Tag Archives: weekend

Random Tuesday Ramblings

08 Tuesday Oct 2013

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Surprise!  It’s fivenineteen here rambling away on a Tuesday night, not Sunday afternoon!  One of my followers (who is a dear friend, check’s in the mail) teased me a little that it’s been awhile since I last posted!  Yikes, she’s right!

I had probably one of the most blissful weekends I’ve had in probably a year.  Just basking in the glow of a glorious sunny weekend in October (yes, even in Seattle), which is as rare as white tigers.

What a wonderful surprise last Friday to hear from J…typically we each just chill out separately on Friday nights as we’re pretty pooped from the workweek.  I go to the gym, come home, shower and cook a light dinner.  Wow, what a far cry from my hard partying college years…am I turning into ‘that person’ we all swore as 21-year-olds we’d NEVER be?  Yep, I guess so.  So for a very cool change of pace, he offered to come over and cook us dinner after I got home from the gym!  WOW!  Color me happy!

And what did he bring?  Boneless, skinless chicken breasts he’d been marinating all day, a sweet potato to make fries with, and some frozen peppers for a side dish!  I couldn’t believe it. I hadn’t ever even dropped a hint as to what I’d like to try eating, and he nailed it!  This is EXACTLY an example of a meal we would be encouraged to try in the Lean Eating for Women program I’m nearly 90 days into.  No meal plans, no calorie counting, no forbidden foods…rather, food can be plotted on a spectrum from Better to Worse.  And we’re encouraged to add things to our food, not take away.  As in adding more veggies and trying other alternate sources of carbs, for example.  Voila…here it was!  We peeled the sweet potato, sliced it up into French fry-shaped pieces, sprinkled some spices on top and baked until crispy!  And grilled the chicken and sautéed the pepper medley!  YUM!

On Saturday we headed over to an Oktoberfest party.  The consulting agency I was with prior to the one I’m currently with has a food palooza of sorts every year, and all of the staff cook incredible meals from scratch and serve up to their current and alum consultants!  One of the big advantages of working with a boutique agency for sure!  Normally it’s a summertime seafood theme, but this year they changed it up and did Oktoberfest. They had tons of brauts, streudel, salads, sauerkraut, handmade pretzels, mustards made from scratch, desserts and of course lots of beer for tasting in custom-made steins we got to take home as party favors!  Even some quinoa-stuffed mushrooms for a veggie/vegan option and a kale salad – I need these recipes!

Then we went home, changed our clothes and tackled more of my Garage.  Which is now the most organized room in my house thanks to J’s help.  Yes, the popcorn ceiling scraping continues in the master bedroom/vanity next week…after a major delay which is fodder for another post.  Most of my garage is below ground level and there are some problems with drainage….whenever it rains water seeps through small cracks in the concrete.  Lots of fun being at the bottom of a super steep hill.  J mixed up some concrete (we used a spoon I sacrificed and some plastic keg cups as you have to do it in small batches) and patched up a few of the cracks, after first drilling out the loose concrete where the leaks are coming from.  We’ve got more to do, but it’s a great start and has provided HUGE peace of mind for me…I’m worried about the water seepage and the damage it might be causing elsewhere.  We’ll check and see how it’s working and continue with the rest of the wall later.  This concrete mix is so powerful you can even use it under water!

Tough football weekend here…U of W Huskies lost a hard fight against Stanford, and the Seahawks’ 4-0 winning streak got snapped in Indianapolis last Sunday.  UGH.  The boys were playing the refs as well as their opponents much of each of these games, I swear!  The chitter chatter in the gym locker room tonight was still going strong!

And hockey season is underway…yes! Go Canucks!  A FULL length season this year with no Lockout!  I’m still enjoying my own personal hockey sabbatical, which could definitely become permanent but that’s OK – 9 years was a great run.

And I have other fitness goals now which have my full focus…and they’re working!

Equinox Weekend

22 Sunday Sep 2013

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Funny how I started poking around online for “Equinox pictures” and all of my search results pulled up the car!  Hadn’t even heard of it before!

Ahhhh, the Equinox.  One of those turning points in our calendar where summer slips away for good.  I do love fall and the changing rhythm of our seasons but I also get a little whiney when summer goes poof.

Know those great days where you feel like you’ve had a whole weekend in one day?  When you don’t really have any specific plans and the day just spontaneously unfolds into its own deliciousness?  That was yesterday – Saturday.  And today just feels like a fabulous bonus day.  A day for laundry.  Blogging.  Seahawks football. A workout and some grocery shopping and food prep for the week.  Yep, that’s about enough for one day.

Yesterday was filled with late summer sunshine and that crispy feeling in the air where you can just feel Fall is right around the corner.  J and I spent the day over in his neck of the woods.  We were planning to go to a concert which was a fundraiser to save one of the old theaters in town, but we both were craving time outdoors – we weren’t in the mood to sit indoors, as fun as it would have been and for a good cause.

