Snowmageddon, Seattle Style

WARNING!!! WARNING!!! The pictures in this post may cause hysteria (well only in Seattle)

I experienced my first snowfall/snowstorm in Seattle here today. It was all over the news for 2 days and people have been very afraid to venture out of their homes. They are stocking up on essentials at the local QFC or Safeway. Even the ER was a pretty quiet place for a few days (even with Seattle schools being on mid-winter break - something I do not truly understand yet, but it seems like another break between Winter and Spring break so everyone can go skiing from what I can gather). So in all honestly, snow and ice is a pretty scary thing here in Seattle due to all of the hills. The news stations seem to play into this fear by showing videos of buses sliding down hills from earlier in the winter too. This can terrify even the most experienced winter weather driver. (Read, Sarah took the shuttle bus to work today) Although we didn't get very much of the scary white stuff here in the city some of the suburbs got a bunch of snow. Luckily the city deployed all 30, yes, 30 plows and trucks to take of business. Also the buses had chains on their tires to overcome the massive amounts of scary white snow! In all honesty though, snow is scary here, they don't have plows like in Chicago or Ohio and they don't salt and those hills can be scary on a rainy day, so I for one and glad that winter is almost over.

Almost a half inch of snow at the hospital, chains required!

Please be careful of the steps, they are NOT salted or prepped for snow

Random van in Seattle Children's parking lot COVERED with snow :)

Ghostbusters!

As some of you may, or may not know, Ryan and I enjoy playing bar trivia. Our favorite place to play is Belltown Pizza on 1st Ave every Monday night. We happened upon it one Monday night in October when I was visiting and since then we have gone whenever I was in town or when we could make it. I will say it is pretty tough, but the friendly staff, fantastic pizza, and funny second to last place prizes seem to keep us coming back for more. Especially recently. So I am NOT the best (read VERY VERY bad) at the audio round (which, if you know me, drives me crazy as a competitive and perfectionist person I am). So because of this Ryan and I seem to be collecting a LOT of the very entertaining second to last place prizes. To date we have won a used Stuart Little DVD and this newest prize, Ghostbusters Slimer Sour Candies!!! Soooo entertaining!!!!!!!

Look Who's Walking!!!

I have to devote this post to my most favorite little boy! (I can't believe I am saying little boy and not baby now, he is getting so big so fast!!) My best friend Erin's son Cooper just started walking and he had his mommy send Aunt Sarah a video of the event. I can't even tell you how heart warming it was to receive this video and picture. This little man certainly has a BIG hold on my heart!!! I can't believe it was just a year ago when I was holding a tiny little baby Cooper and now he is a walking toddler! Truly my Mr. Handsome is growing up!

Oh and I should probably warn you he is NOT crying because he is hurt, he wants Mommy's iPhone and is trying to get it from her :)

Valentine's Day

Oh Valentine's Day, the day of love. A day when couples go out to dinner to experience one of a kind aphrodisiac menu prepared by a fantastic and handsome chef... Oh wait that's what happens here in Seattle at The Stone House. So since Valentine's Day is Ryan's busiest day of the year and he prepares a special menu for the night and since he sister is one of the waitresses to work that night it only made sense for Ryan's brother-in-law Chris and I to go as "dates" to the Valentine's Day dinner. Chris and I had a nice time and enjoyed the fantastic food and great service at the restaurant. Each couple had place cards but I had a VERY special one designed by sous chef Adam...

Funny Adam, verrrry funny!

The menu had five courses all of which had food that are known aphrodisiacs to enhance this most romantic of nights. All I can say is everything was delicious and I made sure to give the chef a big smooch at the end of the night!

The Menu

Oysters three ways: Bloody Mary shooter, on the half shell and fried

Lobster Bisque with a Mushroom Ravioli

Mango Chili sorbet for a palate cleanser

Sea Scallops with lemon-basil risotto and a piece of the beef tenderloin from Chris' plate

Chocolate three ways: Mexican hot cocoa, light and dark mousse, dark chocolate bark with caramel

Spam!!!

