little black journal

Every once in awhile, I have one of those moments that makes me think, ‘Duuuuude, I love Seattle!’.  Exhibits A and B:

These longer hours of daylight have made me feel like we actually have more hours in the day, so when I got home from the gym tonight, instead of crashing out on the couch and calling it a day, I popped in the door and asked Shane if he’d be up for heading out to dinner at our most favorite pizza place.  With work and work-outs and the general to-do’s of our lives, it’s rare that we spontaneously go out on a weeknight, since we both need frequent low-key evenings at home to recharge, but I felt the need to celebrate our sun-shiny evening.  And I knew a night out at Tutta Bella would be an easy sell to the husband, considering that he has never turned down an offer of pizza in the 11 years I’ve known him.  We took our table by the window and ordered a couple of our favorites – the Giovanni, topped with prosciutto and arugula, was perfection, and the salame Pino never disappoints.  But considering this is the third time we’ve eaten pizza from this place in the last two weeks, I’d say we’re now due for a pizza fast – somehow cheese, salted meats, and pizza crust aren’t part of that ‘healthier eating’ plan I’ve been working on.  Actually, I might just have to rethink that plan altogether…

On our way home, we saw hints of pink in the sky over Beacon Hill, so we decided to jet over to the bridge that overlooks downtown and Elliott Bay to catch the final remnants the sunset – and although it was chilly out there, I felt like we were getting the first little peek of the summer that’s in store for us.  And that makes me very, very happy.

My super-intense, super-awesome encaustic workshop ended on Monday (stay tuned for more on that later), and then it was back to work on Tuesday, where I was thrown into the flurry of working toward a Friday deadline.  And so by the time 6:00 rolled around today, I was beat.  Thankfully, Shane, in his infinite wisdom, knew that I would be in dire need of a beer and some chill time, so when I made it out of the office, he had already staked out a table for us at Six Arms and ordered me a pint of Ruby (their tasty raspberry ale).  Aaaaahhhh, hallelujah for weekends!  We had a fabulous evening together, toasting to Friday at our favorite old hang-out, and then sharing a demi-pichet (half-pitcher) of Beaujolais and a plate of steak frites at Cafe Presse.  Yep, it just don’t get much better than this:

The funky, eclectic vibe of Six Arms:

This lovely man:

And a glass of wine over candlelight:

Cheers and bon nuit.  Happy weekend!

After what felt like a long work week, we declared Saturday a day of relaxation and indulgence.  There are few things I love more than having the freedom to spend a Saturday any which way we please.  And so indulgence number one came in the form of a latte and a pain au chocolat from Cafe Besalu – a small bakery/cafe in Ballard known for their deliciously buttery breakfast treats.  I truly believe chocolate croissants are one of God’s greatest gifts to mankind, and this one had to have been picked out especially for me from the Big Guy himself.  So light and flaky, rich and buttery, perfectly…perfect.  Yum.

Post-pastries, we hopped back in the car, and before Shane had even pulled away from the curb, I was thinking about how nice it would be to head home, get back into my pajamas, and spend the day cozied up on the couch.  My husband, however, had other plans, and decided that since our breakfast mission had been completed, he was ready for lunch and wanted to swing by Safeco Field to check out ‘Mobile Food Chowdown’ – a one-day-only gathering of Seattle’s and Portland’s best food carts.  In his defense, he had run 8 miles earlier that morning, so I obliged, thinking I could maybe make room in my stomach for a good taco or a small slice of pizza.  Unfortunately, by the time we arrived at the scene, the lines were already unbearably long for several of the carts, but Shane scored a tasty little burger from Skillet, and I waited in line for 45 minutes for an order of fries from Portland’s ‘Potato Champion’.  Yummy, but hardly worth the wait.  Ah, well, it was still a good day to be outside, and I love Pioneer Square on a clear, crisp day.

