Yesterday & today could not have been more perfect, here in Seattle.
Mid-afternoon, I hit up the King County Airport to update a Nexus/Global Entry pass of mine. On my way back, I noticed the new euro-style speed zones in South Seattle.
Archive for the 'about Seattle' Category
Mr. T’s mom, sister, and I caught a viewing of The American. I believe E! described it best when they called it a George Clooney Coffee Table Book. It was a very art-house Anton Corbijn film — goths of the 90s would recognize him from his Depeche Mode days. Every single shot was flawless.
I preceded that with lunch with Carey & Joanne at Sitka & Spruce. Another restaurant work of art.
I wrapped up the evening at Mistral Kitchen for September’s LUPEC meeting. Sorry, no pictures this time!
The countdown for Misty’s wedding’s on: 6 days!
The Gastrognome & I met her for lunch in Pioneer Square, at Delicatus.
25
Aug
Skate Night
Tonight, skating in ol’ Lynnwood, with motomotoyama, Ms. N, & friends!
If I hadn’t planned to skate for so long, I might’ve taken a fancier camera which could have better captured this man with the neon-lit spinner rollerskate wheels:
24
Aug
Hammock Time
The days are getting shorter. I advise time in a hammock to enjoy these last days (or weeks? I could go for at least 2 more) of sunshine & heat.
23
Aug
Family Birthdays
We were over at Mr. T’s parents’ house today for a family birthday celebration.
It also happens to be the birthday eve of this 21 year old dame:
Feisty Mickey! She’s doing much better than last year.
Today was a fine day for the races for Misty’s Bachelorette!
Set on Flickr, and here:
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21
Aug
Biking the Interurban
Today = long bike ride in SE King County, where we spotted this sign.
I would like to know the backstory of this event.
Another hilarious evening with Ian Bell’s Brown Derby’s staged reading of Saturday Night Fever. Nick Garrison was in good form as the main love interest, but Scott Shoemaker aka The Kid/Prince from July’s Purple Rain stole the show tonight as The Soundtrack, showing up for every BeeGees tune to sing the background. One of those things where you had to be there. Make sure you don’t miss their 8-mile rendition in November.
19
Aug
Concert Night
A good friend’s concert band had a free concert going in Shoreline tonight. We enjoyed the show from the lawn.
Today’s the 17th anniversary of my friend K@r3n’s 17th birthday. So we went to seat Eat, Pray, Love, at lunchtime and work our way through most of a giant tub of popcorn.
While we were inside, the sun came back out.
Everyday in Summer, The Baron insists on saluting sunshine by rolling in the grass.
17
Aug
Where Ya At Matt, Take 2
I got out the house early (for me) to meet up with Rocky at the Where Ya At Matt? truck on Beacon Hill, for my second visit in under a week. Today’s poboy: Creole Pork. Not exactly photogenic, but the bread was still right on.
If you go hunting for the truck when it’s Tuesday on Beacon Hill, it’s in the very far back of the Amazon/Pac Med campus, behind some of the side buildings. It took me about 10 minutes of dawdling to find it, but considering it’s the most perfect day of the year so far weather-wise, it wasn’t exactly an issue.
I was downtown near sunset and near the Smith Tower at just the right moment.
16
Aug
Vote.
I voted today! A day early.
In the Summertime, Golden Gardens is a popular wedding destination. The couple above came out to the waterfront for pictures, right at sunset.
For the 2nd year in a row, we had book club at Golden Gardens’ beach. Officially, the book was Ramona Quimby, Age 8, but it wasn’t exactly mandatory despite the short length. We ate fried chicken, hung out, & watched the spectacular sunset.
Earlier in the day, my friend Gennie invited a bunch of us over for an Ice Cream Social, where we were wowed by homemade butter pecan, gelato & an assortment of other ice creams, fudge sauce and … pickles. (Love them.)
I am always enchanted by her 2 children. This is her new daughter, DJ Plum.
Last week, Mr. T told me the theme of his company’s Summer party today would be Medieval Times.
