.

And great thing we did because we had "the best oysters ever" (said Michael).

I usually don't like raw oysters, but I had to admit, they were delicious.

(Michael shucking an oyster)

(Look at that chandelier behind him!)

We also had a cool bartender named Craig who whipped up a Martini with St. Georges Gin, which has now become Michael's new favorite.

He also chose a really great French dessert wine for myself.

Earlier that day we had watched Shark Tank which featured a pitch about bread pudding. I had never tried it before and lo and behold it was on the dessert menu that night! It was absolutely delicious, though Michael told me that this was an extraordinarily different bread pudding he's ever had. It was both sweet and salty and was served with expresso and whipped cream.

I really liked the bar display there, so I couldn't help, but take a photo. While there, Michael and I met a couple sitting next to us who were from Canada. Randomly a conversation was struck and we ended up staying awhile after our meal to talk with them. 

Then we topped off with some wine at Portalis nearby (a lot of drinks were had this night :)).

On Sunday mornings I really enjoy going to the nearby coffee house. A new one, called Ada's, just opened up recently so I decided to go there and do some writing. The tables there were so cool and all different. I sat at the table with the compasses and enjoyed a nice soy latte and mushroom pot pie.

So the point of this post? Sometimes it's really cool to try new things and break routine because you just might find the best pie over, a favorite martini, experience the best oysters, learn about pop culture, and have a wicked awesome time doing it.

But of course, sometimes it's always nice to have a routine, because Sunday we went over to see Michael's family again, and as always we had the best spaghetti and meatballs ever!

It was such a great weekend, and I am so thankful that I am lucky enough to experience great things like this.

Even more so, I can't wait to be home with my family in less that two weeks!