It's beginning to look a lot like (a white) Christmas...

Seattle has been shut down for a week now due to a very rare massive snowfall. Fighting cabin fever, making snowmen, baking, catching up on DVR recordings and complaining about the city's pathetic response to snow and ice have become popular pastimes all over town. We've gotten out a few times this week to go shopping, visit friends within walking distance and play in the snow, and I thought I'd share a few favorite photos...


Winterberries on 41st and Midvale; the poor tree was so weighed down with snow that I'm not sure it will spring back up when this is all gone. But it definitely makes for a pretty picture:


View down one of the many snowy streets in our neighborhood:


With even the main roads not getting plowed often enough, you can imagine how treacherous local streets have gotten. Many residents have made their own "street closed" and "do not enter" signs like this one, duct-taped to someone's trash can:


Someone (or more than one) made a snowman smack in the middle of 45th and Stone Way; the baristas from a nearby Starbucks gave it some character:


As for indoor entertainment, yesterday Larry made a chocolate layer cake with vanilla buttercream frosting. It looked so delicious that Zach wanted a bite too:



We were supposed to go to a friend's house for Christmas Eve dinner but the roads are a little too dicey. It's going to be a quiet Christmas at home, just us and the kitties. Roast chicken for dinner with some red potatoes and zucchini, and that fantastic chocolate cake for dessert.

Hope you have a wonderful holiday!

Forks and Knives (La Fete)

The summer went by in a flash, fall came and went even faster, and suddenly it's the week before Christmas. Am I getting older or is time moving more quickly? Or maybe it's just that this year has been one of the busiest yet...I'll try to catch up on the past 6 months over the next few posts.

The biggest reason I haven't blogged since June is that we got married in September, so summer was pretty much a blur of wedding planning and preparations. We had a weekend of events so that our families could meet and we'd have plenty of time to spend with everyone, and it was definitely the best part of 2008 for me. The day before the wedding it poured buckets of rain, but our unpredictable Seattle weather came through and by ceremony time we had a gorgeous, sunny day complete with dramatic clouds - perfect for photos!

Our photographer, Della Chen, was AMAZING. She had so many great ideas for fun photos and was also open to any and all crazy ideas we had. Before the ceremony we went to the Ballard Sunday Market for some photos with our favorite vendors. A crazy idea, yes, but one that was perfect for us - the farmers market is such a huge part of our life that we wanted to include it. What came out of that trip were some of my favorite photos and an appreciation for Della's eye - who else would have looked at a parking lot wall (one that I had never noticed in 3 years of weekly trips to the market) and foreseen something so lovely?



Della's fun and laid-back attitude made our perfect day that much better. If you're looking for a wedding photographer (or a photographer for any occasion) I highly recommend her! All the photos you see in this post were taken by her, and if you want to see more of her handiwork you can view the slideshow she created for us.

The aforementioned perfectly cloudy sunny day, at Gas Works Park:



Group photo time!



We met the wonderful MoZo at Seattle Counseling Services' ICON gala, but it turned out we had been enjoying their music at the Ballard Sunday Market for some time without knowing it was them! Moe and Aimee played our cocktail hour and their mix of bluegrass and Americana really livened up the atmosphere. A perfect way to start the evening. (Am I saying "perfect" too much? Too bad. It was!)


Rather than bore you with the menu details, I'll just let you read it below. I do have to say that it was a superb meal and my only regret is that I didn't get to finish my pork belly or doughnuts - I was busy socializing instead of eating. My waist probably thanked me but my taste buds were sad. Our super-cool "ramerliang" logo was designed by our good friends Kristine and Bob at Lynch Design Group; they also did our save-the-dates, invitations, programs and custom mailing labels. (Considering that Larry and I met at Kristine and Bob's stationery store, it was a no-brainer to ask them to design our wedding stationery!)


My placesetting - Palace Ballroom was awesome and set out all the favors for us. In fact, they did ALL of the set up; we just had to provide clear instructions and get the supplies to them ahead of time. They even printed the menus and table cards for us. We couldn't have asked for a better venue or service (or food). If you're looking for a venue for your next event, give them a call and ask for Alexis - best event planner ever!


