(Less than) 48 hours in Seattle

At the end of October I had the opportunity to travel to Seattle for a work trip. The way my schedule worked out, I was only able to go from Tuesday to Thursday and I debated if it was worth making the long trek to Seattle for such a short time. But I’m so glad I did! Given that I was only in Seattle for less than 48 hours, I covered a lot of ground. My first night in Seattle, my sweet family drove all the way down to Seattle just for a dinner with me…even my brother and his girlfriend came. We ate at Tutta Bellas, my favorite pizza place in Seattle. It has amazing Italian style brick oven pizza.

On my one full day in Seattle, I was able to reconnect with my dear college friend Laura inbetween work meetings. We met up for lunch in Pike’s Place Market with my little sister and a student that I brought on the trip with me. It was a lovely sunny day, and we strolled the market sampling fruit, cheeses, candied nuts, and smoked salmon. Then we finally settled on a lunch from my favorite cheese shop, Beechers, followed by dessert from a fabulous little French bakery, Le Panier.

Me & Laura.

Me & Krissy Kris.

Beechers Cheese Shop. Oh so good.

Where all the cheesy goodness is made.

Lunch!

Sally & Krista.


Yummy French pastries from Le Panier.

That afternoon I took some time myself to stroll through the shops in Freemont, and to take a quick walk through Gasworks Park. Then Sally and I met up with some Wheaton professors and went out for dinner at Anthony’s Home port on Shilshole Bay…this has been one of my favorite seafood restaurants since I was a kid!

View from Gasworks park.

After a meeting with SPU’s president on Thursday morning, I grabbed my little sister and Sally for a stroll through Queen Anne and some coffee at Ladros before heading back to the airport. It was so refreshing to be back in “my” city, take in views of Mt. Ranier, and smell the sea air. It was also great to see my family and reconnect with some of my old professors. And that was my last flight before our little girl makes her grand debut. So glad for my less than 48 hour trip to Seattle!

Birthday Weekend!

My dear husband and my dear friend Emily have a birthday within a few days of each other, and Emily flew out this year to celebrate her birthday weekend with us here in Chicagoland. So I got to spend a weekend full of great birthday celebrating with the two of them!

I took a day off from work on Friday, and Emily and I spent a great day in Chicago in Wicker Park, strolling the quirky streets, shopping, and dining. We had a great fall day with sunshine to keep us warm amidst the fall chill, and then we spent the evening in Wriggleyville at Improv Olympics. James and I had been there before this summer with some other friends, and had a great time. But we’ve heard rave things about the Shakespeare Improv troupe, and had always wanted to go to one of their shows. Emily happens to love Shakespeare, and Chicago is the capitol of Improv, so it was the perfect opportunity to enjoy Shakespeare Improv. And. It. Was. Hilarious. Seriously, they were so good! Someone in the audience tosses out a theme for the evening, and our night someone called out “The Invention of Soap.” This troupe managed to weave a whole story line, in two acts, that threaded the invention of soap into their Shakespearean dialogue. I cannot wait to go back.

Saturday James, Emily, and I spent some time at Cantigny, which is an amazing park we discovered not far from our house. I can’t believe we lived here a year before I discovered it. I used to think it was just a private golf course, because it was all gated from the outside. And it does have a golf course. But it also has a huge property full of different gardens, statues, little trails, and a beautiful estate you can tour. It has what we’ve been told is an excellent military museum on the property, as well as a main building that people can rent for parties and such. This property was owned by the founder of the Chicago Tribune, and when he died he willed it to the public, in hopes that it would always be enjoyed free of charge. Again, we had fantastic weather to enjoy while strolling amidst pumpkins, mums, cabbage plants, and the last blooms of a late summer.

And Sunday, I threw a triple Birthday Bash for Emily, James, and one of my co-workers (Kristy) whose birthday was also right in the mix. We had an eclectic group of friends over for an evening of chili, fall treats, pumpkin carving, and birthday cake. This was such a perfect weekend, and I’m so glad I got to spend some time with Emily before I enter the world of motherhood—where impromptu gallivanting around the city is harder to come by. :0) Thanks so much for coming, Emily!

Annie, Joy, & Deanna

Kristy & Emily

Working hard carving pumpkins.

Scott gave James moral support throughout the process.

James' Seattle skyline pumpkin.

Marissa

Tamara & Adam

Love this Birthday girl!

And Love this birthday boy!

Ode to Autumn

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Labor Day Weekend

When James and I found out that our baby was due December 30, we realized that would mean no trip home for Christmas. And we didn’t want to wait until after Christmas, because that would mean no trip home for well over a year. That’s too long!

