date night – Page 3 – emerald city diaries

my weekend in pictures.

{first pumpkin latte of the year!}

{delivery in the mail from nordy’s.}

{iphone 5 ordered. whoop whoop!}

{aaron’s parallel parking job. doesn’t get much closer than that.}

{the best cookies ever – italian florentines. thanks ben & sarah for introducing these to me a few weeks ago & thanks to whole foods for selling them!}

{rockin’ my new flats on date night saturday night. we went and saw premium rush with gordon joseph-leavitt. it gave me a lot more respect for bike couriers & a lot less respect for cops.}

{mini french toast for breakfast.}

{thanks to the seattle ban on plastic bags & charge for paper bags i get to use really cute reusable bags.}

{aaron was so enthusiastically cleaning sap off of our windshield that he may or may not have broken the handle.}

we had a sunny & fun-filled weekend with friends & family, but boy it went quickly! how was your weekend?

celebrating two years!

{venue: woodriver cellars in eagle, idaho. photos by jason ropp.}

on august 1, 2010, aaron & i shared vows, exchanged rings, & said “i do” in the presence of our closest family & friends (& then we had a big party!). those vows mean more to me now than they did two years ago, & i know that will continue to be true for as long as i have the privilege of being married to aaron.

aaron – if i could do it all over again, i would in a heartbeat! you mean the world to me. i can’t wait to grow old with you & spend many, many more anniversaries celebrating our love.

i love you to the moon & back.

my weekend in pictures.

{friday morning yoga.}

{it must be summertime because half of the time i drive thru eastlake the university bridge is up for boat traffic.}

{snacks packed for our road trip.}

{on the road! destination: stevenson, wa.}

{welcome to stevenson! so stevenson, wa is right on the columbia river acts as the state border between washington & oregon. in order to get to stevenson though, you have to drive into oregon & then cross back over into washington.}

{the bridge to hood river, oregon where we spent saturday morning.}

{downtown hood river.}

{family photo.}

{sadie was loving the shade & the cool concrete.}

{we stopped for a delicious juice on our way to the farmer’s market.}

{the columbia river gorge is absolutely gorge-ous! if you are ever near portland & have a vehicle, keep driving down i-84 to see the columbia river. you won’t be disappointed!}

{our little rustic cabin get-away.}

{here comes the bride!}

{the ceremony.}

{we clean up pretty well. at least for special occasions like weddings.}

{the cake cutting.}

{& the cake fighting.}

{the beautiful view from skamania lodge.}

{crossing back into oregon over the bridge of the gods.}

{bye-bye portland! we stopped in portland for a little shopping & leg-stretching before heading back to seattle.}

we had a fun weekend get-away to small-town, washington to attend the wedding of one of my law school friends, marcus. neither of us had spent any time at the columbia river gorge, but boy it was stunning! the weather was nice & sunny, & the wedding was so fun. how was your weekend?

sweet home alabama: andy & hailey’s wedding.

as you know, we were in alabama this last weekend celebrating the nuptials of our good friends andy & hailey. since aaron was a groomsman, we decided to head down to the south a few days early & spend some time with the bride & groom to-be & the rest of the wedding party.

{redneck night at flora-bama bar.}

we spend thursday afternoon on the beach on the florida panhandle & then changed into our finest redneck attire to dance the night away at flora-bama bar (named for its location on the border of, you guessed it, florida & alabama).

{our travel buddies: colin & carolyn.}

{the groom & bride to-be: andy & hailey.}

{colin, hailey, & chris.}

{shannon, hailey, & two of andy’s adorable nieces.}

{andy & hailey.}

{the beautiful sunset. & also colin watching the nba finals.}

{andy, hailey, & jaime. andy & hailey were donning their new trucker hats. his says “hitchin’ a bride” & hers says “randy for andy.”}

{me, andy, tyler, & alyssa.}

{rehearsal dinner.}

the rehearsal dinner was held at oak hollow farms in fairhope, AL in a beautiful, old (air-conditioned!) barn. there were twinkling lights hanging draped from the ceiling – as seen in this week’s my weekend in photos – & wood chips on the floor. we had delicious southern food, including catfish, pulled pork bbq, sweet southern tea, & peach cobbler. the toasts by the best man, & maid & matron of honor were given, followed by lots of dancing & karaoke. aaron even got on stage & sang me everything by michael buble which is what he surprised me with at our wedding; it was wonderful!