Here's what the space looked like when we walked in from cocktail hour - they had it curtained off until dinner time, so it was really fun to see the room open up and watch everyone find their table and seats. We had 8 tables with 8 seats each - maybe the numbers brought extra luck, because everyone seemed to have a great time and get along with their tablemates!


A highlight of the evening, for me at least, was when we caved to peer pressure and had a first dance (which we hadn't intended to do, since dancing isn't something we've ever done together). I'm so glad we did - it was nice to have a few quiet moments on the dance floor while "our song" played. Of course we had to be a little bit silly - and now I have photographic evidence of my husband dancing!

Good times never seemed so good...

We got back from Boston last night and I'm still recovering, but I have to write while I remember the trip.

We got in Saturday morning at 6:30, after a flight with a screaming child. Needless to say, we didn't get much sleep, so after a stop at Dunkin' Donuts (for Larry) and Diesel Cafe (for me) we went back to his sister Linda's place and crashed for a while. The rest of the day was perfectly lazy; we bummed around Harvard Square and stopped in at some of our favorite shops from the last visit. We also got hot chocolate from Burdick's, which is really the most insanely chocolatey hot chocolate you will ever drink. Love it! That night we went to S & S Deli for dinner and rented Stranger than Fiction, which if you haven't seen it yet I highly recommend.

Sunday morning we had brunch in the South End and took a stroll through the Public Garden, where Make Way for Ducklings was set. On the way there we walked along Newbury Street where all the fancy shops are, and Larry saw A-Rod pushing a stroller. We wanted to ask him why he wasn't getting ready for the game but refrained. I guess he wanted to do some pre-game shopping.

Sunday night was the reason for our visit: after 3 years, Larry finally got into the lottery and was able to get tickets to a Red Sox/Yankees game. We chose the last Red Sox/Yankees match-up of the season, and were really excited when we found out that Curt Schilling would be pitching against Roger Clemens. It was an authentic Red Sox experience - we lost in the bottom of the ninth, with the bases loaded, by one run. Heartbreaking. But it was still a very exciting game, and definitely worth the whirlwind trip. I loved being in the ballpark, eating a Fenway frank, hearing all the Boston accents and cheering along with the crowd. I even got the chance to properly boo that traitor Johnny Damon.

We got some extra entertainment in the bottom of the seventh inning, when some crazy fan ran onto the field! He ran to second base and tried to high-five Eric Hinske (who had just hit a double), then he stole and put on Robinson Cano's cap! He was doing a pretty good job outrunning security and I know I wasn't the only one cheering him on, because it was hilarious. Finally someone tackled him and they started to cart him off the field, when he tried to escape AGAIN. He didn't succeed, but it was awesome to watch. Soxy Lady has some video of the guy, and a much better recap of the game than I could hope to provide, so I suggest you visit her site. I totally agree with her complaint about people who don't deserve to go to a game at Fenway. The people in our row got up so many times that we wondered why they bothered paying for seats!

Although it was tough to watch the Sox lose after flying 3,000 miles to see them, it was completely worth it and now I'm hoping we'll get picked in the lottery for playoff tickets...

As we were leaving Fenway, vendors were selling funny t-shirts that mostly made fun of the Yankees. My two favorites were "A-Rod: Mr. April, Miss October" and "Derek Jeter Drinks Wine Coolers." I love Boston!

Yesterday we drove to Concord to visit Orchard House, where Louisa May Alcott wrote Little Women. Yes, I'm a total dork and I don't care who knows it. The tour was really fun, but the introductory video was a little weird - they had an actress who played Louisa, which was bizarre in itself, but then she kept talking about herself in both past and present tense. Creepy! One cool thing I didn't know was that Louisa's sister May was an accomplished artist who had several paintings shown at the Paris Salon. Their parents let May draw all over the house, and in her bedroom there are drawings all over the walls and windowsills. She probably would have been just as famous as Louisa, but she died 6 weeks after having her daugher Lulu. Of course now I have the urge to read Little Women again and try to find the similarities between the Marches and the Alcotts. Outside the house, a local club maintains a garden just like the one described in the book (chapter 10):

