2014 Recap: Part 5

November
Clint car shopping: Once I got a new car, Clint just couldn't help himself and had to get one, too. Or maybe it was because his Toyota pickup truck had been running poorly and has become unreliable. We started the car shopping process by heading to Toyota of Bellevue to test drive just about everything they had...a Prius, Scion sports car, Sequoia, a couple Land Cruisers, Highlander and a 4 Runner (which Clint owned previously, but had it stolen just before we met). Even though we just went to look, Clint ended up leasing a brand new 2015 4 Runner, and he loves it! After driving the pickup for as long as I've known him, it's about time he treated himself to something fancy. We even drove it up to the mountains to test it out in the snow.

Thanksgiving in San Diego: To continue our tradition of getting out of rainy Seattle for Thanksgiving, Clint and I headed down to SD to spend time in the sun with his family. His parents graciously let us stay with them, and hosted us for the three nights we were there and even treated us to carne asada burritos for dinner as soon as we got in, a must! Our first day, Clint and I took a road trip to the cute little town of Julian, known for their apple pie. We stopped at Dudley's Bakery for lunch (delicious sandwiches with homemade bread) and stopped in at winery that had a cat painted on their sign, because duh. We drove back along Lake Cuyamaca checking out the beautiful scenery and all the camping locations. Just might have to go back. That night we met up with Jenni and Mike (to celebrate their recent engagement!) at the Starlite for dinner and drinks, and then back to their condo afterwards. The day of Thanksgiving, Clint and I headed up to Mt. Helix to check out his parents property, and drive up to the top to see the huge cross before we went over to Blake and Rebecca's house for the big family dinner. It was great to see everyone, and to meet some of Rebecca's family as well. On our last day before heading home, Blake and Rebecca took Clint and I down to Mission Beach to ride their beach cruisers along the boardwalk. Clint and I rode the tandem bike (which was pretty fun) as we bar hopped at a couple bars along the way. Afterwards, Rebecca packed us a couple leftover turkey sandwiches for our flight, and Jerry and Karen drove us out to the airport. Another fun trip to San Diego, can't wait to go back! photos


December
XO Cookie Exchange: This year, Jecca graciously hosted the annual Chi O Christmas Cookie Exchange at her home in Issaquah. She had tons of great food for us to snack on while we sampled everyone's cookies, and she even gifted us all with the most adorable owl mugs from Starbucks! Such a fun surprise, lysico. There was a smaller turn out this year, but that just meant more time to catch up with everyone there. I hadn't been practicing my cookie baking this year, and ended up making a new recipe - eggnog sugar cookies with icing. I decided to double the recipe to have enough for the party, which resulted in never ending cookie dough. I had to transfer it all to my largest stock pot just to mix it since it didn't all fit in my big mixing bowl. I cranked out 70 (yikes) cookies the night before the party, and fortunately they turned out pretty well!

endless amount of cookies

cookie spread

Colleen and Heather

Foster wanting in on the cookie action

Mom's holiday dinner party: Another fun holiday tradition I look forward to every year is Mom's work holiday party. We've dined at some of the best restaurants in Seattle in the past, and this year got to try out The Georgian at the Fairmont Hotel. Dinner was delicious, I splurged and got the surf and turf, and it's always fun to see Mom's coworkers and celebrate another good year at Liberty Mutual.

fun presentation of a caesar salad

delicious surf and turf with mashed potatoes

chocolate cake with espresso gelato

Mom's dessert - the most heavenly soufflé ever

Holiday dinner at Blaine's: This year, Mom and I went over to Blaine's house to celebrate Christmas with the Okamura ladies. We had a delicious dinner (shrimp louie salad with yummy garlic bread), and watched Reese open the gifts Mom and I had brought her. She liked the Little Mermaid lego set I had given her, even though she already had it but had lost most of the pieces, and LOVED the Frozen Elsa hat Mom got her, so cute! Reese also read us her list to Santa - pretty much anything Frozen. It was nice to see Liz and Blaine, too. We don't see nearly as much of them as when Blaine and I were young, so it's great when we do get a chance to all get together.

Turkey dinner: The third annual Layne-makes-us-all-a-traditional-turkey-dinner was a success! Once my grandpa was in town for Christmas, I had the whole fam over. Cooking a turkey with all the fixings seems to be getting easier as I start to learn little tips and tricks each year like prepping some things the night before and the timing of it all. Also, I tried a new method to cooking the turkey this time - covering it completely with bacon. This means no basting since the fat from the bacon continuously bastes for you. You cover the whole thing with a cheese cloth that you remove during the last hour to crisp up the bacon, then remove the bacon in the last half hour to crisp up the turkey. Worked great, and I got to add bacon to the stuffing! Win, win. This has become one of my favorite traditions, I really love hosting and having the whole family together.

bacon covered turkey before adding the cheese cloth

Uncle Bub - expert carver

Jenni & Mike's engagement brunch: Jenni is getting married! In Cabo, yay! Over the holidays, Jenni and her fiancé were in Seattle, so we had brunch at Smith (a fun restaurant in Capitol Hill) to celebrate the lovebirds. It was a fun excuse to get together and see each other, especially Rachelle who made the long trip up. Congrats Jenni and Mike!

Visit to baby Nolan: After brunch, Colleen, Maureen and I stopped by the Win'E household to see Kylee and Troy and meet sweet baby Nolan who was only less than a week old. Maureen had brought them both brunch to go from the restaurant )so thoughtful), and we all got our snuggles in with the new little guy. Mom and baby were doing well, and it was so fun to see how happy Kylee was to finally have him here. Already the sweetest mother ever. Welcome baby Nolan, can't wait to see you again soon!

Christmas: This year, Christmas was full of all my favorite traditions. It first started off with a shopping trip with Dad. A few nights before Christmas, Dad and I headed to Costco to buy each other's gifts. I bought my dad a Keurig coffee maker to enable his addiction, and I got a brand new set of Caphalon pots and pans (I guess to enable mine, I love to cook). After shopping, we had dinner at Bis on Main in Bellevue where we shared the bar top with Gene Juarez, so fancy. On Christmas Eve, Mom and I made a stop to see Marianne who is the mother of my mom's high school friend, Taffy. We drank Coke out of the bottle (a must) and caught up during our annual visit. We even got a surprise visit from Taffy! Afterwards, we went to my uncle's house where Clint met us. We had delicious french dip sandwiches for dinner, chocolate pie for dessert, and played a pretty successful game of gift exchanging - everyone ended up with something they liked! On Christmas Day, Clint and I opened our stockings from "Santa" and exchanged gifts with each other. I got the most beautiful pair of earrings as well as a night at Teatro ZinZanni that we're using next month, and I cannot wait! For dinner, we headed to my mom's to celebrate with her and my grandpa. Santa struck again, and Clint and I scored with each getting another stocking full of goodies. Dinner was delicious - my mom cooked a huge prime rib roast (yum!), and we may or may not have had more chocolate pie (depends on if my uncle is asking). So thankful to have shared another great Christmas holiday with my family!

New Year's: 
Clint and I stayed in this year for NYE for what might be our last chance to see the Space Needle fireworks from his condo (he's been looking to buy a home!). That now makes two years in a row where we've been recluses, and I'm scared I actually enjoy it! We made pizzas for dinner (which I hope now has become a tradition), watched a couple Die Hard movies (which doesn't need to be a tradition), and stayed up to watch the awesome fireworks show. We lucked out and didn't get fogged out this year, they were pretty incredible. It was fun to be able to hear the entire city go crazy, too. It was a great way to end a great year!

NYE 2013

NYE 2014