Three years in Seattle was quite an adventure! While we are super excited to be home there are some things we will miss:
1) Trader Joes - please come to Boise! Your healthy options, scrumptious cookies, yummy bagels and overall inexpensive, delicious food will be missed.
2) Dim Sum - oh the memories of China Town! From your caca-la-roachas to your hookers on the corner we will miss you! Plus there's nothing more witty than all the things you can say about getting Dim Sum and Dim Sum more! HA
3) Book Club and Meet Ups - ladies - thank you for welcoming me into your group and providing that much needed girls night out every other month to discuss great books. And for Kelly, meet-ups gave him lots of good practice with his French and some funny stories to remember!
4) Pho - From What the Pho! to Pho Binh, they just don't make it right in Boise.
5) La Reve
6) The view of the Olympic Mountains and the Cascades - Seattle is beautiful in the sun!
7) IKEA
8) Starbucks - (there are literally four in the Village of 79 stores where I work) and Tyson who understands what an inch of carmel means when I say and inch of carmel in the bottom of my carmel macchiato
9) Composting - I know this is weird but the city picks up compost like recyclables and seriously people we throw away WAY TOO MUCH! If you haven't composted I would highly recommend it! We are buying one.
But most of all we will miss our friends. We literally would not have made it through the last 3 years being away from family without you. Thank you for the memories. We will treasure the time we spent with you forever. You will always have a place to stay in Boise so please come visit!
Friday, June 1, 2012
Sunday, March 18, 2012
The Jetsons
Kelly says to me today "I don't really like taking showers. I wish there was a way to just go through some type of spray machine that cleans you and gets you ready for the day." I said "Oh like in the Jetsons!" Because I always wished growing up I could get ready like that in the morning. Kelly says, "I don't know, I've never watched the Jetsons." WHAT?!! How is this possible?! I am married to someone who missed out on one of the greatest after school cartoons of all time. Kelly, here is a little clip for your entertainment, I'm sorry it doesn't bring any fond memories of your childhood with it.
Monday, March 12, 2012
Update on 2 Things
So it's been one week since I started "no canned food March" and so far it's going pretty well. I have used two items from my pantry - tomato sauce and the rest of a can of el pato in the fridge. I went grocery shopping today and became one of those people that just shop on the parameter of the store! Aside from detergent, tissue, a bottle of ceasar dressing and some chips, my cart was filled with fresh items. Yay Mower grocery list! I did however make one sad discovery of an item I failed to list on "top canned food items" - black olives...Every other kind comes in glass jars but not black. Bummer. Ultimately I know there are going to be things in cans I can't get away from and that's ok but I can make some conscious changes. In the mean time at least for the month of March, I am decreasing the BPA in our bodies by 50-70% according to one study which means less "hormone-like" products affecting our bodies.
Saturday, March 10, 2012
Kelly and I went to see Oklahoma at the 5th Ave Theater last weekend. We haven't been to a broadway play in a long time and it was a lot of fun. His friend and previous professor Del was in Seattle for the week judging a piano competition and invited us to go. I didn't realize one could get cheap tickets to these things. He said he got a really good deal and he did! So I feel like we have been missing out! Del had the good fortune of seeing Oklahoma in London featuring Hugh Jackman, Kelly has seen a production of Oklahoma featuring the wonderfully talented, Kandi Foote :) but I have never seen it. I just like to belt out the songs once in a while. See June 2010 blog entry (PS if anyone knows how to insert a link to previous posts please share because I can't get it figured out - thanks!)
The theater was beautiful, the cast was very talented and the dancing was great! There were some over-acted parts and we were close enough to see a lot more spitting during the musical pieces than we have ever seen but it was fun. I still think Rent and Les Mis are my favorite. Del was telling us about his biannual trip that is coming up in NY to see 27 different plays, that would be so fun! We may have to plan for that one year. Until then, I think we will be checking out 5th Ave for more cheap tickets!
Sunday, March 4, 2012
2 Things
This week is the beginning of March. I decided March was going to be a month of change in some habits. The past few years I think I have given a lot more thought to the things I am exposed to and how they affect my body. Food, chemicals, artificial flavors, preservatives etc. I think ultimately everything "causes cancer" and we can't change what we've been exposed to. And we shouldn't feel guilty about this because maybe that was all we knew. But if we find out something new we can make choices.