"The garden had to be put in order, and each sister had a quarter of the little plot to do what she liked with. Hannah used to say, "I'd know which each of them gardings belonged to, ef I see 'em in Chiny," and so she might, for the girls' tastes differed as much as their characters. Meg's had roses and heliotrope, myrtle, and a little orange tree in it. Jo's bed was never alike two seasons, for she was always trying experiments. This year it was to be a plantation of sun flowers, the seeds of which cheerful land aspiring plant were to feed Aunt Cockle-top and her family of chicks. Beth had old-fashioned fragrant flowers in her garden, sweet peas and mignonette, larkspur, pinks, pansies, and southernwood, with chickweed for the birds and catnip for the pussies. Amy had a bower in hers, rather small and earwiggy, but very pretty to look at, with honeysuckle and morning-glories hanging their colored horns and bells in graceful wreaths all over it, tall white lilies, delicate ferns, and as many brilliant, picturesque plants as would consent to blossom there."

We also visited the Old North Bridge, one of the first battle sites in the Revolutionary War. One thing I really love about New England is how much of our nation's history is still there in the architecture and landscape. Also, it's just plain beautiful. I do have to say that Concord appears to win the prize for most commemorative plaques per square mile. Besides Louisa May Alcott, Concord was home to Emerson, Thoreau, Hawthorne, Melville and others that I'm forgetting. Add to that the Colonial and Revolutionary historical events, and you have yourself a lot of plaques.

Emerson's house was closed the day we visited Concord, but we'll save it for the next visit. I hope there will be many more visits, because Boston (and New England in general) is just a fun place to be. And I have photographic evidence to prove it.


Yawkey Way, outside Fenway Park



In our seats, section 18 of the grandstand



Curt Schilling warming up



The Old North Bridge in Concord



View from the bridge



Concord School of Philosophy
(founded by Bronson Alcott, on the grounds of Orchard House)

The laziest post ever.

Since I started my blog last year, I've been keeping track of bizarre search terms that lead to my site. I've been waiting for the right time to post, and I decided today is the day, mainly because I'm too lazy to write anything original. So here, listed in descending order of bizarreness, are some of the craziest search terms around.

1. long fingernail slave (I think this definitely has to be the weirdest...not only do I not blog about those kinds of things, but my blog didn't show up until something like the 14th page of Google--how long was this person researching their incredibly random topic?!?)
2. stinky garbage girl (so...confused...eewww.)
3. poo (you write one whiny post about the person who puts their dog poo in your garbage can, and wham! you're on the "poo" search engine list for life!)
4. chocolate pudding dessert named chocolate fatso (the person searching was from Grinnell, Iowa--doesn't "chocolate fatso" just sound like a Midwestern dessert?)
5. dance ramer (awesome.)
6. Kristen couch (I know I spend a lot of time on the couch, but come on now!)
7. mailing address for Christopher Guest (yes, because not only do I have his address in my Filofax but I've posted it for the whole world to see...)
8. Theo chocolate sucks (actually it rules--it's delicious, and if you take the factory tour they give you TONS of free chocolate. I think the person who typed this in sucks!)
9. kill the groove (um, you better not. Sophie Ellis Bextor will mess you UP.)
10. dressed in yellow she says hello come sit next to me you fine fellow (considering that I posted the entire lyrics to this rap I'm not surprised at this one.)

Happy weekend!

Oh for the life of a cat

Other than a brief period from 2:30-3:00 spent whining for their lunch and then eating it, this is what the boys have done today. I have to admit I'm a little jealous.

Tiptoe through the tulips with me...

The Skagit Valley Tulip Festival is in full bloom up at Mount Vernon through April 30th. Now I know you can't actually tiptoe through the tulips or they'd be ruined long before the end of the month, but it seems there is a shocking lack of songs written about tulips so it was the best I could come up with. Christine and I checked the festival out last Friday (more on her trip in my next post), and I think this weekend will be the best time to get out there before petals start dropping off.


This one's for you, Christine!



Tulip Town is totally worth the drive, and the 4 bucks admission. Just be sure to eat lunch before you go, or eat there--no outside food is allowed.



Tulip Town


And it was all yellow...

You call this spring?!?

Sunday was the most perfect kind of spring day--sunny and beautiful, with just enough breeze that you're comfortable, but warm enough to drive with the windows down and wear shorts to play tennis at the park.

