Vacation, new (used) car, wedding reception - done!
This is the last day of our January vacation. One week ago from today we left for a few days to travel and spend in Port Angeles. We stayed at probably our favorite place there called Domaine Madeleine. It is a bed and breakfast with wonderful 5-course breakfasts that leave us full until 5pm. We had the extreme pleasure this trip to dine at a new place called Michael's Divine Dining -- we liked it so much we went there two nights in a row. The third night we went to Sabai Thai which is owned by Victor Posten. Jeri the owner of the BB we stayed at told us that Victor had passed away a few months ago which saddened us as he was a brilliant chef and a very generous person. The food was still delicious, but our meal was definitely missing the usual chat and visit from Victor. Apparently his widow has some friends helping out with the cooking as the restaurant seems to be doing very well. Jody joined us for this meal and I think he enjoyed himself.
The last day we were in Port Angeles, we took a detour north to Bellingham to visit the people we will be purchasing our wedding bands from (James Binnion). We had a great visit and consultation which ended up lasting over an hour to my surprise. We stopped in Arlington to dine at the O'Brien Turkey House - it was exactly what we wanted, hot food with gravy.
Let's see...where does this take me, oh yes so we arrive home late Wednesday evening and get ready for the next couple days. We are keeping our eyes out for Snoqualmie Pass updates as we were planning on heading over to Yakima, but that was not to be in our future as Mother Nature decided to dump 10' of snow (yes FEET) over the I-90 corridor...
Thursday morning, we get up and I take Chris down to the car dealership to pick up his new (used) car. The initial meeting we had with a car salesman was the Saturday prior (yes, the day before we left for Port Angeles) ended not so well -- we basically got up and left because the salesman was being overtly aggressive and rude. After we left on that rainy Saturday afternoon Chris' phone rings and it is the floor manager calling to say "we'll sell the car to you at the price you want it at"--leading us back to Thursday as that was the day Chris said he'd be in to finalize the paperwork and pick up the car. After Chris came home with his car (it is an Audi RS6 if you care) we went to the grocery store and then went to an Open House tasting session at Salty's on Alki.
Being an astute reader of my blog you are aware already that Salty's is where we would like to have our wedding reception. The Open House was a great idea and we are glad that we attended. Of course there were the obligatory vendors at the event trying to pimp their products at Salty's -- the DJ, the photographers, the tabletops people, the ice carvings, blah blah blah. This event was the first time that all of the new 2008 menu items would be served for public tasting. Surprisingly some items that you would think would be good (i.e. lobster puffs, skewered prawns and scallops with lavendar and thyme) turned out being horrible so again it is a good thing we went. We now have a draft of what we want to have on the 6th of September, so when we muster enough energy to start those discussions with Salty's catering, then we'll know more. As of now it looks as though we'll be doing one of their Reception packages slightly altered with some replacements here or some drops there - and we want to add on the carved roast beef (yum) and the chocolate fountain. OMG -- that fountain looks so cheesey because you see it everywhere at trade shows or whatever but it will be worth it. MMMmmmmmmmmmmmmm. Also we are probably going to have Salty's serve up their "famous" white chocolate mousse cake and just order a small 2-tiered cake for "picture cutting". I can already taste that white chocolate cake in one bite, some roast beef in another, and followed up with a chocolate-covered peanut butter cookie or strawberry...and some veggies in between for good measure.
Bringing us to Friday--well again we wake up and look at the pass reports and they are still unzesty. No trip to Yakima for now, but I know it will happen some other weekend coming up. After some lounging I had a craving for a hamburger and it was off to Red Robin. One mushroom-cheeseburger, one peppercorn-bacon-cheeseburger, and two iced-teas later we were good to go. Joe just purchased his very first house so we went to Macys and purchsaed some nice housewarming items for him. Some new non-stick pans, new knives, cutting boards, and an all-purpose plastic spatula later we were carrying large heavy sacks back to the car.
Saturday (yesterday) we went and visited Joe's new place and bestowed the gifts to which he was extremely grateful. After a house tour we decided to take a driving tour and we ended up in La Conner. I know how terribly exciting. For me it is refreshing to not have to drive as I forget what it is like to be a passenger in a car sometimes. A short nap and we were magically at Central Market in Mill Creek (I LOVE Central Market, I want to live up in Mill Creek because of that store -- isn't that the saddest thing you've ever heard). We came home and had an early dinner and I was hoping to go up to David's Bridal to look at wedding dresses, but the store closes at 7pm on Saturdays. Boo.
