just the way you are

You know what's even better than oatmeal with almonds, peanut butter and shredded coconut? Oatmeal with almons, peanut butter, shredded coconut and chocolate chips. I love chocolate with everything breakfast. It makes it feel that much more decadent!

Yesterday's feast of crock pot Corned Beef and Cabbage was absolutely delectable, and it's sitting in my bag, waiting to be consumed again for lunch. I would say we'd probably eat it for dinner -- I'm kind of an addict -- but I think we're going up to the University District to see a play put on by the theatre company that Nate is re-doing the website for, call 'The Happy Ones,' with free food and open bar afterwords. So maybe we'll just need a snack of corned beef and cabbage beforehand. Le yum!

Stop! Cabbage Time.

...sorry.

I am in love with my new iPod Nano. It is adorable and functional. And green. And it has a touchscreen, and I am a sucker for Apple products. I am also in love with the jewelry my sister got me:

Love.

-C

you only bring me your funny papers

Last night's dinner was excellent. EXCELLENT!

Let me go backwards. We had already made plans to go dinner (which I've mentioned,) but Nate surprised me at lunch time with some flowers and a balloon. Thank goodness our OM wasn't here, because it meant I didn't have to wear the hideous birthday hat, once everyone in the office besides Brian found out it was my birthday.

He took me to Jimmy Johns for lunch and it was delicious. Because it always is.

After work, I came home to Nate baking banana bread, because the pan that he ordered for my birthday cake still hasn't arrived and we have two bunches of overripe bananas that need to be used. It works out better this way, anyway, because we will be able to eat the cake when it's fresh! It's white Funfetti cake, with chocolate Funfetti icing.

We went to the restaurant for our 7:45 reservation. It's basically above one of the Public Market buildings on Pike and 1st, so we followed the signs upstairs, around corners and down hallways until we found it. The space was tiny, but the wall facing the Sound had huge bay windows, which made it feel bigger. I would love to go back when it's nice outside, and you can actually see out across the water.

First course was Raw Oysters and Beef Carpaccio -- because apparently these are our staple appetizers, now -- and they were excellent. The oyster appetizer came with two different toppings: preserved meyer lemon and cucumber with salmon roe. The second was my favorite, because the roe was giant and salty, and paired perfectly with the fresh cucumber and the fresh oysters. I am a sucker for super-fresh, raw food.

(all the pics at dinner were taken by tealight)

Second course was Pan-Seared Halibut Cheeks with Potato Confit, an Apple Parsnip Puree and Lentil and Wilted Green salad, which was very good, especially when you ate the potato, halibut and puree together in one bite. Our other entree was a Strip Loin Steak with green beans, baby carrots and potatoes, which was also good. I am not a fan of steak, however, so I preferred the fish =)

Dessert was a Vanilla Bean Creme Brulee (served cold with flambed top -- I can't understand why they don't serve hot cremem brulee, but maybe that's just me) with berries and a Bitter Dark and White Chocolate Mousse Cake with a Raspberry Sauce. They were gone very quickly.

Nate saw them put a candle in someone else's dessert while we were eating, so he had them put one in my creme brulee, which was very nice of him, though the waitress said she was going to do it anyway, since she saw my birthday when she checked my ID for our wine pairings. They also gave me two chocolate truffles to take home in celebration.

(see? tealight)

FedEx came this morning with my present from my Mom!

Yay for Apple products! Except that I have to hide them away while I'm at work, because I'm in Microsoft land.

See? It came in a little box. A perfect disguise. I also got my birthday present from my Aunt yesterday in the mail, a giftcard to here. Wooh, wooh!

Nate also packed me enough banana bread to feed a small country this morning for breakfast.

Which is really just fine by me!

Don't forget to check out A Mess of Dresses, or my new list of fave blogs (on the right-hand side of the page.) It's gorgeous outside, so I hope if it's nice where you are, you're going out to enjoy it after you read this post! Because I can only watch from the conference room window.

-C



begin to find

Looking at my stats, I've had at least one page-view from France, Denmark, China, the Phillipines, the UAE and Belgium.

That's exciting! If you're one of those people, wave your (comment-indicated) hand in the air!

I'm also contemplating a give-away. Is there anything specific to Seattle that you would just LOVE to have?

I'm thinking...something from Pike Place? Local honey, lavender or a kitchy t-shirt with the Space Needle on it?

-C

numb, numb, na-na-na-na-na numb

Seriously, what gives Nickelback to right to keep writing the same song over and over and over again. I mean...take a break. Write something different. It can't be that hard, can it?

