Birchbox Finale

It just figures...I go and cancel my Birchbox subscription, and the last box I receive has been the best yet. It's like they knew and wanted to sucker me back in. Oh well, maybe again someday, but for now $10 was too much to spend on samples I hardly use.

This month featured a honeycomb dark chocolate (nom), hair product for curly hair (yes please), a black eyeliner pencil (just in time since mine ran out), a full size lip gloss with a mirror on the side (how handy?), and some cuticle cream. All things I like and will use.

Thanks for all the goodies these past few months, Birchbox. I'll miss getting little surprises in the mail.

See you next Sunday

Maureen, Colleen, Kylee and I decided to move our dinners from Tuesdays to Sundays in hopes that we could get an earlier start and make it home before curfew. This worked out a little better, but I'm glad that I get to telecommute on Mondays cause it was still a little rough.

Colleen hosted this round and made us a delicious spinach and squash lasagna...from scratch! So domestic. Maureen also brought Maeve along which was a fun surprise. I hadn't seen her since her first birthday, and she's grown so much. She took a little bit to warm up to us, but by the end of the night she was stripping down and dancing for us. It's crazy to think the four of us sat around that same table playing music to Weiner's pregnant belly trying to get the baby to move, and now here she was dancing for us again.

me with my poofy salon hair - and fork in hand

dancing with Mommy's leg

sneaky pup trying to get dinner while
we were distracted by Maeve

everyone dancing

crazy breakdancing baby

Colleen muzzling Osa so Maeve could
pet her - not quite best friends yet

Dinner was great, and it was fun as always to catch up with the girls. Till next time, see you next Sunday!

Cooking with Luigi

A few weekends ago, my mom and I took a cooking class at Al Boccalino, a little Italian restaurant downtown in Pioneer Square. I had purchased the class for two as a Living Social deal, and thought it'd be a fun way for Mom and I to spend a Saturday morning.

We arrived at the restaurant at 11:30am and were seated with the rest of our classmates in the dining area. The wine list was passed around, and Mom and I ordered a carafe to share, because it's never too early to start drinking, right? Once everyone had arrived (14 of us total), Luigi came out and introduced himself. Luigi is a short abrasive old Italian man who means business. He first wanted to make sure we all knew that we would still be paying for our drinks and a service fee...just because we bought the class at a discount didn't mean we'd get a discount...huh? He then went over rules for the kitchen, assigned us jobs for each portion of the meal we'd be preparing, and ordered us to go wash our hands. I was nervous that this was going to be more like bootcamp than a fun cooking class, but it ended up being a blast and Luigi even warmed up to us...as long as we did what we were told.

Luigi's cooking class kitchen

Our menu for the day (which was printed out with the ingredients and brief instructions for us) was a 6 course meal:

Le panelle: kind of like a deep fried polenta cake with cheesy goodness. Mix 1.5 cups garbanzo flour (hadn't heard of or seen this before) with 3.5 cups water, olive oil, salt & pepper and cook for 10 min. Add parmigiano cheese and parsley and let rest for an hour. Deep fry in hot oil and serve over a salsa made of san marzano tomatoes, tarragon, orange juice and zest, and balsamic vinegar.

Finocchio arancia & Sambuca: reminded me of a hot bruschetta. Chop fennel and onion and mix with garlic, raisins, chillies, salt & pepper, fennel seeds and sauté. Deglaze with Sambuca (fire!) and simmer with orange juice and vegetable stock.

La pasta ai ferri: pesto pasta with a type of noodle I've never seen. Cook the noodles al dente. In a food processor, combine fresh mint, garlic, spinach, curry, and salt & pepper to make a pesto. Add olive oil and toss with pasta, top with romano cheese.

Le polpette: meatballs that were the best course of the day (probably since I made them). Mix ground beef & pork with romano cheese, parsley, garlic, salt & pepper, bread crumbs, red wine, eggs, and red onions. Roll into balls and brown with olive oil in a pan. Simmer with garlic, cerlery seasoning, salt & pepper, cumin, chestnut honey, and red wine.

Maiale in porchetta: a stuffed pork tenderloin. Butterfly the tenderloin and season with olive oil, salt & pepper, fennel seeds, garlic, rosemary, and sage. Wrap with twine and roast at 400° for 30 min. Serve over an arugula salad dressed with olive oil and lemon.

Coppa reale: a parfait like dessert that needed way more sugar. Break biscotti and place in parfait glass, wet with Frangelico. Layer with berry preserves and bananas. Top with an espresso cacao & cream mousse and sprinkle with hazelnuts.