Me: Oh! Is it too late to order a RenFaire costume!??
Him: Yes. Pantaloons can’t be rushed.
So, Medieval Times translates into: archery, jousting, giant turkey legs, ice cream sandwiches & barrel rolling!
Karen & I went to check out the Where Ya At Matt? Creole Food Truck for lunch. Along the way, I found a letterpress booth & made my first sign.
By the by, the poboys at WYAM? are the real deal. Next time, I’m checking out the muffuletta. Matt, a NOLA native, says they have someone specifically making bread for those & the poboys, which explains why they’re so right & more like Leidenheimer. Leidenheimer’s the perfect bread for a poboy. I’ve missed it. Matt also had the right recipe down for the muffuletta, but they ran out. An hour or so later, I swung back to pick up more take out for Mr. T — chicken/andouille gumbo & Red Beans and Rice! Both were good, but I’m for the gumbo.
Tonight I took a sailing excursion with a very old friend of mine, Karen. In fact, she’s the oldest friend I have in Seattle — we go way back to Mrs. Jones’ 6th grade English class. I love how we both ended up here, even if she did witness my late-80s hairdo.
More pictures, in the set:
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Today, I had one of the best lunches of recent memory at Sitka & Spruce. What took me so long? Exquisite summer tomato salad with feta, the best lemon hummus (fresh!), and exotic lamb manti. A work of art.
The eating tour rolled on in the evening at Cần Thơ Dinner at Monsoon, billed as a culinary tour of Southern Viet Nam. I’d skipped pictures at lunch due to great dinner plans.
In the end, none of my Monsoon images turned out. Alas. Above is the menu.
This promises to be a glorious food week. So much is on the books!
For today’s lunch, I finally visited Facing East with Frank & Naomi, my two DimSumCouver pals. I couldn’t have had better dining companions. (In fact, we hope to make a habit out of exploring the Eastside’s ethnic options.)
Unfairly, I had too-high expectations for this place. I enjoyed it but wasn’t blown away. But I’d hit it again to double-check.
We ordered: five spice fried chicken, soy noodles with green onions, salt & pepper shrimp, sautéed sliced lamb, a sweet potato oyster pancake, and stir-fried king oyster mushrooms. My highlight was the fried chicken (surprise, surprise) but I was impressed by how much I liked the stir-fried mushrooms, something I don’t normally go for. My least favorite was the sweet potato-blobby looking dish. Too formless and slithery for me.
But then there was dinner, with other friends – Maggi, Kate, & Megan. I visited Shanghai Garden on Saturday, not realizing it’s where I had dinner plans already the following Tuesday…when I put it together, I was THRILLED. I could get the Shanghai juicy dumplings again! So we did, plus shaved noodles & green beans.
I ♥ dumplings! Aren’t they beautiful?
I recommend Shanghai Garden wholeheartedly.
09
Aug
Cake vs. Pie
Remember Saturday’s visit to Spur for class? With such pleasant memories, when Mr. T suggested I meet him & his colleagues visiting from San Francisco for happy hour at Spur, I jumped on that. We tried the sliders, the pork rillettes, the burger, the oxtail, & the salmon tartare but the fries may be my current favorite in Seattle. Skinny, tossed in chives & smoked. Couldn’t stop eating them. And Marley was back behind the bar!
I recommend Spur to any visitor to Seattle & especially to those from places like en-why-see or ess-eff-oh, unreservedly. Their happy hour food might be the best in the city & will engender envy from people from fancy-pants locales.
The fries were an excellent base for my next stop of the evening: Cake vs. Pie.
As its title would suggest, Cake vs. Pie was a cake/pie battle ROYALE. It was hosted by the ever-cheerful & delightful Cakespy at her new gallery on Pine. After the 6th cake, I cried uncle & effectively spoiled my appetite for sweets for the week.
For the record, my allegiance was with cake. Sadly, pie won. In this corner of the country, pie never had a chance. At least I got to meet Porkchop, Pug Extraordinaire.
