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March, 2009

  1. Rainy Days & Golden Birthdays

    March 30, 2009 by Katie

    Rainy Days

    Unfortunately, we didn’t have the best weather to share with our special guests. But we grabbed some coffee and our rain jackets and made the most of our day by heading to the Ballard Locks to watch the boats come through.  There weren’t many boats (comparably to when it’s sunny), but it’s definitely a great place to visit and worth going back when the weather is nicer and take a tour of the botanical garden when the flowers are in full bloom.

    sailboat arriving in lockheading into freshwater Lake Unionfather & son

    K with Mom & Pop H

    After a late lunch at Louisa’s Cafe, we headed back home and then Todd and his mom went to Pike Place to get some fish for dinner while I hiked up Capitol Hill to get other groceries.  And in true Harris fashion, we ended the evening with a game of Phase 10.  I’d never even heard of this game until I started dating Todd, but now I’m proud to say that I can win a game every now and then—not this time though.

    7 redsdeep thought

    Wish the weekend could’ve been longer and the weather would’ve been nicer, but it was great to spend time together, regardless.  Thanks for visiting Mom & Dad H!!! It’s nice having you only one state away. :)

     

    Golden Birthdays

    Sunday evening we had a very special birthday party to go to for two of our friends.  Aubrey and Shauna were both celebrating their golden birthdays, so their husbands hosted a private dinner at a quaint little cottage restaurant in Redmond.  

    (Golden Birthday: when a person turns the age of their birth day, ie: 29 on the 29th. I’m a little sad that I didn’t previously know what this was, and also that I can no longer celebrate my own since I was born on a 7th.)   

    I offered to bake a birthday cake—a lemon layer cake to keep with the ‘gold’ theme—which ended up being pretty tasty, despite me running out of powdered sugar and being a little skimpy on the frosting.  I used my mom’s buttercream icing recipe and always prefer to have more than enough of that good stuff, so I was a little bummed that I had to make a 1/2 batch and didn’t have any left over to snack on. :(

    Surrounding yourself with good friends and good food is an excellent way to end the weekend.

    stonehousebirthday girls

    beer buddiesfire hazard

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  2. Special Guests

    March 27, 2009 by Katie

    I’m always happy to break out the air mattress and welcome some weekend visitors.  We’re excited to have Todd’s parents here for the weekend and spend some time just hanging out since we haven’t seen them since Christmas. Hopefully the weather will not be too dumpy and we’ll be able to take them to some Seattle spots they’ve never been and spend some time outdoors.

    This afternoon we headed down to the Market to stop by a tea shop and the quilt store….and two chocolate shops. :)

    chatting with the segway cop

              

    pretty lights

    These vibrant fabrics kinda make me wish I had a sewing machine….and knew what to do with it!

    pretty spring fabrics  

    brighten up the grey day

    Hope everyone has a great weekend, and for all of you ‘enjoying’ the spring snow…stay warm!!

    Category General | Tags: | 3 Comments

  3. To market, to market

    March 23, 2009 by Katie

    Saturday mornings have become a time for both of us to spend by ourselves, doing whatever we want.  For me, that means I go on my long runs, enjoying an hour or two of running around Seattle.  Just me and my running shoes.  And recently for Todd, Saturday morning means he goes and hangs out with other car lovers, drooling over rare and exotic cars.  

    Shelby

    He has lots more pictures of shiny Ferraris and Lamborghinis, etc. that I’ll let him share about whenever he feels like blogging.  But I had to post this picture he took of my dream car (and also b/c it will make my Mustang loving family happy).

    We usually convene back at our apartment around noon, have a late breakfast (nothing fancy—Cheerios for him, and cereal and scrambled eggs for me), then go about our day walking around the city.  

    This past Saturday I was excited to walk down to Pike Place Market for our first spring visit.  I knew it would be crowded with tourists but I wanted to get some fresh local food to make for dinner that night—we had invited Ryan over for dinner since Aubrey was out of town.  And I figured this was my chance to make fish since Todd would be the non-fish loving minority. :)   

    The Market was busy, but not crazy busy like during summer, and we were on a mission to get what we needed and get out of there.  Ok, well maybe I lollygagged just a bit to take some pictures and enjoy being out amongst the crowd…..I just love it there and am never in a hurry to go home. 

    a min-circusmmm...crabsget freshdaffodil alley

    To appease Todd, we made the necessary stop to get a treat for him :)  

    The Confectionalcase of cheesecakes

    quadruple chocolate awesomeness!