So, we grabbed a late lunch at the Buzz Inn restaurant at Harvey Field in Snohomish.  Damn, what a glorious day it was!  Nothing like relaxing outdoors (in mid September) in the warm sunshine and just watching small planes take off and land.  Not a care or a thought in the world.  And there’s a skydiving center right there at the airport so every so often the sky would suddenly fill up with skydivers landing in the field.

tandem_smallNow, skydiving is probably not going on my Bucket List anytime soon, but it sure looks fun…and watching the skydivers float by, glide in and land was relaxing.  That probably sounds a little odd but it was.

Then we drove to the Stocker Farms farmers market to poke around.  So much amazing, bountiful fruits and veggies…and local honey!  I couldn’t resist and picked up a small jar.  Oh, and a cucumber too.

Hmmmm, I’m trying to get more adventurous with veggies and incorporating them more regularly into my meals.  There was so much beautiful squash, plums, apples and on and on at the farmers market – I just didn’t know where to begin.  I knew I needed a cucumber to chop up for my salads to bring to work, but beyond that my mind was blank.  Oh well, it’s a start! Eating more veggies is one of the things we’re practicing in the Lean Eating for Women program I’m about 7 weeks into.  On the subject of eating local, one of our program coaches quipped, “buying tomatoes flown in from Peru makes about as much sense as flying there to crap them out.”  Too funny…and point taken.  When I’m at the grocery store I’m going to pay more attention to where the food comes from!  And maybe start shopping at a farmers market for fruits and veggies!

I look outside today and it’s like someone turned off a light switch.  It’s grey, cloudy and starting to rain.  It’s days like this where I can close my eyes, smile and remember the warm, sunny days and wonderful summer memories.

Drunk on Bliss…What a Weekend!

31 Sunday Mar 2013

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KMYep, there’s no other way to say it.  This past weekend goes into my Top Ten of All Time…so far!

Starting with INCREDIBLY fabulous weather!  When it’s pushing 70 degrees F (21 C) in late March, we celebrate here in Seattle!  Not a cloud in the sky, Easter the way we dream it to be…in springtime clothes, not in polar fleece and rain gear!  I’ve said it before but it’s worth repeating…we TRULY appreciate great weather here.  Everyone’s moods shoot through the roof and there’s a kind of ding-y and sensuous vibe in the air.  Smiles everywhere…people are waving and friendly…there’s just ZERO reason to be in a bad mood on days like these!

I wrapped up week two at the new job last week.  While I’m used to the ‘first day of school’ mentality given I work shorter-term engagements, it’s always nice getting the first few weeks out of the way to get my bearings and really start feeling productive.  The honeymoon phase is morphing into the oh shit/frustration phase (very typical for my job ramp ups), where suddenly it CLANGS loud in my head that I’ve got deadlines but I’m not fully up to speed on where or how to get ’em done.  I tend to be my own worst critic on not ‘getting it’ on Take One, so it’s a relief getting good feedback that I’m a quick learner in the eyes of others.

This weekend was blissfully full of time with family.  My cousin, her husband and their three kids spent their entire spring break here ‘out west,’ having flown in from Wisconsin.  They packed in time with relatives, skiing, sightseeing and topped it off with dinner at my folks’ house Friday night.  I was grinning ear to ear and walking on air the entire day at work, constantly looking at my watch! 

J and I spent Saturday afternoon and evening out enjoying the sunshine!  We planned on getting Pho at one of his favorite spots, but they were closed all weekend for some reason.  So what to do for Plan B?

Something infinitely more spontaneous and fun:  we hopped on the Edmonds to Kingston ferry as walk-on passengers.  What a GLORIOUS day to be out on the water…not a cloud in the sky and all the mountains were out clear as a bell, still thick with snow.  We grabbed burgers and beer at the Main Street Ale House (YUM) and later strolled around the marina, drooling over boats. [the pic above is of the marina…I shamelessly found it online; it’s not a pic from yesterday but you can get the idea.  And that’s Mt. Rainier in the background.] I am falling in love with this way to just do a quick getaway to a quaint town for a few hours…the ferry crossing is only 30 minutes each way so it’s super easy and convenient.  And once you arrive in Kingston there’s so much within walking distance and gorgeous scenery everywhere.

