"Working" in Los Angeles...

While Teresa's enjoying her vacation. I'm working from LA for the next few days.

I use "working" fairly loosely because we shot an awesome wedding this weekend that was basically us getting to hang out some fun and very creative people (photos to come tomorrow!)  and now I've stayed for a few more days to work on a project with my friend Ash Lendzion. We're writing a script! Ash is a former college roommate of Teresa and mine. She's an actress and writer and an all around hilarious person who has done a bunch of script writing, but for me, this is the first thing I've attempted to write (well, other than this blog). Its the type of thing we've talked about doing for a long time, and then actually came up with an idea worth working on. Obviously if it turns out to be amazing, you'll be hearing plenty more about it :)

Anyhow, after a long day of  creativity, Ash and I walked from her place in Studio City to Spitz for some Mediterranean Street Food and it was bomb. They had four different varieties of sangria. Of course I loved the one with lavender.

And then, there were these. Streetcar Fries covered in goodness. We also shared a plate of veggies with hummus and tzatziki and the Streetcar Doner, which is an amazing wrap. I'd recommend it all. 

Somehow, after a whole day spent with Ash, this is the only photo I have to show. Just think of her as the new Wilson. You know, the neighbor from Home Improvement? Maybe you'll never see all of her face.

Girls Trip to LA!

Over Memorial weekend Jenny and I got to fly down to LA to spend three blissful days hanging out with two of our dear friends from college, Jenn and Amber. The four of us studied abroad together in Cape Town TEN years ago so we decided a reunion was a great excuse to ditch the husbands and kids and have some serious girl-time in CA.

Lucky for us Jenn is an amazing host (she even has a FABULOUS Los Angeles travel blog that is a must read for anyone visiting or living here) and planned everything out perfectly. Amber is vegan so we hit a ton of restaurants that were serving super healthy, fresh and even raw foods over the course of the weekend.

A few of the highlights were an outdoor movie, hiking in our matching t-shirts (thanks Zara!) on Los Liones Trail, vintage shopping and friendship bracelets in Silverlake, eating incredible raw food at The Springs Wellness Studio (HIGHLY RECOMMEND!), rooftop cocktails at the High Lounge at Hotel Erwin in Venice Beach, and too many acai bowls to count.

It was so refreshing to be with old friends, relax in the sun, and enjoy southern CA. Thanks Jenn-Jenn!! 

Ferry Tale Wedding

Last weekend Jenny and I attended our friend Shannon's wedding to her guy Peter in one of the most unique wedding venue's I've ever experienced -- on the deck of a Washington State Ferry! All 200 guests walked on to the ferry at 5:35 and the wedding began a few minutes later -- the bridal party and bride walked down the "aisle" in between ferry seats and by the time we reached Bremerton the adorable couple kissed and were pronounced husband and wife! We spent the next few hours partying on the water in Bremerton and then caught the 60 minute ferry back to Seattle. Kudos to Shannon and Peter for doing something different, loved the fresh, fun and laid back vibe of their special day. (Thanks for the pics Ash!)

Jenny and I waiting for the ceremony to start

The beautiful bride and groom

Their signature cocktail - the Moscow Mule! Need to get me some of these copper glasses. 

Happy Valentine's Day!

How do you celebrate(or do you?) Valentine's Day? Patrick and I usually go out to dinner and exchange cheesy love cards. Tonight we'll walk over to The Whale Wins and hope we are early enough to get a table without a reservation...wish us luck! At dinner, we have a little tradition of trying to remember all the places we have celebrated Valentine's Day's past in chronological order -- it's getting more difficult as this is our 7th as a couple! It's a great way to reminisce about falling in love and all the up's and down's along the way.

But here's my V-day confession: I secretly miss the days of celebrating Valentine's Day with my girlfriends! When I was in college and during the years I lived in DC I used to love hanging out with the ladies, eating tons of chocolate, drinking frilly cocktails, and watching Rom-Coms. Have you heard of the term "GALentine's Day?" -- I guess it came from the show Parks and Recreation and is all about celebrating the girlfriends in your life on Feb 13th. I love this idea!! Next year maybe I'll throw a little GALentine's Day party, who's with me?

Enjoy your day! Lots of love, Teresa

PS. How to throw a GALentine's Day Brunch -- hilarious tips from Parks and Rec.

Slumber Party

I firmly believe that you're never too old for a slumber party. 

Five years ago, I thought it would be fun to have some of my old roommates over for a slumber party for my birthday and it stuck. The annual slumber party now feels like as much of a Christmas tradition as getting a tree! We sit up for hours chatting at night, just like we did in the old days, then we groggily roll out of bed the next morning and go out for breakfast. I love these ladies so much and seriously plan on still doing this when I'm 50. 