So this month I decided I am not buying any canned food. I will only use the remaining cans of whatever I have and see how inconvenient that is. I have read a couple of articles recently that the inside lining of cans start to deteriorate and release BPA into the food contained. I find this BPA controversy to be very interesting. I would like to know how long they have REALLY known it is bad for us. But the research since 2008 continues to show some scary results, esp for babies and kids. I use canned food a lot so it should be interesting. I'm going cold turkey and then will decide what I can and can't live without. My top five canned foods are: tomatoes, beans, el pato, cream of mushroom soup and cream of chicken soup. Not sure what I think about loosing the last three but we'll see. So - goodbye BPA, goodbye can opener, goodbye easy cooking!
I have also committed to not using so many chemicals to clean. I am so tired of cleaning the bathroom and breathing in fumes from cleaning products. I will not give up my Clorox wipes but today I grabbed the baking soda out of the fridge and vinegar out of the laundry room to clean my bathroom and... it... ***SPARKLES***! What I didn't expect is I actually did less scrubbing! I am not buying bathroom cleaner ever again! And the best part is vinegar and baking soda cost nothing compared to bathroom cleaner! Why did I think these simple things wouldn't work before?! Companies have brainwashed us into believing harsh chemicals = clean. Well move over Scrubbing Bubbles, Arm and Hammer is making a comeback!
So this month I decided I am not buying any canned food. I will only use the remaining cans of whatever I have and see how inconvenient that is. I have read a couple of articles recently that the inside lining of cans start to deteriorate and release BPA into the food contained. I find this BPA controversy to be very interesting. I would like to know how long they have REALLY known it is bad for us. But the research since 2008 continues to show some scary results, esp for babies and kids. I use canned food a lot so it should be interesting. I'm going cold turkey and then will decide what I can and can't live without. My top five canned foods are: tomatoes, beans, el pato, cream of mushroom soup and cream of chicken soup. Not sure what I think about loosing the last three but we'll see. So - goodbye BPA, goodbye can opener, goodbye easy cooking!
I have also committed to not using so many chemicals to clean. I am so tired of cleaning the bathroom and breathing in fumes from cleaning products. I will not give up my Clorox wipes but today I grabbed the baking soda out of the fridge and vinegar out of the laundry room to clean my bathroom and... it... ***SPARKLES***! What I didn't expect is I actually did less scrubbing! I am not buying bathroom cleaner ever again! And the best part is vinegar and baking soda cost nothing compared to bathroom cleaner! Why did I think these simple things wouldn't work before?! Companies have brainwashed us into believing harsh chemicals = clean. Well move over Scrubbing Bubbles, Arm and Hammer is making a comeback!
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Babalu the Mambo Room!
Kelly and I were invited to go see a friend of a friend perform at Babalu. It's in Wallingford which is a little neighborhood south of us we have not spent any time in. I don't really know how to describe Wallingford as a neighborhood; artsy, beer loving (I think this is where they have Oktoberfest), proud of their homes and recycling. I think if Fremont is where the alternative, granola type live, Wallingford is where the wealthier of these type live.
I wanted to go eat before we went to the club. We had a really good brewery restaurant we used to go to in Burien and had yet to find one since we moved. We've been to the Ram but it's noisy so I didn't want to go there. I don't know why I crave the food at these places but I do. We went to a place called Kate's Pub. It did not disappoint for a few reasons:
1) We met some authentic Irish guys! (I love when we go somewhere and there are authentic people - on our honeymoon we went to the Grotto in PDX and saw a real monk scurrying around!)
2) I had one of the best burgers I have ever had, Kelly had fish and chips and it was homemade batter dipped fish.
3) The burgers are build your own for $10! And when I say build your own they had a ton of toppings. I chose cheddar, bacon, mushrooms and avocado. The tomato and lettuce were chilled. It was SO good!
4) It is close to our house
The down side - it was noisier than the Ram - ha! Oh well. It was a little hole in the wall pub what could you expect. I bet it would be awesome on game night!
