My top 14 moments of 2014

Like last year's post, here are my top 14 moments (in no particular order)! It was a year of many firsts for me!

1. Canada - My first time going this year, I got to see and experience Vancouver and Whistler.

2. Snowboarding - Speaking of Whistler, this year was the first time I got to try snowboarding.

3. Sisters in Seattle - My sisters visiting me this year!

4. Boston - My first business trip where I was practically snowed in at my hotel.

5. New York - A visit to see my sister and a great experience in the big apple!

6. Divergent - Advance screening of Divergent! It's pretty neat to see a movie before it's released to the public!

7. Palm Dessert - This year I got to experience a different kind of California!

8. One Year - Michael and I celebrated our one year anniversary! I consider this big since my last relationship that made it to a year was in high school! Ha!

9. YA Writing Workshop - I went back to school, err, kind of! Just one course, but it was cool to take a class outside of school.

10. Walla Walla Weekend - First time in the Walla Walla Wine country. Oh yeah, and let's not forget that delcicious meal at Brasserie Four!

11. Kristen and Noah's Wedding - And my first time rafting and jumping off a cliff!

12. Crabsgiving - Seeing my family will always make my list! Add the crab is always a good bonus!

13. Christmas Spirit - Christmas was very dear to me this year. This year I got a real tree for the first time and Michael was healthy. Whoo for no health scares this year!

14. New Year's Eve in San Francisco - Technically this hasn't happened yet, but it will! I'll be catching a flight home tomorrow and seeing my family for a four day weekend! Gonna end this year big! Whoo!

Monsoon Brunch & Blank Ideas

Brunch is always a good time. There's no better way to start your day than a good meal that you didn't have to slave over; and to top it off, no dishes to do after!

Yesterday morning, Michael and I slept in pretty late. When it's just so dark outside, who wants to get up, right? But alas, we did wake up--but to a very empty fridge. So we decided to go out for brunch. Instead of the traditional American fare, I had a craving for an asian savory breakfast so we decided to go to Monsoon, a modern Vietnamese restuarant that combines Pacific Northwest innovation. If you can believe it, we've lived across from the restaurant for about a year now, and not once had we ever tried it! Til now, that is.

And let me tell ya, it was good. Very good, that I am quite ashamed it took us so long to go in! I am Vietnamese, after all.

We ended up sharing an entree and some small plates. All of which, were amazing.



shrimp steamed dumplings



nem nướng - housemade pork shrimp patty sausage



bánh bao thịt - steamed barbecue pork buns

 I should mention, that I absolutely love steamed bbq pork buns? These were made oh so perfectly!



frittata with prawns, bacon, peppers, garlic, tomatoes, side green salad

 The fritatta was a hit with Michael! It definitely beats the standard fried or scrambled egg.

 

The other thing I enjoy about brunch is that it allows plenty of time to talk over the meal and even after as you sip on your coffee and tea. This past month, Michael's been up to some pretty cool things with his job. Though that means longer work hours, it allows us to be more present with one another during our scheduled time together.

 

Michael's really good about encouraging me with my writing, even though I've felt far from confident in it. It's strange, but I have a fear of completing my 6th revision of M2, because once I'm done with it, I have no idea what to write about next. I have a few incomplete manuscripts, but because I've lost interest in them, it makes it difficult to dedicate myself to those stories. I've thought about writing something deeply personal, but after typing up a page and rereading it, all I could do was cringe. I'm not a fan of talking about myself.

 

I know an idea will come eventually, but I'm just very impatient about it. For now, I'm just a canvas of blank ideas.



Seattle Cinerama: The Hobbits

The last Hobbit movie! It feels like the end of an era as the Hobbit movies come to a close! I remember when I was just a kid watching The Lord of the Rings movies. Oh how time passes. For the last Hobbit movie, I wanted to watch it in comfort. The Seattle Cinerama reopened about a month ago, so I thought it'd be the best place to see it. With reclining comfy seats, great sound, big screen, and a concession stand filled with Seattle treats and alcohol, what could be better?

So yesterday we made it into a double date with Michael's sister, Cristine, and her husband Tim. We met at Tallulah's below our place for dinner then set off to catch our movie.

Can I just mention that they have really good popcorn? I got a mixture of chocolate and butter popcorn, a great mix of sweet and salty, without it being super oily.

Oh and did I mention we saw the movie in 3D? The 3D at the Cinerama is by far the best 3D experience I've had so far. Normally I don't care for 3D, but the quality in the theater was so good, it was kind of like being in a game with all the CGI and stuff.

All in all, I would recommend the Cinerama if you want a better than average movie-going experience. The prices for the concession wasn't too bad and was better than the offerings at the normal big-chain theaters. Only downside is the increase in ticket prices (15 compared to the standard 10), but considering the quality theater, it's not too shabby.

I've heard about some other cool theaters around the area that serve dinner with your movie and what not. I'll have to check out those soon once there's another movie I'm really interested in.

Are there any cool theaters in your area?

Happy Christmas!

Cheers to another Christmas! 

Christmas 2014

This was Michael and I's second Christmas together. Can you believe that? Time sure flies! Just last year I was posting about Christmas 2013 here!

Christmas 2013

Not too much has changed from these two photos besides our longer hair. Again, we spent Christmas with Michael's family and celebrated his brother-in-law's birthday. As usual it was a grand time filled with warmth, love, wine, good company, and such great food!

