Monday mani's and pedi's and good-bye's

The weekend went by too quickly. Monday I woke up slightly bummed that my sisters would be leaving in the evening. It's strange living away from my mom and sisters when they've been around me my whole life...

For brunch we went to Coastal Kitchen, which turned out to be a hit. I love that place! Gingerbread waffle with orange butter, marionberry jam on whole wheat toast, fresh cut fruit, spicy hashbrowns, and awesome veggie stuffed omelettes. Yummm.

Afterwards we went to get mani's and pedi's, which was a treat for me, since I don't normally do that kind of thing. Most of my leisure money is spent on books, coffee, and wine :P So it was really kind of my eldest sister to take us out.

Then we went back to my apartment to relax, read, and catch up on some tv shows. I'm currently obsessed with HBO's "Girls." Then the time came where I had to take them to the airport, which was a major bummer for me to go back home to the empty apartment. However, Michael did return late that night. So now the apartment isn't too quiet.

It was a very great weekend overall, which kind of makes it difficult to get back into the groove of  a routine. Not to mention exercising and eating well after all of the deliciousness the past weekend! Luckily, the weather will be nice this week so I really don't have any excuses to get a few runs in!

Staple and Fancy Sunday

At Kerry Park to see the skyline. Kind of horrible and windy photo, but it's the only one we have together.

On Sunday we took it very easy. I made breakfast for my sisters (gluten-free pancakes with agave, eggs, and sliced oranges) and then we all kind of just started reading in the living room.

Once the afternoon hit, we got ready and headed to Kerry Park in Queen Anne to the see skyline. Afterwards, I took my sisters to see the Ballard neighborhood. We had some wine and snacks at Portalis before heading to Staple and Fancy for our reservation.

Mac n' Cheese at Portalis

Veal pot pie at Portalis

Staple and Fancy was one of the first restaurants that Michael took me to. Ever since I've met him, we've gone three times, but this fourth time around was with my sisters, but all thanks to Michael of course, who paid for our meal even though he wasn't able to be there with us.

The cool thing at Staple and Fancy is that you have a choice of not ordering and simply letting the kitchen take care of you. We opted for that choice, so every dish that came to our table was a fun surprise (so forgive me, I don't know what they all are). The dinner was split into four courses: appetizers, pasta dish, the main, and then dessert.

Appetizers:

That's mackeral on top

Soup, though I forgot what kind it was :/ It was very delicious though!

Mozzarella

White fish with blood orange and olives

Dungeness Crab fritter with aioli

Caesar Salad

Some type of delicious meat with pomegranates and a wine reduction

Pasta Dish:

Spicy potato gnocchi with clams

Main:

An amazingly delicate trout fish with cucumber and radish salad on top

Not sure what the meat was, but it tasted super tender and savory with the onion puree, roasted potatoes and carrots.

Dessert:

Cheesecake with huckleberries

Coconut cake topped with gelato.

It was a great way to spend our relaxing Sunday. My two sisters have already been to Seattle before, so since there wasn't much sight seeing left to do. The trip was more of an exploration of food in Seattle. Or at least, my favorite places to eat and drink :)

Surprise Flowers and Sisters

My spirits were increasingly better Friday then they were Thursday. Then it turned out even better at work when I was called up to the receptionist desk. Turned out Michael had ordered flowers to be delivered to me. I've received flowers before, but I never had them delivered which was such a sweet gesture. Jeez I miss him! Can't wait for him to come back home!

Then at work the big boss took us out to lunch at Seastar, which was great seeing as I've been snacking all week instead of eating meals (since I absolutely suck at cooking). I had a crab bisque and scallops with truffles, yummmm.

For the evening I went to Purple after work for some wine and snacks with a dear co-worker and friend which set off the weekend right.

Then Saturday afternoon, my sisters arrived right when the windstorm hit. But it all turned out fine. We went to get lunch at Din Tai Fung in Bellevue for some dumplings then I took them to Bottlehouse.

(Taken from my sister's Instagram)

Olives, three cheeses, and wine at BH

Truffles at BH

After we headed home and got some delicious baked cookies at Hello Robin and rented "I Give It a Year," which was hilarious and my second time watching it!

Matcha green tea cookie, Macklesmore, Classic chocolate chip, Whole wheat chocolate chip with sea salt, and Habenero chocolate chip!

Then we went to my fave speakeasy, Knee High Stocking Co. for some cocktails and their absolutely amazing tots (that I forgot to take a picture of)!

"Midnight in the Garden"

Tune in to my blog tomorrow to see how my sisters and I spent Sunday in Ballard!

Stuck in Love

I kind of have a new favorite movie which warrants this post.

