Peter's Birthday Weekend

Last week Peter turned 27 years old.  (For those of you counting, that makes him only one year younger than me on paper, which is basically the same as my age …)  The evening started with dinner at a “French” hole-in-the-wall bistro on Capitol Hill. I have “French” in parentheses for a valid reason—the only Parisian thing about the place was that the menu had French words on it and the owner had a slight accent. The food was not too bad, but the live band crammed into one of the corners of the room was what really gave the place its charm.  Three young guys playing guitar and trumpet delivered some amazing Miles Davis pieces and a couple of vocals that were pitch perfect. Very romantic indeed.  Afterwards we walked over to the Vivace stand and caffeinated ourselves in preparation for part two of the evening—presents, carrot cake, and bubbly at my parent’s place in Kent.  

Saturday found us enjoying a relaxing morning at home complete with coffee, the morning paper, and Friday night’s Husky Basketball game. By mid-afternoon we were off to Samish Island to spend the rest of the birthday weekend with Peter’s parents. Instead of going out to dinner we opted for making a variation one of our favorite dishes—Butternut Squash Curry, Afghan style. Peter and I did all the cooking, topped off with an herbed yogurt sauce. It got rave reviews and we’ll be sure to make it again in the near future. Sunday morning we were treated to a full home-cooked breakfast by Peter’s parents: wheat pancakes, bacon, fruit platter, and yogurt.  Well-rested and well-fed, we did the obvious---we went shopping!  Visits to REI, Barnes & Noble, and a quick trip to Costco were all successful and before we knew it we were back for dinner. Once again, the Davis parents made a delicious salmon dinner and after a few hours of down-time, chatting about Thanksgiving plans, and another Husky b-ball game, we headed back home. All-and-all, a fun-packed weekend for me and my Mr!

 

Below are a few pictures, mostly taken with the iphone. Click on them for a complete view as these are only very large thumbnails.[gallery]

The papercuts are worth it.

As of November 2nd, I'm officially employed with a local shop called glassybaby here in Madrona that makes hand-blown glass votives and drinkers. As a shipping assistant, I have the privilege of making someone's day by packaging and sending out these beautiful pieces of art. My favorite part is hand-writing the notes that the sender wants included with the gift. These notes range from thank yous, to happy birthdays,to encouragement for perseverance, to the occasional condolence. Today I wrote such a note with two votives called "remembrance" and couldn't help but feel touched by the kind words and the depth of sincerity. To be honest, until this morning, I didn't really understand why these little glass bobbles are such a hit. But writing that note, and knowing that every time a candle is lit in these votives this woman's loved one is remembered, it all made sense. I'm officially a fan (and it has nothing to do with being on their payroll).

If you want to know more about glassybaby, check out their website at www.glassybaby.com. The shop also has a blog (http://blog.glassybaby.com/) and a glassblowing studio in the Madrona shop. Stop in sometime and say hello!