Anyway, I think the spider crisis has passed, and hopefully the dishwasher is getting fixed today, so that will be all set and things can go back to semi-normal.

It's beautiful outside today, but it's supposed to rain tonight. It was actually nice this weekend but of course I a) didn't leave the house on Saturday and b) it was mostly cloudy when we walked around on Sunday to go grocery shopping (but bright -- I wore my sun glasses.) We went shopping at our neighborhood Uwajimaya, and their chicken was on sale for almost as cheap as the tiny Dong Sing market we normally go to for meat, so we just decided to do all our shopping there. We got:

1.5lbs of brussel sprouts @ $3.49/lb
2 large sweet potatoes @ $1.39/lb
1 medium yellow onion @ $.69/lb (or each? I can never remember)
1 head of broccoli @ $2.49/lb
1 head of purple cauliflower @ $2.49/lb (I'm so excited!)
a packet of hawaiian sweet rolls
4 large chicken breasts (I'm not sure what the poundage was) for between $5-$6.
1lb of salmon @ $6.49/lb
1 14oz bag of tortilla chips $2
1 (small) bag of dried, unsweetened coconut $.89

for about $40. I especially consider this a steal, because of the price of the chicken. The pound of salmon and the brussel sprouts were probably the most expensive things...also the most delicious. I feel like uwajimaya is a secret place, where only we and every person of Asian descent in the Seattle area shop.

I cooked about half the chicken last night, and we had half of that for dinner and the other half became chicken salad, which is lunch today. I have to say, the quality of this chicken versus what we normally get is way better. As Nate says, "It tastes way more normal." I can't wait to cook the salmon. Mmmm.

On a completely different note, I'm sorry, but I didn't realize 'Love Don't Cost a Thing' by J-Lo was still a Top40 hit to be played on el internet radio. I'm apologize, I will make a note. Not that I'm complaining.

I have to find boxes to send out all of the Christmas gifts we've been hoarding putting off saving to send out until now.

It's my birthday soon, and I get to see Bobby McFerrin in concert tomorrow. Wheee!

What's you best kept grocery secret?
-C

all the right moves

Ok, so I think the spiders are gone. At least, most of them. Probably some escaped, and we'll see them later on, building webs and catching the insects that will undoubtedly make their way into the apartment when it gets warm enough outside to open the windows (since we don't have air conditioning.) Hopefully the pidgeons that hang out outside the windows won't also decide to try and come in to the apartment.

Kinda creepy, no? There's a real brave one that sometimes sits on the window ledge in our bedroom. Nate took some pictures of him through the window one afternoon and he just...sat there.

Also, I finally attached the little metal ring to my phone case so I could use the Macro/WideAngle lens. So here's the scoop:

The lens itself. The little string is attached to a metal circle that holds the lenses so you can carry them around. It also comes with a cover, so the lens doesn't get scratched. The macro part is just the back half-inch or so, and then the WideAngle part is the front that opens outward, which you can screw onto the macro part. It's nifty!

Dino toy taken with Macro lens. They sent it to us with the order. Yay! I think Nate might have named him already, but I'm gonna call him Gerard. Here's a pic of Gerard with the regular camera, so you can see -- he is quite small.

(our TV is maybe a 30")

And here is a picture of the panoramic photo of Boston Nate's parents got him for Christmas. First without the wide-angle lens. I'm back up against the fridge for this one -- pretty much as far away from the pic as you can get in our little hallway area and still be facing it straight on. It's probably about 3' in length.

Notice how you can't see the whole picture? Here's the photo with the wide-angle lens. (For anyone who cares, I keep wanting to put an 'e' on the end of lens. Ugh.)

You can just barely see the whole thing. I'd say at this range (which is pretty small, about 3 to 4 feet away from the wall) the wide-angle lens added about half a foot in either direction. I'm excited to see what it can do about larger, outdoor pictures. (As mentioned in the previous post about this item, you can also see the little black corner in the bottom left. Nothing Photoshop can't handle.)

Nate is at work, and I told myself I would clean, but besides putting away and throwing away some paper work on the breakfast, I haven't really done much. I think I'll eat the last piece of pizza and contemplate cleaning some more.

-C

so much better

How to Make Parmesan Crusted Salmon without Hot Oil

(because if you're like me, heating oil in your skillet scares you.)

