Blake Visits!

So our very good friend (and a fantastic human being) Blake Sawyer was out here in Bellevue for a conference, and stuck around for about week to stay with us and hang out in Seattle.

We attempted to show him the ropes. I can’t speak for him, but we had a great time. We experienced more, met more cool people, did more things, (and drank more) in that quick action-packed week, than it seems we have done in the entire time we have lived here.  It was a wild, wild ride.

Throughout the week we visited many of the different neighborhoods (each of their own variety): Greenwood, Ballard, Fremont, the University District, Belltown, and Downtown.

....and essentially did a bar-tour of several Seattle neighborhoods in the process....

The places we drank.

 ...and ate at many fine food establishments.

The places we ate.

We saw a Dr. Dog  show at the beautiful Neptune Theatre.

Dr. Dog show.

We showed him some of the local landmarks: Gasworks Park,   Seattle Center, …

...the Gum Wall

We rode the Monorail. As you can tell, Blake was giddy as a school girl.

We walked through the Seattle Library (see the earlier post for a more extensive explanation), but this time we stumbled upon the "Red Room", which must have originated in the mind of Willy Wonka himself!

 You can barely see Blake in his red shirt in the Red Room of the Seattle Library

Went to Pike Place Market and bought some Salmon,  Romanesco broccoli, and bok choy to cook a delicious diner.

Note the mind blowing fractal pattern of the  Romanesco broccoli !!! Beautiful.

We took the ferry to Bainbridge Island.  Given the amount of water around everywhere, there are many ferries in these parts, but until now we haven't taken any. The views of the city were phenomenal. Note: the weather in these pictures is pretty typical Seattle weather; overcast.

leaving in daylight

Our new friend Danny, Blake, and myself on the ferry

Blake, Me, and Tess on the chilly, windy, outside deck of the ferry

While we were over on Bainbridge Island, we did some wine tasting and ate at an amazing restaurant called Hitchcock’s. Where we had….  

Clams & Pork Belly,   Quail,  and Octopus

and returning to Seattle by ferry at night.

We also went to the Pacific Rim Bonsai Collection, but that experience was so fantastic that it will have a post all to itself. Stay tuned, as that blog post should be up soon. 

In conclusion, we had a blast hanging out with Blake! Having visitors is great incentive to go out on adventures and experience the wonderful things about the city and the surrounding areas. So, if you are reading this... come visit us! We would love to experience the PNW with you!

New Kitchen Shelves

When we returned from our Christmas trip in Colorado we had unanticipated cargo. Tess’ Dad bestowed upon us the privilege of first dibs on his pile of misfit tools.  It could quite possibly be the most practical, useful, and best (unexpected) Christmas present ever.

When we got home I got right down to cleaning up the tools to a new luster. I turned our small shed into the workshop space I have always wanted, complete with tabletop space and a vice(!), and we got to work! It couldn't have come at a better time, as we have projects lining up. Tess and I love to build custom furniture and we have had a few ideas in mind since we moved in.

First on the list was this awkward space in the kitchen where we had a cheap metal shelf.

  We came up with an idea for custom shelves and made it happen.

Here is the finished product!

And this is what the full corner looks like now. (We put up the pot rack too.)

Stay tuned for future projects!