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