Pretty much, here's the deal:

1) Take salmon fillets and douse them with some olive oil
2) Cover them with a mixture that is one part cornmeal to one part parmesan cheese (the grocery store, circular container kind is just fine,) and mix in whatever spices you want. I use a hefty amount of garlic salt and basil. You want them to be completely coated, but not lumpy or thickly coated.
3) Meanwhile, heat up your skillet on medium-high heat.
4) Once it's hot, spray the CRAP out of it with cooking spray. I use butter-flavored. Yum =)
5) Place the fillets in the bubbly, already hot cooking spray. Spray the whole operation with cooking spray.
6) Wait a minute or two, then flip the fillets over and spray the whole operation again. Wait another minute or two before flipping the fillets over one more time.
7) Turn the heart down to medium and cover the fillets, cooking for about ten minutes and turning them every so often. You can spray more cooking spray at this point, if you feel like it.

Once the salmon is cooked all the way through, you eat them. And your boyfriend marvels at you. Oh, and you accompany them with angel hair pasta and roasted brussel sprouts. SOGOOD.

It's wet and disgusting outside, and I actually had more work than I could finish before lunchtime, which is kind of exciting, considering how slow the winter was. With any luck, I'll need to start blogging when I get home!

Also, the other day our fridge crapped out for a brief second, and everything started melting and we freaked out and called/texted/emailed (yes, all three) our landlord. But then we turned up the coldness and it kicked back on and it's been working fine, since. However, last night when we decided to the run dishwasher, it decided to make this high pitched whine-filled clatter about halfway through its cycle. So...now we get to call the landlord about that. Our landlord loves us. Good thing he's a 20-something, pothead. No really...it's a good thing.

Nate's Macro/Wide-Angle lense from for his iPhone (part of his Valentine's Day gifts) from PhotoJoJo came over the weekend -- I had it sent to work, because I'm sneaky! -- so I picked it up yesterday and brought it home for him. The Macro lense works like a charm. Unfortunately, I didn't read the FAQ, and the fact that the iPhone 3G/S is curved on the back causes you to be able to see the Wide-Angle lense in the lefthand bottom corner of the photos when you attach it. Fortunately, it's a miniscule amount of black and my boyfriend can fix anything in Photoshop. It attaches by a small magnetic ring that you stick to your phone, and it comes with two rings, so we will be able to use it with both our phones. All the pics he took are on his phone, so I'll post one when I can get ahold of them.

I got this 'Txting Kills' thumb ring from Allstate Insurance in one of my freebie emails a little while back. You can get up to five, so I got one for me and one for Nate. I like it, partially because it actually fits me (they have different sizes) and partially because it's something I believe strongly in. Phones are hazardous to driving.


Also, I was looking for a water bottle for a while and bought this one (by Aladdin from Target) a little while ago. I really like it, because I can drink out of it like a water bottle or like a cup. And I can fit regular ice in it, because the top unscrews. It's genius!

-C

i wanna see what it feels like

I knew I forgot something when I was going through my stocking from Nate! He also got me this adorable hat:

Took this photo on the way to work, when I wore my new hat, because it's nearly freezing outside and my ears get cold. Plus...it's just awesome. (As is my giraffe phone cover, and my two-tone hobo gloves from Target. Whee!)

-C

We're One in the Same

So Christmas has come and gone. I managed to get a list to my family early enough that I actually got things I wanted (!) this year, and not just some random things or money. It was kind of exciting, and I think I will try to continue making a list earlier than the week before Christmas.

I got:
-Handheld Sewing Machine (in Yellow) from Sister

-Fujifilm Instax 7s Camera from Dad & Grandma



-Kyocera Mandolin w/ Ceramic Blade from Dad's Girlfriend (she also got me Bean Soup Mix from the Women's Project)

-Lalicious Sugar Kiss Body Butter & Scrub from Grandma

-Purple Flannel Botas (Toms) from Mom

-ModCloth Giftcard from Aunt & Uncle (Dad's Side)

-Amazon/Target Giftcards from Aunt (Mom's Side) as well as candy(!) and a snowflake wine-bottle stopper

-Nabaztag Rabbit from Dad (I think this is what he's getting me...it hasn't arrived yet.) He also sent us a Wine Country Gift Basket. Noms.

-Cranberry Colored Bathrobe from Nate's Parents

And from the boy, I got the following items in my stocking (we only did stockings -- but we had a pretty high cap:)

-Lavender Sachet (for the closet...eventually for the dresser, if we ever get one =P)

-Lavender Incense

-Chai Tea (Black)

-Aquolina Pink Sugar Gift Set (Perfume Spray, Lotion & Shower Gel)

-Black/White/Sparkly Circle Scarf (from Express)

-Brown Knit Hat with BEAR ears. (I'm a two year old, it's ok.)