Then on to the Mambo Room - we haven't seen our friend Scott since we moved from Burien and he is one of the funniest people we know. Great sense of humor, great artist and really nice. He has been really excited for Kelly to meet his friend Ryan who plays Jazz piano/organ and he and Mycle Wastman were playing here last night. I attached one of their songs on the right, As Long as I'm With You. I LOVE THIS SONG. (see Valentine's blog about my love for romance. Would be great for a first dance wedding song. . .) Anyway, I have never liked jazz really but I can listen to this stuff. Babalu was very swanky. My favs - the decor and ambiance, the band, the 70 year old African American man in his nice clothes and fedora get. ting. down. (It was awesome) My not so favs - the place was packed, there were no tables and the seating was weird round bench seating along the walls that took up half the floor, there were two bars which was totally unnecessary and just took up more space in a small venue. We kept getting pushed around because we ended up in the main thoroughfare to I don't know where. And I have this complaint every time I am in a club, if someone can help me understand. . . why does the music have to be SO loud that you have to yell at each other to talk? Don't people go to these places to pick up dates or bring dates to have fun? If you can't hear each other how does that happen?! Why can't they have the music at a reasonable decibel? So if this is a mambo room I don't know how there is room to mambo.
On to late night eating. First of all I am shocked at the lack of late night eateries in Seattle. Even iHop closes at 11! I never knew this because I don't even remember when we were out this late. A place called Beth's was recommended - it was obvious when we arrived, there really is no other place to go. It was so great. I SO wanted all of my Boise friends to be there. First of all the walls are covered. . .covered! with crayon colored drawings made by patrons of the past who knows how many years. All of the staff were tattoo wielding, grunge/goth dressing, body piercing, college students. We literally were the oldest in the place by far but no one was obnoxious. And a bread option was Amish friendship bread! Breakfast food all around and the bill for three of us came to $27. We decided this is where the Amish kids come to do their Rumspringa - that is why the help is wild but they serve the bread! After our night out Kelly and I could not pull ourselves out of bed until after 12 and are enjoying a most restful Sunday.
I wanted to go eat before we went to the club. We had a really good brewery restaurant we used to go to in Burien and had yet to find one since we moved. We've been to the Ram but it's noisy so I didn't want to go there. I don't know why I crave the food at these places but I do. We went to a place called Kate's Pub. It did not disappoint for a few reasons:
1) We met some authentic Irish guys! (I love when we go somewhere and there are authentic people - on our honeymoon we went to the Grotto in PDX and saw a real monk scurrying around!)
2) I had one of the best burgers I have ever had, Kelly had fish and chips and it was homemade batter dipped fish.
3) The burgers are build your own for $10! And when I say build your own they had a ton of toppings. I chose cheddar, bacon, mushrooms and avocado. The tomato and lettuce were chilled. It was SO good!
4) It is close to our house
The down side - it was noisier than the Ram - ha! Oh well. It was a little hole in the wall pub what could you expect. I bet it would be awesome on game night!
Then on to the Mambo Room - we haven't seen our friend Scott since we moved from Burien and he is one of the funniest people we know. Great sense of humor, great artist and really nice. He has been really excited for Kelly to meet his friend Ryan who plays Jazz piano/organ and he and Mycle Wastman were playing here last night. I attached one of their songs on the right, As Long as I'm With You. I LOVE THIS SONG. (see Valentine's blog about my love for romance. Would be great for a first dance wedding song. . .) Anyway, I have never liked jazz really but I can listen to this stuff. Babalu was very swanky. My favs - the decor and ambiance, the band, the 70 year old African American man in his nice clothes and fedora get. ting. down. (It was awesome) My not so favs - the place was packed, there were no tables and the seating was weird round bench seating along the walls that took up half the floor, there were two bars which was totally unnecessary and just took up more space in a small venue. We kept getting pushed around because we ended up in the main thoroughfare to I don't know where. And I have this complaint every time I am in a club, if someone can help me understand. . . why does the music have to be SO loud that you have to yell at each other to talk? Don't people go to these places to pick up dates or bring dates to have fun? If you can't hear each other how does that happen?! Why can't they have the music at a reasonable decibel? So if this is a mambo room I don't know how there is room to mambo.
