May Update

Posted on May 23, 2014 by Marie

Hi, everybody! Sorry for the lack of updates. Nick and I are both doing great; we just haven’t had much to blog about lately. Here’s what we’ve been up to:

Mariners Game

Safeco Field

Mom won tickets to a Mariners game in a raffle at work, so Nick and I spent Mother’s Day at Safeco Field with Mom and Amanda. The weather was fantastic, but we all got a bit sunburned. For some reason, my nose got especially burned, so I looked like Rudolph for a few days. 😛 The Mariners didn’t field the ball very well (5 errors) and lost the game 7-9, but we all had a good time.

One of the awesome things about our house is that we have great bus access. We generally take the bus when we go anywhere downtown or to the stadiums south of downtown, which is great because we don’t have to deal with the stress and expense of driving and parking.

Marrakesh

Marrakesh

Marrakesh (photo from the restaurant’s website)

We went to Marrakesh Moroccan Restaurant with Mom and Amanda last weekend. Mom and Amanda had been there before, but it was the first time for Nick and me.

It has a great atmosphere and you eat with your hands, which is traditional in Morocco.

Dinner was served in multiple courses: salad and lentil soup, b’stilla royale (phyllo dough filled with ground chicken and topped with powdered sugar), the main courses, and dessert and mint tea. For the main courses, we ordered Tangine of Chicken Lemon and Olives, Tangine of Braised Hare, Couscous Marrakesh (couscous with lamb and vegetables), and Brochette Marrakesh (grilled lamb), which we ate family style. Everything was delicious. I especially liked the cumin, paprika, and garlic sauce that came with the hare.

Gardening

So far this year, we’ve planted basil, beans, chives, cilantro, cucumbers, dill, lemon balm, oregano, parsley, raspberries, snow peas, strawberries, tarragon, and Thai chili peppers. A lot of these are plants that we had last year, but we’re also trying out some new ones: beans, dill, oregano, snow peas, and strawberries.

Chives

Chives (lemon balm in background)

Peony

We just discovered we have a peony in our garden

Snow Peas

The snow peas are growing quickly

The primrose we planted along the walkway is still blooming, but it requires more maintenance than we were expecting. It blooms frequently and you have to remove the old blossoms and leaves. We love the color it adds to our backyard, though.

Upcoming

Nick and I have been wanting to go for a hike lately, but iffy weather and changes in plans keep delaying it. I hope we’ll be able to go this weekend, but it looks like it might rain. Anyway, expect a hiking trip blog post soon!

This fall, Nick is going to move to a different building at work. He’s looking forward to the walls of floor-to-ceiling windows that offer a great view of Seattle.

But what we’re most looking forward to is that Nick’s mom is flying out to visit us in September. We’re already coming with ideas of things to do while she’s here. By the way, she has a shop on Etsy now, Design by Meg, in case you’re looking for some wire art to decorate your home. 😉

Categories: Gardening, Outing, Restaurant, Seattle, Social Gathering | Leave a comment

Our Latest Garden Addition: Primrose

Posted on February 19, 2014 by Marie

Over the weekend (a long weekend, thanks to President’s Day), Nick and I went to Molbak’s to get some primrose for the garden. We have a walkway along the side of our house that should be perfect for them.

We planted them in the rain (it has been an abnormally wet February), but we had fun doing it anyway. 🙂 We got a few extra, just in case we had miscalculated how many we needed (we didn’t), so we planted those by the back fence.

Primrose in the garden

Primrose in the garden

Primrose along the walkway

Primrose along the walkway

Categories: Gardening | 2 Comments

Seattle Seahawks, Super Bowl 2014 Champions

Posted on February 2, 2014 by Marie

Super Bowl Champions

What an unbelievable game today! Nick and I invited Dad, Mom, and Amanda over to watch the game and though we aren’t exactly big football fans, we were shouting and laughing the whole game. I think this may be the first time the football game was more amusing than the commercials (what disappointing commercials this year!). Here’s an amusing Smart Car commercial to make up for the Super Bowl commercials this year:

People are still outside cheering and launching fireworks. Definitely a fun time to be a Seattleite. 😀

Categories: Seattle | 1 Comment

Christmas Ships

Posted on December 24, 2013 by Marie

Since 1949, the Christmas Ship Festival has been a Seattle tradition. The Argosy Christmas Ship sails to parks and communities throughout Lake Washington, Lake Union, and Elliott Bay and performs for the people on shore. Seattleites also deck their boats out in Christmas lights and decorations and follow the cruise ship around.

Christmas Ships: Me, Mom, and Amanda

Me, Mom, & Amanda on Peter’s boat

Last year, Uncle Peter took us out on his boat, but the wind was so strong that we didn’t go out on Lake Washington where the Christmas Ship festival was. This year, the wind was better, but it was a bit of a dreary, misty day.

Christmas ships: Nick, Tucker, and Cassie

Nick, Tucker, and Cassie

Along with taco dip and chips, Nick and I brought some homemade peppermint bark. The recipe is really easy and the peppermint bark is really yummy, so I highly recommend trying it out. 🙂

We have two new members in our family this year. Last month, Uncle Peter got Tucker (Boston terrier puppy) and last week, Grandma and Grandpa got Cassie (Pekingese Pomeranian puppy). They’re super tiny and it was fun watching the two of them get acquainted with each other and play.