-Dino Sandwich Box (for packing my sandwiches for lunch in)

-Andes Mints & Ferrero Roche

And this:

It's Helenite, created from the last eruption of Mount St. Helens in the 80s. I love it. It feels so Elven.

Nate's Parents also got us stockings, mainly because they were sending us our stockings, and his mother couldn't resist filling them. Mine included: Pure Linen Candle (whee!), 500 Piece Puzzle, Chicken Soup for the Woman's Soul, Dunkin Donuts French Vanilla Ground Coffee (yum!) and probably something else that I'm forgetting. Because I am forgetful.

All in all, it was an excellent Christmas. Nate had to work both Christmas Eve and the 26th, but we slept in on the 25th, opened presents, had some breakfast, watched TV, saw Harry Potter, and were just all around relaxed all day. Sunday, after he got off from work, we went to Target and did some shopping. We got Nate Cholula (I was going to put it in his stocking, but it was raining Christmas Eve and I am a lazy bum, so we just bought it at Target. It's also ok, because he was going to get me these:

but didn't have time, so we bought those at Target, too. They were on sale for, like, 80 cents! I love the holidays.)

Today it's back to work. Almost everyone who still has vacation time is off, so the office is really quiet. We have Friday as a holiday, but I'm hoping it will snow, like they keep threatening, on Wednesday evening, so that maybe we can have Thursday off, too.

Keep your fingers crossed!

Here's to a restful and Happy New Year =)

tonight i'm not takin' no calls...

h-o-leeeeeeee moocows, batman. i have spent the past week or so at work:
-signing 400+ company christmas cards for FOUR people who were not in the office to sign them
-putting address, return address and stamps on 400+ envelopes for said company cards
-stuffing 400+ company cards into 400+ labeled and stamped envelopes
-sealing 400+ company cards
-mailing 400+ company cards

OMG. so many cards. it took me two days of basically nonstop signing to get all the signatures on the cards, because my hand kept cramping up. i haven't written like that since we had to handwrite essays in high school. in cursive. uphill and backwards? no...that doesn't make sense.

aside from that, Nate and I did some shopping this weekend, and now we have a SPECTACULAR memory foam mattress topper for our crappy, back-hurting mattress...which really just makes me never want to get out of bed ever again. this means I've been slightly later than normal to work this week...but it's also a lazy, 3-day week, so I'm not too worried about it. most of the office is out, some of them for the rest of the year (since this week is short and next week is short.)

We got our printer from Nate's parents, so I've been looking online for easy holiday decoration ideas, since we have both photo and regular paper (both at home and at work) for me to craft with. I was thinking of making some heart garland out of some of our photos of the trip, to hang over our bed until we get some kind of frame/headboard going on (but seriously, who knows when that will be,) but I will probably not do it until this weekend, after I have finished my stocking stuffer shopping for Nate (we're only doing "stockings," no big gifts, so no big wrapping projects,) while he's at work, so it be a sort-of surprise. i do, however need some brads -- or some way to attach the string (which I also need) to the pictures once I print them out, besides the scotch tape we have. This requires finding a craft shop near the apartment, which may or may not be an easy task.

In any case, our stockings are hung, and I bought a small (fake) Christmas tree and some silver and white star ornaments from Borders, because everything was 50% off, plus a Christmas-tree smelling candle, so the house is looking more and more festive! We were contemplating working serving Christmas dinner on Christmas day, but we'll probably just hang out at the house, or take my co-worker up on her offer to hang out at her house with her, husband, baby and some extended family to play Kinect and eat entirely too much.

I've been getting really into decorating the apartment (besides for Christmas,) which, as I was telling Nate, I think is because this is the first place we've lived together that we chose together. Our apartment in MA, he chose and moved into about the time we started dating, so I didn't move into it until about three months after. It was mostly his furniture and his housewares, with the things which were important to me (from my first apartment in Boston,) mixed in. The second place we lived was with his parents, so no decorating there, and the third place we lived was in our car. It's nice to have a place that is a fresh start, for both of us, so we can decide on furniture, both pieces and arrangements, and decor together. We found this awesome bar table and chair set at Bed, Bath and Beyond when we were there looking for our mattress topper (which was our big Christmas gift to ourselves,) which will fit perfectly in the little hallway space next to the kitchen, for less than the one we were looking at on Target.com. Plus we have a 20% off coupon, so that will be the next big furniture purchase. And then we can put up pictures and artwork, and it will be like we actually live somewhere, and aren't just vagabonds. Terribly exciting!

-C