Suite view at the M's game

On Saturday, Clint and I were invited by his friend Renee to watch the Mariner's game from a suite! I've never been in one at Safeco Field before, so it was quite the treat. I met up with everyone at the Pyramid beer garden before the game, where we all had a drink before heading in to the stadium. There were about 20 of us, so being in a suite was definitely the way to go! We all got a chance to visit and catch up while having a great view of the game. Clint and I got hot dogs and a bottomless tub of popcorn for dinner, yum.

Pyramid Beer Garden - Duane, Me, Del,
Katie, Kevin, & Clint

With birthday boy Del

Clint's goofy face in the suite

awesome view

After the game, we continued the festivities and headed over to Duane's place where he ordered the Pacquaio vs. Bradley fight. I'm not the biggest boxing fan, but apparently it was a huge upset. Clint ended up winning $100 from Duane off the bet they made...pays to root for the underdog!

How does your garden grow

This weekend I decided to get an herb garden planted on my balcony. I stopped at Home Depot to buy everything I needed...dirt, pots, plants...and now I'm all set to have fresh parsley, chives, rosemary, cilantro, green onion, and basil. Fun!

My aunt and uncle also brought me a set of tomato plants as a housewarming gift. I'll be planting those along with some snap peas down in my garden in the back yard soon as well. Hopefully they do as well here as they did back at my apartment, I love being able to grow my own food.

5 years

5 years ago yesterday, Clint and I went on our very first date. We had just met the weekend before (Memorial Day weekend) while we were both vacationing with our friends over in Chelan. It's crazy to think it's already been 5 years! Feels like we were just there at Señor Frogs, in the back by the sweaty crowded dance floor with the ground sticky from spilled drinks where we were first introduced (so romantic). I had recognized some of the friends he was with from being in the fraternity. I had never actually met Mr. Clint Skullerud (due to him being so old...he was a senior when I was a freshman), but I had heard of the legend of OMC (Old Man Clint). All I knew was that as a super senior he had been at the frat for a long time and he liked to wear button down shirts with crazy prints. But here he was, not looking that old, and not wearing any paisley...just a regular ol' t-shirt and jeans.

We hit it off right away, and I was smitten. I even blew off my friends the next day to go hang out with him and his friends on their boat. There I was, not knowing anyone, but making new friends and having a blast. We ended up having a few things in common...both went to UW, had mutual friends, lived in Belltown (at least I had been until I moved to the Dexter place a few days later)...so it was strange that we had never met or run into each other before. We had to go all the way to Chelan for that to happen.

When we got back to Seattle from our mini vacays, Clint called to ask me out on a date. He ended up taking me to Zeke's Pizza...how did he know the way to my heart was through pizza and beer?! We had a great time and was the best first date ever.

5 years later, we decided to recreate it and go back to the same place. Dinner was delicious, and we had a fun time reminiscing about all the things we've done over the years. Thanks for a great night, and for being a great best friend!

half Buffalo Soldier and half Kitchen Sink...
so many toppings!

See you next Tuesday

For years now, Kylee, Colleen, Maureen and I have been getting together for a girls dinner. In fact, if I look back at my OCD calendar*  the earliest one I have documented is July 30, 2008 when we all met at Cactus. From Cactus we moved on to having them at Colleen's house where she would make the main course, and the three of us would either bring an app, salad, or dessert. It's been a fun way to make sure we get to see each other often and catch up. We've had lots of fun times at these dinners, including the time Colleen unknowingly got hammered off of the double margaritas she was making herself (mixing pre-made margaritas thinking it was just a mixer with more tequila)...that was fun, and a good thing she wasn't driving! Weiner is always such a trooper for making the drive out all the way from Canada Snohomish. Especially since we like to have them on Tuesdays, just so that we can say "see you next Tuesday!"

Charlotte: Is it so much to ask that you not wear your dress up around your see you next Tuesday?
Samantha: My what?
Charlotte: (drawing characters in the air) C - U - Next -
Carrie: Tuesday? Oh my God! Was that a schoolhouse rock I missed?

With my new home coming together now, I decided to host the girls and invited them to come out to West Seattle and see the place. We had a blast. We laughed all through dinner, and probably drank too much wine while staying up way too late for a weeknight. We agreed next time we're doing it on a weekend so that it can turn into a slumber party.

At the end of the night we tried to get a group photo by setting the timer on Weiner's camera, which then turned into an 80s inspired photo shoot. We thought we were pretty funny, but each photo came out worse than before. Here's hoping Weiner doesn't post them...

Thanks for the fun time girls, and glad you were all able to come see my new home!

pretty flowers and a homemade card
from Weiner Boo

* My OCD calendar is something that I started about 5 years ago. It's just a calendar that I keep in a Word document where I keep track of what I've done everyday. Just a little something to remind myself. I don't even know why I started it exactly, but now I can't stop. Every few days I open it, update it, and hope it never gets deleted! For instance, this day last year I was flying home from Hawaii for Colleen's bachelorette party! The year before that? Tanning, bootcamp, and dinner at Clint's house. So pretty much just useless information...

**UPDATE**
Okay, the pictures from Weiner's camera are actually kinda fun, so I'll post them here too. She also got a shot of our dinner, Cajun Shrimp Linguine. It was the first time I made it, and it turned out to be a really easy recipe, so I'll share it with you here. I thought it turned out a little bland, so next time I plan to add either more cajun seasoning or something else to give it a little kick.

Colleen suggested a ladder,
so I got out the step stool

Kylee at the Can Can

My amazingly talented friend Kylee is a dancer for the Heavenly Spies, a cabaret/burlesque dance troupe. Their latest show, Majesty, is being performed every Friday night at the Can Can Kitchen & Cabaret until the end of June...and I highly recommend going to see it! Colleen and I had been wanting to go, and when mentioning an underground burlesque show to Clint and Will, they were sold. We decided to go last Friday, and Krista and her date Chad were able to come along, too.