{the rustic centerpieces.}

{me & carolyn.}

{colin & carolyn.}

{the hosts & parents of the groom: barb & alan.}

{hailey & andy.}

{me & aaron. the dress for the rehearsal dinner was southern, so aaron wore a bow tie, & it wasn’t even a clip-on (i learned to tie one before we left)!}

{hailey, andy, aaron, & me.}

{wedding day!}

aaron stayed in fairhope with the rest of the wedding party on friday night while carolyn & i stayed at a little motel in town. on saturday, the wedding party got ready in fairhope, took some pictures, & headed to mobile for the ceremony. carolyn & i spent the morning at target, before heading to mobile to lunch & do some shopping before we got ready.

{apparently this guy’s rack makes a nice place for hanging dress shirts.}

{andy getting ready for the big day.}

{the first dance.}

{me & andy.}

{me & aaron. doesn’t he look so handsome in a tux?}

{cutting the cake.}

{the cake was delish. so were the sugar cookies & the french macaroons. two thumbs up to the bride for the dessert selection!}

{the traveling four-some all the way from seattle!}

{my dress was matthew williamson which i got from rent the runway. (this is a referral link.) the wedding was black tie optional & since aaron was wearing a tux, i figured i should wear something a little fancy since i was his date. it was so fun to dress up & i think we should start dressing more formally in the pacific northwest. who’s with me?}

{the ringbearer with his cool shades on.}

{the bride dancing with her father, barre.}

{the groom dancing with his mother, barbara.}

{yes, that is the garter around her head!}

{the send-off. we showered them in rose petals on their way out to the get-away car while the band played.}

{congrats to the new mr. & mrs. steiner!}

{my up do.}

a few people asked about my hair, so i thought i would just include this quick note. i knew i needed my hair to be up & off my neck. also, my hairdresser always taught me: the more the dress, the higher the hair. basically, if you are wearing a strapless dress, you can leave your hair down, but if you have straps, you should have all of it up.

my hair is thick & super long right now, so i needed an updo that had different sections. i basically followed this hair tutorial, but did regular french braids instead of french fishtail braids (my arms get too tired to do fishtail!).

it is definitely wedding season. have you been to any recently or do you have any to attend later this summer?

my weekend in pictures.

{aaron & sadie cuddling at my grandmother’s house.}

{my grandmother is always “losing” her glasses. turns out she had five pairs in her purse!}

{we saw men in black III. my review: it was better than the second, but not as good as the first.}

{i did a LOT of painting this weekend & it is finally done! wahoo! we are letting the doors dry for a few days before they go back up mid-week. i will try to post pictures of our updated kitchen next week (meg garner-ballard: your wait is almost over!).}

{we were lucky enough to get a free half-time show courtesy of the roosevelt high school marching band that marched down our street. they were legit with full costumes & police escorts.}

{yep, another trip to lowe’s.}

{we tried out a restaurant just north of our house. aaron loved the beer & there was great artwork!}

{sadie often feels the need to hug my arm. it is adorable.}

{we enjoyed a yummy sunday night dinner date at the skillet diner. grilled pb&j, roasted beets, & chicken on a waffle. it was de-lish!}

{new shoe debut. i love these shoes, however, wearing almost four inch heels for the first time when going to a standing-room-only concert is not a really good idea.}

{we got to see dia frampton at chop suey for a late sunday night concert. happy belated birthday aaron!}

{we look a little creepy because the venue was lit in red.}

{dia & her band. she was very tardy, but put on a great show!}

it was a busy weekend, per usual, but fun & even a little bit sunny. how was your weekend?

my weekend in pictures.

