Walla Walla reunion (Seattle Vacation Part 4)

Last Thursday, we took a bombardier plane from Seattle to Walla Walla for our college reunion!We flew from lush, green, Western Washington to the dry, wheat fields of Southeast Washington. 

 After only 50 minutes in the air, we landed in Walla Walla and immediately checked out the airport wineries. We enjoyed the dry Cab Franc rose and Walla Walla Valley Syrah at Trust Cellars.  We were sad that they were not tasting their ice wine. Next, we drove a little ways down the road to Five Star Cellars. We're wine club members at Five Star because we enjoy their wines so much. 
Nearly next door is another old favorite, Tamarack Cellars! One of the first wines I had ever tried was their Firehouse Red. We also attended Charles Smith's Blues and BBQ for dinner. There was rockin' music, great wine, and several Whitman alums!

Friday morning, we wandered around Whitman's campus. I love the Deborah Butterfield sculpture, affectionately known as "Styx". Our first winery tour of the day was probably the coolest wine experience we've ever had....we went to taste at Figgins! We barrel tasted the 2010 Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Petit Verdot. They were tight, tannic and full of potential.We also got to visit their estate vineyards on Mill Creek Road!Apparently Mr. F and I were the smallest group ever given a tour of the facilities and vineyards!We even tried some of the Cabernet Sauvignon grapes ripening on the vine before trying the 2008 Figgins blend. If you're interested in Figgins, join their mailing list now!

We were also able to taste at Abeja!They also have an amazing Cabernet Sauvgnon and a crisp, delightful Chardonnay. The House Red is also a great table wine, that we decided to ship ourselves. The property is so beautiful filled with flowers, grey barns and blooming bushes!  We would love to stay at the Abeja Inn someday. 

We had a late lunch at our favorite taco truck, la Monarcha!Mr. F loves the Walla Walla tacos with beef, Walla Walla sweet onions and avocado. We also enjoy their tortas!

Later that night, we met up with our recently married besties!We did not get a chance to taste at Cayuse, but we enjoyed posing outside!I love the bright yellow exterior!

Food and friends in Seattle! (Seattle Vacation part 3)

Mr. F and I went on our favorite beach walk in Washington last Tuesday! We drove to the South end of 32nd Ave W on Magnolia and walked along the rocky beaches. We noticed there had been a landslide recently!

 We had a late lunch at our favorite oyster bar, Walrus and Carpenter. We even had our favorite waitress and Full Pull employee, Emily!We tried 6 different kinds of oysters  from Washington and British Columbia. The Barron Points are at Mr. F's thumb, the 12 o' clock position, the Eld Inlet at the 1 o' clock position, the Eagle Rock at 4, the huge Amai at 6 o' clock, the Baywaters are at 9, and Effingham oysters are at the 11 o'clock position. Mr. F and I had so much fun taking pictures, the lady next to us asked if we were "newlyweds". We've been married three years and have known each other for 10! It's good to know we still act so cute together!Our favorite oysters werethe Amai oysters! 

For dessert, we had a divine Bay Leaf Panna Cotta.It had fresh, ripe blackberries on top too!

At dinner, we celebrated our vacation with an amazing bottle by Gorman winery called, the Albatross at Buenas Aires Grill. It was dense, deliciously decadent, and colossal. Mr. F and I ordered the mixed grill with steak, chicken, sausage and sweet meats to pair with it. There were also papas fritas on the side!Our eyes must have been bigger than our stomaches because we took half of our dinner home to my parents!

On Wednesday, I got to spend time with a great friend from college and her adorable baby! My wonderful friend also has a blog called, Sessions with Sweetie.

This is, seriously, one of the best babies I have ever held. She never cried and went to sleep after gurgling and being cute for an hour!

  I can't believe it's been 10 years since J and I moved into our freshman year dorm together!!
 Later, Wednesday night, we packed up our things for our flight to Walla Walla. More about our college reunion and wine tasting to come!!!

Stanwood and Bellingham (Seattle vacation part 2)

On Monday afternoon we drove an hour North of Seattle to our family's hobby farm. We found a new barn cat that adopted us. It's super cute with beautiful markings and really friendly.Tiger is our other barn cat, on the left.  He's very talkative and a good mouser.

When we visited the horses, they were excited when we tossed them apples from the orchard. Zoey (the pretty paint on the right) came running when she saw the apples.Jake even posed for us, while Pokie (on the right) ate all the apples.Mr. F and I donned boots to check out the new calves and the fields.

Later in the afternoon, we drove up to Bellingham to see my middle sister's new house! They live on a lake with a dock! Mr. F and I were kind of jealous and can't wait to visit again.Isn't their little red house cute?My sister has a cute cat that adopted her too. It's name is Soot. We celebrated my Dad's birthday with a fun BBQ of freshly caught salmon, brats and burgers!

Fortunately, my sister and her boyfriend were prepared for grilling in the rain! They are not only grill masters, but amazing fishermen and crab catchers! 

A recap of our Seattle vacation, part one

Saturday afternoon, we arrived in Seattle and went to dinner with my parents and grandparents. It was great to return to Eastlake Bar and Grill with the family. We watched the sunset and enjoyed each other's company. 

 Sunday morning, we had a tasty breakfast of doughnuts and coffee at Top Pot.We love the Queen Anne space and enjoyed stopping by there before a walk around the top of Queen Anne hill.
 We walked down to Kerry Park and enjoyed the panoramic view of the city and Elliot Bay.

Source: en.wikipedia.org via Emily on Pinterest

Sunday afternoon, we drove out to Woodinville for wine tasting. We love going to Mark Ryan, especially since we became Dead Horse Club (wine club) members!

 In addition to great wine, there are also many neat pieces of art in the Mark Ryan tasting room! 

Monday morning, we made a fun trip to the flagship REI. It used to be one of our regular Seattle haunts before we moved to Chicago! 

In my next blog post, I'll write more about our trip to Bellingham to visit my sister!!!!

Chicken dance ala Arrested Development

We are on our second to last vacation day. We just flew in from Walla Walla back to Seattle for a night. I have tons of fun photos to share but I had to share this Arrested Development news first!!!

From the Huffington Post:

"Arrested Development" is back. Really.

The cult classic television comedy about the travails of the rich, zany Bluth family, cancelled in 2006 after three seasons, will produce nine to ten new episodes and a movie, it was announced at The New Yorker Festival on Sunday.

"It's true. We will do 10 episodes and the movie. Probably shoot them all together next summer for a release in early '13. VERY excited!" leading actor Jason Bateman tweeted.

Smart and irreverent, the show also starred David Cross, Michael Cera, Portia De Rossi, Tony Hale, Alia Shawkat and Jessica Walter. It was executive produced by Ron Howard, who also provided narration.

Since its cancellation, the show has earned a fervent fan base, with constant speculation as to when -- or whether -- the show would be adapted into a movie. The cast, led by Bateman and Will Arnett, has frequently promised that a movie would be coming, though until now they've been unable to offer any specifics. As it turns out, that can be attributed to the difficulties of intellectual properties and broadcast rights.