This is picture from my ride to Golden Gardens on Thursday evening. It was a beautiful night.

what a fun time for me

friday night we checked out lunchbox laboratory in ballard. freakin' yum! although i'm pretty sure i ate enough burger that night to fulfill a whole year's worth of burger. i ordered the homage to the dicks deluxe. sirloin beef, bacon, american cheese, and a top secret burger sauce. the burger was sloppy and juicy, not to mention incredibly large. attempting to get every ingredient in one bite was really difficult, so i decided to instead take small nibbles and enjoy the goodness that way. on the side was a bostom cream pie milkshake and sweet potato fries and yes i had very little to eat the rest of the weekend.

after food coma set in we decided to check out the new james bond movie, it was good. not much else to say about that i suppose other than it's rare when i'm a part of "opening weekend" sales statistics.

saturday morning kitsy and i woke up early to take a gander through the goodwill off dearborn for their annual "glitter sale". the sale comprises of goodwill's vintage and designer label donations that they recieve year round and then save it for this huge once a year sale. i did not find much for myself. a lot of jewelry then realized that after waiting an hour and a half in line to get into the sale, i had to wait a whole other hour to pay. lame. oh well, at least we tried but i did get an awesome awesome popcorn popper exactly like molly's! i can't wait to make popcorn now!

later in the evening we went to hopvine to check out our buddy, joshua atkins' art. he has a show there to the end of the month and so far seems to be very successful. i love his fun paintings of the monster blob creature and the world that surrounds it.

joshua atkins - no. 50

party weekend rocked.

dinner at the corson building was such an amazing experience. the space is so beautiful and quaint and lovely. brian shared our candle lit dinner(s) with 10 other strangers, whom were all very sweet people. we walked in and were immediately offered kir royales (framboise liquer, champagne, and with a twist). for the next half hour or so we mingled around the building perusing cookbooks on the chef's bookshelf, chatting in the kitchen, roaming the outside garden, and drinking more kir royales. three large tables fill the space each seating around 10+ people. the dinner is served family style so making conversation with your tablemates seemed easier than i had originally imagined

in no particular order we ate:

head cheese with crostini
scallops served with pickled meyer lemon rind
radicchio salad with porcini mushrooms and fried duck skin
arugula salad with chanterelles and anchovie sauce
manilla clams with green tomatoes and red peppers
skape wing with a brocolli sauce
roasted squash with a squash marmalade
roasted rabbit
apple tartine (not the word but something similiar) served with a housemade whipped cream.

everything we ate came with wine pairings. wines we drank:
charles schleret "herrenweg" riesling, 2001 alsace
da capo "mapli" ruche di castagnole monferrato 2006
foreau vouvray sec, 2001 chenin blanc
vizcarra roble, 2006 ribera del duero (temparnillo)
baumard "carte d'or ", 2005 coteaux du layon

i can't wait to return to the corson building.

on saturday, rachel took me to brunch at coastal kitchen. our waitress bought me a yummy mimosa and brought out a coffee cake with a candle in it! so sweet. after that we got our nails done. i picked out an awesome sparkly gold polish. we got ready at the house and the neighbies drove us to hazlewood. the drinks at hazlewood are probably my favorite in town. i drank delicious champagne cocktails the entire night. everything you can think of...bellinis, framboise types, even one with squid ink in it.

around 1145 we headed to the sunset for the velella velella show. we were right up front (well to the far far left of stage) and it was awesome. our whole crew of 15 people danced to the entire show. i had the best time!

along with my brand new super rad iphone that brian bought me i was gifted a bottle of rose from the columbia valley, a digital camera, beautiful earrings from last waltz, and many many drinks. seriously, best birthday ever. i feel so loved.

celebrate good times...

the corson building

my birthday is just around the corner, on saturday to be exact. i've decided to keep it low key with a small group of friends. the festivities begin at the corson building on friday night for dinner with my love. i have been anxiously awaiting this day for about a month now. of course i will come back with a full report (and tummy). we chose dinner with wine pairings of course, it's a celebration!

my vintage party dress!

on saturday, rachel is taking me out for a day of luxurious fun. we are brunching at kingfish cafe, then off to get our nails done. afterwards we are heading to sephora to get some new fun make-up to match our vintage 1960's dresses. hers bright pink, mine metallic green. i'm wearing gold shoes since it's my golden birthday (25 on the 25th). then back to the house to get ready.

vv @ holocene, portland - july 2008

we are kicking off the night at hazlewood in ballard for delicious cocktails, then to the sunset tavern to see velella velella. this band is so good...local, my buddy andrew is in it, and you can dance hella to their music!

i can't for this weekend!

summer is upon us...

The weekend was great. Friday night Kitsy’s sister, Amanda, made us a delicious gourmet dinner of braised pork shoulder with a salsa verde on top of cheese polenta. The side was an amazingly tasty tomato salad marinated in lemon juice and olive oil. Yum! Brian and I brought over rose and homemade red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. Wow. Surprisingly enough we were not committed to the food coma and eventually made our way over to 611 Supreme for late night cocktails.

Saturday was full of adventure with Matt. He took me on my first fly fishing excursion. It took us a while to get out to the lake since I had to purchase a license but now I’m set for future adventures. I had the best time fishing. My time out there on Lake Ballinger was calming and peaceful. Later that evening was the art opening of Janko’s video installation and pictures called Object. The art party was great. Wonderful Union was full of beautiful and interesting people. We had not eaten dinner so we drank wine until our tummy’s hurt. Matt, Regina, Brian, and I stopped at Snoose Junction for what I think is some of the best pizza I’ve had in Seattle. Half combo and Half Cheese (with an olive tapenade, havarti, and mozzarella!).

On Sunday, I volunteered for my very last shift at SIFF. My time at the festival was a ton of fun. Brian and I saw 5 movies this year. The most we have ever seen during a year I’m sure so it was great getting to see so many lovely movies. My favorites were Still Orangutans and The Edge of Heaven. Afterwards, we rode our bikes to the park to hang with friends and play ball. We rode over to Regina’s for a lasagna dinner, the basketball game and rummy. It was a perfect weekend.

This weekend I look forward to a four day weekend, Marcus’ solstice party, the opening of Fake Banana at the Fremont Market, and Katie and Derrick coming to town!!! Wow. I can’t wait!!