{waiting to leave for the airport to pick up aaron consisted of fuzzy blankets, new spring catalogs & doggie snuggles.}

{a german dinner at die bierstube for a friend’s birthday.}

{yes, that is aaron drinking beer out of a giant glass boot. classy.}

{the weekend was filled with lots of walks in the rain. wellies were a must!}

{despite our best efforts, we did not become multi-millionaires this weekend. bummer.}

{date night at chipotle!}

{sunday brunch on the kirkland waterfront.}

{i finally framed my bar passage letter .}

{aaron made bubble tea on sunday night.}

how was your weekend? any april fool’s day jokes?

a visit to new england: new hampshire & vermont.

from boston, we rented a car & drove north to new hampshire. we stayed in manchester, NH for the remainder of the week, sort of a jumping off point for the rest of our time in new england. manchester is a really cute little town with an amazing number of restaurants right on elm street in downtown. while it may have been nice to stay in other places, like say a bed & breakfast, it was so nice to have to unpack & repack only once! we celebrated my birthday & valentine’s day with a five-course dinner (which we split) at XO on Elm – it was delish! we also had to try the highly recommended dancing lion.

after settling into new hampshire, we took a short day trip up to vermont. it still amazes me that you can get to another state in just two short hours (that doesn’t happen where we live!). our first stop was in waterbury to visit the one & only ben & jerry’s factory. it was amazing! we got a tour of the factory & got to sample a never-been-released coffee cake ice cream.

we also drove just a little bit further into vermont to visit the von trapp family lodge. you probably only know of one von trapp family. are you quietly singing “doe a deer a female deer”? if you are, you are right on! the von trapp family was made famous from the movie the sound of music which was loosely based on their lives in austria during ww II. apparently waterbury, vermont looks much like the “mountains” of austria (i put mountains in quotes because any one who has actually seen a mountain cannot actually say that anything in new england is actually a mountain). originally the von trapp family just had a lodge but today it is quite the winter resort.

have you ever ventured into vermont?

highlights of 2011.

i love reading the yearly highlights on other blogs & thought it would be especially fun to catch up on the entire year since i didn’t start blogging until the fall.

{via google}

january: we had a mellow start to the new year that was highlighted by starting the last semester of my law school career.

february: we celebrated our 6 month anniversary on the first (cheesy, i know). we hosted a celebration party at our townhouse which included my turning 26 (yikes!), a very belated housewarming & of course, our 6 month anniversary. aaron took me away to whidbey island for a romantic weekend to celebrate my birthday and valentine’s day, and we went to serafina (my fav) for dinner!

march: my last official spring break (probably ever) which was spent studying (papers & oral argument) & working on my Bar application. i submitted my Bar application. we were surprised by the early arrival of baby cambridge: franklin pierre cambridge.

{via cari cambridge}

april: we attended the Barrister’s Ball (a.k.a. law school prom) which was held at the EMP. we drove to ritzville, WA to meet my dad & brought home the newest member of our little family, sadie. we had a date night at The Pink Door during Seattle Restaurant Week.

{taken at photobooth}

{the very first picture of sadie & aaron at the columbia river – taken with holga 135}

may: my last official final exams period: one final, two papers & a project. i painted our office a soothing blue in preparation for my bar exam studies. we attended Baccalaureate Mass at Seattle University & my Law School Graduation at Key Arena. we flew to indiana to see aaron’s family & to attend aaron’s ten year reunion at Culver Military Academy. we continued east-ward to Paris where we spent a week of celebration: graduation & aaron turning 28! we spent our first day in Paris with our good friend jerry who acted as our translator & tour guide.

june: i started my bar prep studies on the first; this marked the beginning of eight grueling weeks of 80 hours a week cramming. aaron interviewed & was offered a program manager position (still at microsoft).

july: we saw Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows Part II at the IMAX. i sat for the WA Bar Exam on July 26, 27 & 28; i wouldn’t have made it thru those three days without my friend miriam, three-evenings-in-a-row massages, jimmy john’s delivery service or the sheraton hotel in bellevue. we got celebratory pedis at my favorite spa Julep.

august: on the first we celebrated our one year anniversary at Rover’s. we dropped off sadie with nanny lisa and headed east for a lower family vacation. we spent the bookend weekends in charlotte, NC with aaron’s brother david & his family, but spend most of the vacation in charleston, SC on the beach at the Isle of Palms. lots of sun, sand & air conditioning. sadie & i drove to boise for a quick trip home to visit my family & to get a haircut (yes, i go to idaho to get my haircut). we waited in anticipation for baby lower who was born shortly after we left NC: landon neal lower.