And today, Easter Sunday meant brunch at my grandmother’s retirement home on First Hill, just east of downtown Seattle.  Their food service is truly excellent, and they had 4 different stations set up serving everything from made-to-order omelets, carved leg of lamb with mint jelly and fingerling potatoes, salads, fruits, bagels, lox, blintzes…and of course lots of desserts.  WOW!  I’m stuffed. After brunch my folks and one of my brothers and I spent some time chatting with her in her apartment.  Grandma never ceases to amaze me with the new stories she shares, rather than repeating the same ones over and over.  She grew up in a very rural town in eastern Washington, the youngest of three daughters, and her father was the town doctor.  He visited patients in their homes either by car (which was rare for people to have a car in those days – this was the late teens/early 1920s) or by horse when the weather was bad.  She remembers as a little girl coming with her Dad to the nearest major hospital – 50 miles away – when a patient needed surgery…and how there were a ton of nurses going in and out of a particular patient’s room in the hospital once they arrived.  What was going on?  It was a nun giving birth!

Happy Easter, everyone!!

Even More Soup! Fish Chowder with Fresh Fava Beans

23 Saturday Jun 2012

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…OK, I admit right off the bat I didn’t use Fava beans in my version (*ducks behind the sofa*), but this still is some GOOD STUFF in a bowl.  And I smile and remember my hilarious (and Danish) co-worker’s Facebook comment that I’m turning into the “Soup Master.”  Well, I humbly am not but I appreciate her compliment and humor (she’s a great friend too).  I am just a (middle-aged) girl in the Seattle suburbs with a passion for making soups from scratch.  Just executing/attempting on other’s recipes and not coming up with my own, save for what I ad lib and substitute where needed.  And having a blast along the way.

Today (Saturday) was one of those days where a big batch of soup was the perfect antidote to a tough end of the week.  I’ll save the recap for tomorrow’s post, however.  It did involve an extremely rainy day and a change into illegal, ripped-up leggings once I got home, just as a preview.

Let’s get down to the good stuff:  Chupe de Pescado con Habas Verdes (Fish chowder with fresh Fava beans)  Serves 6.

  • 2 T olive oil
  • 1 tsp ground annatto or sweet paprika
  • 1 medium-sized onion, minced (about 1 cup)
  • 3 cloves garlic, mashed into a paste with 1/2 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp white pepper
  • 2 medium-sized ripe but firm tomatoes (about 10 oz), peeled, seeded and chopped
  • 1 T tomato paste
  • 1 T fresh mirasol pepper puree, store-bought or homemade
  • 2 T plus 1/4 C minced fresh cilantro leaves
  • 1/2 tsp dried oregano, crumbled
  • 1/2 tsp ground cumin
  • 1/4 tsp sugar
  • 3 C fish stock or chicken broth
  • 1/4 C long-grain rice
  • 4 medium-sized all-purpose potatoes, peeled and sliced 1″ thick
  • 1 1/2 lb firm white-fleshed fish fillets such as sea bass, monkfish, catfish or halibut, cut into 6 pieces
  • 3/4 C shelled fava beans, blanched and peeled, or fresh peas
  • 2 ears corn, each cut into 3 pieces, or 1 C fresh corn kernels
  • 5 oz fresh goat cheese
  • 1 C milk, or more if needed
  • 1 large egg (optional), lightly beaten
  • 8 oz large shrimp, peeled and deveined

In a large, heavy saucepan (I used a 6-quart Calphalon pan, wider than it’s tall), heat the oil over medium heat. Stir in the annatto/paprika, onion, garlic paste, tomatoes, tomato paste, pepper puree, 2 T of the cilantro, oregano, cumin and sugar.  Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes have softened and the mixture is like a thick sauce, about 20 minutes.  Add a little water while the tomatoes are cooking if the mixture begins to get dry.  Add the fish stock and simmer for 15 minutes.  The soup can be prepared ahead up to this point.  Let cool, cover and refrigerate up to overnight.

To finish, bring the soup back to a boil, add the rice and potatoes, and cook for 15 minutes.  Add the fish, fava beans and corn and simmer for 8 minutes.  Add the cheese and milk and cook, stirring constantly, until the cheese has melted and the milk has heated through.  The soup should have the consistency of heavy cream; add more milk or water if it is too thick. (Keep in mind that potato-based soups thicken as they stand.) Taste for salt and white pepper.  If using the egg, add in a stream and stir until it forms strands.  Just before serving, stir in the shrimp and cook for a couple of minutes, until they turn pink and begin to curl.

To serve, in each soup plate place 1 piece of fish, a couple of shrimp, 3 or 4 potato slices, and 1 piece of corn (if using ears of corn). Ladle the chowder over these, sprinkle each plate with some of the remaining 1/4 C cilantro, and serve immediately.

Fivenineteen notes:  Wow, this is a delicious chowder!  And while I like to first make new recipes exactly as they’re written, I took a few liberties right off the bat with this one due to – admittedly – some laziness.

I could not find Fava beans at my nearby QFC (grocery store).  So I decided to just go with the frozen peas I knew I had in the freezer and let them thaw out a bit before adding to the chowder. 

