It's a Beautiful Day In the Neighborhood

We have had gorgeous weather in Seattle this past weekend, and we took advantage of it Friday and Saturday by spending some quality time down on Alki Beach. On Friday, Sullivan and I went with Kelly and Alistair out for lunch at Cactus, took a walk on Alki Beach and then got a coffee at the Alki Bakery. We all suffered severely that evening from "fresh air poisoning" which resulted in us being quite groggy and boys sleeping really well once we got home!

On Saturday, Gabe, Sullivan, Mara-Lisa and I went down to Alki again, had lunch at Pegasus Pizza and took a very short walk along the beach. It was pretty chilly down on the water (as it was on Friday), Gabe didn't have a jacket on, and both Mara-Lisa and I were still chilly despite having jackets on for this definite coat-like weather. But we took a couple pictures of the outing -- the Olympic mountains were gorgeous, and Sully was snug as a bug in a rug in his stroller. We definitely live in a gorgeous place (and, see -- it DOESN'T rain all the time here!). :)

Happy Hour

The concept of "Happy Hour" has taken on a whole new meaning at our house, now more accurately meaning the time when Sullivan is alert and happy rather than the time when we can go to a local watering hole and imbibe cheap (or cheaper) drinks and eat ourselves silly on reduced-price appetizers.*

Sullivan has started to smile every now and again, and I still can't tell for sure if he means to smile or if it just sort of happens, but I think we are now getting to the point where the smiles are deliberate.

Here are some shots which represent my feeble attempts at 1) getting Sully to smile; and 2) capturing those smiles in a photo. Whether these are true smiles or not, I'll let you be the judge, but I still think he is super cute, smiling or not!







*Side Note: I did have my first alcoholic beverage on Saturday night since March 2006. I went out with the girls to Dahlia Lounge for a great dinner and one glass of wine -- wow, was it good!

And when I say it was good, I'm referring to both the food and the glass of wine. I was watching the Food Network on Friday night, and there is this new program that Giada What's-Her-Face started where she goes city-to-city exploring the local "culture" via its restaurants (doesn't this sound just like that Rachael Ray show? Not the "$40 a Day" one, but that other one she does that isn't "30-Minute Meals?" But, I digress...). In the premiere episode, Giada comes to Seattle and goes to the Dahlia Lounge; Cafe Nola on Bainbridge Island; Cascadia for their Happy Hour which includes tiny little burgers (I think they are also known as "Sliders") with fancy toppings like blue cheese and carmelized Walla Walla onions; and also a cool-looking coffee house on Capitol Hill that starts with a "V" and I forget the name of. Anyways, this made me want to go to Dahlia Lounge as I have never been before, and I also find it funny (or sad?) that I have to watch a national cable network television show to learn about the city that I live in.

Oh, well -- the show resulted in my having a great time with my friends, so it really can't be all bad! And Gabe and Sully had a nice evening together, too, watching "Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo," which I now have the honor of hearing lines quoted from over and over again. Good thing Sully can't talk yet. :)

Snow @ Sandholm Ranch

The Midwest has hit Seattle, and we have now gotten more snow than our family in Iowa has this entire winter. We got enough snow and ice, in fact, that Gabe worked from home today. The snow hit during last night's commute, and Gabe decided to wait to leave work until 7:30 PM to not join everyone else out on the roads. However, it still took him approximately two hours to get home, and he passed cars that people had just abandoned on the side of the road and freeway because they couldn't make it up the overpass or the on-ramp because of the ice on the roads. The Malibu made it just fine, until Gabe got to our own driveway. As you can see by the photo, Barbie had to stay outside last night because she didn't have enough oomph to make it all the way to the garage.

It's going to stay really cold in the Seattle area over the weekend, so we're going to have the ice and snow for the next few days. Gabe says he is going to try and make it into work tomorrow, so it's a good thing we live right next to major highways and the freeway. Based on the news tonight, it doesn't look like the snowplows and trucks have done much in the way of cleaning off side streets, so I think a lot of people will be waiting until things melt before they get out of their houses, especially those that have hills to go up or down (which is almost anyone in Seattle!).

This is also Sullivan's first snow storm! We dressed him in his Hawkeye jacket and went out to the front yard to capture the moment, but I don't think he was that impressed. Oh, well. We have it documented for him, nonetheless.

Holy Ravioli! (and Happy New Year)

Happy New Year from Sandholm Ranch! Due to this being our first New Year with a youngin' -- and a brand new one at that -- we rang in a very low-key, sober New Year at Mike and Sarah's along with Kevin and Laura and the three new 2006 kiddos: Claire, Christian and Sullivan. To be clear, I can't think of an amazing, out-of-hand New Year's Eve celebration that I've ever attended or been a part of, but at least this year I can blame my boring-ness on being a new mom. Can't wait until the kids are big enough to bring us our beers and mix us our drinks. That might result in the rowdiest New Year's Eve I may have yet. :)

On New Year's Day, Grandma Sandholm, Gabe, Sullivan and I were invited to David and Judy Hennessey's for their annual New Year's Day ravioli and sausage making bash. This was the first year we were able to make it; for the previous years we have missed it as Iowa was always in a bowl game on New Year's Day and -- being the dedicated Hawkeye fans we are -- we always prioritized Hawkeye football watching over being sociable and having a good time with others making great food ;). This year, however, the Hawkeyes' made it to a crap bowl game that didn't land on New Year's Day (and a game they still managed to lose), so this year we were able to see what this party was all about.







Needless to say, we had a great time, as the pictures show! Judy made Sullivan and Alistair their own little aprons and chef's toques to fully get in the spirit of the day. The guys were in charge of the sausage making, and the ladies were in charge of the ravioli making. I was able to help make about three trays of ravioli (only like 36 ravioli) until Sullivan called me away because he was hungry. By the time I got back into the kitchen, all of the ravioli was rolled, stuffed and finished! Oh, well -- there is always next year.

After everything was made, we ate ourselves silly on the approximately 50+ pounds of sausage that were made and trays and trays of ravioli. Very good eating, for sure! Making dinner with 15 or more other people is a pretty good time and a nice way to bring in 2007.