fun with fish

Anders and I went to Mrs. Cooks, a super fun kitchen store at University Village, last weekend to check-in on Justin and Bryan throwing fish at the store to promote the cookbook. Watching the fascination people (and little kids!) have with the fish throwers never gets old. It was a blast.

yoga unique

Seattle is such a cool city! Last Saturday, I went with my friends, Padget and Emily, to a yoga session only this wasn't just any normal yoga session. It was yoga...in a nightclub...with twinkle lights...and a DJ spinning...and a BAR. Best.Yoga.Ever.

If you're in Seattle, The Q Bar and yoga instructor, Emily Kasman, host this every month. We'll be going back for sure.

how we spent earth day

(thanks, sister, for the fun pin!)

a duck walks into a bus stop...

And the award for the most random thing in my week goes to this duck at the bus stop. It should be noted that the bus stop is nowhere near a source of water and is surrounded by nothing but concrete parking lots and a mall. Life is odd and fun.

products I love: bogs

Anders and I have been wearing Bogs footwear for the past three years or so. We LOVE them. They are easy to slip on, have great traction, are waterproof and, best of all, they keep your feet warm (maybe sometimes a little too warm). They have all sorts of plain colors for guys and cool patterned ones for girls. I have these and have these ordered. I wear mine all the time. Seriously. I garden in them, commute to work in them, go to the dog park in them and take walks in them. They are fantastic, and we are big fans. The Bogs company is nice enough to supply the entire fish market with work shoes, and we all know those boys work a lot. If Bogs footwear can hold up in that kind of physical, wet, hard working environment…what can’t they accomplish, you know? The Bogs company asked Anders is he would like to be an ambassador for them, and given the love we have for the company, he said yes! You can check out his cool story here, and I’ve also linked to a video the guys at the shop did about the shoes. Check it out!



* And, as always, I was not paid to write this :)

arboretum

Anders and I have been trying to make the most of any day with sunshine, so this past Sunday we got coffee, packed up the dog and headed to the Washington Park Arboretum. We hiked around for a few hours; checking out the shores of Lake Washington and all the flowering trees and plants. We walked until the sun went down and our legs were sore and then we promptly went home and made king salmon for dinner. Such a great day.

Unfortunately the world isn't always such a fun place. My heart goes out to everyone affected in Boston. It's sad and scary, and I just don't understand any of it. Sending everyone a little extra light and love this week.

happy monday!

Wouldn't the world be a more cheerful place if we all walked around with rainbows on our face? 

Just thinking out loud. 

Happy Monday to you all. Let's make it the best. week. ever.

(These rainbows were caused by my rainbow maker, which has brought me endless amount of entertainment. I have to resist taking pictures every time it goes off. It's amazing.)

honey nut spread

I was just in Denver for work and the best thing of the whole trip was the continental breakfast the hotel offered. I mean, there were the standards...eggs, coffee, granola, but they also had something I have never seen before...honey peanut butter! It was so delicious that I decided to give it a try when I got home. I gave my version a little spin by adding pecans and peanuts, and I think it might have actually come out better than the hotel's. Give it a try if your breakfast needs a little fun.

Honey Nut Spread

Ingrediants

1 cup of dry roasted pecans

1 1/4 cup of dry roasted peanuts

3/4 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons honey

Directions: 

Mix all ingredients in a food processor until spreadable. This will take a few minutes. Adjust levels to taste (I would not judge if you added more honey).

tropical butterfly house

Oh spring...you sure are a fickle thing. I mean, how to you honestly go from last weekend's sunny and 70 degrees to the rainy, messy, chilly crap that is today. I woke up on Saturday to rain, and it was on and off with a variety of extremes all day long. I let the clouds play with my emotions for most of the morning until I finally decided to take matters into my own hands. I sat down and tried to think of the warmest place in Seattle, which lead me to the Tropical Butterfly House at Seattle Center. Random? Maybe, but it worked. I warmed right up in there seeing as how you have to create tropical weather in order to have tropical butterflies. The actual butterflies swooping around my head was just an added bonus. Butterflies are just so cheerful!

just for fun

Okay, I know it's Friday and not "throwback Thursday," but I was looking through an old external hard drive and found some pictures of when Anders and I were first together. I feel like Anders looks the same, but I had bangs! What was I thinking...And Maggie? She was so skinny. Ha.

This is literally the first day we met. We actually have a really great picture of us together at this moment, but this is the "oh crap the camera went off when we weren't ready" picture that I think is pretty funny.

New Year's Eve 2007. I wasn't even living in Seattle yet (I was in Denver).

Anders helped me move from Denver to Seattle, and this was a stop we made in Jackson Hole. We went hiking in the Teton Mts.

Our old pup, Jackson.

New Years a year later

Lake of the Ozarks 2008...we had just gotten engaged!

We had just finished Wii boxing. I don't know why he is pretending he is the champ when I clearly remember winning.

Kauai 2009

Maggie is such a young pup.

Thanks for taking a look back with me!

shake shake shake

Some things are just made to go together...peanut butter and jelly, coffee and hangovers, and burgers and shakes. Our friend, Charlie, just opened a new burger spot in Tacoma with some buddies called Shake Shake Shake, so we headed down there to check it out. The menu is simple, but the food is outstanding! The highlights for me included a bacon hot dog and a "tiger shake" featuring Almond Roca and salted caramel sauce. Although the burgers are all clear winners too. So good! And the fact that it was sunny and warm spring day didn't hurt anything either. If you are ever in the area, check out this new retro spot. You won't be disappointed!

culinaire

Anders and Bryan had a cookbook signing at the Culinaire store in the Seattle Southcenter mall this past Saturday, which was a total blast. First of all, the store is amazing with the friendliest staff around. It is filled with all sorts of cool kitchen gadgets, baking supplies, Cuisinart pots and everything you can think of in between. I tagged along to the signing and had to stop myself from buying everything in the store. I still managed to walk away with lollipop sticks (because you never know when you might want to make cake pops), mini pie pans (I mean, come on, mini pies? Yes!), a rainbow spoon (for no reason other than it was too beautiful to pass up) and a new juicer  (which was an early birthday gift from Anders. I'm kinda over the moon about it. Single greatest gadget I've ever owned). But, enough about my shopping habits, the book signing went great. A lot of people stopped in to buy a book and get it signed and stop for a few pictures with the guys. Thanks to everyone who came out!