Baseball, Birthdays and Ice Cream

A tradition of spring and summer in any big city is going to a baseball game. In Chicago, I am pretty sure it is a law you must go to enjoy in our nation's pastime, and hopefully you choose to attend the Friendly Confines on the north side of the city! As a loyal Cubs fan, I am also used to the experience at a Cubs game and Wrigley Field (i.e. - the only food available are hot dogs and pretzels, maybe a nacho from time to time and to drink it's Old Style or Bud Light) So my first true Seattle Mariner experience was a little different. Sure all the staples were there, baseball, hot dogs, peanuts, beer, oh but there is soooooo much more! First of all we must remember that this is Seattle and the Northwest, so the entire stadium is GREEN - meaning everything is recyclable and many things compostable!! Also this is the home of Ichiro - and the Ichi -Roll food stand, that's right kids... SUSHI at a baseball game!!!!

Also it is the home of many, many microbrews, so I am talking good, flavorful beers, no Old Style or Bud Light watered down beer here. Oh and are you a little chilly this evening, no worries, there is a Starbucks around the corner, awesome!

And last but not least there are a lot of fun things to do around the stadium. A play area for kids, all kinds of Mariners history and my favorite a place to act like you just caught a would be home run off the bat of any Yankee.

And last but certainly not least, the Peanut Guy. I am very lucky to have experienced buying peanuts from a legend at Mariners game. He pass and throws the peanuts with unbelievable accuracy and brings such happiness and joy to all of his customers. Unfortunately, the Seattle community lost the peanut man this summer as he passed away. I am glad I was able to buy just one bag from him.

On to birthdays and ice cream...

This spring and summer I also started spending time with Ryan's niece Caitlyn on a pretty regular basis. Sometimes it was just to take her to a playdate or speech appointment. Other times we went to the dog park with Roscoe, but we almost always had ice cream. Caitlyn LOVES ice cream!!! - And so does Sarah, so this works out well.

Is this not the best face EVER!!!! Love this girl!

Also this summer was Caitlyn's pre-school graduation and program where they sang lots of cute songs. And her 5th Birthday. I knew for this we would have to go all out... first time Manicures!!!! We had so much fun and now she is always asking me, when will you take me to get my nails done again, I really need my nails done. Oh what have I started!

Flowers after the preschool program

This is so much fun!

Caitlyn and Sarah at our Manicures

Dog Parks and People Parks

So starting in the early spring people parks and dog parks really took a huge priority in life here in Seattle. Green Lake was the favorite "people park" destination for both running and walking. This park is situated just north of downtown Seattle with stores, restaurants, a few beaches and even a grandstand on one end, it really makes for a favorite destination. It is no wonder after visiting the area on at least a 3 time a week basis that this is where we moved in July... more on this is future posts. Anyway, Green Lake is a great place to go for a run as the inner loop is 2.8 miles and the outer is 3.2 miles around. I love to run here and Roscoe loves to go for a walk and even a quick swim from time to time.

Green Lake on an early spring day

Roscoe has quickly come to LOVE dog parks and swimming, you would think he was a water dog! Our favorite dog parks are Magnuson and Marymoor. We love Magnuson because it has a great beach for swimming and Marymoor is like dog heaven, it's huge and so much fun to meet new friends there. I think I have posted a few pictures from Marymoor in the past. Both of these are great parks but we have to drive to them. So one day while living downtown I decided that we really needed to branch out and walk to a downtown dog park. Well, I should have been warned, it was more like a drug park, but Roscoe still made it a great time and fell in love with little kiddie pools while there.

Roscoe with Ryan's niece Caitlyn after a trip to Marymoor

Roscoe enjoying little kiddie pool time at the "drug park"

This park might be a little sketchy but Roscoe always has a good time!

I'm Back!

Hello Blogging world! I am back! My computer is finally fixed and updated and ready to go. I am going to try to catch up on my Spring and Summer events and pictures and then pick up from where I was. I hope all of you are well out there in the bloggosphere...

3 months today!

So blog friends, I am sorry I have been totally absent, but I do have good reason.  My computer crashed the day after my last post and it still is not acting quick right. (iTunes still is not working and camera is not uploading pictures correctly).  I promise to get both things working soon so that you can see all the adventures Roscoe and I have been up to here in Seattle.

This past week was an incredible glimpse at Spring and I took full advantage of every nice day.  I went for several runs at Green Lake a park in Seattle that has a 2.8 mile loop around the lake.  What a perfect place to run and think!  I also got a new pair of running shoes from a great running store located adjacent to Green Lake.. Super Jock and Jill!  One reason I always love getting new running shoes is thinking about the possibilities of this new partnership.  Where will these shoes take me? What kind of runs will I experience in them? Will I run another half-marathon in them?  Will I make a new PR while running in them?  There are so many possibilities, and I can't wait to look back on these shoes with hopefully very fond memories.  

Also I have been making sure that Roscoe has been getting his exercise in during this week of Spring.  I took him to the park on both Monday and Saturday and both days he got back into the water and went swimming!!!  On Saturday it was so amazingly beautiful - 65 degrees - practically time to break out the bikini here!  And once in the water Roscoe refused to come back out.  He would go out to retrieve his ball and then drop if for me to throw again but immediately head back into the water.  Needless to say it took a LOT of coaxing and me getting wet to corral him back to shore and back into the car.  He also spent a day at daycare (Downtown Dog Lounge) with his new friends and learned to play basketball!  Apparently he is quite the player too!  I promise to have pictures and videos of all these fun activities soon.

