Field Trip - West Seattle

Last night we took a field trip to West Seattle. For a while now we've been thinking that it would be fun to jump on the water taxi to West Seattle and go to dinner at Marination and last night the weather was again PERFECT, so we did it. We walked down from the condo, met friends at the dock, hopped on and in 10 beautifully picturesque minutes, we were in West Seattle drinking Sangria and stuffing our faces. We liked Marination, the food was good, super casual vibe, and only a few steps from the water taxi dock. We sat on the patio, had fish tacos, pork sliders, fries - yum!

You should do it too, but keep in mind that the water taxi doesn't run late every night, just Friday nights and weeknights only if there is a sporting event. So, check the schedule to make sure it's running. We got lucky, there was a Mariners game last night, so it worked out for us. Also, there is a Vashon water taxi too, so that will be a future field trip - how fun would that be!!

Here are some pics from our adventure. Good times with good friends - 

Why We Love Seattle

This was our view on the way home from the farm on Sunday. Yes, rest of the country, it always rains in Seattle, always!

Product I love

Have you gotten a Soda Stream yet? We did, in fact we got two of them. One for the condo and one for the farm. The lovely husband was in charge of the choosing, there are many choices as far a design and price point – so these are the ones we (he) got.

Here’s why I love this product. I get so bugged by all the plastic water bottles all over the place. The soda stream will save us all from having a zillion plastic bottles to recycle or throw away.  And yes, there are still some people who just chuck their plastic into the trash – because they are too lazy to recycle. Speaking of that, have you heard of that huge mass of floating garbage  in the Pacific Ocean. I think it’s mostly made up of plastic water bottles and it’s something like twice the size of freaking Texas. So…. Let’s avoid adding to that fiasco, shall we.

Here’s another reason why I love it. No more flat sparkly water or tonic. Just make enough to drink, use it. Make more. You don’t have to buy liters of sparkly water and then waste what doesn’t get used.

And…..there are flavors. We’re not very much of a “soda” family, so we go for the plain sparkling water, but………they have TONIC. So, when you are making your summer Gin and Tonic’s, you can make enough tonic this way and you won’t have old tonic laying around getting bad. I was sort of suspicious of the Soda Stream Tonic mix, what if it wasn’t as good as “real” tonic…. But IT IS!  I’m happy to report, you won’t even notice a difference, and now you’ve just saved more cans and bottle recycling. Awesome!

Other flavors are basically all the flavors of soda and juices, so you can pretty much find whatever you need. And they are sold in the same place as the Soda Stream.  Notice, they are at all the stores, so you should get out there and take a look. And…. The last great part is that the CO2 refills are at the same places – and you can just bring your old cartridges back there too.

Ah, sooooooo thirsty!

Advice You Need #857

It’s true, I’m known for a few things. Listen up; this one might be the most important.

It’s just poor manners not to have a well-stocked bar! This is pretty much my motto! And everyone should live by it. I think I came up with this motto after about the 100^th grown up adult party where the bar offerings just sucked. If you are going to invite friends over for cocktails, or dinner, or cocktails and dinner – get with the program man! Put your bar in order. Here’s what you need. And this isn’t for the super fancy; this is for regular people – people that you know, for regular occasions. If you want to embellish for a special occasion like Thanksgiving or Christmas or if you’re serving a specialty cocktail that’s fine, but here is what you need for a good solid proper bar:

