The Great Wheel

Earlier this year, we had the ultimate FOOD DRIVE SMACKDOWN. It was our little Seattle office pitted against sub-groups of our DC office of equal size. Well, one thing I've learned from nearly 6 years at GMMB is 1) the people have hearts of gold and would give their left arm to charity, if needed and 2) holy cow, we are competitive! So it goes without saying, we won. Big time. As a reward, the office treated us to a ride on the Great Wheel and happy hour on the wharf. Sweeeeeet.  

So just over a week ago, we all left the office early on a Friday to ride the wheel and enjoy a drink together. It was cloudy, but still gorgeous. Even though I've lived in Seattle for nearly 11 years, I continue to find its beauty day-in and day-out.

Sam, Trina and Andy

Frances and me

Ominous clouds, yet beautiful

Another pod filled with GMMBers

Makin' Bubbles

A couple weeks ago, we babysat Johan (Joe's nephew; my future nephew) while his folks were entertaining a friend from Sweden. Well, not surprisingly, we don't really have a lot of 5-year-old toys aside from the Kinect, but we didn't want to stay cooped up inside on such a nice day. 

So we improvised. We mixed a little dish soap with water and pulled out a cookie cutter, funnel and tea strainer to make BUBBLES! I think we spent a solid hour seeing who could make the biggest bubble. It was cute to watch these two together; they have a lot of fun :) Maybe next time we should make a giant bubble maker, eh?

Johan popping one of Joe's giant bubbles :)

Blowing bubbles takes some major concentration

 

 Yep, I think that's the face of a happy boy. Mission accomplished.

A Belated Mother's Day

I'm finding it hard to keep up on the blog these days, especially in a timely manner! But with time, I make it happen. So catching up from a week ago for Mother's Day, both of our folks came over for lunch on the deck. I made fancy schmancy sammies (because our moms only deserve the best!) - including one that was pear, brie and caramelized onions (grilled and served warm) and another that was pepper turkey, ham, white cheddar, avocado, tomato, red onion, arugula and lemon mayo. Served with a side of fruit salad and a glass of wine, it was scrumptious. After lunch, we walked to Bleubird Creamery for a scoop of ice cream - their snickerdoodle ice cream is one of my faves! 

All in all, a great Mother's Day. I am so blessed to have such an amazing mother and pretty soon, a mother-in-law! Love you both :)

P.S. Last Mother's Day, we showed our parents our home for the first time! It wasn't quite ours yet, but we got to peek in the windows and show them the back deck. Fast forward one year and we got to picnic on our deck! Can't believe it's been a year...

 

Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp

A few weekends ago, I found myself with 2 pints of strawberries, a rhubarb patch that needed some love (it'll go to seed if you don't pick it!) and a sweet tooth. What's a girl to do? Make strawberry rhubarb crisp, of course! So I followed this recipe because it seemed to have the simplest ingredients and quite honestly, looked easy. And damn, it was good.

I brought it to a Cinco de Mayo party and it was a hit. But I honestly don't think you can go wrong with rhubarb; it's so flavorful and fresh. So now I'm already looking forward to picking my next rhubarb recipe, but there are so many to choose from! Which would you choose?

Here's our little rhubarb patch in our backyard.

Mixing the ingredients.

 The magic of rhubarb comes in the baking. Yummmmm.

P.S. I remember when I was a little girl, I'd fill a dish with sugar (for dipping since it's sour!) and go out to our rhubarb patch and eat myself silly. But I always had to leave enough for my mom's famous Blubarb Crisp! (Blueberry Rhubarb :))

I covet

When we were in Sweden two years ago (what, TWO YEARS?!), I saw a lot of these little Fjällräven backpacks in stores. I really liked them - maybe it was the versatility or just knowing it was an iconic Swedish brand? But I resisted buying one because I opted for my ceramics instead - however, I didn't stop thinking about the cute little pack. (And seriously, I don't know why, it's just a backpack!) But then a few months after coming home, these backpacks started cropping up everywhere! On blogs, JCrew, and more!

What do you think? Do you like this pack?

This is what happy looks like

Just a group of ladies soaking up the first sunny, hot day of the year at Green Lake with a glass of rosé last weekend. Yep, this is what happy looks like.

One Year Olds

Goose and Fifi turned one on May 1st. In true crazy-cat-lady form, I made them "kitty cakes" - a whole can of wet food with crushed up dehydrated chicken and dry food on top. They legitimately WENT CRAZY for them. We spoiled them with the two cans - not thinking they'd finish - but in a matter of minutes, they nearly devoured both. And for the next hour after that, they wouldn't stop lickin' their chops.

The finished kitty cake. Appetizing, huh?

Joe let Fifi take a peek at what I was making and she was liking what she saw.

Rather than eat their own, they ate one then moved onto the next. These cats sure love each other.

P.S. Are you jealous of our kitchen floors?
P.P.S. On a scale of 1-10, how crazy do you think I am now? I mean... kitty cakes.

Flowers

A few weeks back, I had the gardening itch. So I went to the store and picked up a few plants to spruce up our front porch and backyard deck. There's something about a bright, colorful flower that can bring a smile to your face, don't you think? My favorites of the group are the dahlia (wedding flowers!) and ranunculus. I wanted to bring a white anemone home too, but no such luck. Maybe on the next flower shop visit!  

What is your favorite flower to grow?

P.S. The flowers must be happy with all this SUN today. Is summer here to stay?! Please say yes.