I used 3 potatoes instead of 4.  For some reason, the 4th one I peeled tonight to get sliced up was an oddly weird and pale shade and full of too many moldy spots after peeling.  Just a flukey thing, so into the trash it went.  I figured it was worth the risk of too few potatoes versus having one that was not up to par.

The Mirasaol pepper puree?  I didn’t feel like making it from scratch (maybe I’m still gun shy thanks to my leaky blender, heh)  and could not find it in the grocery store either.  I’d decided to substitute my favorite hot cayenne pepper sauce made by Trappeys.  But I’m glad I picked up a backup plan of a hot Mexican hot sauce at the grocery store just in case, because when I got home, I noticed my trusty bottle of Trappey’s was near-empty and greyish red.  Not the happy, vibrant color it usually is.  I took a tiny taste of it on my finger and yep, it’s gone stale.  It’s great stuff and I’ve placed an online order to get restocked meanwhile, as it’s no longer at my nearby QFC.  Be SURE to find a good, hot cayenne or Habanero pepper sauce for this chowder if you are opting not to make the Mirasol pepper puree from scratch!

The aroma of this chowder is heavenly.  And I opted for a seafood stock (rather than using chicken broth) from Bar Harbor Foods.  I appreciated that it was all-natural…and at over $4.00 for a 2-cup can it better be great, right?  I needed 2 cans to get 3 cups of stock for the recipe. (and it was fantastic, by the way).

Given I splurged a bit on the stock, I opted to choose the local store brand version of basmati (long-grain) rice, rather than the pricier Texmati brand I’ve used prior.  I don’t have a lot of rice typically in my pantry save for the type suited for risotto.

And…I chose sole fillets for the fish.  I was surprised at how they broke up into tiny pieces after adding to the chowder, even after cutting into large pieces and stirring gently.  I’m not sure if that’s because they were sole (vs. another type of white fish) or not. 

I breathed a sigh of relief when it was time to add the cheese and milk to the chowder.  The recipe was turning into more like a super thick stew at this point than a soup/chowder in the making.  I was sooo tempted to add more water or a splash of stock or white wine meanwhile, but I’m glad I didn’t.

I sliced the potatoes less than an inch thick.  And as they were cooking I ended up cutting them with my stirring spatula into smaller pieces.  I like the idea of adding slices to each soup plate for serving, but in my case they were not cooking through thoroughly in thick slices.

And…the cheese.  Either I spaced it or the grocery store did not have goat cheese (Chevre), so I sprung for some gorgonzola.  This actually added a nice tang and punch to the chowder without overpowering it.

Here’s the author’s notes on this recipe: “There is nothing better than a bowl of chupe on a cold winter night.  I especially like this variation from Peru because it is flavored with hot peppers and, instead of peas, it uses fava beans.  This chowder can be made with either fish or shrimp, or a mixture of both.  Peruvians always add eggs before serving.  They either stir in the lightly beaten eggs or put one poached egg in each soup plate and pour the soup on top.  This is a hearty soup that can be used as a main course for a light supper.”

Buon appetito!

From The South American Table, by Maria Baez Kijac.

Sleeping in Anticipation

15 Sunday Apr 2012

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I seem to write a lot about sleeping in here.  Part of that is because my usual blogging day here, Sunday, is synonymous with SLEEP.  Sleeping in.  Glorious, glorious sleep.  Without a sound sleep I’m a wreck…well, usually I can get through on caffeine and adrenaline and fake it the next day, but the next night – WHAMMO.  Gotta get those zzzzs.   And weekends are essential to recharge.

When I was in college, the first class of the day was not calculus, art history or philosophy but choir my freshman, sophomore and junior years.  At 8am, sharp.  And I could have been up late studying or partying until 3am the night prior yet bounced out of bed no problem on just a few hours sleep, ready to sing!  What an incredible way to start the day.  Truly energized me.  And where in hell did I find all that energy to get through college life on 5 or 6 hours of sleep a night (or less)?  Oh – duh – I was 19.

Spring seems to finally be springing around here.  I can open the townhouse windows for some fresh air and not worry about freezing to death or rain coming in, and even went to work a couple of times last week without a coat.  Ooops, we had rain later in the afternoon but it didn’t matter.  Here in the Seattle area we don’t let a little rain ruin our day.

I met D for a walk yesterday…back to Juanita Bay Park in Kirkland for another look at the protected wetlands along Lake Washington like we did a few weeks ago.  The view of the lake shore from the boardwalk is endlessly fascinating…every time we visit something is different.  Yesterday it was clear spring had sprung – birds were chirping loudly all around us in the trees and turtles covered the logs floating just under the lake surface.  I felt the sun radiating down and through me and was glad I had plopped on a light running cap and some sunscreen before heading out.  A couple of hard-core photographers were out with their impressive cameras. Huge, long lenses on tripods all wrapped in camouflage fabric.  That’s when you know it’s good…even the pros are out!  We chatted briefly with them and they pointed out a bald eagle high up in a tree.  Wow my distance vision is not so great, but as I focused more I could see a white head far, far up.