1. Top shelf booze, not the shitty cheapest stuff you can find. You want your friends to like you, right? Don’t serve them crap that doesn’t taste good. Get a good gin, vodka, rum, scotch, bourbon, tequila. That should cover you for basics. I have faves, but you should pick what you like - but just make sure it’s good stuff. I get Tanqueray, Stoli, a good rum, I let my husband pick out the scotch since he likes it more than I do, we always have Maker’s Mark on hand for bourbon, and then I try to get a decent tequila.
2. Mixers! Club soda, tonic, maybe diet also, ginger ale, coke, maybe diet coke too, simple syrup, Roses lime juice, triple sec, vermouth and maybe bitters. Also, don’t forget that some of your friends don’t drink or don’t drink anymore – make sure you have enough sparkling water, juice or soda to make them a nice non-alcoholic drink too.
3.  Extras! Lemons, limes, olives, maraschino cherries.
4. Proper bar glasses and bar gear – high balls and DOF’s and martini glasses, wine glasses and have a good muddler, martini shaker, bar towel, shot pourers, stirrer and toothpicks or whatever else.
5. Bar book – learn now to make the standards. And make them well; don’t make your guests a messy shitshow of a drink. This is a reflection of your good taste, get it together!

That’s pretty much it for the basic bar. Now you’ll be ready for all people who want a proper drink. You now have at least one drink available that pleases everyone. Again, if you are planning something special, you can add more, like if you want to serve Bloody Mary’s at a brunch, or Aviation’s (see earlier post on Aviation!) or whatever else. You’ll eventually end up with all the additional liqueurs, Kahlua, all that stuff, but you don’t need that to get started.

Ok, I can hear you yelling! How much freaking money do I have to dole out to get this thing up and running? Here’s how to do that. If you are, say 26 years old, and this is your first foray into the large quantity purchase of hard “A” – think about throwing a “BUILD MY BAR” party. Ask guests to bring something bar related to drink and to share. You’ll end up with just about everything you need to make drinks and have semi-full bottles of stuff leftover – unless your friends are total alcoholics and drink the place dry.

Last but not least. Beer and wine. Have some real beer (good stuff – like Manny's) and some light beer like Coors or Bud Heavy or Light – lots of people like crappy beer. And have white and red wine. Maybe a nice sauvignon blanc for summer, and a pinot noir or cabernet or something that the wino’s will like. Now you are covered completely and people will say nice things about you behind your back. And that’s what it’s all about! Happy Boozing!

Seattle Neighborhood Tour - South Lake Union

Last night we walked down through South Lake Union from our condo. What a spectacular Seattle summer night it was – and for those of you who don’t know Seattle, we don’t get nights like this often. It was warm! WARM!

We cruised east on Virginia past the construction site for the new Amazon buildings at 6^th, then we headed North up Westlake toward Lake Union. There are so many new buildings going up, so many new restaurants, shops and businesses – it’s pretty fun to see all the changes in so few years. If you haven’t been down there, you should make time to go. There is still a LOT of construction going on (road and building), but it’s nice to see so many people walking around, eating in the restaurants, shopping, running and riding bikes. We passed by Mistral Kitchen, Barolo, Whole Foods, Flying Fish, Re:public, Serious Pie, Serious Biscuit, and other little cute spots to eat and drink.  

 We walked up to the park at the end of Lake Union, where the new Mohai (old) building is, and where the new park area has been developed. Getting across Mercer is a little bit of a mess – but it’s pretty well marked and there are pedestrian traffic guards set up to get you across without getting run over by heavy equipment. We went down to the new natural beach that’s now there, watched a gal and her dog set out paddle boarding, then watched a bunch of kids jumping off the pedestrian bridge into the lake. So fun.  Then we walked around Mohai, past the old historic boats, and then across to the Center for Wooden Boats, and back up Terry toward town. 

Terry has loads of little restaurants that are good. We passed by Shanik, Cactus, Cuoco, Bravehorse and then crossed back over to Westlake to stop at Flying Fish for dinner. We sat at the bar for a glass of wine and some apps for a nice little birthday dinner – and walked home as it was getting dark. Perfect way to spend the first day of 50!

 For more info about South Lake Union and everything that is going on there, check out http://www.discoverslu.com/# and http://www.slucommunitycouncil.org/. 

Best Husband Ever

It's here, the big one. And lucky me, I have the best husband ever!

It's going to be a great year!