     

    And here are the goodies that I filled my bag with:

    fresh, local & yummy

    Asparagus, 3 tilapia filets, 2 monstrous potatoes, and juicy blackberries.  I took $20 to get dinner fixins’ for the 3 of us, and I came home with $3 and change.

    Wish I would’ve taken a picture of the final product, but I was so excited to eat it all, that I didn’t think of taking the time to photograph it.  Ryan brought some beer and wine (thanks!!) and I made roasted asparagus, baked tilapia, pan fried cheesy potatoes and a blackberry apple crumble for dessert.  Nothing was left over, so I’ll call it a tasty dinner success.

    We’ve always talked about wanting to do more of our grocery shopping at the market and help out the local farmers, but we usually only make it down there on Saturdays when it’s packed with tourists  (not so fun when you’re actually trying to buy stuff while everyone else is standing around in throngs waiting for the fish to fly).  So this season, I’d like to continue our $20 Market meal plan as we both pick out what sounds good for dinner and do that instead of eating out at a restaurant for twice that cost (or more).  

    Besides, we’re so blessed to have such an abundance of fresh, local food available, why not take full advantage of it?  Hopefully I’ll have lots of future posts and pictures for you of our seasonal meals.  I was really eyeballing the rhubarb and strawberries….Mom, maybe when you come visit you can teach me how to make your scrumptious pie?  :)

    Category General, Pictures | Tags: | 3 Comments

  4. Bon Voyage

    March 16, 2009 by Katie

    Ok, not quite saying “Bon Voyage” yet, but we’ll be saying that in less than 6 months.  

    We have officially booked our flights to Europe!  So there’s no turning back and talking ourselves out of taking this trip.  Not that we’d even dream of doing that—since this trip is something we’ve talked about since early in our dating days.  But it was time to just say “let’s do this” before money, work, or life in general intervened and we put it off until a later date.

    We’re considering it an investment in our marriage and a 1 year anniversary gift to ourselves.  While the detailed itinerary is still yet to be determined, we know we’ll be leaving Seattle on September 7th and spending 2 1/2 weeks in England/Wales, Switzerland, and France.

    While I think Todd is most excited for the London part (he desperately wants to meet up with his Top Gear heroes), I am most excited for the Switzerland days and frolicking in the Alps.  I know, I know, I shouldn’t pick favorites before I give everyone a chance to show me what they got.  But I’m *slightly* biased in favor Switzerland. 

    switzerland-hiking

    Lots of planning still to go, but we’re getting very excited.  So if anyone has suggestions or European travel experience, let us know!

    Category Travel | Tags: | 3 Comments

  5. Crack the Back.

    March 12, 2009 by Katie

    What better way to start off your day than to wake up and see the sun, go for a brisk walk, and then get a painful deep tissue massage on your shoulder as the kinks are beaten out of you?  

    That’s the way I started my day today.  Love it.

    As has been the case for the past 3 weeks, I’ve been visiting a chiropractor to get a lot of my back issues straightened out.  Pun intended.  

    Long story short is that I was a passenger in a car that met head on with a tree 10 years ago.  I wasn’t wearing a seatbelt (idiot, i know. believe me, i feel the regret everyday), so I earned a hairline fracture in my thoracic vertebrae and have been living with the pain ever since.  It’s been pretty unbearable over the past couple years so I finally decided to get it checked out.

    i'm phase 2. boo.

    I really like my chiropractor and he’s definitely been doing some helpful adjustments to allow me to feel some form of comfort again.  It’s a lifelong process, I’m sure, but I love going to get cracked and have the scar tissue massaged out.

    Twice a week, I take a 30 minute walk to the doctor, have 15 minutes of work done, then walk back home.  Sure, a bus is faster, but I get a 4 mile roundtrip walk in, plus I get to revisit my old neighborhood each time so that makes me happy.   Sometimes I make a side trip to Trader Joe’s to really amp up my errand efficiency.

    Some visual documentation of my morning.  

    lake union early morning somebody's hungry. Louisa's Bakery  I-5 bridge over Portage Bay

    Lake Union  ::  My new friend, Skelly

    Louisa’s Bakery in Eastlake  ::  9 a.m. arrival of seaplanes over Portage Bay

    {consider this your friendly reminder to check your posture and straighten up!!}

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