Today we took another roadtrip, this time to Leavenworth; Skykomish is still buried under mounds of snow but Stevens Pass (Highway 2) wasn't so bad. I got another opportunity to take a short nap and once again magically we were at our destination. We had a lovely German lunch at Cafe Mozart and we tried to purchase some sausages from our favorite sausage monger, Willi, but his store is closed as he is on vacation. Boo hoo! So I purchased a bag of peanut brittle and it was back to Seattle before the roads got too cold, which was a wise decision because as we were descending it had begun to snow once again.
I want to try and get myself up to David's Bridal, but both Heather and Amy are like "make sure you have a lot of time for it" so I am thinking I won't go up until Saturday morning unless I can somehow manage to get off of work early Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday. I hope that they can come with me as it will be good to have a variety of opinions. Honestly I don't want to pay more than $1000 for it, I want it to look good on me and be flattering. I have no other pre-conceived ideas of what it HAS to be or what it SHOULD be. Perhaps after some dress trying-on and maybe a purchase or two we'll go to L&L Hawaiian Barbeque or even to Bobby's Hawaiian Restaurant in Everett.
No other wedding updates to my knowledge; I had coffee with Rusty right before all of my vacation and he was kind enough to pass along some photographer and florist information that he and his wife used for their daughter's wedding. I haven't had the chance to look at those two vendors quite yet, but I am very thankful for the information. Going back to the rings, we decided on a 4-color blend mainly because with the kind of work Chris does we wanted to pick something that wouldn't react too much with iodine, but also the 4-colors looks truly awesome. So lemme write out loud here...dress, photographer, florist, ring, reception -- ok... the ceremony is still in the works. I just wish that places wouldn't require such a HUGE deposit at once, but such is life. I'm not sure which deposit will be next -- rings or ceremony. I'm not worried about the dress, photography or florist. Oh registry -- I know our website says not quite ready for prime time, but they are pretty much a done deal IMO. I will try to make sure if items are discontinued to replace them with new ones as I know this is a risk I take considering the wedding is 6 months away.
Another disclaimer about our registries as I have been asked this by many people already -- "Are the items on your registry really things that you need? Or do you want money instead?" Believe it or not the items on our registries are items that we really do need, so please do not feel bad purchasing anything from them. Yes I really do want that many tablecloths and napkins from Macys and I heart towels. I heart them. Tee hee. Actually there is no "rule" that says you have to buy anything at all! The registries are available to help make your shopping life easier if you choose to bestow a gift to us, so please no hard feelings.
All the same, I have some potential talks with the Gates Foundation and the UW Libraries this week for job opportunities...very exciting times. Tomorrow is re-entry into work and it should be fun as I can't wait to see my friends at work!!
The last day we were in Port Angeles, we took a detour north to Bellingham to visit the people we will be purchasing our wedding bands from (James Binnion). We had a great visit and consultation which ended up lasting over an hour to my surprise. We stopped in Arlington to dine at the O'Brien Turkey House - it was exactly what we wanted, hot food with gravy.
Let's see...where does this take me, oh yes so we arrive home late Wednesday evening and get ready for the next couple days. We are keeping our eyes out for Snoqualmie Pass updates as we were planning on heading over to Yakima, but that was not to be in our future as Mother Nature decided to dump 10' of snow (yes FEET) over the I-90 corridor...
Thursday morning, we get up and I take Chris down to the car dealership to pick up his new (used) car. The initial meeting we had with a car salesman was the Saturday prior (yes, the day before we left for Port Angeles) ended not so well -- we basically got up and left because the salesman was being overtly aggressive and rude. After we left on that rainy Saturday afternoon Chris' phone rings and it is the floor manager calling to say "we'll sell the car to you at the price you want it at"--leading us back to Thursday as that was the day Chris said he'd be in to finalize the paperwork and pick up the car. After Chris came home with his car (it is an Audi RS6 if you care) we went to the grocery store and then went to an Open House tasting session at Salty's on Alki.