The rest of the afternoon was spent at home, reading and watching movies, basking in the laziness that was bound to follow such a decadent morning.  Then evening came, and wouldn’t you know it, Nancy, La V, and I had dinner reservations at Lark, which meant: more eating!  Yay!  We ordered plates of creamy cheeses, roasted duck leg, bacon-glazed kale, and ricotta gnudi, and ate ’till we could eat no more.  There was a point in the evening – I think it was as I was dipping my spoon into the dark chocolate mousse, served with white chocolate sorbet – when I thought, “Hmmmm…will I regret this when I’m pulling out my swimsuit for our vacation to Mexico next month?”  Then I tasted the cashew butter that had been spread on the plate right next to the chocolate, and I thought, “Nah.  Totally worth it.”  It was a perfect three-hour meal, full of good food that was only made better by the company of my lovely friends.

And so Saturday Splurge-Fest came to a close.  And once again, all was right with the world.

Today was one of those days when I am indescribably happy to live in Seattle – a couple of reasons why:

Columbia City has a new ice cream shop – it’s called Full Tilt and it serves flavors like horchata, salted caramel, and purple yam, scooped into made-to-order waffle cones.  Deeeeee-lish.

The sun was out today, and we found a perfect little dock in Leschi from which to soak up some rays.

While in Leschi, we discovered that Daniel’s Broiler has a great happy hour – beer, bacon-wrapped scallops, and a killer view of Mount Rainier.  Shane’s face says it all…

On our way home, we swung by our favorite little viewpoint to get one last look at the mountain in all its glory.

After today, Shane is apparently convinced that he wants to live in Seattle forever.  Assuming we can’t find a way to make a living in Paris, I think I might agree.

For the second year in a row, Shane and I have decided to counteract the over-indulgence of the holidays by being extra-frugal in January.  No eating out, no lattes, no movies, no shopping, and a very tight grocery budget (three dollars per person per day).  For someone like me, who loves to spend Sunday afternoons sitting in cafes or shopping for shoes, this is a challenge.  Right around day 7, I start to get a little antsy.  Shane must have sensed my home-bound jitters and so he surprised me with a free ‘date’ this afternoon by driving us over to Bellevue to check out the Mercer Slough, a park/wetland that we’d driven by several times but never explored.  It was the perfect day for a mini-adventure, and we enjoyed wandering through the trails, finding beauty in the mossy greens and even the muddy browns that are so emblematic of a northwest winter.

We ended the day with homemade veggie lasagna with friends, and I am once again restored, ready to face another week of skipping my morning latte and eating my leftovers for lunch.  It actually feels kind of good to go back to basics.

This clear, crisp weather we’ve been enjoying has reminded me how beautiful downtown Seattle can be, so I grabbed my camera on my way out the door yesterday, thinking I was due for a good hometown shoot.  I spent my lunchtime walking through downtown and Pioneer Square, armed with my warmest hat and fingerless gloves, snapping pictures left and right.  I’ve walked past some of these buildings hundreds of times, and yet somehow never really looked at them.  I suppose that’s the power of having a camera around your neck – your eyes are suddenly open so much wider, as you seek all those perfect photo-ops.  Ideally, especially as an architect, I would be consistently observant, but it seems that whenever I’m downtown, I’m just a woman on a mission, whether it’s to grab a quick lunch, rush to a meeting, hurry to catch my bus, etc.  It was good to consciously stop and pause, stand on a street corner, and look around in every direction, taking in the way sunlight warmed the tones of a brick facade, or bare tree limbs crawled toward the sky.  This is just a small sampling of what I’ve been missing out on…

No great photos or artwork or momentous events to share from the past couple of days, but I am trying to get in the habit of using my Sunday evenings as a time to reflect on the good/fun/productive stuff that took place over the weekend (rather than as a time to dread the inevitable arrival of Monday).  These were the highlights:

Mall madness on Friday night with a girlfriend.  We both had some decent discount coupons that were about to expire, so we hopped in the car at 7:30 pm, were walking into the mall by 8:00, and scored several amazing deals by the time they locked the doors behind us at 9:00.  I tallied up my purchases, and all in all, I averaged a savings of over 50%!  Shane rained on my parade when he reminded me that you still have to spend money to save money, but still, I think I did well.