On to late night eating. First of all I am shocked at the lack of late night eateries in Seattle. Even iHop closes at 11! I never knew this because I don't even remember when we were out this late. A place called Beth's was recommended - it was obvious when we arrived, there really is no other place to go. It was so great. I SO wanted all of my Boise friends to be there. First of all the walls are covered. . .covered! with crayon colored drawings made by patrons of the past who knows how many years. All of the staff were tattoo wielding, grunge/goth dressing, body piercing, college students. We literally were the oldest in the place by far but no one was obnoxious. And a bread option was Amish friendship bread! Breakfast food all around and the bill for three of us came to $27. We decided this is where the Amish kids come to do their Rumspringa - that is why the help is wild but they serve the bread! After our night out Kelly and I could not pull ourselves out of bed until after 12 and are enjoying a most restful Sunday.
Friday, February 17, 2012
Valentines Day!
Yay Valentines Day! I don't know why this year I was excited to celebrate more than other years. I think the anticipation of surprises I had planned - I love surprises - got me excited. I made goody bags for my team and had surprises planned for Kelly. We planned to go to a movie - I choose The Vow, he suggested the Denzel WA, rogue CIA agent movie (not really a romantic pick). That was TBD. . . Maybe because I was sent flowers by a customer the day before and I was relieved they weren't from Kelly because there were yellow roses in it. I weird Valentine pick me up, I know - to appreciate that your husband DIDN'T get you flowers. It was a very short but sad internal conflict I had when the delivery guy said "you're Kristin, these are for you!" So excited to get flowers and never wanting to be disappointed in a gift, I went back and forth between flowers! and yellow? But the funny thing is Kelly actually would probably send me flowers with yellow roses because he would say "even though we're married we're friends too!" *** Which I love but also this endearing quality adds to my internal conflict. I should love flowers from him no matter what the color because he is thoughtful about them. The thank you flowers were a nice surprise that my entire team enjoyed, and I especially for the fact they were not from my husband.
I almost got caught with one of my surprises for Kelly. I came home while he was teaching a lesson the night before and was able to make him chocolate covered strawberries. When he finished he came in the kitchen and said "are you making cookies?!" Me: "No" (crazy!)
Kelly: "Oh really because it smells like cookies"
Me: "Nope that is the candle warmer your mom got us for Christmas"
Kelly: "Oh. . . I'm craving cookies now"
Me: (SCORE! I am pulling this off!) "Now you know how I felt the other day when I came home- all I wanted was blueberry muffins." ( I might as well play it as much as I can).
Here's the best (sarcasm) part about this surprise - he never even noticed them the next day! I snuck them back into the fridge with a heart and "14 Valentines XOXOXO" (one strawberry for each of our years of wedded bliss) I waited all day to get a text with something to the effect of "Ohhh hon thanks for the surprise!" Nothing. He was excited once I pointed them out though. His other surprise for Valentines was breakfast on bed for which I attempted to make heart shaped pancakes. That is hard so we won't go into the details - it's the thought that counts right?
When I got home Kelly says, "I have decided we should go to The Vow" What? Why? I ask. This is clearly a chick flick and I was starting to feel like making him sit through it wasn't fair even if it was for Valentines Day. He says, I saw the trailer and one of the quotes changed my mind. I get excited "ohh let me guess!":
Me: It's a once in a lifetime love?
Kelly: No
Me: I vow to always love you?
Kelly: No
Me: I don't know who you are, but I think I love you? (At this point I'm just making things up. . .)
Kelly: Nnno. It was, I hope one day I can love the way you love me.