Being an astute reader of my blog you are aware already that Salty's is where we would like to have our wedding reception. The Open House was a great idea and we are glad that we attended. Of course there were the obligatory vendors at the event trying to pimp their products at Salty's -- the DJ, the photographers, the tabletops people, the ice carvings, blah blah blah. This event was the first time that all of the new 2008 menu items would be served for public tasting. Surprisingly some items that you would think would be good (i.e. lobster puffs, skewered prawns and scallops with lavendar and thyme) turned out being horrible so again it is a good thing we went. We now have a draft of what we want to have on the 6th of September, so when we muster enough energy to start those discussions with Salty's catering, then we'll know more. As of now it looks as though we'll be doing one of their Reception packages slightly altered with some replacements here or some drops there - and we want to add on the carved roast beef (yum) and the chocolate fountain. OMG -- that fountain looks so cheesey because you see it everywhere at trade shows or whatever but it will be worth it. MMMmmmmmmmmmmmmm. Also we are probably going to have Salty's serve up their "famous" white chocolate mousse cake and just order a small 2-tiered cake for "picture cutting". I can already taste that white chocolate cake in one bite, some roast beef in another, and followed up with a chocolate-covered peanut butter cookie or strawberry...and some veggies in between for good measure.
Bringing us to Friday--well again we wake up and look at the pass reports and they are still unzesty. No trip to Yakima for now, but I know it will happen some other weekend coming up. After some lounging I had a craving for a hamburger and it was off to Red Robin. One mushroom-cheeseburger, one peppercorn-bacon-cheeseburger, and two iced-teas later we were good to go. Joe just purchased his very first house so we went to Macys and purchsaed some nice housewarming items for him. Some new non-stick pans, new knives, cutting boards, and an all-purpose plastic spatula later we were carrying large heavy sacks back to the car.
Saturday (yesterday) we went and visited Joe's new place and bestowed the gifts to which he was extremely grateful. After a house tour we decided to take a driving tour and we ended up in La Conner. I know how terribly exciting. For me it is refreshing to not have to drive as I forget what it is like to be a passenger in a car sometimes. A short nap and we were magically at Central Market in Mill Creek (I LOVE Central Market, I want to live up in Mill Creek because of that store -- isn't that the saddest thing you've ever heard). We came home and had an early dinner and I was hoping to go up to David's Bridal to look at wedding dresses, but the store closes at 7pm on Saturdays. Boo.
Today we took another roadtrip, this time to Leavenworth; Skykomish is still buried under mounds of snow but Stevens Pass (Highway 2) wasn't so bad. I got another opportunity to take a short nap and once again magically we were at our destination. We had a lovely German lunch at Cafe Mozart and we tried to purchase some sausages from our favorite sausage monger, Willi, but his store is closed as he is on vacation. Boo hoo! So I purchased a bag of peanut brittle and it was back to Seattle before the roads got too cold, which was a wise decision because as we were descending it had begun to snow once again.
I want to try and get myself up to David's Bridal, but both Heather and Amy are like "make sure you have a lot of time for it" so I am thinking I won't go up until Saturday morning unless I can somehow manage to get off of work early Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday. I hope that they can come with me as it will be good to have a variety of opinions. Honestly I don't want to pay more than $1000 for it, I want it to look good on me and be flattering. I have no other pre-conceived ideas of what it HAS to be or what it SHOULD be. Perhaps after some dress trying-on and maybe a purchase or two we'll go to L&L Hawaiian Barbeque or even to Bobby's Hawaiian Restaurant in Everett.
No other wedding updates to my knowledge; I had coffee with Rusty right before all of my vacation and he was kind enough to pass along some photographer and florist information that he and his wife used for their daughter's wedding. I haven't had the chance to look at those two vendors quite yet, but I am very thankful for the information. Going back to the rings, we decided on a 4-color blend mainly because with the kind of work Chris does we wanted to pick something that wouldn't react too much with iodine, but also the 4-colors looks truly awesome. So lemme write out loud here...dress, photographer, florist, ring, reception -- ok... the ceremony is still in the works. I just wish that places wouldn't require such a HUGE deposit at once, but such is life. I'm not sure which deposit will be next -- rings or ceremony. I'm not worried about the dress, photography or florist. Oh registry -- I know our website says not quite ready for prime time, but they are pretty much a done deal IMO. I will try to make sure if items are discontinued to replace them with new ones as I know this is a risk I take considering the wedding is 6 months away.
Another disclaimer about our registries as I have been asked this by many people already -- "Are the items on your registry really things that you need? Or do you want money instead?" Believe it or not the items on our registries are items that we really do need, so please do not feel bad purchasing anything from them. Yes I really do want that many tablecloths and napkins from Macys and I heart towels. I heart them. Tee hee. Actually there is no "rule" that says you have to buy anything at all! The registries are available to help make your shopping life easier if you choose to bestow a gift to us, so please no hard feelings.
All the same, I have some potential talks with the Gates Foundation and the UW Libraries this week for job opportunities...very exciting times. Tomorrow is re-entry into work and it should be fun as I can't wait to see my friends at work!!
posted by Jonell at
8:33 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home