Photo Friday

I decided to try to implement a few "regular" type posts in order to motivate myself to blog more and give my readers more excuses for wasting time at work (I love you, my 2 followers. Now, go tell your friends to follow me too.) And so, my friends, I give you a little something to end your work week with a smile.







Hello, Casual Friday Attired Gym Goer. I really, really hope that you're not headed to work after sweatin' it out in your workday finery.
XOXO,
ECH

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Meer-Disappointment

Hubsters and I decided to take advantage of the gorgeous October sun yesterday and take a little trip to Woodland Park Zoo.  I have been DYING to go here ever since they put in the Meerkat exhibit.  Meer-cute?  Yes, please.  I've seen Meerkat Manor.  I had high expectations.  I mean, I knew that there probably wouldn't be an active drama going on, complete with commentary and cutely named creatures, but I thought after all the hype and advertisements that would at least be COOL.
It wasn't.  Poor little Meerkats.  All 16 of them were encased in these weird glass cases, about the size of a department store window.  Hardly big enough for burrowing and acting out a daily drama segment.  Zoo = FAIL.  I would have taken a picture but I was far too distracted by what was directly outside the exhibit.


Look Mom, I'm a Meerkat!

J was probably SO embarassed by me.  But I was on a date.  At a zoo.  You really can't blame me for acting like a 5 year old.

On the plus side, we discovered that going to the zoo on a slightly cloudy afternoon in October is actually a really great idea.  No crowds, no field trip kiddies... it kind of felt like we had the whole place to ourselves.  Plus, if you're there around 3:30, it's feeding time so you get to see cute things like gorillas munching on celery and the elephant who does a little dance after he eats.  I'm serious.  You think I could make this stuff up?  Go see for yourselves.

XOXO,
ECH

Giving a new meaning to "In-Flight Entertainment"

I was watching my good friends, Kathie Lee & Hoda do their thing yesterday morning when they had a very interesting segment regarding airline safety.  So, chickadees, please sit back, relax, ensure that your tray tables and seatbacks are in their upright and locked positions, and ENJOY


XOXO,
ECH

Baking FAIL

A little reminder to all who like to bake:  if you don't add all the ingredients, weird stuff happens.  For example, not enough flour = flat little pancake cookies.

Unless, of course, you like flat pancake cookies.  In that case, rock on.

XOXO,
ECH

Wee Beers + RBO (Really Big Oysters) = Date Weekend!

Last weekend (ok, so really two weekends ago- I've been a very lazy blogger) Joel and I decided that since Seattle decided to stop blasting us with rain that it would be the time to head up to Taylor Shellfish Farm for a little sunshine, a little BBQ, and some fabulously fresh oysters.  We packed up the car, along with our friends Shirin and Bryan, and drove the hour and a half up to Bow, WA (where?  yeah, I didn't know either until this little adventure.  Almost in Canada, people.  Almost in Canada).

After driving down a beautiful road (albeit one lane, with a steep drop on one side...eek!) and across some railroad tracks (please remember to look both ways before crossing, they are operable tracks and that could really ruin your visit if you forget) we pulled up to the little farm with this amazing view.

We went in and purchased two dozen "medium" oysters for our BBQ.  We were hungry.  And we all really like oysters.  We had NO idea what we were in for.

First of all, these things were HUGE.  Like, the size of my whole hand.  And contrary to popular belief (and the people who sold us the oysters), BBQing these things for a few minutes does not make them "pop" open.  We needed help, and luckily for us, help was on the way.



Shirin getting a lesson in oyster shucking



R.B.O (Really big oyster).  And yes, I know what that looks like. I'm super mature like that



Now that we finally figured out how to get into these suckers, it was time for eating.  And boy, was I excited!

Soooo....here's the thing about oysters this size.  They are REALLY big.  As in, no possible way that you could eat them in one bite.  And let me tell you, as tasty as oysters are (and these were really good), you don't want to have to cut them open and look at what's inside.  It's icky.  We wished we had purchased the cute little Komomoto oysters that they had for sale instead of these giant wonders. 

Anyway, after dining (re: forcing ourselves to eat) on oysters, wine, yummy corn,  and S'mores (of course!), we decided we had had enough of gale force winds and headed back home.  All in all, it was a great way to spend the day, and we will definitely be back!



Thumbs up for a great date!



On to the next adventure: Fremont Oktoberfest! 

After a brief discussion about whether or not it would be appropriate to wear our Oktoberfest costumes (no), we headed down to Fremont around 6 pm.  I highly recommend going this early on the Friday, because it's less crowded and you don't have to wait.  Oh, and the people pouring beer will not take your beer tokens, turning your 10 beer tokens into 15 beer tokens (only if you're Joel.  Apparently, he's a lot cuter than I am).



We love Wee Beers!!!

Fun times were had by all.  We ended up closing the joint down at midnight- go figure.

That's all for now, sweetums.  I promise to try to be a better blogger.  I've been on a baking hiatus recently since Hubster and I were on a diet, but now that THAT nonsense is over, I have a few little projects up my sleeve that I'm dying to tackle and promise to properly document for you. 

XOXO, ECH