In the kitchen, things ran fairly smoothly as long as you followed Luigi's instructions. He assigned everyone with a different task, so my mom was stuck with chopping onions till she cried.

food prep

Luigi showing the girls how to make the dessert

I was in charge of the meatballs, mixing the ingredients by hand and then rolling them so we'd have enough for everyone to have two. Then I watched over them as they cooked and added the rest of the ingredients (while also getting scolded for taking a picture with my phone, whoops).

hand rolled meatballs

meatballs and the fennel dish

Sambuca fueled flambé

Once we were finished in the kitchen, it was time to eat! Everything went on serving platters and onto the tables in the dining area. We passed them around family style, and toasted to our hard work.

dinner lunch is served!

not so yummy dessert

Mom and I had a blast both preparing the food, then getting to enjoy it afterward. Plus, we now have some fun recipes to try on our own at home. It was well worth it and would love to take another class!

Grandpa's Memorial

Back in early October, my Grandpa Henry passed away. On November 3rd, we held a memorial service for him in Aberdeen where we all got together as a family along with many of his long time friends. Friday night, I drove in to Aberdeen for a big family dinner at the big yellow mansion where my grandma Dorothy grew up. The owners were gracious and opened their home to us for a delicious salmon dinner (Grandpa's favorite). Despite the circumstances, it was nice to see everyone and be together. It was also fun to catch up with my cousin Bryan and meet his girlfriend Jamie. She too is a dancer, and I've heard a lot about her from him. She is very sweet, and they are just too cute together. Dinner was great, and we topped it off with some local homemade blackberry pie.

all set for dinner

pies, nom!

After dinner, we headed to the hotel for the night. The next morning the family met at the cemetery where we had just been a couple months prior for my Grandma. We had a nice little ceremony where we placed Grandpa's ashes in next to Grandma's, and my dad and his brother and sisters all said a few nice things.

We then all went to the Aberdeen Log Pavilion where the memorial was being held. Lots of people came, turns out my Grandpa knew everyone! His long time work at the Port of Grays Harbor made a big impact in Aberdeen, so he was well-known and respected. My cousin Michael had put together a slide show of photos of my Grandpa and our family, so that was played first. Then everyone had a chance to speak and share stories. It was neat hearing everyone talk about my grandpa, he really was a great guy. My dad finished by sharing some stories of his childhood and the last visit he had with my grandpa which was nice to hear.

watching the slideshow

welcome table

Dad sharing memories

cousins

It was a nice day and a great way to remember and celebrate my grandpa's life. Love you and miss you Grandpa Hank!

Business is booming

So far, I'm loving the jewelry biz (but how could I not? discounted jewels and parties, yes please)! Things have been going great. I did a couple trunk shows in October, one big one in November, and have two more scheduled for December. Plus, I've been holding an "online only" show for myself for the holidays and have already collected a few orders there. I've already earned back my investment, and then some, yay!

It still surprises me how interested others have been. I didn't want to start this and have to push sales on my friends, but I've been lucky that they have come to me. I still have a few more girls that want to host parties next year, so looks like I'll be able to continue slangin' jewels for a while.

Stella & Dot held a promotion for their stylists in October where you earned jewelry credits for every two qualifying ($300+ in sales) trunk shows. So, with the two that I had, I was able to get some money that I'm going to save to use on the new line that comes out in January!

Jewelry display at a show

Melanie's food spread for the guests

pumpkin muffins with cookie butter I made for the party

trays of jewels

display at Deanna's house

Zombie Cheerleaders from Hell

This year Clint and I decided to pass on the over crowded Halloween party at the bar we've gone to the past few years, and opted for a night out at the Can Can. The Heavenly Spies were performing a show called the Zombie Cheerleaders from Hell, and even though Kylee was out of town, we knew it'd still be a good show.

Not wanting to miss out on the fun of dressing up, Clint and I put together some costumes before hitting the town. Clint wore a maroon robe and carried a pipe as "Hef" and I wore all black and painted my face as a cat, mow! Once I informed Clint that Hef does in fact wear pajamas under his robe, he put pants on, and we were ready to go.

We got to the Can Can a little early so we could get a table and order some food. It was already starting to get crowded, and there was also a large group there for a bachelorette party. Not only are the shows fun, but the food is delicious too! We ordered the short ribs and mac n cheese, mmm.

me-oww

Hef - a little younger...but not by much ;)

The show was great, a good mix of dancing, singing (the pipes on that girl!), and humor. One of the best parts was when the male dancer picked some poor guy out of the audience to do a strip tease for. He ended up being a good sport and had to hold all his clothes as he took them off one by one. Fortunately he stopped before his top hat and sparkly thong came off!

Another favorite was the singing. We've both seen the same girl sing before at Kylee's other shows, but this time she did a few numbers, and they were all great! They finished the night off with a dance routine with "zombie" cheerleaders, and ended up being a really fun show, and a great way to celebrate Halloween. You know we'll be back!

