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

Picky, Picky

My husband is a really good eater (just ask his mom...hee hee...).  He will eat most anything, which makes cooking pretty easy most of the time because he will eat what I make.  However, recently we have made the decision to start eating healthier and made a few rules for ourselves.

1.  Cut back on the drinky-drink- Joel actually said I could have one glass of my beloved vino each night.  I decided it's probably better if I try to limit drinking to the weekends only, and the occasional happy hour.
2.  No bad carbs at dinner.  This means no bread, no pasta, etc.  We are trying really hard to make meals out of lean proteins and lots of veggies and fruit.

Sounds pretty easy right?  Well, one of the veggies that I really love is broccoli.  Steamed, a little lemon, salt & pepper... yummy!  Or even just raw, as a snack.  Joel happens to HATE broccoli.  Hates the taste, and hates the texture.  So I decided to trick him last night into eating broccoli with a little help from my friends at Black Bottle, who have an amazing recipe called Broccoli Blasted. 

Broccoli Blasted
Recipe courtesy of Bon Appetit
4-6 Servings

1 1/4 pounds broccoli, cut into florets (about 8 cups)
3 1/2 Tbl Olive Oil, divided
2 garlic cloves, minced
Large pinch of red pepper flakes

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.  Toss broccoli and 3 Tbl olive oil in a bowl to coat.  Transfer to rimmed baking sheet lined with foil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Roast for 15 minutes.  (It might be a little brown and crispy at this point- that's ok, it's supposed to be this way)  Stir remaining olive oil, garlic, and red pepper flakes in a bowl.  Drizzle over broccoli and return to oven for 8 minutes*.  Season with salt & pepper to taste.

* I found that it was easier to transfer the broccoli back to its original bowl and toss it with the garlic and red pepper mixture to get all of my broccoli coated- this is where you get all the yummy flavor that makes your broccoli not taste like broccoli. 

The result?  Crispy, yummy broccoli that the hubs actually ate.  He said he liked it because it "didn't taste like broccoli and the texture wasn't like little spermies."

Yes, he actually said that.  I am One Lucky Girl, I am.

So, if you have a broccoli hater in your family, I highly recommend you steal this recipe immediately and make it.

XOXO,
ECH

I am by no means a wedding expert.....

....but I did pick up a few things during my planning process that recently let me help my dear new friend, the divine Lady M, work through a slight wedding vendor crisis.  Lady M emailed me yesterday, frantic because the quote that she had gotten from her florist was ridiculously high from the amount she had budgeted.  Like, we're talking $1000 over what she originally told the florist.  Ridiculous.  However, not surprising.  I had this happen to me when I was picking a florist- in fact, it was the one vendor of mine that was REALLY hard to find the "perfect vendor".  So, without further ado, here are my tips for navigating the waters when searching for your wedding vendors.

1.  Go into your first meeting prepared.  Pull inspiration photos from the internet, bridal magazines, photographer's blogs... anything that speaks to your vision of your day.  Your vendor can't help shape your dream until you give them an idea of what that dream is.


2.  Even if you know NOTHING about the particulars of your vendor's craft, do some research ahead of time.  I, as well as Lady M, made the mistake of telling our potential florist that we knew "nothing about flowers" and that we "trusted their judgement".  While they are the experts, even experts need a little "guidance" when it comes to our Big Day.  Florists, in particular, seem to always high-ball the budget that you give them, because let's face it- how many people really know a lot about flowers?  Do a quick internet search on what is seasonal for your wedding date.


3.  Be realistic about what you are asking for.  This means COMPROMISE becomes a very, very important vocabulary word during the planning process.  It means that if you spend more money than you expected because you HAD to have the kick-ass photographer, then you find someplace where you spend less.  For me, that meant I bought a sample wedding gown, because I paid more for my kick-ass photographer than I originally budgeted.  And she was kick-ass, and my dress was also gorgeous.  Win-win.  For other brides, this might mean that your beloved peonies are only in your bouquet instead of all over your wedding.  There are solutions, people, you just might need to get creative.

4.  Stand up for yourself.  This is because you are the bride, and while I am not a fan of Bridezilla moments, I think that there is absolutely no reason why you shouldn't *politely* put your vendor in their place when they try to pull a fast one on you.  Whether it's telling them that they went way over your budget in their proposal, or that the plan isn't aligning with your vision, you need to do yourself a favor and speak up.  Because if you don't, then you will kick yourself on your wedding day because you were afraid to speak up and tell your stylist that you hate your hairstyle and that she needs to fix it RIGHTNOW.  (I love you, Natalie, but I still can't get over my wedding day hair.  Why I didn't just leave it down is still beyond me.)

That's it, dearies.  Hope it is helpful to my future brides-to-be!