We walked on, determined to get a good workout.  Time for some hills!  And the West of Market neighborhood in Kirkland delivers.  Along with some steep, winding hills you get major real estate eye candy.  Beautiful homes with fantastic views of the lake.  Most all of the older summer home cabins have long been torn down and replaced with modern homes, but there are still a couple of adorable holdouts.  This is the neighborhood where you can get wonderfully lost, almost in a dizzy, dreamlike state, just blocks from the anchor of Market Street.  I love it.

I went over to L’s last night to watch hockey and hang out.  Sausage hot dogs with the works, chips and a couple of beers with my guy BFF.  Love it.  And yes, L is a huge Chicago Blackhawks fan and the Stanley Cup Playoffs are under way.  So I had to be silly and annoying and arrive at his house in a Vancouver Canucks t-shirt. ‘Cause those are my boys!! The Vancouver/Chicago rivalry is just a few years old but rumbling up into something fierce.  And it just won’t be the playoffs without a Vancouver/Chicago matchup again this year.  It just won’t.  Last night it was Chicago and Phoenix.  Chicago won in OT.  This is gonna be an intense series alright!

So…anticipation.  I woke up today with a smile on my face and wondered.  Spring is coming…and there’s so much to look forward to.  Hockey – the Canucks gotta win it tonight in LA or they are going to be painfully behind in a best of 7 series.  Losing those first two games at home?  Pathetic, boys…play your game already!!  And even more hockey – I’ve got a late playoff game tonight in my own league.  Double elimination and we’ve already lost one.  So let’s bring it, team!! 

I thought about my job and how in a few weeks I’ll know for sure if my consulting engagement will be extended out further into the summer and early fall.  Right now I’m mobilizing, for officially I’m wrapping up end of June by design.  Keeping my network up to date and soon it will be time to refresh my resume.  This group has been one of the strongest and healthiest teams I’ve ever worked shoulder to shoulder with.  And if my time with them is winding down, well, the bar is set high and this will be a tough act to follow.  But so many new doors will open!

Later this month I’m going to attend a 2 day workshop on understanding men and their behavior.  My friend T raved about it and I can’t wait!  Stay tuned for more posts on that. 

I’m going to embark on a 5-day cleanse of sorts, with a pack of meal-replacement shakes, snack bars and vitamin supplements I purchased last month at a seminar my new friend M lead.  I have an extra pack of the meal-replacement mix (yummy French vanilla and gluten-free) and I’ve tried a few times mixing up a glass for a breakfast or lunch replacement.  But something in me has been reluctant to do the 5-day cleanse.  I think about all of the food recipes I’ve posted in here…can I do a 3 liquid meals a day for 5 days straight?  I love the textures and flavors of food.  This cleanse means 5 days of chocolate, strawberry and vanilla beverages in steady rotation.  And yet it’s only FIVE DAYS.  What am I waiting for?  In early 2010 I kicked a nasty, 25-year Diet Coke addiction cold turkey with zero problems.  So I can do this too, right?

Ahhh…I know what the blocker is.  I’m worried about my energy level.  M did comment that energy levels can temporarily drop with some people as their body resets with the low glycemic beverages.  I’m worried I’ll be lethargic and not able to skate my best for my team.  So there it is…I’ll start the cleanse after my own team’s playoffs are done.

And maybe it’s time to get back to regular exercising again.  Skating once a week does not do it.  D and I want to get out on walks more often and maybe that’s the motivation I need – doing this with a friend – to get me back in shape and feeling more like myself when I look in the mirror.  My body does respond well to regular, brisk walking.  And I’m in dire need of some new spring and summer clothes and would love to feel more comfortable shopping like I did when I was slimmer a few years ago.  The times when you know your size and you know it’s going to fit and look well.  Someday I’ll be back there again. 

I finally got my damn passport in the mail for renewal.  So funny how the procedures change decade to decade.  Don’t laugh, but I got new pictures taken 7 or 8 months ago.  MONTHS.  And I’ve either been too busy or too frustrated trying to find the forms to fill out.  I have to laugh at myself because I’m pretty resourceful finding things online.  Somehow the passport renewal was a stumper.  BUT I cracked the code, filled out the forms, mailed in my check and old passport and we’re on our way.

Nothing like a fresh, new passport to open a whole world (no pun intended) of anticipation.