This morning it's sunny, but it's 33 degrees outside and there's frost on all of the cars.

Is the Fremont troll punishing us for Missy's impertinence last fall?

I love that dirty water...

Larry's sister lives in Boston, so we got to stay there for a few days between Christmas and New Year's. The first day we drove up to Freeport, Maine to visit the gigantic L.L. Bean. Of course we had to take a picture by the giant boot.

On the way there we stopped at the DeLorme headquarters in Yarmouth to visit Eartha, the world's largest globe. I'm still partial to the world's largest buffalo, but we had fun checking Eartha out.

The next day Larry's parents drove up for some family sightseeing fun. [Sidenote--I need to mention that we got coffee the first two days at Diesel Cafe, which had the best coffee I drank on the east coast. If you live in Boston I highly recommend it.] We walked through the Public Garden, which I found out has a fascinating (and well-deserved) monument to ether. We also walked a good chunk of the Freedom Trail...

and visited the Paul Revere House. One thing about the house that I found really interesting was the discolored glass in the windows:

The guide told us that homeowners ordered their glass from England and had it shipped over. The mass-produced glass would often have particles of dust or other imperfections in it, so while the window arrived as clear glass, the individual panes would discolor over time. I think it would be cool to have that happen to your windows--it's like having your own custom stained glass.

The next day, the 30th, we took a tour of Fenway Park. It was exciting to be in the park, although it would be even more exciting if we were at a game. Or if Big Papi was our tour guide. Still, it was fun to learn Red Sox trivia, like that former owners Tom and Jean Yawkey's initials are written in Morse code on the manual scoreboard. Now I'm going to spend every home game looking for them.

By the way, those seats behind us go for $450 a pop, and that's only if your number is chosen after you enter the lottery for them. But the view is amazing...

We had purchased buttons for the First Night celebration, which gets you free admission into a ton of places. So on New Year's Eve we headed first to the New England aquarium, which had free admission till noon. The penguins there are seriously cute. Then it was on to the Old State House, Old Granary Burial Ground, and Otis House Museum (also old, but the word is not featured in the title). We had dinner at Whole Foods, where Larry got a slice of "Manny" pizza--they describe it as "pizza just being pizza." Love it!

Finally, for no other reason than that I think this is a really cute picture, here's one last shot of Boston:

Cheers!

New York classic

New York cute

New York Inspiration

The First Emperor

This is the first of what will probably be several posts on our trip back east...

Holiday Tree at Lincoln Center



After spending Christmas in Rhode Island and New Year's Eve in Boston, we went back to RI for New Year's dinner with Larry's family. We took the train from Providence to New York on January 2nd, got into Penn Station at 2:45, and were at the hotel by 3. It was fabulous--our hotel was 2 blocks south of Central Park and across the street from Carnegie Hall. We couldn't check in till 4, so we decided to stow our bags and walk to Lincoln Center, to see how far we'd have to travel for the opera that night. It was only 8 blocks away--woo hoo!

Metropolitan Opera at Lincoln Center




On the way back we saw Ethan Hawke and Martha Plimpton at Columbus Circle. They're both performing in The Coast of Utopia right now, so we guessed they were heading to Lincoln Center for call time. We had an early dinner at nearby Cafe Europa and went back to check in and get ready for the opera (!).

The New York Times didn't love The First Emperor, but I did. Here's what I think: the NYT critic is paid to go to operas. His job is to look for errors, missteps, things to criticize--and to commend where he sees fit. I, on the other hand, go to the opera a few times a year (and had never been to the Met before this). I'm going to the opera because I want to be told a story, hear beautiful singing, look at pretty costumes--in short, I want to be entertained. I'm predisposed to like what I see, because I've paid (okay, Larry paid) for the ticket, made an effort to get dressed up for a fun night out, and am excited to see the opera legend Placido Domingo create a role, watch Tan Dun conduct the score he composed, see Emi Wada's beautiful costumes and experience a story directed by the amazing Zhang Yimou. How could it have been anything but a fabulous time?