How do you celebrate after the Super Bowl? But of course, it's going to Ohana and trying Spam for the first time! That's right everyone, after watching the Super Bowl Ryan and I headed up the hill to Ohana, a lovely Hawaiian restaurant in Belltown that truly makes you feel like you have just stepped on the Big Island. It really felt like something right out of 50 First Dates or any other fun Hawaiian movie. It's not cheesy though, it's super authentic! And I will take a drink with an umbrella in it ANY day of the week, did someone say Mai Tai?? So... Ryan starts looking at the menu and says we need to get the spam masubi. I am thinking, is he serious??? He was and it was really good! It was like a HUGE piece of sushi with spam and some yummy sauce on top. I have to say it was good, and I will definitely order it again. So if you are in Seattle's Belltown neighborhood not only do I recommend Ohana, but definitely get the Spam Masubi!!

Dog Day Afternoon

Sundays have quickly become Dog Park days since the move to Seattle. It's a great day for the park because Ryan can join Roscoe and me at our favorite new spot... Marymoor Park. This may seriously be what heaven looks like for dogs. It is a huge all off leash dog park spanning about 40 acres of swimming holes, walking paths, and big open meadows to play in. It has even come to the point that I have to spell the work park or call it "the place" because Roscoe will go nuts if he hears the word PARK!! Roscoe is even sporting a new collar these days. He is showing his UDub pride for the Huskies with a University of Washington collar. It seems to have helped this last week with big wins over Cal and Stanford!! Let's just hope this trend continues through the tournament.

Entrance sign to Marymoor!

Running with new doggie friends

Playing catch with a Huskies football

Swimming hole playtime! Sooo much fun!

My boys... Roscoe and Ryan having so much fun at the park

A Walk in the Park

On my fist day of work at Seattle Children's I got out really early and took the time to enjoy the absolutely incredible day! Now I do have to apologize (and I PROMISE I am not bragging about the sunny 50 degree weather in Seattle...okay maybe I am just a little bit :) to my Chicago and other East Coast friends because this was the day of the Blizzard of 2011 there. But I could not, NOT get out on such a beautiful day. So I took Roscoe down towards Sculpture Park and we went for a about a 2 mile walk. We enjoyed the amazing sights of the Cascade Mountains on our way out and views of the city, Port of Seattle, and Mt. Rainier on the way back. I think we are going to like it here!!!

Cascades in the distance

Snow covered Cascade Mountains

Space Needle

Port of Seattle with Mt. Rainier in the background

A Visit from Mom and a New Home Sweet Home

So what does every girl need after just moving to a new city?... Her mom to come and help her set up her new apartment and experience the great new city she is living in. My mom came in for a visit on January 27th to see Seattle for the first time, meet Ryan's family and of course help me set up my new apartment. We stayed with Ryan's parents while she was in town but we made trips downtown almost daily to get things set up and explore the city. Trips to the original Starbucks and Pike Place Market (both within 3-4 blocks of the new apartment) were of course on the list of musts!

Mom with flowers in front of the Pike Place Market right by the flying fish guys

One of the many fresh produce shops in the Market

The original Starbucks!

Another must was for my mom to visit Ryan's restaurant The Stone House. On Saturday we made reservations for dinner with Bob and Sue (Ryan's parents) for my mom's first Stone House dining experience. We had a lovely evening and delicious dinner! My mom had the cornish hen, Bob and Sue both had the scallops and I had the duck. All the meals were so great! We finished with the fantastic Banana Split dessert (complete with the brownies Sue makes for the restaurant!) My mom was so excited to see the restaurant and to dine on Ryan's amazing food for the first time.

Sue, Mom, Bob and me at The Stone House

Lastly here a are a few pictures of my new apartment. I promise to include more pictures as I get more settled in and decorate the place a little bit. I really love the new place and Roscoe seems very happy here too.

Living Room

Living Room from the other side (love the fireplace!!)

Bedroom

January 25 Day 4: Kellogg to Seattle

Day 4 started out early in Kellogg, Idaho with so much excitement and promise! This was the day we would go home and I would officially become a Seattleite! The weather conditions were great for the day, we didn't expect to have any snow on either Fourth of July Pass (in Idaho) or Snoqualmie Pass (in Washington only about an hour from Seattle). We were making fantastic time even with the crazy amount of fog we encountered in central Washington. Just as were were starting to climb up toward Snoqualmie Pass my check engine light came on. It went off right away but I was still pretty nervous/upset/okay I was kind of freaking out about this. So we stopped in the little town of Cle Elum, Washington to stop by a service station to see if we needed to get the car serviced for the final 85 miles home to Seattle. The verdict was that yes the car needed to be serviced, but that it could wait until we were (hopefully) safe in Seattle. Sue and I pulled into the Donaldson's driveway about 1pm and breathed a HUGE sigh of relief. We had made it! Our incredible road trip was done I was officially living in Seattle!

