Tea Anyone?

Last week my friend Taylor and I went to the Trellis Restaurant in Kirkland for lunch. This restaurant is located just down the street from my job and I have been excited to test it out for quite some time. I'm usually not a tea drinker. To be honest I'm kind of a water girl but I wasn't feeling too well and when the waitress offered their tea service I decided to give it a shot. I had a white Orchid tea that had hints of peaches. It smelled and tasted delish. Since that day I've been thinking of how much fun it would be to go to High Tea.

I've been to the Fairmont Olympic Hotel's Georgia Tea with my mom quite a few times and it is always a nice time. I remember when I was younger I going to the Four Season's High Tea with my friend Ashley and her mom. It always was really fun and felt special especially during Christmas time.

Hmm.... maybe I'll start planning a tea party!

images: Bing Images

Justified Hypocrisy

I recently saw a Facebook post from someone I know that read: "Show your respect for your married friends and family and REJECT R71. Marriage is between a man and a woman ONLY!"

For some reason I had a really strong reaction to this statement. I was equally offended and angry at the same time and I really wished Facebook would come up with a dislike option. However, the first thought that came to mind was, "I have no tolerance for this type of intolerance." Is that not the most hypocritical statement ever made?

I strongly believe in human rights. I believe Gay rights will be the civil rights issue that helps define my generation. I don't understand why it is so divisive and I don't understand why people don't support civil rights for homosexuals. It's crazy and archaic and I don't think the world will be negatively impacted if we provide equal rights to everyone regardless of their race, religion, creed, gender, or sexual orientation.

Anyways, back to the comment: I think the reason I reacted so strongly to what was said had less to do with the author and I having differing opinions and more to do with the manipulative wording of the statements. "Show your respect for your married friends and family and REJECT R71. Marriage is between a man and a woman ONLY!" Could you find a more misleading argument? It's one thing to say, I believe marriage should be between a man and a woman. So I'm voting no to Referrendum 71. To that I would say, "Sounds good. We'll agree to disagree." However to say that it is disrespectful to married people is deplorable.

Wine Labels

So Lately I've been on a huge party planning / hosting binge and loving every minute of it!!! On Monday I'm having my dear friend Kim over for dinner to celebrate her birthday. Here's a sneek pick of the wine label I designed that is going to be on our bottle's of wine!

Kim's Bday by ive2334 featuring Element

Kim's Bday by ive2334 featuring Old Navy

Kelly's Wedding

This past weekend boyfriend and I took Friday off from work and drove down to Salem Oregon for my co-worker Kelly's wedding and it was so much fun. Her wedding had a Hollywood theme. They ceremony was held in an old school movie theatre. The groom walked down the aisle to the theme music from Top Gun and the bridesmaids wore Marilyn Monroe inspired dresses. On each place setting was a romantic movie quote. It was a really cute event!

The wedding party was one of the largest I've ever seen. There were eight groomsmen, 5 bridesmaids, 2 bridesmen (which I loved!), three ring bearers, and a flower girl. They looked so fab stading up on the theatre with the eiffel tower in the background.

Marilyn greated guests at the door and Boyfriend asked for her digits. I was cool with it:-)

Boyfriend and I with wonky eyes!

The Gorge In George!

On Saturday I packed up and headed to the Gorge with two of my good friends Taylor and Kim. It was a belated BDay celebration for Tay's bday in June. The ride up was super wet and rainy. We kept waiting for the rain to clear but it seemed like it had a mind of its own and was on some sort of drench mission.

My Hair did not take nicely to the rain!

When we arrived at the campgrounds it was still raining and the grounds were overflowing with hardcore DMB fans. We entered the gates and drove past honey buckets, tent-like sleeping contraptions that were a little foreign to me, and super deluxe campers that caused me to have an extreme case of RV envy! We kept driving as directed and the campgrounds attendant opened up one of the gates where there was a pasture with grass up to my knees. I was very skeptical as this did not look like the other areas of the campgrounds. We then realized we were sharing a pasture with cows and we had been herded into some sort of overflow camping area!

After we positioned our car Kim put us to work! Thank goodness for her and her camping knowledge. If she hadn't been there to run the show Taylor and I would have been some wet and miserable campers. I was not really able to contribute much. In fact Kim sent me to "Yonder" to gather rocks. When you're in the country yonder is pretty close. While I was completing my chore some girl loudly whispered, "Why is that girl picking up rocks? That's so weird." I tried in vain to explain myself but it was to no avail. I got labeled the "weird" girl in a sea of extremely weird people. I felt like in a line up of me, the women at Pacific Place who wear burlap, don't shave, and dance with full body movements to music that no one hears but them, I would have come out weird.... Like that kid in elementary school who forgoes recess to pick up bugs... I pick up rocks!

The concert started after some of the rain died down and Dave played a lot of his bigger hits which I really enjoyed. It was fun to watch the people who were smoked out of their minds passed out on the grass. I'm not sure how it's possible to be so stoned out of your mind that you fall asleep on a wet muddy hill with an extreme incline, where music is blasting, and you're surrounded by crazy crowds of people but to each their own.