Urban Beach Alternative

25 Sunday Mar 2012

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Last week L invited me to join him out on the Long Beach Peninsula for a quick weekend getaway.  He had a client photo shoot lined up and the use of a very nice vacation rental.  But plans changed and he wasn’t feeling well, so that got scrapped.  No worries there…for some reason as the week unfolded I was not entirely on board with getting out of town this particular weekend.  Not sure why as I didn’t have any real solid plans save for catching up on sleep and getting outside for a walk if the weather held up.

We decided to postpone the almighty popcorn ceiling scraping project at my townhouse yet another weekend and just hang out over at his place.  I reminded him that hey, dude, it’s been over a month (6 weeks?) since we got started and we still haven’t finished the upstairs.  It was Super Bowl Sunday, in fact.  And I joked that Whitney Houston and Davy Jones were still alive when we got started, teasing in a warped sense of humor moment.  But it’s all good.  I know we’ll eventually get it done.  I think we agreed on June as a deadline, but given our pace that will likely just to get all of the upstairs scraped, sanded, primed and painted.  Downstairs is going to be a whole other hairy beast.  I’m getting tired just thinking and typing about that road ahead.

So the plan was to chill out and watch hockey (when it’s Saturday that means Hockey Night in Canada – can’t beat that for a TV doubleheader).  Tacos, scratch margaritas and hockey.  Sign me up.  I don’t know L’s secret taco recipe, but I’ll share my margarita recipe here at the end of this post.

Holy damn, I slept in until 11:00am Saturday.  Even me, a notsomuch morning person, felt a little guilty as if I was wasting the day away.  But I know myself well…I needed that sleep.  I had thought I would have the energy to schlep into the gym – a place I haven’t visited in, gulp, over a year – for a much-needed workout, but somehow that didn’t happen.  Laziness.

I trotted off to L’s place that afternoon with a bag full of tequila, triple sec, limes, a cocktail shaker, a shot glass and a couple of margarita glasses carefully wrapped in towels.  He had an amazingly large bowl of scratch guacamole already made – enough for 20 people – but we sure chowed it down – with chips and salsa.  Ole!  Now when I say “trotted” I mean probably a 40-45 minute drive.  L lives in the Sunset Hill area of Ballard in Seattle, a quiet neighborhood in the city which is really busting out and growing, at least in its core.  And I thanked myself for filling up my car prior to that drive, for the main route to his house through Ballard is now all torn up with major street construction.  One lane roads with flaggers everywhere.  Brutal, especially for all the businesses along this street I’m sure, despite the myriad of “we’re open during construction” signs pleading down the street.  I remember crawling along in my car and seeing a reader board on one of the cafes:  “Free monster truck show with every meal.”  I wondered “HUH?” for a few seconds before I finally got it.  Aha – at least they’ve got a sense of humor about all of this.

L and I chugged down a few margaritas, devoured chips and guac and later some tacos.  After a beer nightcap and watching a GREAT Vancouver Canucks OT victory over Colorado, we were both pretty tired.  And it was barely 10pm!  L insisted I stay over and I was grateful for that.  I had a little buzz going on, so driving home that night was totally out of the question.

Now, for those of you tuning in fairly recently, L is my guy BFF.  Everything is totally platonic so crashing at his place was not a loaded big deal.  He let me use his bed while he crashed in the next room in his new guest bed.  I couldn’t believe I was going to bed so early, especially on a Saturday, but I guess I really needed the sleep.  It always takes me awhile to get to sleep even when I’m at home – I usually like to/need to read something light like a magazine no matter how late it is or how tired I am.  And I typically sleep in my own bed, so this was a change having immediate pitch black in a strange, new bed with no reading material.  And the silence.  I giggled to myself at the irony…the utter silence at L’s house in the city (he lives near the end of a dead end street) compared to the gentle roar of street noise I am now used to hearing around the clock – like nice white noise – at my suburban townhouse.

By around 8:30am or so he and I were both up, dressed and ready to take his friend M’s dog for a walk.  What a glorious Sunday morning!  We made the short drive to Golden Gardens Park, one of the few waterfront parks in Seattle with a sandy beach.  Oops, I was in high-heeled boots – and my sweater and jeans from the night before – and not in any condition to walk in the sand, so we stayed on the asphalt paths. 

How’s that picture at the start of this post for a morning welcome?  A cool, brisk morning and the sun beaming down on the Olympic Mountains, looking west.  We passed countless walkers, joggers, dogs…even saw a woman in the sand doing a slew of yoga poses.  So while I wasn’t wearing the best shoes for a brisk walk, it felt good to get one in.  And the salty air and breeze is the best soul therapy I’ve ever experienced.

Then it was off to brunch at The Blue Glass, one of L’s favorite spots.  I get giddy trying new places to eat so I could not wait to try it…and could not believe I was hungry after last night’s taco feast. 