So we decided to plan a little trip home over Labor Day weekend. And it was short, but very, very sweet. We had perfect weather – high 70’s, low 80’s; sunny clear skies, and perfect views of the mountains.

And our lovely mothers threw us an incredible baby shower! They went above and beyond in making decorations, preparing food, and hosting a huge crowd of friends and family for this special day. It was so fun to have grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, family friends, friends from high school, and even friends from college join us to celebrate the upcoming arrival of our sweet little girl. James and I were truly overwhelmed with all the love and support everyone showed us and our baby. Here are some pics of this fun occasion.

Our moms did a storybook theme for the party. I LOVE the little storybook garland they made.

Here's a closer up pic...each little book had pages from a Mother Goose book...so fun!

And here is the menu: Little Boy Blue Blueberry Scones, Peter Piper Prawns, Baker's Man Brownies, Little Lamb cookies, Mary Quite Contrary Salad, Goldilox tea sandwiches, Humpty Dumpty Egg Quiche, and Hush-a-Bye Bellinis.

Here's part of the spread...so much good food! Lois made these scones with fresh whipped cream, berry preserves, and this delicious lemon curd.

Lois also made these sweet little lamb cookies, each little one with a pearl and bow. They didn't last long...

And can we just say that our little lady was beyond spoiled! She is going to be quite well dressed...I can't wait to play dress-up with her! And she even got some clothing that James appreciates - Bob got her a little Carhart jumper with pink camo, and my Mom got her a little Notre Dame outfit. So it wasn't all ruffles and tu-tus. :0)

And I suppose this gift was more for me than my little girl...I always wanted a Molly Doll growing up, but never got one. So my mom finally broke down and got one for my baby...hopefully she likes Molly! I'm sure she will...I'll make sure to start reading her Molly books when she's three.

The rest of our weekend was lovely as well. My brother took James fishing with Jason and Bob, and they all caught some salmon. My brother also brought home fresh-caught crab, so we fully feasted on PacNW summer foods. While the boys were fishing, my mom, Lois and I all went out for lunch and strolled along the Bellingham Bay waterfront. It was perfect!

And the next time we return home, we'll finally have our sweet little girl to introduce to everyone. We can't wait!

Nursery Chronicles (vol. 1: Inspiration Board)

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Meet Me in St. Louis!

At the end of July, James and I were able to meet up with several friends from grad school for a little mid-summer reunion. We met up in St. Louis, where our friends Adam and Alison were lodging at Al’s parent’s house for the summer before their departure to Switzerland for the upcoming year. Alison’s sweet parents hosted James, me, Karen, and Sara in the house that Alison grew up in. This trip was definitely one segment of the “Homeland Tour” that we had always schemed about (homeland tour meaning we visit all of our friends’ hometowns – fun, right?) We had a great weekend, and it was so fun to explore St. Louis with a native.

Our friend Sara actually flew into Chicago a day early to hang with us, and then we all drove down to St. Louis together. The weekend was blistering hot, so we did a lot of back and forth from the house to keep cool throughout the weekend. Some major highlights:

1. We met up with Adam, Al, and Karen at an Oster Bar in downtown St. Louis, then went to a Cardinals game at Busch Stadium.

Given that the heat index was 110 degrees, I think we're looking pretty good here!

Love the awkward boy pic :0)

1. 2. Celebrating Sara’s 30^th Birthday! This was a few months late, but we wanted to celebrate her birthday nonetheless. We had a big BBQ, and Alison’s mom Patsy grilled up some of the best pork tenderloin I’d ever had. Sara is a huge paleo fiend (read: eats LOTS of meat, veggies, healthy fats, and very few carbs), so we thought a meat cake would be appropriate for the occasion. :0) Don’t worry, we also had plenty of ice cream, hot fudge, and sorbet after our meaty feast.

1. 3. Playing LRC (left-right-center) with Al’s family. This was a game that we played with Adam and Alison for many of our Princeton holidays together, and we always heard how raucous it was when the Eitel family played it in St. Loius. And they delivered! It was a great round, and as you can see Karen rolled in the dough.

1. 4. Surprise Baby Shower! On our last morning in St. Louis, our friends surprised us with a lovely Baby Shower brunch. They know how much I love brunches, and this was just perfect! Our little baby was so loved, even at 17 weeks!

Our brunch menu:

I love that this lovely lady was a part of our shower!

Super cute onesie Cookies!

Looking forward to the next reunion, whenever that may be!