As for the car... I know you are all waiting for the diagnosis. It was the spark plugs. They were stripped down and one had even fallen into the cylinder! Luckily, Ryan's brother-in-law Chris has a very trust worthy mechanic and he was able to fix it the next day. Sunny (my affectionately name 2000 Pontiac Sunfire) is doing much better. We still need a new headlight, but Sunny and I are both doing great and enjoying our new adventures in Seattle. Stay tuned for the adventures that await...

January 24 Day 3: Gillette to Kellogg

Day 3 started off in lovely Gillette, Wyoming. After a restful night of sleep Sue and I were ready to hit the road and maybe even get home to Seattle by the end of the day or early morning hours. I have to say that it was a beautiful sunrise over snow covered mountains and I think I can truly understand the lyrics "Purple Mountain Majesty". It was truly majestic and I feel lucky to have witnessed this.

This doesn't even do justice to the purple mountains

Just an example of the road conditions...

This will be the end of my love of Wyoming. The roads were still snow packed in the morning and I for one could not WAIT to leave this state. Luckily I didn't have to wait long to leave. We entered state #6 Montana by mid morning. Immediately after entering the state of Big Sky Country I noticed something wonderful... clear roads!!! The folks in Montana sure do know how to properly clear their roads for travelers and I greatly appreciate it!! Montana was also very beautiful with mountains and river valleys. It was cold but clear and big, blue skies in Montana.

At a gas stop in Billings, we noticed that one of the highlights to my car was out. Not a big deal we thought, it was early in the day and it wasn't supposed to snow that night so we would be fine. We got to Missoula (home of my friend Jill Henkel Yacu) around 4pm that afternoon and a little bit of snow was starting. We had about an hour and a half before the first of the two difficult mountain passes (Lookout and Fourth of July, both in Idaho) but with the risk of snow coming for the next day Sue and I both decided better to head over the pass now when the snow was just starting rather than wait and possibly be stuck in Missoula for another day. So away we went, the closer we got to the pass the loss of the headlight earlier in the day started to become a problem. It was very hard to see and with very few other cars of the pass it was hard to see what twists and turns were coming. A semi truck passed us and we used the tail lights to guide our way down the mountain. Once past the snow level it was raining pretty hard but we still thought we would keep going and get home tonight, we could handle some rain. However, just a few miles later two big semis came by and splashed us so severely we were completely unable to see for a few seconds. After the second blinding semi came by Sue and I just had to look at each other and knew we would be staying in lovely Kellogg, Idaho for the night. We were a little nervous at first when the lady at the gas station said there was only one motel in town, but then we drove by a lovely little ski resort Silver Mountain Resort that was pet friendly and oh so nice! We had a great night, a yummy meal, a very comfy bed to sleep in, and even some doggie treats for Roscoe! Tomorrow was a short day home to Seattle! Lights out.

January 23: Day 2 Rochester to Gillette

Day 2 started out in a very cold and snow covered Rochester, Minnesota. It wasn't any new snow overnight, but Roscoe was in snow drifts up to his shoulders for his morning ritual, I really wish I had the camera with me to capture the moment when he slid down the drift and was basically peeing from a handstand! Too funny! So we took to the road and in the early morning crossed into state #4: South Dakota! Now some of you might be thinking what a boring state, and how horrible to drive across this long, boring snowy state. I have to disagree, South Dakota may have been my favorite state, it was definitely the most entertaining! Within 5 miles of entering state line you begin seeing signs for both the Corn Palace and Wall Drug. I had heard of Wall Drug and was VERY excited about stopping there, but the Corn Palace was new for me. (Although Sue and I decided not to stop at the Corn Palace I guess it is a pretty fun place to see) The entire outside of the Corn Palace is done in corn and the design changes every year. Below are some of the fantastic signs to see along the way in South Dakota.

