Our trip to Seatlle

Our Trip to Seattle was many things. It was:

• One of our first trips together just us, since our honeymoon
• hilarious
• perfect
• so much fun
• adventurous
• reflective
• a chance to celebrate two years of marriage
• a chance to explore Seattle
• my first time drinking two alcoholic beverages in one night.
  
• my first time ordering a glass of wine, with out Wes ordering it first.

So, you see? It was a lot of things. And our pictures really tell the story of just how much we had.

This was the view from our hotel window:
Pictures of the hotel room:
Those are sliding "window/doors" that let you see into the bathroom area.

Our first night: We got to seattle at about 4:30 in the afternoon. Wes took a nap when we got there because he had to work the night before and then we went to a jazz club we had made reservations for. The place was so much fun!! The perfect thing to do on a first night. We got there early and ordered drinks and an appetizer. Then the band started to play and we had really good seats in plain view of the drummer. He was really fun and entertaining. Then we ordered dinner, Wes had the tortellini and I had the manicotti. and Side note: I ordered a glass of wine all by myself (very proud, can you tell?) .
We kept wanting to ask for a picture but it wasn't really the setting to do so. So, on our walk home we had ourselves what we call "Photoshoot #1" :)




These funny statues were near our hotel


The space needle all lit up in the back ground.
The next day we got up early and had the most amazing breakfast I think I have ever had. This restaurant called Urbane prides itself on serving only local ingredients. The eggs benedict I had was unbelievable. Its not often that I order an eggs benedict with the ham. This time, I did and oh my gosh the way it was served was delicious. so so good. Then we walked to the ferry. We took the ferry over to Bainbridge island which was a first for the both of us. Really fun!


We walked around and looked at all the cute little shops and had lunch at a mexican food place.

Then we went and got icecream at Mora's which apparently was very popular seeing as how we had to wait in a super long line. The icecream was delicious and the serving sizes huge. But wow was it expensive and .... different. They have you pay for your icecream before you even tell them what flavor you want. Then as soon as they hand it to you, you better start licking! I have never seen icecream melt so fast. Anyone who knows me well, knows that I eat rather slow and carefully. I hate to get food on my face and well, lets just say that was an impossible goal with this icecream. Pretty sure I looked like a 5 year old with chocolate on my nose, chin, and cheeks. Yummy and definitely worth it though.

Wes with his Italian chocolate: Chocolate icecream with walnuts, chocolate shavings and french cognac.
Me with my hazelnut chocolate icecream.

(see the melting happening??)

Our second night we went to dinner at the MOST. AMAZING. RESTAURANT/DINING EXPERIENCE. we have ever had. And I'm not overexaggerating. Wes and I like good service. (who doesn't?) We can handle it if the food isn't great but the service is awesome. We will be disappointed but will be optimistic. The same goes for if the food is awesome but the service isn't great. HOWEVER, if the service is no good, and the food isn't great. We have a problem. Wes and I know what we like when we go to a restaurant. We like fresh ingredients, and we don't like when people take short cuts like adding too much cheese just to add flavor. (yuck) SO- at this restaurant we were given OUTSTANDING food, and OUTSTANDING service. Yes, this is a nice restaurant, but still, it is rare you meet a waiter that goes above and beyond. We were treated incredibly well because they also knew we were celebrating our anniversary. So here's how it went.

This little restaurant is an italian restaurant called Tullios. Its an old looking small two story building. We were given a choice where we'd like to sit and we sat upstairs. Our waiter came over and introduced himself and insisted on serving us complimentary Champagne (which I didn't like until trying it again this trip: yum!) and gave us each a little spoon of salad to "prepare our palettes." We ordered a sweet potato Gnocchi which he explained was made by "a small little woman" and told us how she prepares it. When we ordered wine, he insisted we try one similar to the one we ordered. Wes loved the one he suggested (and couldn't stop mentioning how much Greg would love it too) and I liked the original one better. We drank wine and champagne together and ate our Gnocchi.

Then we ordered dinner. Wes ordered a risotto and asparagus and I ordered crab tortelli with risotto. I didn't know what this was until now. Delicious! Our waiter was so generous with "accidentally" leaving the wine bottle at our table for more and telling us stories and talking to us about the food.

Eventually, the other people who were eating upstairs left and we had all of upstairs to ourselves. It was very romantic and our waiter even left so we could have alone time. :) Really nice...

