Tea time

Becca treated mom and I to tea and lunch at Secret Garden Tea Room in Sumner.  What a lovely place!

Becca's favorite: a purple tree!

I tried Red Tea for the first time and enjoyed it.

The cashew chicken salad was delicious!

Cheers!

Thank you, Becca, for giving us an excuse to get away and enjoy an afternoon together.  xoxo!

Rocky Rockstar, all grown up

Remember when he was a little baby?  Now, after training in Enumclaw, our big boy Rocky Rockstar (as I like to call him) is trained and ready to ride.  Gabi saddled him up earlier this month at mom and dad's. 

I took these photos with my new camera (more on that later)!

Preparing to ride:

I LOVE his whiskers!!!

Gabi the cowgirl!

I wish I could say I was a cowgirl, but I was only a poser on this day.

Yeehaw!

Tofu Stir Fry

I finally made tofu that tasted like restaurants!  My previous attempts left me with tofu that was still a little mushy.  Pictured below you'll see last nights meal where I used Trader Joe's *Super* Firm Tofu.  I added about a tablespoon and a half of coconut oil to my favorite frying pan, had the patience to let it warm up on medium heat, then added the small chunks of tofu.  It took awhile, but they finally turned a toasty brown on each side and it was oh so delicious!  On the side, I boiled up some vermicelli rice noodles and sautéed red and yellow peppers, green beans, mushrooms, garlic, tamari (gluten free soy sauce), and red pepper flakes.  DELISH!

a little getaway

Tyler and I headed up to Port Ludlow, WA for an overnight getaway to close out 2011.  There isn't much going on up there which was perfect for relaxation.  We warmed up by the fire in our beautiful room at the Port Ludlow Resort with our books: I'm reading The Help and Tyler is reading Steve Jobs (great books). 

Our room had an amazing view of the marina.

We enjoyed some delicious wine and a fabulous dinner:

The next morning, we walked around (in the freezing cold) along the beach and low and behold a real live bald eagle was perched atop the totem pole.  We totally thought it was fake but nope!

I don't think you can really tell from these photos but this eagle was HUGE!

Beauty!

On our way to Port Ludlow, we hung out on Bainbridge Island.  My favorite part was that there were dogs everywhere!  We saw 4 king charles cavalier spaniels, multiple labs, 2 springer spaniels...and a few others.  I was in heaven.  My second favorite part was our meal at Local Harvest Restaurant. 

Delicious!!!  I started with a cranberry pecan salad and Tyler opted for the butternut squash. 
YUM!  Amy, am I making you hungry? :)

The main course: a gluten free flatbread!  So tasty!  Tyler even liked it :)

A few shots from our stroll around Bainbridge and ferry ride :)

I love instagram!

On the way back, we stopped by Bremerfun for a pizza date with Beth and Dave!  Always wonderful to see them. 

Hope everyone is having a wonderful 2012 so far!

roomie reunion

It was wonderful to meet up with my freshman roomie Nancy yesterday.  She's in town from Taiwan.  We toured campus a bit and had a nice chat over coffee at Starbucks.  Such memories.  The girl hasn't changed a bit!  :)

Thanks for coming to SU, Nancy!  Safe travels home.

Christmas, Part II

I am so grateful to have a job where I have the week between Christmas and New Years off.  This year in particular, I was very much looking forward to the break.  Work didn't seem to slow down at all in December, in fact it got busier for me...so by Dec. 23 I was more than ready!  Our Christmas celebrations began at Becca and Levi's on the evening of the 23rd where we had an appetizer fest.  Thanks to Ed and Mom for cooking up some great treats!  Just a few pics to share:
The beautiful tree!

Tyler and Levi enjoyed watching Rudolph before the festivities began.

 Delightful wine!

Uncle Ed playing the brain teaser game!  We love his purple glasses.

Jagermeister was so so tired from all of the visitors!

On Christmas Eve, we headed over to mom and dads house where Lord knows, a good meal is always waiting.  Chef Ed whipped us up a delightful breakfast: french toast, bacon, fruit platter.  I wish I had more photos to share.  Ed, Cynthia and Ivan flew up from California and it was great to see all of them!  The main meal was prime rib, crab, smoked salmon, asparagus and mashed cauliflower.  Good stuff!

Isaac enjoying the tree.

Becca and I made some gluten free goodies:



It was a lovely lovely day.  On Christmas morning, we went to mass and then Tyler and I headed home.  The evening was spent at his parents. 

Here is my handsome man adding rolls to the feast!

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas celebration with your friends and family. 

Christmas happenings

December was a month of celebration for sure!  Between the work parties, our condominum community gathering and get-togethers with friends, we partied it up.  :) 

Tonja and I enjoyed a behind the scenes tour of the Nutcracker and free tickets to watch the ballet.  It was super cool.  I had just seen it last year, but hopped at the chance to go again because in my new job, I advise the dancers who are pursuing a bachelors in arts management at SU.  It was very cool to be able to see my advisees doing what they love to do.  The tour guide was Lindsi who happened to be dancing "Clara" that night and another advisee was the peacock.  They are so so talented!  What an honor.  Here are a few quick photos of the behind the scenes tour.

As you can imagine, there are many layers to the behind the scenes! Look up!

The costumes are very intricately designed.

The horse costumes were brand new this year, many of the others are very old apparently:


Ready for the show to begin!  Unfortunately, no pictures allowed during the performance.  You'll have to see it for yourself next year :)

I definitely want to put in a plug for the nearby restauarant Toulouse Petit.  Amazing happy hour!  (Not so much the drink prices but the food selection and prices for sure)!  It's right next to Pesos's in Queen Anne.

Christmas lights always put me in the spirit.  Mom and dad got some cool new LEDs this year thanks to Becca and Levi...what a cool lookin' house huh?!

The night before Christmas eve, we drove around Becca and Levi's neighborhood to find this amazing display (iPhone pic):

Even the roof was well lit!  Incredible!  Their neighborhood is most definitely spirited.  Here are a few others (pardon the poor photography):

To be continued...

Merry Christmas!

Dearest readers,
I hope that you and your families had the merriest of Christmases.  We sure did :)  You'll hear all about that later.  For now, here's my holiday greeting to you!
xoxo,
Laura