Stitch Fail

I read on Jessica's blog how she found a fun online company called Stitch Fix who acts like your personal stylist. Once you get an invite to join, you go online and fill out a profile describing your taste in clothing, sizes, and price range. They will then take that info, and send you 5 pieces of clothing in the mail. You try them on, keep what you like, and send the rest back in the prepaid envelope they include. Shipping is free, but each "fix" costs $20. Good news is you can use that $20 to go towards purchasing the clothing you like. Better yet, if you keep all 5, they knock off 25%. If you end up sending all 5 pieces back, you're out $20. You can schedule a "fix" for anytime, so you're not obligated to one a month.

I thought this sounded great! I wouldn't say I'm particularly fashionable, so why not have someone tell me what to wear? I scheduled my first fix, and it arrived a few short days later.

black dress that fit like a potato sack

cute dress, but if you've seen my guest
room closet, you know I don't need
anymore of these

loved this top, but $90? ouch.

the winner!

The 5th piece was a necklace, even though in my profile I asked for them to not send me jewelry (already have plenty of that). I ended up purchasing the top in the last image since it was the cheapest and I liked it enough. I didn't want my $20 to go to waste.

After sending the rest back, I decided to make some adjustments to my profile to see if I could give them a better idea of what I was looking for and lower the prices. I then gave it one more shot. I scheduled another fix to arrive a couple weeks later. In that one I got a black blazer with a leather collar, green button down top, a funky purple wrap dress, a sheer gray t-shirt, and a black long sleeve turtle neck dress (that fit like another potato sack). Not only did I not like anything, but the cheapest item was $80 (even for that t-shirt!). I decided that keeping something I didn't like just to not lose my $20 was not going to be worth it, so I sent it all back.

So, my experience with Stitch Fix failed. The nice thing is, I don't have to cancel my account. I just won't be scheduling anymore fixes anytime soon. But don't let this deter you! Both Jessica and Becca have had success, so maybe they don't completely suck.

Mom's fondue birthday

This year, we celebrated Mom's birthday a couple weeks later since we had our trip to Palm Desert. I had gotten a Groupon for the Melting Pot in Seattle, so Mom, Clint, and I all headed there on a Sunday evening.

The Melting Pot is one of my favorite restaurants (and I hope Mom's too since she didn't get to pick the place, but who doesn't love dipping things in cheese?). We had a salad course, cheese course with breads, veggies, and apples to dip, and then our main course. The main course consisted of a wide selection of meats to cook (shrimp, chicken, steak, raviolis), broccoli, mushrooms, and potatoes. They also bring you a bunch of different dipping sauces. Everything was delicious!

ready to feast

We had fun night feasting, celebrating, and watching Mom struggle as she played Fondue Scissor Hands with all the utensils (see, Clint can be witty sometimes). Happy Birthday Mom!

Slumber party with the girls

A few weekends ago, I had some girlfriends over for a good ol' fashioned slumber party. Now that we're older, our plan was to have a nice quiet night in...make sushi, sip on some wine, watch a couple documentaries, then wake up early to run the Dawg Dash in the morning. Who are we kidding?! As you can imagine, the night didn't quite go as planned, guess we'll always be young at heart.

Colleen, Sarah, Anne, Brooke, and Trisha (we lucked out that she was in town from San Diego) all came over with wine, sushi makings, shack packs, and ready for a night of fun. We popped open the wine, snacked on some cheese, crackers, and edamame, and started rolling some sushi...alright, Colleen was the only one rolling sushi while we all watched. It turned out delicious! We Colleen also made musubi (a new found love, who knew spam could smell so bad but taste so good), pot stickers, and some egg rolls.

snacks...and wine

Colleen making sushi

looks disgusting, but oh so good

Colleen making musubi

After dinner, Anne made us a delicious dessert. You take oreos, smother them in Trader Joe's Cookie Butter (another new found love) then place them in cupcake tins, cover them with brownie mix, and bake. So. Yummy.

After eating, we continued the party by playing Cards Against Humanity, my new favorite card game that Anne brought over. It's similar to Apples to Apples, but as the tagline suggests, it's for horrible people...or people like us that have a sicker sense of humor than most. I don't know if I've ever laughed so hard! We had a great time playing cards, stuffing our faces with cupcakes, drinking too much wine, and making fun of Brooke when she passed out mid game on the couch and started to snore...needless to say, there were no documentaries watched.

After our game, we called it a night (we did have a race to get up for in the morning) and everyone found a place to sleep. Sorry again to poor little Roo who ended up on my "water bed" air mattress.

No one set their alarms, so unfortunately we missed the Dawg Dash...which means I am now the owner of a $30 t-shirt (thanks to Brooke who made the smart decision to pick up our packets the day before). We gathered in the living room in our pj's and blankets, popped in a documentary, and ordered a pizza. 10 years later and not much has changed from the days of hanging out in the sorority lounge after a night of partying.

wine bottle carnage the morning after

Thanks for a fun night girls, can't wait to do it all again!