Another Busy Weekend
With Kate at her dad's and Pramas in Oakland, I thought I might be spending an exciting weekend at home catching up on laundry and TiVo or scrubbing the kitchen floor (oh, how it needs it!) but such was not the case!
Friday on my way home from dropping Kate off I got a call and an invitation to meet Ray, Christine, and Bill at the Black Bottle wine bar in Belltown. A little wine, a little food, a little shouted conversation at the bar while beautiful people lingered in the doorway, clearly feeling hungry for our seats. After a while of that we walked up to lower Queen Anne for a couple hours at Chopstix, where a table for four in the corner seemed made just for us. I tried to get pictures of the crowd there, because it was just so over the top: jello shots in syringes, test tubes of mystery liquid being offered by waitstaff with whistles, and THE WORST mixed cocktails I've ever 'enjoyed'. Sounds terrible but it was crazy fun. I clapped so much I lost the stone from the ring my mother gave me this summer (sob). Left Chopstix at some point and walking back towards our cars we hit yet another bar: Mira which is hidden away in the basement of the Seattle Labor Temple. It's kinda like finding a bar has been installed in your old elementary school. There were comfy couches and lots of space and the place was entirely deserted but for us and the bartender (who thankfully mixed better drinks than Chopstix). We hung there, chatted up the bartender for a while, and I had yet another opportunity to sing the praises of Flexcar (for the bartender heard me talking to Bill about it and asked for details). I've become a regular Flexcar evangelist; I've had conversations about Flexcar and how great it's worked for us at Evan's birthday party, at Ray's Birthday party and at Jess's birthday party this summer, plus I've had people stop me in parking lots and at gas stations to ask about the Flexcar while I've been out and about in it. Wacky. From Mira we decided it was absolutely necessary to have breakfast at 2:00am at the 13 Coins. I chatted up two of the servers from my giant swivel chair at the bar, ate a platter of Ukrainian Joe (whatever the hell that was) and finally made it home to bed around 3:30am.
I figured that I'd get a few things done on Saturday. I made it to the post office and from there took the bus downtown thinking I'd buy a couple of new long-sleeved shirts as cool fall weather seems to be upon us for real this time. That turned into me hooking up with Christine, Carol, and out of town friends Chuck and David at the market, going up to see Carol's new house (which is so cute; if I were single it would be just the kind of place I'd want), then off to Ray and Christine's where Ray was in the process of doing up a batch of his famous homemade green pea and mascarpone ravioli. Christine busted out her purchases from the market, cheese upon cheese, breads, crackers, olives, balsamic marinated onions, and on and on. Wine flowed and Chuck entertained with tales of his trips around the world and the fascinating people he's met. Dinner followed (the aforementioned ravioli in a cream sauce and then some gorgeous grilled salmon for those of us who can eat fish), more wine, and then there were threats of gelato and a pear tart at which point I was nearly comatose. I moaned, "It starts with the cheese..." and had to beg off any more wine or desserts. Instead Christine piled four different kinds of chocolate on the table and started offering coffee. A friend from the UK once complained that I was trying to kill him with food. I know how he felt! Decadence! It was glorious. I think I made it home and to bed by midnight last night and I slept like a rock.
Today I really do have to catch up on laundry among other things. I have to be in Burlington to pick Kate up by 4:00 and then tonight I'm seeing the Dropkick Murphys. Pramas will be home by the time I get back from the show.
Tomorrow I leave to go to camp with Kate for a couple of days. She'll be gone all week but with the Green Ronin Summit scheduled to begin on Thursday, I can't stay for the whole thing. Holy crap I'm going to be worn out...
Friday on my way home from dropping Kate off I got a call and an invitation to meet Ray, Christine, and Bill at the Black Bottle wine bar in Belltown. A little wine, a little food, a little shouted conversation at the bar while beautiful people lingered in the doorway, clearly feeling hungry for our seats. After a while of that we walked up to lower Queen Anne for a couple hours at Chopstix, where a table for four in the corner seemed made just for us. I tried to get pictures of the crowd there, because it was just so over the top: jello shots in syringes, test tubes of mystery liquid being offered by waitstaff with whistles, and THE WORST mixed cocktails I've ever 'enjoyed'. Sounds terrible but it was crazy fun. I clapped so much I lost the stone from the ring my mother gave me this summer (sob). Left Chopstix at some point and walking back towards our cars we hit yet another bar: Mira which is hidden away in the basement of the Seattle Labor Temple. It's kinda like finding a bar has been installed in your old elementary school. There were comfy couches and lots of space and the place was entirely deserted but for us and the bartender (who thankfully mixed better drinks than Chopstix). We hung there, chatted up the bartender for a while, and I had yet another opportunity to sing the praises of Flexcar (for the bartender heard me talking to Bill about it and asked for details). I've become a regular Flexcar evangelist; I've had conversations about Flexcar and how great it's worked for us at Evan's birthday party, at Ray's Birthday party and at Jess's birthday party this summer, plus I've had people stop me in parking lots and at gas stations to ask about the Flexcar while I've been out and about in it. Wacky. From Mira we decided it was absolutely necessary to have breakfast at 2:00am at the 13 Coins. I chatted up two of the servers from my giant swivel chair at the bar, ate a platter of Ukrainian Joe (whatever the hell that was) and finally made it home to bed around 3:30am.
I figured that I'd get a few things done on Saturday. I made it to the post office and from there took the bus downtown thinking I'd buy a couple of new long-sleeved shirts as cool fall weather seems to be upon us for real this time. That turned into me hooking up with Christine, Carol, and out of town friends Chuck and David at the market, going up to see Carol's new house (which is so cute; if I were single it would be just the kind of place I'd want), then off to Ray and Christine's where Ray was in the process of doing up a batch of his famous homemade green pea and mascarpone ravioli. Christine busted out her purchases from the market, cheese upon cheese, breads, crackers, olives, balsamic marinated onions, and on and on. Wine flowed and Chuck entertained with tales of his trips around the world and the fascinating people he's met. Dinner followed (the aforementioned ravioli in a cream sauce and then some gorgeous grilled salmon for those of us who can eat fish), more wine, and then there were threats of gelato and a pear tart at which point I was nearly comatose. I moaned, "It starts with the cheese..." and had to beg off any more wine or desserts. Instead Christine piled four different kinds of chocolate on the table and started offering coffee. A friend from the UK once complained that I was trying to kill him with food. I know how he felt! Decadence! It was glorious. I think I made it home and to bed by midnight last night and I slept like a rock.
Today I really do have to catch up on laundry among other things. I have to be in Burlington to pick Kate up by 4:00 and then tonight I'm seeing the Dropkick Murphys. Pramas will be home by the time I get back from the show.
Tomorrow I leave to go to camp with Kate for a couple of days. She'll be gone all week but with the Green Ronin Summit scheduled to begin on Thursday, I can't stay for the whole thing. Holy crap I'm going to be worn out...
Mmmm ... a decent breakfast at 2 am. I haven't had one of those in, er, yea, a long time.
Sounds like a decadent food weekend. ;) Er, minus the lousy cocktails, that is.
Hopefully, we didn't break Pramas too badly down here, and return him intact.