my weekend in pictures.

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{we took the drive south to kent to carpinito brothers’ pumpkin patch on saturday morning.}

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{my first time to a pumpkin patch. if aaron would have been okay with it, I would have gotten an entire wheelbarrow full of pumpkins!}

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{sadie loved the pumpkin patch, apparently there were a lot of good smells. she was so good while we had to wait for all of the people.}

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{on saturday night we went to the Seattle Opera. neither one of us would consider ourselves opera fans per se, but we fully enjoyed the daughter of the regiment!}

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{a really fun date night at the opera & impressed with how many other seattleites were dressed up for the occasion.}

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{a selfie via aaron.sorry for the fuzziness…}

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{tonight we went out to etta’s at pike place market to enjoy the second week of seattle restaurant week. i have always heard good things about etta & the meal did not disappoint!}

we took advantage of a slow weekend to indulge in a few much-needed date nights, though sadie wasn’t too amused. the weather has definitely turned here to cold & we are remembering the age of our house given the number on the thermastat! we are still at the point where we don’t want to keep the heat on all the time, so an extra layer or hat is the way to go in our house for at least a few weeks longer before we give in & turn up the heat! aaron is headed out of town for work & I am gearing up for a busy week along with my mom making a short trip into town. plus, i am still grappling with the idea that it is the end of october – seriously, where did the last three weeks go? how was your weekend?

M

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?
M

seattle restaurant week.

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!

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.