Coleman Pool in Lincoln Park

I've realized that it's easy to take the scenery in Seattle for granted. I'm always in awe of the mountains and the water when I am quickly moving from A to B. For the last few weeks I have been able to ride my bike, run, and swim in areas that are new to me and it's been amazing to explore.

I've been spending a lot of time in Discovery Park and riding through the streets of Magnolia. I haven't spent a lot of time in Magnolia in the past and I found the streets to be pretty easy to ride through and the park is really one of the best is Seattle so I am happy to continue to work out there even though it's a pain to get there from our house. I'm hoping to complete this ride next weekend from Discovery Park to Seward Park.

On Saturday Rob and I took a 15 mile ride up along Lake Washington Boulevard to the Seattle Arboretum and Japanese Gardens. We rode through Mount Baker, Leschi, Madison Park, Montlake, Capital Hill and Beacon Hill. It was a beautiful ride with lots of hills!

This morning I got up for a 7:30am swim in Coleman Pool. This pool is a real treat! It's the only 50 yd outdoor pool is Seattle and is filled with saltwater. Luckily the group I was swimming with had the pool scheduled for us before it was open to anyone else. This is good, since it's usually packed. The pool is in Lincoln Park in West Seattle and literally right on the beach. Not only was it a great workout, but the scenery was amazing.
I have to start taking a camera to these things!

Restaurant Roll-Up

I wanted to write about some of the restaurants that we have either tried lately or would like to try.

1. Pearl in Bellevue - On Friday night we met some friends there for Happy Hour and got strong armed into meeting on the eastside. Just kidding I'm not closed minded - I am just not into the eastside. Anyway, they have a great happy hour with food and drinks half off. I would go back for sure. The Happy Hour times are 4-6, so it makes it hard to get over there but it was nice anyway.

2. La Medusa - This has been on my list for years. On Wednesday night they make all their dinners from items they purchase at the Columbia City Farmers Market. This summer, we'll finally try it out.

3. Portage Bay Cafe - This is my favorite spot for brunch. It's a little expensive but so worth it. We've only been here once so far. We have a very important celebration of the 5th of July that is NOT our anniversary and we're planning to go back! Stay tuned to find out what that is. *Correction, this special event has been moved but I will still blog about it when it's complete.

Happy Memorial Day Weekend!

And They Say Seattle Doesn't have Storms

On Tuesday night Rob and I were enjoying dinner at our favorite restaurant and noticed that it was thundering and lightning outside. It never does that here and it;s one of those things that we miss about east coast living. As it turns out, on Tuesday night the Space Needle was hit by lightening 3 times in a row. Here is a video.

New Dishes Fresh from Italy

One thing we have learned over the years is when you are traveling, buy what you want with no regrets. My regrets are always bigger when I didn't buy the things you wish you had. Often times, it's those little splurges that help you remember the memories that were made on the vacation! Two years ago when we were in Ravello, I wanted new ceramic plates and I told Rob that I always wished that I had bought them. This time I did (with his pushing) and here they are:There are ceramic shops just like this all around the Amalfi Coast, but Mamma Agata buys gets her plates custom made from the same factory we bought ours. Mine are custom made too, but Mamma Agata has a pattern that is made just for her. I chose orange plates that match the kitchen. I also chose the painted elements to have turtles, pigs, and fish.

Spring Gardening

This past weekend was a great weekend for work around the yard. On Saturday morning Rob and I went down to the nursery in Georgetown and then down to Lowe's to buy some plants. When I got home, I started painting the small pots for the front navy blue to match the house trim. Here are some pictures of the gardens...

and someone likes to lay in the sun too!

Four Days in Vegas

Last weekend I had a girls weekend in Vegas with two of my good friends, Cathy and Cindy. Luckily Cindy won us a hotel room for 3 nights at Caesars Palace, so the room was taken care of. Rob also had some friend that were getting married that weekend so he came down to spend 2 nights as well. Lucky for him, my friends actually like Rob better than they like me so he gets to come on all the girls trips.

We spent the days at Caesars Pool and sat in the hot sun and at night we would go out to the bars. I never went to bed before 3am. Vegas as usual.

Despite my general feelings for nightclubs, we decided to go to PURE one night. The club is pretty sweet. It has a deck that is outside and overlooks the strip. It's worth it to wait in line for that reason. It was pretty sweet. Caesars also has another bar called Shadow Bar, which was also one of our main stomping grounds of the weekend.

We didn't really leave Caesars until we wanted to play beer pong at Oshea's. There Cindy and I beat some young British guys at beer pong and celebrated for the rest of the day.

It was a good time and it's fun to have weekends like this once in a while. Next stop Lake Havasu.