When I got home Boyfriend went to give me a hug and then said, "Maybe you should go take a shower boo." I tried to protest but my attempt to sit on the couch was met with, "We need to put protective covering down before you sit on the clean couch... iloveyou." Apparently I was a little stinky:-)

Goat Cheese Ravioli

Last night boyfriend and I had two of our friends over for dinner. We were celebrating some good news and I tried a new recipe. I've been dying to make home made ravioli for the longest time. I found a great goat cheese ravioli recipe on line. It wasn't too difficult and it turned out delish!

For the filling mix together:

3 oz fresh goat cheese
1/4 cup ricotta cheese
1 garlic clove
2 tbsp shaved parmesan cheese
1 pinch of nutmeg

I am still waiting to purchase the ravioli maker attachment for my Kitchen Aid. so I used wonton noodles for the wrappers. Boyfriend was super skeptical but they turned out great. I was able to find the wonton wrappers at Whole Foods and the Uwajimaya store in Bellevue.

To finish the ravioli you place a tsp of filling inside the wrapper. Dip your finger in a cup of water and wet the edges of the wrapper. Fold it over to creat a little triangle and make sure to seal the edges.

I finished the goat cheese ravioli with a parsley sauce that was also super easy.
2 tbsp of finely chopped parsley
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp of water
1 tbsp of shaved parmesean cheese
1 tsp of sea salt

I served this with foccachia bread and asparagus that was grilled with shaved gouda cheese.

Weekend Update

Friday night boyfriend and I headed out to one of my favorite Seattle restaurants Chinooks. When I was a kid my aunt worked for a travel agency next door to the restaurant. We used to go the restaurant and I would always order clam chowder and dip their fabulous bread in it!
After dinner we headed to the driving range to work on our swing. Ummm my swing needs a lot of work but boyfriend seemed to find his and sent those golf balls flying!

Saturday we went to a friend's BBQ at the Normandy Beach Club. It was really fun to BBQ on the beach. We even made S'Mores which I hadn't had in forever!

All in all it was a great weekend:-)

Breath of Fresh Air

Last night I met a good friend of mine from my days at Marquette for dinner. We went to a Belltown spot called Black Bottle and caught up on the last few years. It's so funny how facebook provides the outline and catching up is really just about filling in the cracks!

Anyways, Michelle is just an amazing girl and catching up last night was such a breath of fresh air. She's so down to earth and has accomplished so much. I couldn't fathom being a first year teacher and an MU grad student at the same time!! That's crazy. Her and her fabulous boyfriend LaRoy (who unfortunately didn't make his way out to Seattle) both have roots here and will be coming back over the Thanksgiving Holiday. I'm looking forward to them meeting Boyfriend. Although a little nervous for what embarrassing stories could come out of that meet and greet. Those two have a lot of dirt from my college days! After that I will be putting "Mission: Michelle and LaRoy Seattle Relocation" into full effect:-)

Friends are the Family we Choose

Throughout life there are a lot of people who make up our social networks. These people include teammates, classmates, co-workers, party friends, ect. Sometimes it's difficult to navigate which people in our social network (aquaintences) actually make the grade as true friends. True friends are the best gift anyone could ask for.

Recently, I've started to receive emails from my oldest friend. We met in kindergarten and were best friends all the way through elementary and middle school. Our birthdays were a week apart and we often had joint parties where we would invite the whole class. Our families spent Christmas Eve together with her dad dressed up as Santa Clause... So many of my childhood memories involve this fabulous person. It's been a while since we've seen each other. She's off exploring and traveling in Asia. I'm in Seattle trying to build a career. A lot has changed since we would quote Clueless and practice free throws; but in some sense not that much has really changed. There's an almost unbreakable bond that develops when you have known someone almost your whole life and have grown up with that person. It's crazy to think that we have shared a friendship for almost 20 years! Wow... that's so impressive to me!

Over the weekend I went to brunch with another fabulous friend. We have shared our early 20's together, navigating our first post college "real" jobs and reluctantly reaching those terrifying adult milestones. She's shown herself to be a caring, open, and honest person with a wicked sense of humor. I appreciate her friendship more than she knows...

Making friends in your 20's is a unique experience. It's less about sharing common externals i.e. the same major or similar social circle, and more about sharing this unique period in your lives. There's a comradare that exists among young women as they navigate huge milestone decisions. We know what it's like to work the entry level job, ponder grad school, consider moving in with a boy, and try to live a fabulous life on a less than fabulous budget.

Being a young woman in your 20's is exciting because life is full of oppurtunity and true independence. However, those same traits can make life feel overwhelming and lonley at times. Sometimes coffee with a good friend, or a weekly tradition is the key to regaining perspective. Reach out and strengthen those friendships. To have people support and encourage you for no reason other than they want to, is pretty cool! Don't take that for granted!