Seattle

We're back from our amazing anniversary trip to Seattle. I'll post trip recaps when I get a chance to go through all the photos we took.

For now, a few highlights included
- Dungeness crab!
- Randomly seeing my favorite Twins player Deduno walking around Seattle (back to his hotel)
- Interesting walking tour of Pike Place Market
- Piroshkies from Piroshky Piroshky
- Sitting on the Iron Throne at the EMP Museum
- Viewing the beautiful glass pieces at Chihully Garden & Glass
- Seeing the Twins win BOTH games we went to at Safeco Field AND seeing my guy Deduno pitch a great game
- Visiting Ballpark #7
- View of Seattle from the Ferry to Bainbridge Island (photo above)
- Renting a car and driving out to Mount Rainier National Park
- Hiking at Mt Rainier National Park

WR: Saints Game, Fishing Tourny & Fireworks

Friday night we went to the St. Paul Saints game. We got there around 7:30 and had panicked a bit when we saw they were already in the 5th inning? The tickets said "7:05 start." When we got in, we discovered they were playing a double header starting at 6 with only 7 innings each. I had never been to a Saints game before, and I was not impressed. Midway Stadium is a dump. The baseball was kind of boring. There was a lot of WT to be had, which made the people watching great! I really wanted to stay for the fireworks, but couldn't take it anymore and left at 9:30 when they were only in the 4th inning of the second game. Oh well. The tickets were free, but I don't think I'll be going again even with free tickets!

Chester and I slept in until 9:30 on Saturday morning, which was glorious. Adam got up at 5 to do a bass fishing tournament with some guys from work. He had a good time, caught a few bass, and placed 2nd, which meant he got free lunch! Sounds like he had a good time.

The pug and I enjoyed a leisurely day at home. In the afternoon, I did some yard and garden work. The weeds were taking over!

In the evening, we headed over to our friend Alan's sister's new house where we hung out with Alan, his sis, her husband, and our friend Laura. It was just nice to be outside! Then we headed down to the Aquatennial Fireworks. We took two cars and ended up getting separated from them when we had to drive around forever to find a parking spot. We ended up all the way over by the U. The fireworks were worth it though! Especially since we hadn't been to them since 2009 because they usually fall over our anniversary and we're out of town.

I look like a deer in headlights because the flash was REALLY bright!

My darling husband got up with Chester on Sunday morning and let me sleep in until 11(!). It was wonderful. We spent the rest of the day lounging and I did some more garden work.

Birthday Week!

Birthday Week continued on Wednesday. I met Robin at the MOA at 5:30 for some purse shopping. She gave me a budget and said I could get one or many purses with it. Yay! We started at Nordstrom's but they had a disappointingly small purse collection. It was sad.

Next, we stopped in DSW where I found a lovely turquoise bag. It was a great deal, so I couldn't resist.

Then it was on to Macy's where we had the most luck. Their purse department was easily 4x as big as Nordstrom's. I found a black tote bag that I fell in love with. It has "stripes" of different materials. It's beautiful. I decided it will be the perfect "personal item" bag for flying.

I also fell in love with a camel colored bag. It's lovely. Robin even got in on the action and bought a black purse.

Then we went to Bettie Page Clothing and tried on a few things. I liked a few of their dresses, but I didn't love any of them nor do I need another dress right now. Next time I need a dress, I know where I'll look first!

Lastly, we stopped at Old Navy so I could get a duplicate of a shirt I love. It was on clearance which was kind of awesome. Of course that's not all I got... How could I say no to 40% off for cardholders?!

We ended our night with dinner at Napa Valley Grille. The company was awesome, but the food was somewhat disappointing.

It was such a fun night though!!! I didn't get home until 9:30!

On Thursday night, Adam and I went out for dinner for my birthday. We tried a new to us place - Trattoria da Vinci in downtown St. Paul. It was really good. We started with Caesar Salads, which Adam wasn't impressed with, but I enjoyed. I had the Ravioli Crimini which was amazing. It was mushroom stuffed ravioli with artichoke hearts, asparagus tips and portabella mushrooms in a sun dried tomato cream sauce. It was so rich I could only eat half. Adam enjoyed the Linguine Allo Scoglio which was linguini with seafood (mussels, clams, calamari, shrimp) in a spicy red sauce.

We split Tiramisu for dessert. My favorite!

Dinner only took 1.5 hours so we had plenty of time that evening to relax with the pug. A perfect way to end birthday week!

29th Birthday Recap

I had a fabulous birthday yesterday. I got to see my fam in the morning, and then got a white on white cake at work (shared with the other July birthday - I cropped him out for privacy),

and then Adam took me out for lunch at WhichWich. Yum.

At home, Adam made me a delicious Mango Margarita, which I enjoyed out on the patio while he grilled us dinner.

We had Mahi Mahi with garlic basil butter, garlic bread, and broccoli. I even got our wedding China out for the occasion!

I let Chester open up his gift from Adam's fam. He loved ripping into it.

Then he patiently waited (sitting without even being asked to!) while Adam opened up one of the bones for him.

It was a hit!

Next I opened the cards I got in the mail along with my present from Adam and Chester.

A birthday kiss from the pug!

Chester was a big help!

They gave me a beginner sewing machine - a Singer Stylist 2356. I'm really excited about it, yet a bit intimidated because I've never used one before! Should be fun though.

And then we relaxed on the couch and watched the All Star game. Chester refused to relax though. He was obsessed with stalking a fly that was in the house. He caught it once, and then spit it out and it flew away. About an hour later, he had something in his mouth. I got him to spit it out. It was the fly, without it's wings. Gross.