{via jodi lower}

september: we saw maroon 5 & train in concert at the white river amphitheater. we drove down to salem for a weekend to see old family friends & so aaron could skydive; we saw our friends but had to cancel the skydiving due to weather conditions & miscommunications. we attended a surprise dinner party for sami, one of my very old friends from idaho, who now lives in seattle with her husband, brandon. on the 26th we celebrated sadie’s 7th birthday.

october: i passed the bar exam! we celebrated our four year dating anniversary with dinner at the melting pot. we attended Ghouls Near Greenlake, ben & sarah’s annual halloween bash as aladdin & jasmine. we ate our way thru seattle & bellevue during Seattle Restaurant Week. aaron ran in the warrior dash. i started a little blog called emerald city diaries to keep family & friends updated on the lower family.

november: i was sworn in as an official King County Bar Association member. i was rear-ended. we celebrated the baptism of baby herschel, the son of one of my law school friends. we celebrated thanksgiving with my grandmother & friends in seattle. we bought doug the douglas fir, the second annual lower family christmas tree. aaron took me to the nutcracker for an early christmas date.

december: we celebrated the engagement of our good friends andy & hailey. we attended a champagne brunch fundraiser. we got an SLR camera. we drove to boise in a rental car. i got a haircut. we flew to vegas. we attended the nuptials of scott & kelly at the chapel in the clouds. we cheered on the boise state broncos to victory in the las vegas bowl. we attended a christmas reunion of the CBC (my dearest high school girlfriends). we celebrated christmas! we drove back to seattle.

whew, what a year! every year i think “this has been the best year ever!” and i think this is totally true about my 2011.

how was your 2011 – was it a year to remember or are you itching to start 2012 already?

my weekend in pictures.

{b.l.a.t. at oddfellows. it was time for a change-up from turkey.}

{does anyone know how to darn a mitten?}

{pouring down rain = wellies.}

{apple cup. bow down to the huskies!}

{thai take-out.}

{you know it’s the holiday season when TJ’s carries candy cane green tea. my fave!}

{thanksgiving leftovers.}

{hot cocoa & a walk around the neighborhood. don’t know what we would do without a coffee shop right down the block!}

{baking the apple pie.}

{this is how sadie sleeps. all. the. time.}

{after making turkey stock, we made turkey stew with wild rice, pancetta and crimini mushrooms.}

{date night at the nutcracker.}

we had the laziest weekend ever. but then today i got a million-and-a-half things done before noon. does that ever happen to you? how was your weekend?

seattle restaurant week.

{photo via}

though i have fully enjoyed what seattle restaurant week had to offer this fall, i am sad to see it come to an end. next spring seems too long a time to wait for such a wonderful way to enjoy the restaurants this city has to offer. for those of you not in the know, seattle restaurant week is two weeks (minus the weekend in-between) twice a year (fall and spring) where restaurants all over the city offer special lunch and dinner menus at really affordable prices – 3 courses for $28 (dinner) and 3 courses for $15 (lunch).

whenever restaurant week comes around, we always have to limit ourselves ahead of time and usually choose two new places to dine. my husband was so sweet this year and surprised me with reservations at two new restaurants so that we would have a date night on each tuesday. we got really lucky this fall and also ended up at three other restaurants over the last two weeks with family and friends, so we really got to enjoy restaurant week five times!

i would highly recommend all of the restaurants we chowed down at this week. my fav is a tie between cantinetta and the tin table – both were delish!

{wild ginger at the bravern}

{cantinetta in bellevue}

{seastar in seattle}

{the tin table}

the fifth restaurant we visited was the keg in factoria. i didn’t get a chance to take a picture as (1) we didn’t even realize the keg was participating in seattle restaurant week until we got there, and (2) we were in a rush because we were trying to catch a movie.

you should check it out if you live here, or if you just happen to be visiting seattle during the right week, as it is such a great chance to enjoy amazing food and often at a fraction of the price of the regular menu.

seattle restaurant week