Behold, their breakfast burger…sausage, egg and absolutely nothing McDonalds-ish assembly line about it.  A few dashes of hot sauce and some fries with their house-made ketchup topped off with a few cups of coffee and I felt totally refreshed.

We even made a quick stop to the nearby Goodwill store.  L has this uncanny knack for finding great things there at a steal of a price.  At the risk of sounding, well, how I don’t wish to sound, it’s not my first choice for places to shop, but admittedly if you take some time and dig around you CAN find some really great deals.  Voila…I found two pairs of pretty much brand new Adidas sweatpants…for $15 total!  Perfect for the rink or just lounging around. 

So, for the second weekend in a row, the Ballard neighborhood delivers.  It’s another world compared to my suburban haunts, and that’s exactly how I like it.  A touch of salt air, a slower pace with a slice of city vibe injected…and continuing to discover it with a great friend – this is what I adore. 

Oh, and almost forgot – here’s the margarita recipe!  Bring a couple cans of limeade to make more and additional limes for garnish.

  • 3/4 can limeade, thawed in the fridge
  • 4 shots Tequila
  • 2 shots Triple Sec
  • Juice of one lime
  • Salt
  • Beer (optional…couple swigs to cut the ‘tart’ to taste)
  • Crushed ice

Mix all ingredients except for the salt and crushed ice in a cocktail shaker.  Salt the rim of each glass and pour the mixture over the crushed ice. Garnish with a lime wedge.  Serve to good friends and have fun.  CHEERS!

That Glorious Extra Hour!

06 Sunday Nov 2011

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Oh man ohmanohmanohman…I am sitting here grinning ear to ear, sunshine streaming into the home office…and…

It’s. Only. 11am!!  Not noon!

Seriously, people, our flip back to Standard Time (clocks go back one hour) is my most FAVORITE time of the year.  Payback…we balance the books.  It’s no secret DST kicks my ass when we lose that hour in the spring.  I feel jetlagged that entire week, and perpetually stressed that I am constantly running late.  Tired + late = bad combination.

But now, time to chill.  I woke up Saturday just knowing this morning was coming.  Kinda poked around the house and later, fueled by a salted caramel mocha from a Starbucks drive thru (which I RARELY do even though there is one just 5 seconds from my house), I drove out to visit my dear friend T in Sammamish.  She’s going to do a Silpada party later in December – an absolutely perfect time to host a party as it’s prime time shopping season!  Blue sky, leaves turning – ahhh anytime I need to whip out sunglasses in November I am a happy girl.

I had a major sushi craving as I was driving home, and swung by the Metropolitan Market to pick up some other groceries too.  I used to commute through the Houghton neighborhood a couple of years ago when I briefly worked in Kirkland and I miss it.  The Metropolitan Market is absolutely amazing, and the people who work there have their shit together.  Nice, knowledgeable, energetic.  You can just “feel” it when you walk in. 

So I grabbed some pre-made sushi (it’s actually pretty decent as they make it fresh right there in the store), got home and added an extra blob of wasabi and a few shakes of Nama Shoyu (unpasteurized soy sauce as recommended in my raw food cookbooks).  Even found my chopsticks too!  Bliss.

…almost as blissful as sleeping in today until 10am (which really was 11am but I remembered to turn the clocks back tonight – oops, well most of them).  Funny how my cell phone didn’t make the automatic change (booo) but the old, crappy laptop here sure did.

So that’s about it.  Just enjoying a nice, lazy weekend – hockey is the big exclamation point later tonight.  Can’t wait!  

And the nice people at amazon.com are sending me a book that was very highly recommended by my new friend D.  I’ll leave it at that for now – it’s on it way and I will likely have my first ever book review post in here soon!  

Bad Pool Caller and a Makeup Play Date

26 Monday Sep 2011

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I’m really feeling the passion and energy from this new job now even more!  The team is one of the most collaborative I have worked with in years, and I’ve just turned that mental corner where you “click” and REALLY jump into another layer of understanding of just what exactly we’re going to do and when we want to get everything finished.  This is a natural part of my ramp-up with new a consulting gig…I KNOW there’s a ton of stuff to do but don’t know the subject matter indepth…yet.

So I came home on Friday after a mentally fulfilling and yet exhausting week too.  I was ready to relax, heat up some leftover pasta and just veg.  But first, as I always do when I get home, I went upstairs to check email here in the home office.  Rather than seeing my usual, soothing aquarium-themed screen saver, I saw IT.  The loathed, despised…BLUE SCREEN OF DEATH!

Duhn duhn duhnnnnnnnnnnn….or maybe wahn wahn wahnnnnn sad trombone sound.  Pick your dramatic music of choice.

Thankfully I haven’t seen a BSOD in years.  I looked closer at this new screen booger, skimmed over a bunch of gobbledeegook and then this jumped out at me:  Bad Pool Caller.

