where have I been?

I haven't been on my little blog site in quite a while. It's not that I don't have stuff to share...I do! We went to Argentina and spent a weekend in Vancouver, B.C. I'm making a new quilt and have been dog sitting a lot. We did some awesome landscaping to our yard (including a fountain!) with the help of my generous Mom who flew in from Illinois to help. I hope to update this page with all that stuff soon.

The reason for my absence is that I've been working on a very special project called Rain or Shine Guides, which is a blog that focuses on everything there is to eat, see and do around the Pacific Northwest. I'm writing the site with my good friend, Kristina Knaus. We are both lovers of travel and of trying new things and getting out and experiencing life. We decided other people could benefit from our knowledge (we will eat for you!) and thus Rain or Shine Guides was born. We are very proud of our site and are having a blast writing content. We have a few other fun things in the works, which hopefully I can share soon.

I would love it if you checked out my new project. You can follow along by email (sign up at the bottom of the homepage), and we are also on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram! We also accept guest bloggers and would love for you to contribute to our site if you have a great idea or topic! You can email us at rainorshineguides@gmail.com!

raw power

Last Sunday, KEXP,  our local, independent radio station, held a concert at Pike Place Market to raise money for their new studio home and for the market expansion project. The concert featured four iconic Seattle musicians, Mike McCready (Pearl Jam, Mad Season), Duff McKagan (Guns n' Roses, Velvet Revolver), Barrett Martin (Screaming Trees, Tuatara) and Mark Arm (Mudhoney). The band played songs by Iggy Pop and the Stooges and played underneath the famous Pike Place Market sign,which has never been done before! We managed to score some killer seats in one of the offices overlooking the clock and felt so fortunate to get to experience such a cool event.

 Duff McKagan!

Anders and Barrett Martin

Such a fun night!

long hair, don't care

And now a picture to demonstrate the impressiveness that is Anders' beard. 

He really should win an award for that thing.

so...

WE ARE GOING TO THE SUPERBOWL!

that is all.

nfc champs

Not only did the Seahawks become the NFC champs yesterday (meaning they have the best record in the NFC, and we get home field advantage for the playoffs), but I also managed to snag sidelines passes. Best day ever? Quite possibly.

Here we come playoffs!

kitchen update

I haven't done an update on our kitchen project in awhile, so here are some new pictures. It sure has come a long way from where it was. The contractors are about finished, but we are by no means "done." All that means is that that the work starts for Anders and I! We still have trim to paint, chairs to find, curtains to hang, walls to decorate etc. etc. but we at least have a functioning kitchen!

 Anders gets cozy on our new bench seating

  We are going to add a colorful back splash behind the oven. Painting the ceiling is on the agenda too.

 Our new table! The chair are temporary until we can find something we love.

 These bar stools are temporary too. We are having custom ones made that will be done in October. To the right of our bar stools is our new spice cabinet.

 Our new pantry. The doors still have to be stained and we need handles, but we are pretty excited about all the extra space.

This has truly been a long and stressful process, but we couldn't be more excited about the outcome. There is just so much more room and it makes cooking way more enjoyable. I can't wait until it's totally finished.

we are loud

The following things happened last Sunday:

1. We went to the Seahawks game against the 49ers and totally creamed them 50 to 0...or something like that

2. Our stadium beat the world record for being the loudest stadium in the world. I had ear plugs in my pocket. I did not wear them. It was a really big mistake.

3. I had a pretty amazing blue and green doughnut.

We actually like this guy...he just likes the wrong team

My friends, Pat and Laura

(yep. this is her) 

 This is my friend, Chris, as Sherman

 Crazy lightning skies!

And purple skies too!

cow roast

It’s not very often you get invited to picnic in which some crazy looking medieval torture device is used to roast a 1000+ pound mammal. I've heard of pig roasts, but a cow roast? Sign me up! One of our favorite restaurants, Madison Park Conservatory, hosted a family style picnic out at Local Roots Farm that included: cocktails form Ebb and Flow, wine from Gilbert Cellars, the aforementioned mammal and a ton of delicious sides. There was also a cornhole game, a band dressed like cowboys, DJ Riz and an impromptu  river swimming session. All in all, a delightful afternoon.

under construction

Anders and I have been talking, wishing, planning, thinking about expanding our tiny little kitchen into a bigger space for years, and we FINALLY have made it happen this year. We spend a great deal of time in our kitchen because cooking and eating and entertaining is such a major aspect of our lives. The problem is, we don't have enough room, and we don't have a dining room table. When friends come over, we have to eat around our little coffee table, and our storage is so limited that our blender and juicer sits on top of our refrigerator. But not for too much longer! In the next 6 weeks, we'll have a expanded kitchen with a new wall pantry and a dining room table (with bench seating!). I can't wait to show you all the after pictures, but here are a few befores and the progress so far.

Before Inside: Please note the crap important equipment on top of the frig. Our counter will be expanded and turned into an island, and the sink wall (kinda hard to see in the picture) will be gone.

Before Outside: Look at this big empty space we have just waiting to be turned into a dining room!

And how about this terrible dirt patch. It needs to go! Maggie is going to be sad, though. It's her favorite mud pit.

Day 1! Here we go! Shingles off!

Day 2! The dirt is dug up and we have a big metal pole. Woo!

And they removed our chimney...hi Maggie!

And now we have beams. Not sure what they are for, but it's still exciting.

Not a lot of progress just yet, but we are still super excited. Stay tuned!

a little update...

 Anders has been on his book tour this past week; stopping in New York, San Fran, Portland and finally on to Denver. Meanwhile, it has just been me and Maggie at home. Until today that is!!! I got home today from work, minding my own business, and when I walked in the door I saw Anders home early! He has a small break before he leaves for Denver, so he came home for a few days and surprised me. AND not only did he surprise me by coming home early, but he brought Pok Pok (a very well known Thai restaurant that I've been dying to try) all the way home from Portland with him because I literally won't stop talking about it. 

I mean, pleeeeease! Do husbands get much better than that?

I don't think so.

Here is all the press from the book tour from the last week in case you missed it.

AM Northwest (Katu.com)

Seattle Weekly review

Heritage Radio

Better TV

Portland Monthly review

Truffles and Tribulations (radio show)

The pictures above are from the book tour via the Pike Place Fish instagram and Anders' instagram. Click the hyperlinks to check them out if you don't have the app on a smartphone.