So that was what we were up to on Sunday. On Monday, Nick was sick and he wasn’t feeling any better today, so we stayed home instead of going up to my grandparents’ cabin. For Christmas Eve dinner, my family has a traditional Swedish dinner (one of the best things about Christmas), so I did some last minute improvising and made Swedish meatballs and mashed potatoes for Nick and me. Sadly, no lefse or potato sausage, but that’s okay. Hopefully, Nick will be feeling well enough that we can join everyone at the cabin tomorrow, but at least we’re together. 🙂

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas!

Categories: Outing, Seattle, Social Gathering | Leave a comment

First Snow at Our House

Posted on December 20, 2013 by Marie

The news is reporting that “for the first time in nearly two years, snow accumulated in the greater Seattle area.” I blogged about that snow back in January 2012 when we were still in the apartment. Today marks the first time we’ve had snow at our house, though! 🙂

Snow in our backyard

The news has been going crazy over today’s snow for the last week or so, claiming that we would probably see 2-4″ in Seattle. We didn’t get that much, but any snow is enough to make schools and businesses close and a lot of people (Nick included) just stay home.

The snow will probably be gone by late morning and we’ll get up to a high of 44° later today.

Categories: Daily Life, Seattle, Townhouse | 2 Comments

Winter is Coming

Posted on December 2, 2013 by Marie

The arctic cold front has arrived… and it brought hail! I took this photo of the hail in our backyard just a few minutes ago. We’re going to have temperatures in the 30’s for at least the next week. Brr!

Backyard Hail

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We went up to my grandparents’ cabin and had dinner with the family. 🙂

Categories: Daily Life, Seattle, Townhouse | Leave a comment

Grocery Shopping Adventure

Posted on November 27, 2013 by Marie

I spent Monday with Mom and Amanda because I had an eye doctor appointment in their neck of the woods. They live in one of the most ethnically diverse zip codes in the country, so there are lots of interesting people and places in the area. They were excited to show me their closest grocery store, which had just reopened.

The grocery store had a vast assortment of ethnic food and supplies in addition to what you’d normally expect in a grocery store. I took photos of some of the more interesting things we found:

Dried limes

Dried limes

5 lbs. of pickled pig skins

5 lbs. of pickled pig skins

Mutant coconut balls

Mutant coconut balls

Beef bile and assorted animal blood

Beef bile and assorted animal blood

I think the beef bile was my favorite food discovery — definitely not something I was expecting to find. It’s not too late to incorporate it into a Thanksgiving dish, right? 😉

Categories: Outing, Social Gathering | 4 Comments

Veterans Day

Posted on November 12, 2013 by Marie

I hope you all enjoyed your Veterans Day holiday yesterday! Nick had the day off, so we had planned on going to The Museum of Flight with Dad and Amanda. It’s the largest private air and space museum in the world and it’s located right next to Boeing Field. The problem was that the museum’s parking lot was PACKED. Even the overflow lot was completely full! We drove around the parking lot for 15-20 minutes trying to find a spot before giving up and telling Dad and Amanda that we need to do something else instead. Amanda suggested that we go back to her place (not far away) and regroup.

Lincoln Park

We got to Mom and Amanda’s house just as Mom was leaving to take the dogs for a walk, so we decided we’d all go along with her and have lunch afterwards. We went to Lincoln Park, which is a big park on Puget Sound in West Seattle. It was a beautiful day to walk along the waterfront! We found the driftwood art in the picture above and we saw a couple making another one on our way back. 😛 We had lunch at Duke’s Chowder House on Alki Beach afterward. Mmm… fish and chips and chowder! 🙂

Categories: Daily Life, Park, Seattle, Social Gathering | Leave a comment

Today’s Crazy Wind Storm

Posted on November 2, 2013 by Marie

Western Washington was hit by a particularly nasty wind storm today. Wind gusts reached up to 65 mph, knocking over trees and wreaking havoc. One of our floating bridges was even closed because of the wind and waves.

It’s estimated that the storm left about 200,000 homes and businesses without power today. As of right now, Seattle City Light is reporting about 20,000 without power and Puget Sound Energy is reporting about 80,000 without power.

Nick and I only had a few flickers and never lost power today (thank goodness!). Just a block away, though, they’re still without power, and there was some sort of downed line just up the street from us, so they blocked part of the street.

So, for those wondering, Nick and I are safe and well and very happy to not be in the dark right now. 🙂

Categories: Seattle | Leave a comment

UW Husky Football Game

Posted on October 27, 2013 by Marie

Nick and I went to last night’s UW football game with Grandma and Uncle Eric. They played against California and won 41-17. Go Huskies!

UW Football

Eric sported his usual WSU jersey and the opposing team’s hat. (There is a big UW vs. WSU rivalry, like the U of M vs. MSU rivalry in Michigan. Eric went to WSU, so he likes to cheer against the Huskies. :P)

It was an 8pm game (unusually late), so it was already dark when we got there. It wasn’t rainy or windy, at least! Since the game was so late, Metro buses weren’t really an option. Fortunately, there are special park and ride buses just for the Husky games. One of the locations was only about a 5 minute drive away, so that was an easy way of getting to and from the game.

Artist's Rendering of Husky Stadium

This was Nick’s and my first time at Husky Stadium, which was recently rebuilt. The renovation started in 2011 and the stadium reopened on August 31 for the first game of the 2013 season. Last year, I posted pictures prior to and during the renovation. I wasn’t able to get a good picture of the stadium yesterday, so the picture above is an artist’s rendering of the completed stadium.

Categories: Outing, Seattle, Social Gathering | Leave a comment