Now, I appreciate technology and all even though I’m no coding expert.  A bad pool caller?  Sounds like a crappy judge in a swim or dive meet.   Flashbacks to our neighborhood pool when I was a kid – all those swimming and diving competitions.  

So, after restarting the laptop and praying it boots up alright (whew, it does), I go online and search on this strange error.  Turns out there’s a ton of stuff out there about it.  What’s true and what’s not?  Well, the windowstalk blog seems to sum it up pretty well in plain English:  “The ‘bad pool caller’ error is shown when Windows is not able to access the data-pool that it requires to run. The data pool is the technical term used to describe all the settings and options that your computer may require whenever it’s running, and as you may have guessed, it’s constantly being ‘called’ to help your computer run as smoothly as possible. Unfortunately, there are many occasions where Windows will try and call a setting from the data pool, only to have it show an error.”

What’s one of the recommended fixes? Try using a registry cleaner.  Hmmm…for years I did use one.  I don’t remember how I stumbled upon it, but I ran it every few days or so, it would call out errors and fix them and I’d pay my $30 subscription fee every year.  And never had any problems or issues with it nor with this laptop in general come to think of it.

But a couple of months ago I got hit with a bad computer virus, which took over 4 hours of phone time with Dell to troubleshoot and clean.  Viruses suck.  And there’s no way to tell when or how your computer got infected.  I learned that viruses can lie dormant for long periods of time and then suddenly spring to life.  Hell, when you’re on the phone with a tech all those hours you might as well ask and learn.  

Part of that troubleshooting was to remove any sort of accessory type thingy.  The tech was convinced my registry cleaner, among other things, was no good so I agreed to have him removed it (over the phone remote connectivity stuff is pretty cool).  We removed pretty much everything…he even was convinced my Google Desktop search agent had been downloaded from an unauthorized source.  So I felt like I was getting a mega computer antibiotic that cleared out the good stuff as well as the bad.  Bottom line, no more virus.

And (but?) now, this blue screen.  Anyway I poked around and found a different registry cleaner to try.  And it seems to have good reviews.  Do I dare dive into this again?

I signed up with it for a year.  A tad reluctant, but also a little relieved that this might just be one way to bandaid any problems with this ancient laptop before I pull the trigger on a new one.  Why reluctant?  Yeah, well, earlier this year I had to cancel my debit card because I thought it might have been compromised online.  Better safe than sorry, so I got a new one issued.  I used a credit card I hardly ever use for this new registry cleaning program, so if for some reason it’s a problem they don’t have my bank account number.

So, after a few ‘cleans,’ no more blue screens and we *seem* to be alright.  Dodged a boulder…maybe.

I also got some great girl-time in this weekend too…nothing is both more energizing and relaxing to me all at the same time.  Love it.  L and I went on a long-overdue walk around our neighborhood to reconnect yesterday.  I’m feeling a little sore today too which is a good sign!  And I drove down to S’s place this afternoon for a mini spa and facial party.

Most of you who tune in here regularly probably know I’m a makeup junkie.  I have zero brand loyalty…I do have my favorites but will try just about anything meanwhile.

At S’s party we had fun playing around with a product line she represents – Artistry.  It’s part of Amway Global.  Yes, Amway Global!  Surprised they have a makeup line?  Don’t be…and it’s top notch stuff.  We had fun pampering ourselves with some cleansing and exfoliating products, hot towels and all.  Sipping on wine and enjoying fabulous munchies meanwhile. 

After we did our mini facials we played with makeup and got matched for our colors in foundations and tinted moisturizers.  WOW, I’m very impressed with the foundation S recommended for me and can’t wait to get it!  I’ve tried just about every brand out there over 30+ years and this one really did a great job evening out my ruddiness and giving good overall coverage without being too cakey or grippy.  Even now it still looks fresh after a few hours…with no primer underneath (I swear by primer, always).  Nice.  I also love how it comes in a pump-style dispenser…much more sanitary than a jar and lid.

I also fell in love with the light-up lip gloss.  This is stuff of genius…a lipgloss that has a small mirror on one side of the tube, and tiny lights that light up at the base of the wand when you pull it out.  So, you can easily touch up your lips and do the good ol’ teeth check in the tiny mirror…love it!

Rounding out my mini-haul today…a green tea-scented lotion and body wash (two huge containers for just $15 total?  Unreal.) and a liquid facial cleanser I tried out today.  While I’m picky about skincare, I am open to trying just about anything that is not too drying and not overly-scented.  This cleanser has a very light outdoorsy and citrusy scent…so subtle it’s hard to pin down…perfect in my book.

Four great products for $95 including shipping and tax?  Oh yeahhhh…

And we’re going on almost 72 hours here with no BSOD.  Yep it’s a great weekend alright.