Let me just say now that Seattle winters are tough. Today was not the best day for me. We all have those right? So bad to the extent where we rent a movie, camp on the coach, and eat a whole bag of chips while your cat watches you, right? Or is that just me? Well besides being uncomfortably bloated from excess salt (by the way, eating a bag of chips sounds like a yummy and good idea, but trust me, it isn't!), I'm kind of glad I had the kind of day I did, because it led me to watching Stuck in Love.

Yeah, it's about love, but it's also about life and the experiences you make with other people. I'll admit I cried twice, but that's only because the story was soooo good and the acting was spot on. What I really enjoyed was the dialogue, vibrant characters, and the pacing of the movie. I wish that this story had been a book, because it would have been so enjoyable to know these characters in depth.

The movie was written and directed by first timer Josh Boone who's next film is based off a book. John Green's in fact! Which means I am so excited to see the Fault in Our Stars film rendition since it is in very capable hands:)

Hump Wednesday and the up and coming!

I woke up and this morning and thought, Damn, it's hump Wednesday and I'm craving coffee.

There's nothing wrong with Wednesdays per se, I just haven't had a hump Wednesday for awhile when I 've been having 4 day work weeks thanks to the holidays. As for coffee, I'm trying to cut back, but I know if I had a cup it would perk me right up. Soy latte please?

Instead I opted for some good green tea and toast with strawberry jam to rev my morning up, but lo and behold, I dropped one third of my toast on the cement floor parking lot. Now this should not be a big deal. It's a piece of toast for goodness sake. Oh, but it was! Because it was typical hump Wednesday making its return.

Well on the brightside. I won't have a hump wednesday next week since I'll have a 4-day workweek and even the week after. So no humps, just Wednesdays in the horizon, so... HA!

Some other news to share, two of my sisters will be visiting me this weekend! Yay!!! Oh yipeee!!! I'm so excited that I already planned our weekend. Rest assured, I'll have a great post about that next week. Then right after they leave, Michael finally comes home! Which my stomah is very happy about (he's the cook in the relationship, thus I've been "getting by"), and of course my heart :)

And then, by the end of the month, I'll be going on my first business trip for a week in Boston/Norwood and then New York for the weekend to visit my other sister!

Wow 2014, you're starting off pretty nicely!

Paper Towns by John Green & Witness

It took me awhile to get on the John Green bandwagon, but I'm so glad I did. I love his style of writing, the realism that shines through his interesting characters that leap off the page, and most of all, the way he ties the novel together from beginning to end that really statisfies the reader.

The first book I read of his was Looking for Alaska then shortfly after I read The Fault in Our Stars. Both of which I enjoyed immensely.

Since this weekend was a relaxing one and I was having difficulties writing, I thought that maybe I just needed to read a good book to get me back into the rhythm, and John Green did not disappoint.

On Saturday I started Paper Towns. Immediately John pulls you in with the focal character, Margo, and just like the main character Q, you get wrapped up into his fascination of this girl whom he has always admired from afar. But Margo has always been a mystery to Q, and after an unforgettable night of adventures, she disappears. But she's also left clues just for Q.  I won't give it away, but if you're into mysteries, this is a great one to check out. I finished it on Sunday and loved it. Such a quick read but had many profound moments.

On another note, my relaxed weekend also entailed going to my fave Seattle spot, Bottlehouse, with a friend and after we went to a bar that I had never been to called Witness. It was such a unique little bar because it was church themed with pews and everything. Not to mention the cocktail drinks had interesting names, for example, my drink was called divine intervention (ha!), and the owner even gave a "sermon" at 10 p.m. If you ever go, the deconstructed deviled egg is a must try!

Disappointing wines and openings

There's nothing sadder than buying a disappointing bottle of wine. That happened to me yesterday, and I vow that I will never spend money on wine I dislike. So today, when I got to Bottlehouse, I'm going to select a very tasty wine for myself, one that I know suits my taste.

So of course as I'm writing the opening of draft two while sipping the disappointing wine, I become disappointed in my writing. All of a sudden, I want to scrap it and delete the whole thing. The words are starting to taste like bad wine. My mind turns into a glass of bad wine. I had to stop writing as my anxious tendencies took over my body.

Case in point? Pick a good beverage as you write.

To remedy my anxiety, I just had to stop writing and turn on the tube. But then I couldn't sleep, so I bought a new book on my kindle from one of my favorite authors. Sometimes when I read I can't help but compare my work. It was only after reading the first chapter of the new book did I think, Hey, my opening wasn't so bad. I fell asleep shortly after.

As I write this, I'm watching the sun rise from my living room window and drinking a nice cup of tea. Today the sky is baby blue with a bright orange horizon above the mountains that looked like they've been watercolored into the scene in shades of purples and blues.

He's still sleepy even though it was he who woke me.

Good morning weekend.