I guess you can tell that life is going pretty well here in Seattle after 3 months.  I am really liking my job at Seattle Children's.  My contract was extended to the end of July and then I will go on full time starting in August.  I am making lots of new friends at work and last night we even had an impromptu Easter Egg Hunt through the ER... SO MUCH FUN!  Roscoe is loving all the outdoor opportunities here and really seems to like living here too.  Ryan is great and business is booming for him too, especially with Spring and Summer coming.  We are doing great and enjoying spending time together in the same city!  We are planning on going back to Chicago for Memorial Day weekend, the 1 year anniversary of when we met.  We are planning on visiting the same adult beverage watering hole we met at (John Barleycorn- Wrigleyville), catching a Cubs game and dinning at a few great restaurants.

Again I am sorry I have been so absent, I hope this little update has helped, and I really promise videos and pictures to follow soon!

The great hot dog showdown...Seattle vs. Chicago

Last night Ryan got out of work a little early and we went out for a drink (or two, or three).  We went to List, a little bar not far from my apartment.  I enjoyed the Pom drink and Ryan enjoyed the Triple X drink.  We may also have enjoyed a little tequila on the side.  While sitting and enjoying a lovely time we decided we were going to need some street meat for the walk home.  (aka - Sarah needs a hot dog!)  I experienced my first Seattle Dog.  A Seattle dog is a hot dog with cream cheese and onion, and I added some spicy mustard.  Now I know that I am probably not supposed to like anything but a Chicago dog, but I have to say it was REALLY good.  And... Seattle definitely beats Chicago in one way because there is no late night street meat in Chicago! 

Yummy Seattle Dog

Spring has Sprung!

I first want to apologize to all you wonderful readers that these blogs are soooo delayed.  I was actually going to post on St. Patrick's Day but on that very same day my computer decided it was time for a little tune up (i.e. time for the hard drive to fail and also need some more RAM)  I initially took it to the genius bar at the Apple store, but they sent me down the road to the Mac store (they were supposed to be pretty quick but... I just got it back yesterday.) Oh well I am back and blogging!  Woo hoo!

So I don't know about where all of you live but Spring has really sprung around here in the Northwest.  The days have been really consistently in the 50s with a few days in the low 60s and the days of sunshine are becoming more frequent!  I have been loving it, sunshine, lakes, mountains and flowers galore!!  The market has especially blooming with Spring.  Not only are there flowers on top of the market, but the flower markets are starting to sell real flowers!  In the winter they sell dried flowers and although nice, I definitely missed the smell and sight of fresh flower bouquets.  The fish in the market are also changing, the first halibut are starting to arrive.  The market is also getting busier everyday and has really exploded this week with all the families on Spring Break.  I love the business and bustling the market has now.  Ahhh I love Spring!!!

Daffodils on top of the market

Fresh flowers are back in bunches!

Close up of one of the bouquets

My St. Patrick's Day bouquet, complete with green daffodils - never seen those before!

The Big 3-0! (AKA Sarah's Dirty Thirty!!)

Last week was my birthday, the big 3-0, or as it was quickly known as, Sarah's Dirty Thirty. It really was like a whole week of celebrating that started on Sunday when Ryan, his sous chef Adam and I went to the Huskies basketball game. Unfortunately, there wasn't much to celebrate there. We kept the party going on Monday with the real celebration. Ryan took me to dinner at Zoe. It was a fantastic, delicious meal and a great start for a fabulous birthday celebration. From there we headed to Blarney Stone for Trivia night. The entire Donaldson family, Adam, and my new friend Andrea came to partake in the fun too. It really was a great time and my team (appropriately titled Sarah's Dirty Thirty!) came in second place!

Cheers! Let the night begin, it looks like Bob already knows there will be trouble ahead

After trivia most people had to go home (it was a Monday night after all) but Carrie and Tyson joined Ryan and I for a night cap. So before I go any further into this story I should tell you about my outfit for the evening. I had on a new dress, a very cute army green military style short dress with what else but my cowgirl boots! I looked very very cute. Anyway, it was also very rainy in the day before the celebrations began. All of these things combined with a little amount of alcohol and walking down a very steep Virginia hill on the way to the bar resulted in this:

OUCH!

It did hurt a little bit, but mostly I find it entertaining that I had a skinned knee on my 30th birthday. Isn't that more like on your 5th birthday? Oh well it just proves I am young at heart! And Carrie, Tyson, Ryan and I had a great time. All and all an incredible night!

Carrie and Tyson

Donaldson! You are supposed to smile for the camera!

Okay that is much better! I love you too!

On my actual birthday, Wednesday, Ryan's parents took me out for dinner at SeaStar in Bellevue and we enjoyed a very delicious meal. Then on this past Sunday we all went to their house to celebrate all the March birthday's for the Donaldsons (Carrie, Bob and me). We had another fantastic meal full of fresh seafood. We had clams, potato leek soup, prawns, fresh shrimp with cocktail sauce, oysters on the half shell, and fresh crab, soooo delicious!! What a great birthday! Thank you to all my family and friends and especially all of the Donaldsons for an unforgettable birthday! It meant so much to me to have such incredible celebrations even when I was away from my family, thank you!!!