Granted, the first act was a little s l o w . . .but hey, there was a lot of exposition to get through. The second act moved much more swiftly, and the percussive score (assisted by a HUGE gong downstage left) kept things humming along. My favorite character was the Yin-Yang Master, performed by Wu Hsing-Kuo (who came over from Peking Opera for the occasion). His singing and incredible dance skills completely mesmerized me every time he came onstage. I also thought Michelle DeYoung was great as the shaman, often blurring the line between singing and shrieking. The freakishly long fingernails and crazy costume helped to make her a very scary shaman. Placido Domingo gave a convincing performance as the self-absorbed emperor who decides not to have Gao Jianli killed for deflowering his daughter, because he needs the musician to finish writing China's new national anthem (his obsession with the anthem was pretty funny at times). Of course, Domingo's voice was phenomenal. It was nice to see him tackling a new role and embracing a different style of music--at this point in his career he could easily coast on recordings of old standards. I think it speaks highly of his artistry that he's still challenging himself.

The sets were innovative--lots of brick-like blocks suspended from wire, that continually changed figurations and depicted (at various times) steps, an amphitheater, the Great Wall in progress, the emperor's castle/fortress, and the completed Great Wall. The costumes were just gorgeous--Princess Yueyang's dress at the beginning of Act 2 was probably the prettiest (long robes in two shades of pink), but the chorus costumes in Act 1 and the Yin-Yang Master were cool beyond imagination. They wore double-sided robes, with masks on the back of their heads, and when they turned around they would perform arm movements that made it look like the mask-creature was shimmying and dancing on its own. Seriously creepy, and so cool.

Musically, I think Tan Dun was trying to give the vocal melodies a similar feel to the zither that was often onstage--that would account for the soaring lines, strange leaps and chromaticism that I heard throughout the opera. I thought it worked in its way, and though it did make for some slow moments I didn't think it was painfully slow or boring. It just wasn't the traditional Western operatic style that we're used to, and rightfully so considering it's not a Western story. There was a lovely duet between Gao Jianli and Princess Yueyang, and the slave song/national anthem was quite moving. My favorite musical moment would have to be the Act 2 intro/overture. Tan Dun took one of the motifs (from the slave song, I believe, but I could be wrong) and started changing it up in the orchestra, tweaking intervals here and there for an awesomely strange theme & variation moment. Maybe it comes from singing with the Esos for so long, but I love that stuff! If I were in the orchestra that would definitely be my favorite section to play.

We pre-ordered champagne for intermission and had such a wonderful, decadent time drinking it on the Grand Tier and people-watching. The chandelier/light fixture in the center of the staircase was sooo pretty and sparkly, and around the lobby there were costumes on display (Marc Chagall's Queen of the Night costume for The Magic Flute was very cool). There was also an exhibit going on of modern paintings inspired by opera heroines. I really liked John Currin's Helena, which you can sort of see here (scroll to the bottom, the last thumbnail). All in all, our trip to the Met was a once-in-a-lifetime experience that I hope I will get to have many, many more times.

Who could say no to that face?

Yesterday Stuff On My Cat hosted one of the cutest wedding proposals ever. I also had fun skimming through the 700+(!) comments, including a few from folks who take complete strangers' love lives waaay too seriously. I mean, come on, if you're proposing on a well known web site, you're probably pretty sure she's going to say yes. For that matter, I would think most people wait to propose until they're sure the other person will say yes. But I digress. What I really should say is congratulations, Jeff and Heather (and Fredrique)!

more Alaska pics

First day of our cruise, from the top deck of the Mercury


Before our raft float excursion through the Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve--our life preservers all had fun names like "Salty Dog" and "Mad Hatter"

Back to life, back to reality...

We've been back since Friday, but it still feels like we just walked in the door. So much catching up to do--laundry, work, and of course, Project Runway (sadly, we didn't get Bravo on the ship). But a girl only has so many hours in the day, so I'll start by posting a couple of my favorite pictures from our cruise. I'll post more in the next few days or so.


Mendenhall Glacier in Juneau, Alaska


Sunset over the Inside Passage

Fourth of July photo extravaganza

Possum in our side yard last week. Cute or creepy? Discuss.


Sleeping kitties are the sweetest ever!


Zach realizes that the way up is usually easier than the way down...