OHHHHHHH! This is why I love this man! (Still not sure if he was serious or making fun but I don't care)
So we went to the movie. It was pretty good. But the best line in the movie actually didn't come from either of the two main characters. It was - "I chose. I chose to forgive him. And stay for all of the things he did right instead of leave him for the one thing he did wrong." I did not like the situation in which this quote was used but I really love situations that make you go "oh that is love!" There is a reason we fall in love with a person, remembering this is important and we choose all the time to continue to love them despite their mistakes . Lots of people forget this - even in relationships outside of marriage. It was just such a grand gesture of love on her part - and I am a romantic so it made me a little teary when I did not expect to be. Which I always like in movies. Kelly did not like the actor but did get a kick of that fact that there were a ton of guys in the theatre "and you know they are only here watching this because it's Valentines day." We also got a kick out of the couple next to us. We both wanted to tell her to run away! Her date was a dud but we don't think she knew it. First tell tale sign - one of the previews was The Five Year Engagement and he leans over and says to her "a five year engagement's not bad, right?" Really? On Valentine's day? This made me sad. And grateful I have a husband that indulges me with a chick flick on Valentines day but doesn't make me feel bad about it but telling me a line from the trailer changed his mind. :) Love you Kelly!
***Update on the flower colors - Kelly is thoughtful about flower bouquets but apparently has no idea that rose colors mean something. I told him this story when I brought them home and his response was "rose colors have meaning?!" Maybe I shouldn't have been so worried about it. . .
I almost got caught with one of my surprises for Kelly. I came home while he was teaching a lesson the night before and was able to make him chocolate covered strawberries. When he finished he came in the kitchen and said "are you making cookies?!" Me: "No" (crazy!)
Kelly: "Oh really because it smells like cookies"
Me: "Nope that is the candle warmer your mom got us for Christmas"
Kelly: "Oh. . . I'm craving cookies now"
Me: (SCORE! I am pulling this off!) "Now you know how I felt the other day when I came home- all I wanted was blueberry muffins." ( I might as well play it as much as I can).
Here's the best (sarcasm) part about this surprise - he never even noticed them the next day! I snuck them back into the fridge with a heart and "14 Valentines XOXOXO" (one strawberry for each of our years of wedded bliss) I waited all day to get a text with something to the effect of "Ohhh hon thanks for the surprise!" Nothing. He was excited once I pointed them out though. His other surprise for Valentines was breakfast on bed for which I attempted to make heart shaped pancakes. That is hard so we won't go into the details - it's the thought that counts right?
When I got home Kelly says, "I have decided we should go to The Vow" What? Why? I ask. This is clearly a chick flick and I was starting to feel like making him sit through it wasn't fair even if it was for Valentines Day. He says, I saw the trailer and one of the quotes changed my mind. I get excited "ohh let me guess!":
Me: It's a once in a lifetime love?
Kelly: No
Me: I vow to always love you?
Kelly: No
Me: I don't know who you are, but I think I love you? (At this point I'm just making things up. . .)
Kelly: Nnno. It was, I hope one day I can love the way you love me.
OHHHHHHH! This is why I love this man! (Still not sure if he was serious or making fun but I don't care)
So we went to the movie. It was pretty good. But the best line in the movie actually didn't come from either of the two main characters. It was - "I chose. I chose to forgive him. And stay for all of the things he did right instead of leave him for the one thing he did wrong." I did not like the situation in which this quote was used but I really love situations that make you go "oh that is love!" There is a reason we fall in love with a person, remembering this is important and we choose all the time to continue to love them despite their mistakes . Lots of people forget this - even in relationships outside of marriage. It was just such a grand gesture of love on her part - and I am a romantic so it made me a little teary when I did not expect to be. Which I always like in movies. Kelly did not like the actor but did get a kick of that fact that there were a ton of guys in the theatre "and you know they are only here watching this because it's Valentines day." We also got a kick out of the couple next to us. We both wanted to tell her to run away! Her date was a dud but we don't think she knew it. First tell tale sign - one of the previews was The Five Year Engagement and he leans over and says to her "a five year engagement's not bad, right?" Really? On Valentine's day? This made me sad. And grateful I have a husband that indulges me with a chick flick on Valentines day but doesn't make me feel bad about it but telling me a line from the trailer changed his mind. :) Love you Kelly!
***Update on the flower colors - Kelly is thoughtful about flower bouquets but apparently has no idea that rose colors mean something. I told him this story when I brought them home and his response was "rose colors have meaning?!" Maybe I shouldn't have been so worried about it. . .
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