Kylee's promo poster

We met in Pike Place Market before the show, and decided to hit up the Hard Rock Cafe for drinks while we waited to be let in to the Can Can. This was my first time to the Hard Rock, so it was fun to finally check it out. We found seats around the fire up on their rooftop deck, and visited for a bit before the rain came.

Colleen and Will

Krista and Chad

Clint and me

After drinks, we headed back to the Market and down the stairs to the underground Can Can. This is such a fun venue, kind of feels like a speakeasy. You can even see through the ceiling to the unsuspecting people walking on the sidewalk up above.

We grabbed seats in the bar, and then the show began. The performances were amazing! The dancing, the singing, the music, the costumes...oh the costumes...so much glitter and sequins and hair and makeup...love it! You can tell these girls have a blast up on the stage.

We actually ended up being moved to better seats after the show got started, so we definitely lucked out after buying the cheaper standing room only tickets. The show was so great, we didn't want it to end (and Clint already wants to go see it again...). My favorite parts were obviously everything with Kylee in it, like her solo with her magic crown and the dance in her hot leopard pants. There was also a mermaid on a swing, a lap dancing angel, and an aerialist. Afterwards, Kylee came out to visit with us so we could tell her how great she is :)

Hard to get a good picture, but here's
one with Kylee's adorable face

The pictures I took didn't really turn out, so here are some that I stole from online.

We had such a blast, and Kylee is such an awesome performer. Way to go girl!

MDW - Monday

Monday was a super productive day for getting some house projects done. Clint headed home that morning (he was scared of my "honey-do" list), and Mom headed over (the true "honey"). Clint was actually headed out for another bike ride to train with his friend Matt who is also doing the triathlon in July. I winced at the thought of getting back on my new bike, so they were better off without me to slow them down.

Mom showed up with Taco Time for lunch (she's the best) and ready to work. We started in the bedroom and got the new bed frame prepped and painted along with finishing the last coat on the headboard and dresser as well. I decided to go with white for my dresser (sorry Colleen and Kylee). I figure I can always repaint with a bright color down the road...but thought it would be easier to go from white to a color than the other way around. We also got the handles of the dresser spray painted gray, I'm loving how everything is turning out and coming together. I also found a nightstand (on Craigslist of course), but that is still on the to do list. It needs to be sanded first before painting, and then I'll change the knobs to some that I found at Anthropologie.

ready to paint

Craigslist find

We then moved on to the entry way, and Mom helped me assemble the piece of furniture I got from Ikea to put there. It ended up being more work than I thought since it only has two legs! You have to bolt it to the wall so it doesn't tip over, which I was unaware of. Fortunately we got that sucker into a stud so it should be sturdy. I also spray painted an old mirror I had (from gold to "hammered black") to hang above it. The bottom two drawers pull out to store shoes, so handy!

After I exhausted Mom, she headed home and I made a trip to Target. That store is such a trap. I always end up with more than I go for. I did find some good stuff though, including a set of cheap bar stools. I plan on finding fun fabric to recover them with, but for now they will work great.

I love getting things crossed off my list, and after Monday I cut the list in half. Getting closer to having the new place ready for a housewarming!

MDW - Sunday

After our bike riding adventure the day before, we had ourselves a lazy (and gluttonous) Sunday. We headed down the street to the Luna Park Cafe to try out their breakfast. Ever since I moved close by, I've been wanting to stop in to this funky little restaurant that claims to have the best milkshakes in Seattle (still need to go back and try one). The place is pretty retro and has some cool decorations. We got the corner booth by the window and ordered some drinks (it was a holiday weekend after all...). We also found a book on Luna Park, and learned some cool West Seattle history. Apparently it was an amusement park (much like Coney Island in NY) just off of Alki. It was burned down (twice actually, after being rebuilt), which is unfortunate cause it looked like it could be a fun place to still have around. Our breakfast was delicious, we'll definitely be back.

mimosa, red beer (PBR and tomato juice),
and a history lesson

We then headed back to my place and finished watching the last few episodes of Entourage season 8 (while finishing off a package of Red Vines). So sad that we're done and will never have another new episode to watch. But, I am happy to hear that the rumors of an Entourage movie seem to be true!

We continued our laziness and headed to the movies to see the Hunger Games (sorry Anne). I had a couple free passes from work, and it happened to still be playing at the Regal theater downtown. I've read all three books (the first two twice now...), so I've been pretty excited to see the movie. I really enjoyed it, and Clint seemed to be entertained as well besides it being a little slow for him in the beginning (guess he just wanted to get to the fighting to the death part). We also indulged ourselves in the largest tub of popcorn available, and even got a free refill on the way out...fat kids.

I've been holding on to a Groupon to BluWater Bistro that expires this month, so we headed to the one on Leschi for dinner after the movie. It was a little fancier than I remember, and a good thing we had a whole $60 to spend. We got a ribeye and a chicken pasta dish and shared the two. Then of course we had to finish the meal off with a chocolate chip cookie baked in a cast iron skillet smothered with vanilla ice cream, nom. We rolled ourselves out of the restaurant back to the car (where the tub of popcorn awaited us).

view from restaurant

Back home we played around with the Xbox Clint got all set up for me. We got the Kinect working too, but that would have required too much energy to play. Clint wanted to show me everything the Xbox can do, but I just wanted to customize the avatar to have a cute outfit. We did get it hooked up to my Comcast account though, so now I can watch HBO and all my other cable channels right from the Xbox. Pretty cool.

Sufficiently stuffed from gorging myself all day, it was time to hit the hay.