Please remember these were taken while driving :)

As you may be able to read, it's only 25 minutes to Wall Drug!!!

Roscoe is REALLY excited about Wall Drug too - this was just before his best meal of the trip

So the day was going really well and the driving conditions were great. It was really cold, but no snow and very very sunny. The only problem on the trip was that Roscoe had yet to eat since the beginning of the trip, which made it almost 30 hours since his last meal. I tried to feed him the first night in Rochester, but he wanted nothing to do with food. (Don't worry though, he was drinking plenty of water) So at a little gas station in South Dakota, with worry overtaking me I bought Roscoe this:

Yes I know I might be a bad dog Mommy, but... my little buddy needed to eat. So with a full belly it was on to Wall Drug. It really is quite the site and I would HIGHLY encourage anyone driving across South Dakota to stop at this landmark. Inside you can find a large array of everything you ever imagined, and I even found out was a corn cob pipe was (you know like from Frosty the Snowman). I also had a delicious bowl of ice cream! It was a great pit stop!

Posing by the famous Wall Drug sign

Me and my cowpoke just hanging out down by the Wall Drug!

Just in case you were all wondering what a corn cob pipe looked like too

After leaving Wall Drug it was back to the road. Earlier in the day Sue had suggested that we also stop at Mt. Rushmore since it really was only an hour total out of the way. I have to say that at first I wasn't sure I wanted to stop, I was afraid it would put us too far behind and we wouldn't have made it all the way to Billings, Montana. (Our original stop for the night) We did stop and I am so glad we did! It was so amazing to see such a masterpiece and such a fabulous piece of our country's history. The sun was just starting to get low in the sky and it made for some beautiful pictures.

At the entrance of Mt. Rushmore with all the state flags, each post has the date the state entered the union

So majestic and regal

Road trip buddies! Me and Sue!

So it was back to the road after visiting George, Tom, Teddy and Abe. We quickly left South Dakota and headed into state #5 Wyoming, it was just getting dark and starting to snow a little. We talked to Ryan's dad Bob and he said there was a big snowstorm headed our way. I don't think we really took him seriously because it had been so nice all day and it was barely snowing. Within 30 minutes, the snow had really picked up and was starting to coat the roads. I was driving and had to slow down to about 35 mph. Sue was the perfect co-pilot telling me where the road lines were and how to navigate the roads. The wind was picking up and it was near whiteout conditions and it was getting harder to drive on the snow packed roads. Luckily the little town of Gillette, Wyoming was only 10 miles ahead and it became our new stop for the night. We made it there safely, but it was definitely time to relax with our nightly Stella Artois and watching some TV to relax. We needed to rest because we were hoping to get all the way to Seattle the next night! Lights out!

January 22 Day 1: Chicago to Rochester

So first let me say I am sorry it took me a little while to blog about the travels to Seattle, it was pretty hard from the road, although I did have internet access I was pretty exhausted from the long days of moving and driving. Then when I got here to Seattle, I misplaced my USB cable from my camera and I figured that without the pictures it really wasn't worth the post since I would want to go back and put them in later. Sooooo...without further delay here is the story of my travels...

Day 1: Started off in Naperville at the Petrucks house (aka my Chicago mom and dad aka Erin's mom and dad) and I took the train back into the city to be at the condo for the cleaning lady. As she cleaned (and did a fantastic job by the way!! ) I ran some last minute errands and finished packing my car. I then headed out to the airport to pick up Ryan's mom Sue who flew out to Chicago to drive with me to Seattle. It was so wonderful for her to volunteer to come with me. I had a great time getting to know her better and share an amazing journey with her. We headed out on I-90 and drove about five and a half hours to Rochester, Minnesota for our first pit stop. We had a very uneventful day as we checked three states off our journey (Illinois, Wisconsin, and Minnesota) and crossed the Mississippi River. It was dark out most of our trip, which is why I have don't have pictures from this day of the trip. It was super cold in Minnesota that night (-20 I believe), this meant that Sue and I needed to have our evening cocktail of Stella Artois delivered to our door. No problem for the wonderful staff at the restaurant of our Best Western. It was an early night as we had a long day of driving ahead of us the next day (our goal was to get to Billings, Montana the next day). Lights out!!