Saturday morning we were up early to head over to Seward Park to run in the 5k Pumpkin Push race.  We ran this race together last year and have decided to make a bit of a tradition out of it.  I was thrilled to find that I had shaved over 2 minutes off of last year’s time, and Shane was an absolute super-hero, taking a whole 4 minutes off of last year’s time.  It was a beautiful day to be out for a run along the lake – clear, crisp, and full of beautiful fall colors.

Saturday afternoon was spent picking out plants at the local nursery and then planting them out back – we still have some work to do in our new yard, but it’s coming together really nicely.  I can’t wait for the day when the planting is done, the patio chairs are purchased, the weather is good, and we are able to enjoy a glass of wine on our new patio.

We spent this evening with the neighbors, making more dumplings (soooooo good) and carving the pumpkins we picked up at the pumpkin patch a couple of weeks ago.  Our little jack-o-lantern is flickering on our front porch as I type, signaling the approach of Halloween, which means November is right around the corner.  Hard to believe…

We are closing the weekend with some quality veg-time, watching an episode of ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’, sipping a cup of tea, and enjoying the warmth of our cozy living room while the rain falls outside.  Ahhh, Sundays…

Burgers and beer and Quinn’s; lots and lots of rain; a quick trip to Snoqualmie Falls with my parents to enjoy the (wet) fall colors; a visit to Swanson’s Nursery to pick out a tree for our new backyard (backyard reveal coming soon!); and many hours spent at home enjoying the comforts of home-cooked food, time with family, and steaming mugs of tea.  Fall is good.

We took advantage of the lovely Fall weather today to get out and make the annual Schnell family trip to the pumpkin patch out in North Bend.  (This was visit #2 to this particular pumpkin patch, so I am now officially calling this an annual family tradition.)  This time, we invited several of our friends (our ‘Seattle family’), which made for an even better time.  We spent awhile wandering among the pumpkins, all in search of that one perfectly round, perfectly colored pumpkin – I told myself as we were heading to the patch that we really didn’t need more than that one perfect pumpkin.  But then again, what is a ‘perfect’ pumpkin?  Is it small or big?  Orange or white or green?  Tall and skinny or short and squat?  We couldn’t decide, and far be it from us to discriminate, so we walked away with a wagon full of ‘perfect’ pumpkins.  A nice little multi-ethnic pumpkin family.  It was such a beautiful day out there, with the sun shining and Mount Si rising up in it’s rocky glory right beside us.  Good times.

Post-pumpkin patch, we found ourselves hungry and ready to cozy up indoors, so we all headed to Brian and Nicole’s for a dumpling making party.  I had never made dumplings before, but I have never enjoyed food prep so much – it was fun to sit around the table with friends, folding yummy fillings of pork and vegetables into delicate little pot-sticker wrappers, then passing them to the men at duty by the stove.  And mmm mmm, they were delicious.  The perfect way to ‘wrap up’ a perfect fall day (pun intended).

This was one of those nothing-special but oh-so-good kind of  weekends.  No big happenings at the Schnell household, but I enjoyed the chance to hang out with friends yesterday and have a ‘me’-day today.  Shane had a late night/early morning at the office last night, so I decided to spend the morning being out-and-about, soaking in the beautiful day and letting him rest.  After church, I stopped by the Fremont Sunday market to do some wandering.  It had been awhile since I’d been to Fremont, and their Sunday street market is one of my favorites in Seattle.  I was tempted by all the home-baked and hand-stitched goodies, but I practiced restraint and walked out of there with nothing but a beautiful bouquet of fresh sunflowers.  Then I practiced indulgence when I came home and baked a batch of chocolate-dipped almond-cherry biscotti.  The rest of the day was pretty mundane, but productive – went for a run, cooked dinner, did laundry, savored a piece of the afore-mentioned biscotti…  Settling into the couch now for a little tea-time, and am going to keep my spirits high by pretending that tomorrow is NOT Monday.  How fleeting a good weekend can be…