I really appreciated all the well wishes, facebook posts & messages, texts, and cards throughout the day. Not a bad birthday for the last in my 20's. Sadface.

I'm 29 Today...

Today I turn 29. The last one before I'm ancient the big 3-0. To be honest, I'm a bit depressed about this being my last birthday in the 20's. I think next year is going to be really rough.

Luckily, I have awesome friends to celebrate with over the weekend, and an awesome family. On their way back from their Montana trip, my fam decided to stop at our house and spend the night (and I only had to twist their arms a little bit!). It was so nice to see them and hear about their trip. They got going at 7:30 this morning, but it was great to see them on my actual birthday. When you've been gone 9 days, you just want to be home, so it meant a lot that they took the time to stop.

Christine and I enjoyed watching the second and third rounds of the Home Run Derby together.

And they even brought me random uhoh-tomorrow-is-your-birthday-and-your-gifts-are-at-home presents from the gas station. Except for the wine raspberry-rhubarb wine, that was planned. It looks delicious!

They even re-purposed the birthday bag Christine got her beautiful quilt from Sheila in.

Though Chester was a little sad there were no wrapped presents for him to rip open.

I got a bag of salt and vinegar chips (non-kettle which are my favorite and impossible to find here),

Mountain Dew Live Wire ("Remember when you used to drink this all the time?"),

a bottle of huckleberry pop,

and a lovely postcard of the Giant Buffalo in Jamestown, ND.

Today I had to work, but Adam took me out for lunch. Tonight we're going to watch the All Star Game tonight and grill dinner. Who would have ever thought this girl would want to stay in and watch the All Star Game on her birthday? I used to hate baseball! Even back in 2010, when my dad got us suite tickets for my birthday, I was less than thrilled. It was a lot of fun, just not exactly what I wanted to be doing on my birthday. Yet last year, I actually wanted to go to a game on my birthday (Christine came too!).

My birthday week continues tomorrow with shopping + dinner with Robin. Then on Thursday night, Adam and I are going out for dinner to celebrate ME.

WR: Chester's Birthday & Stef's Party

It's hard to believe, but our little puppy dude turned 3 on Friday. Of course we had to spoil him all day! Adam's on summer hours, so he got home early to spend the afternoon with Chester. They snuggled a lot - one of Chester's favorite things!

I got home around 5, and we headed outside to grill. We put Chester on his tie-out so he could bark at stuff and eat grass and raspberries. Another favorite of his!

I made him pose with the birthday hat I picked up for him, which he hated and kept shaking off.

the Garden Knome

I also gave him his "pupcake" with cream cheese frosting and took LOTS of adorable photos.

I only let him eat half of it because I didn't want him to get sick. He was sad about that!

I thought it was adorable that he had a little bit of frosting on his chin!

Then I took him for a walk around the block. He loves his walks!

Later, we let him open up his gifts.

He's a pro at gift opening. It's pretty hilarious to watch!

We gave him two Tuffy toys - an elephant and squid.

We also gave him a new Martha Stewart felt ball to replace the one he pulled apart one too many times. It's pretty much his favorite toy and lasted him almost 6 months of daily play.

He loved his little pop-up card from Grandma & Grandpa & Stine with money to pick out a toy!

To end the night, we let him sleep in bed with us. I bet he was thinking, "Best day ever!"

On Saturday, we slept in a bit and then got going on party prep. Adam and I did some yard work and weed pulling on the patio. It's a never ending battle. We also did some housecleaning and food prep. Around 3, I headed down to the DMV to renew my license. It was a torturous experience. When I got there, I pulled #73 and they were on #34. Luckily it went faster than I expected since a lot of the numbers weren't there. However, I had to deal with a mom yelling at her screaming kid and threatening to pinch him. When he didn't stop, she pinched him. Hard. Of course he then screamed louder to which she said, "SHUT-UP. SHUT-UP. YOU MADE ME PINCH YOU. SHUT. UP."

Then, when I was waiting to get my photo taken I had some crazy lady seated 2+ feet away start yelling at me for standing in front of her - by the counter WHERE I WAS TOLD TO STAND BY THE DMV LADY.
This is how it went down -
"SCUSE ME"
I turn
"DON'T YOU BE STANDIN' IN FRONT OF ME"
uhhhh...... This is where they told me to wait
shaking her head at me, "UH UH. NOT IN FRONT OF ME YOU DON'T"
Then I got pissed and said, I can stand WHEREVER I WANT to stand
And I thought she was going to kill me. Luckily the DMV lady called me over at that point and apologized for "that"
I glared back at the rude territorial lady and she shouts "YEAH YOU KEEP LOOKIN AT ME SWEETIE. YOU CAN'T STAND HERE."
I was so angry that I had problems with my vision test and couldn't even smile for my photo. I basically grimaced. Can't wait to get that lovely in the mail in 2-3 weeks...

I could not wait to get out of there.

Friends started arriving around 6 for my party. It was so much fun to see everyone and hang out. It was kind of cool outside, but that was better than super hot. And at least it didn't rain!

Chester, of course, loved having visitors!

We had lots of apps and Adam cooked up a variety of meats (burgers, turkey burger, hot dogs, veggie burger) for everyone. We also had pasta salad and fresh fruit. My favorite was the white wine sangria. Yum.

Hilarious family photo fail.

Thankfully, Laura took one of us.

By 12:30, everyone had headed home and we were exhausted.

Sunday we basically lounged all day to recover. I'm feeling kind of depressed about my upcoming birthday, being that it's my last one in my 20's, so it was nice to have a fun weekend!