But before heading over to his parent's house, Michael and I had a little Christmas celebration of our own. Christmas morning I woke up super early! We had forgotten to turn off all of our weekly alarms so I was bright-eyed by six-thirty. It was agonizing waiting for Michael to wake up (as you can tell I'm very impatient when it comes gifts!). You see, last year we went shopping and picked out what we wanted for Christmas from each other, but this year I had no clue what I would be getting (though I had a few guesses). Michael wouldn't even put my gift under the tree and kept it hidden all week so I that I would be unable to shake it and use my deductive reasoning skills.

When 7:40 came around, I could wait no longer! I kissed Michael good-morning and jumped out of bed shouting Happy Christmas!

When the sleepy Michael appeared, he handed me this little box. And we all know what a little box means, right?

A very beautiful necklace!

I love it! Not to mention, I got a gift certificate for a massage! A Happy Christmas indeed!

Unlike Michael, I am terrible at surprises or secrets. I wear all my emotions on my face, making me very easy to read. So Michael guessed what I had got him two weeks prior to Christmas. Nonetheless, I appreciated his feigned enthusiasm!

After gifts I got to work on making brunch: mimosas, bacon, and baguette french toast with strawberries, bananas, and pomegranates. Yum!

Blaire also had a good Christmas. Thanks to some doggy friends of his, he got some neat toys too!

I hope you all had a Happy Christmas with your family and friends! How did you spend your Christmas this year? Comment below or answer in a post on your blog :)

Red Cow

So this weekend, Michael and I were pretty glutinous. We had our date night on Friday at Nishino, one of our facorite spots in Seattle, Saturday commenced with me finishing The Borgias (such an awesome show. Why Showtime would cancel season 4 is beyond me!), and then we went to Bottlehouse, another favorite of ours for wine and cheese. At about 8:30 p.m. we left Bottlehouse and couldn't figure out where to go for dinner. We had no reservations so going anywhere would be tough. Then across the street we spotted the Red Cow (mind you a restaurant, and not actually a red cow).

For awhile, Michael had his eye on the Red Cow. It was on his list of places to eat, we just hadn't gotten around to it. That night seemed like the perfect time to cross it off the list. Since we were in the Madison Park area (very residential), we thought we could just go in and get seated at the bar. Alas, lady luck was on our side!

I think I should mention that the Red Cow is an Ethan Stowell restaurant. Stowell owns many restaurants in Seattle. Staple and Fancy which I've written about in this post, is a favorite, while his other Rione XIII that I wrote about last week in this post was not. So I was a little hesitant going to Red Cow. If the meal turned out well, than Stowell, in my mind, would be redeemed.

So, how did it go?

Well, the service was exceptional. Hallelujah! Always a good sign, right? Also, the place smelled amazing and the decor had a good ambience to it. It was also very small and intimate, which I prefer to big noisy restaurants. Michael also noted that they had a good wine list, so at that point we knew this would be a good time. Since the place is on the pricer side of things, we decided that this eould be our Christmas dinner.

We started with kusshi oysters (our favorite kind of oysters).

And for my entree I got the moulles frites and Michael did the steak-frites!

Michael got a 10 oz Wagyu. From this picture, I'm sure you can see he was in steak heaven. He deemed it the 'best steak he's had in Seattle.' The fries were also good and crispy! My mussels were very tender in a white wine thyme sauce, cooked perfectly.

And then for dessert! We had a dessert crepe and it did not disappoint!

All in all. An excellent and memorable meal! Red Cow is a place I would happily recommend and it is now my favorite Stowell restaurant out of the three I've tried so far.

On a side note, due to the west coast storm the past couple of days, I counted four days where I was unable to see the sun nor the sky. It's like living in a dark grey world! Luckily we now have a break from the rain, but I did put my new raincoat to good use!

"Recoverable"

I was a december evening,
dark and cold
with my sunlight fading.

with a haunted heart
i crawled into my mind
& built up a world,
where i could shine

and i felt oh, so, untouchable
and no one could take it away;
and i felt all so knowable
spread my wings and fly away.

With an april morning
damp but warm
with the dew drops sparkling
a moment reborn.

i was changing
my mind rearranging,
all the good & the bad
either way
nothing ever lasts

but i felt oh, so, unbreakable
though it all seemed like child's play;
still i felt oh, so, capable
to wake up and get on my way.

Rione XIII

Normally I rave about trying new places in Seattle, but that's not the case for this post. For our Friday night date night, Michael and I decided to try out someplace new. Rione XIII is a place we've walked past numerous times before, but have never gone to so we decided to go. Friday was our first and probably our last time dining there.

Though we had a reservation, we had to wait 15-20 minutes to be seated. We brushed it off as no big deal since they were probably short staffed. Since Michael and I have worked in restaurants before, we tend to be laid back about mishaps since the restaurant biz can be chaotic. To remedy the situation they started us off with an appetizer on the house. That would have smoothed things over, except we were completely ignored for another 10 or so minutes. Okay. So not that bad, maybe they're just really busy. So finally we order our drinks, appz, and entrees. And they come in fine, except they're laden with salt (besides the salad) which doesn't really want me to come back for more.

All the while, our server is completely aloof that I had to flag him down for drinks and the bill (and no, he didn't look very busy). He just seemed to walk past our table without ever looking unless my hand was raised. You betcha I was disappointed! I expected better service and better food. Though it wasn't terrible, I would recommend so many other cool places before recommending this one.

The only upside to it all? My handsome date.