jarrbar

My dear friend, Bryan, opened the cutest little bar in Pike Place Market called JarrBar. It's a Spanish themed bar featuring Jamon Iberico, a special type of cured ham made from black pigs in Spain and Portugal that feast on olives and acorns. It's delicious and JarrBar is one of the only places you can find it in the city. Check out this great write-up from Seattle Times!

thanksgiving

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday! We spent out Thanksgiving with good friends and good food. Every year this group manages to successfully deep fry four turkeys as well as tempura (because you can never have too much deep fried anything) and serve it up along delicious sides and homemade pies. It was such a fun day. I am definitely thankful for this group of friends and for always being able to afford and feast of this magnitude. We are all truly fortunate. 

My one regret is that I didn't get a group picture. I was too full to make it happen, so unfortunately not everyone is represented. Here are a few pictures from the day, though!

I decided to dye my hair pink

Here is a blurry picture.

Happy Monday!

long beach

Anders and I took a long weekend and headed out to the coast. Long Beach sits very close to the Oregon border, and it is the cutest little beach town! It has a lot of charm, great restaurants and a lot of outdoorsy things to do. I highly recommend this little town if you are looking for an easy coastal getaway. Here are our recommendations!

Stay: 

Adrift Hotel - this is an eco-friendly lodge that sits right on the beach. They rent bicycles to guests for free, have a cute restaurant with live music most nights, a game room with shuffle board and ping pong and lots of board games and DVDs for your use. Also, it's dog friendly!

Do:

Bike or walk the 8 mile boardwalk along the beach! You can also drive your car straight onto the beach, which is fun

Hiking at Cape Disappointment state park is a must. There are a lot of trails, but we chose the Cape Disappointment trail, which is easy and around 4 miles long. It takes you to the lighthouse at the mouth of the Columbia River and past Fort Canby that you can explore. It's set up to give you a lot of history about the fort. 

Eat:

Cottage Bakery & Delicatessen - THE BEST DONUTS ON THE PLANET. They are so good that I made Anders stop there again on our way out of town.

Captain Bob's Chowder - get the smoked salmon chowder!

Laurie's Homestead Breakfast House - huge portions, delicious food, lots of character