When we asked him to take a picture of us. He got really excited about all the "props" that we could use for a funny picture from the shelf behind us. He placed this big bottle on our table. ha ha!
For dessert I ordered Tiramisu...
and Wes ordered espresso grapa. That stuff is crazy. That little shot glass looking thing, is espresso infused alcohol. Super intense! With chocolate gelato and chocolate covered espresso beans. Wes was in heaven.
Then on our walk home we had what we call "Photoshoot #2" and boy did we have fun...
we are in an elevator in this picture which is why its rather blurry.



Pretty darn funny...


Then the next morning we ordered room service because I had never had that before and we watched I love Lucy. It was a very relaxing morning.
We didn't end up making it to the space needle. But we did go to Pike's market and had a great time. I didn't get any pictures though unfortunately.

So that's our seattle trip. We are back home now and I am preparing for my cousin mckenna to come and visit me tomorrow. Rounding out to be a busy summer! We are having a blast! Hope you all are enjoying your summers too.... more again soon!

Ashley Visits Portland!

Back in September of last year, I was shocked to hear from my dear friend Ashley Whipple that she would want to visit me again in Portland. She has just visited in March, Twice in one year?? Really? I knew we were headed into a busy holiday season and I encouraged her to wait for better weather and to come see Portland in the summer. So, we let the idea drift away for a little bit until it was time to actually plan and purchase a plane ticket. Six months later and she arrived the day of my birthday. What a lucky girl am I to have a Best friend and husband to celebrate the day with?

A small introduction for any of you who have only heard the name but have no idea who she is. Ashley was my maid of honor at my wedding. We share a weakness for bagels and cream cheese, and a history of working together with some crazy jr. highers. She is a dog lover to the extreme and wants to be an elementary school teacher. And in case if you'd like to hear more about her you can always look into her brand spankin' new bloggy blog of her own.

After watching the weather for a week straight praying that the little rain clouds hanging over thursday and friday would go away June 30th arrived with the perfect forecast of a high of 70 degrees and no clouds. Unfortunately, thursday and friday weren't as good looking, but it all worked out and hey-- it could have been worse!!! That's for sure.

My birthday on the 30th started with a birthday bagel with Wes at Palios. I left Palios to pick Ashley up from the airport with all intentions of surprising her at the pick up gate. Instead, she surprised me by arriving with another familiar face: a man named Doug. Doug used to work with us in the jr. high youth group and just so happened to be on the same flight as Ashley for a business trip to Portland. After a small luggage scare, we found her bag and were ready for the visit to begin! Our first day we went to Laughing Planet for Lunch and ate yummy burritos. On our way out we turned the corner to see this:





"Only in Portland" was about all that we could think of as we took pictures to share with you.
The rest of my birthday consisted of a walk to the farmers market, and dinner at one of my favorite restaurants: The Avignon Bar, a wine bar across the street from our house.







After dinner I got a call from another best friend Marisa. Which was really fun for the three of us to talk together on Speaker phone. My birthday ended with yummy cake at Palios. However, to my surprise Rand (the owner) delivered the cake to the table with a candle in it. As cute as it was, what made it cuter was having Wes and Ashley actually sing to me. I felt so so special and you can see how genuinely excited I was in this picture. We all shared a slice of tiramisu cake and bittersweet chocolate cake. yuuuummy!!




Thanks to you both for a perfect birthday. And thanks to you all for sending your birthday wishes!!

The rest of the trip was jam packed full of fun things. We went to a breakfast place called Slappy Cakes where you can make your own pancakes on a griddle built into your table. Ashley couldn't pass up the eggs benedict (another common weakness we shared) but curiosity towards the whole pancake experience kept me settled on my decision to have pancakes for breakfast. The pancake menu comes with long lists of topping selections and you can even pick from a selection of batters. I went for normal buttermilk batter with blueberries and lemon curd.






We also: did a lot of shopping, watched a lot of friends episodes, cooked dinner together, purchased our first bottle of wine together, went to the saturday market (a flea market of sorts), hiked multnomah falls, rented a movie, attempted to see the rose garden, and was saved by Ashley's iphone many many times (we all know what a great sense of direction I have). I'm sure I'm forgetting things but bring on the pictures!






Lebanese food!

There were 3 weddings at the Rose Garden this day. We brought lunch with full intentions of having a picnic inside of the rose garden. There was no chance of finding parking so instead we circled the rose garden about ten times eating our lunch in the car and getting angry at all the other drivers trying to do the same thing.



Multnomah Falls adventure:
Us at the start of the hike:






Us at the top of the hike after discovering that we hiked the hard trail instead of the easy one. Oops!

The top of the falls!!!


The End! My dear Ash-Whip, thank you for spending the time and money to come and stay with us. We loved having you here! Thanks for the great talks and the great adventures!