Happy Birthday Jenny!

Today we celebrate Jenny -- Here’s to the best best-friend a girl could ask for!

I’d like to share two things I love about Jenny to celebrate her birthday.
1. When Jenny say’s she’s “there for you” she means it literally. As in she’s at your house helping to arrange furniture, flying across the country to visit, driving you to the airport, on the phone listening to you complain about the same thing for the thousandth time, and cooking your Thanksgiving food for you. In other words, she’s the best. 

2. I think I owe her about $10,000. For the past 10 years we have done a TERRIBLE job of keeping track of how much money we owe each other. We shared all our food for four years in college, rarely split the bill when going out (I don’t have cash, I’ll get it next time), have traveled around the world and throw parties/showers together at least once a quarter. I’m fairly convinced that over the years Jenny’s generosity has tilted the scales my favor and I owe her a lot of money. At the very least I owe her for the hundreds of meals she’s cooked for me (despite what you might have been lead to believe based on this blog, I don’t really enjoy cooking).


Her birthday falls very close to Christmas but we still usually manage to celebrate in style. Last year we went ice skating and this year we’re going to see this exhibit at the Seattle Art Museum. 

Happy Birthday my friend!

Holiday Traditions With Friends: Little Women

Last week, I wrote about family Christmas traditions, but do you have any annual holiday traditions with friends?

For nearly 10 years Jenny and I have gathered with some college friends, family and whoever else is around to snuggle up and watch the best "holiday" movie ever: Little Women. I cannot get enough of this movie so I only allow myself to watch it once a year at Christmas (or if I'm really depressed once in the summer too) and it's always a fun treat to spend a couple of hours with Jo, Laurie and the gang. This year Jenny, Brittany, my mom and I gathered on a Monday night in front of the Christmas tree and a blazing fire to eat macarons, watch the March family, and make clove oranges.

Jenny came up with the fun idea of making designs on oranges with cloves! The whole house smelled AMAZING and we had a cute display afterward. Plus it felt very late 1800's New England of us. 

How do you and your friends celebrate the holidays?

(March photo and Laurie)

Tea Party

Our good friends Brittany & Victor recently did some traveling in China and came back with this beautiful tea set. So after a wonderful steak dinner we had our own tea ceremony complete with blossoming flower tea, which is what I'm so intently staring at in the glass. I loved hearing a bit about the tradition of tea ceremonies, like how you're supposed to drink your cup of tea in three sips.

Running from Sandy

Kelly, Anne and I at Tryst; our first apartment!

I'm back in Seattle after a short but wonderful weekend in Washington DC. I made it out by the skin of my teeth Sunday night just as Hurricane Sandy was swooping in. Huge shout out to Southwest Airlines for somehow getting me on standby at the last minute and on a flight out of a completely different airport at that. It was a stressful experience getting home but I'm SO grateful to be safe in Seattle and not stuck on the other side of the country with no power.

Isn't Erica's dog Gavroche ADORABLE?!

The time that I did get to spend in DC was wonderful. I hadn't been back there since Patrick and I moved away nearly three years ago. We spent our early days as a couple there, my first real job was in DC, and our first apartment was an adorable little one bedroom in the Columbia Heights neighborhood. Needless to say, the city is full of fond memories and it was great to reminisce and catch up with old friends. I'm so grateful for those three years of my life and will always have a soft spot in my heart for the District of Columbia. Thinking of  my friends and you lovely blog readers living in Sandy's path. Be safe out there!

Friends!

The weekend cannot come soon enough! I'm so excited to enjoy one last summer hurrah hanging out with girlfriends from college. The five of us (Chelsea, me, Brittany, Jenny, Tracy - pictured above at my 22nd birthday in DC) were roommates while attending UW and haven't all been together since I got married over four years ago. We'll be spending the weekend catching up over good food, getting to know each other's guys, and splashing around on the Puget Sound. Oh, and we need an updated photo Jason!

Would you go out to dinner with complete strangers?

Have you heard of Grubwithus.com? It's a great way to meet new friends or "network" and an all around pretty genius idea.

Have you ever moved to a new city and had a hard time breaking into the cliques that already exist? Traveled to a new place for fun or work and had to eat alone because you didn't know anyone? Grub With Us offers a way to connect with other people for a meal in many large cities around the US. All you do is sign up for the restaurant and time you want to meet up and voila- new friends abound! What a great way to meet new people and experience the culture of a city. And to make sure there is no awkwardness, you prepay your bill online before even meeting up.

(photo via)

A Graduation Party

You're Invited... to check out the amazing graduation party we threw last spring! Do you have a grad? Here are some fun ideas.


Who: Last year, our wonderfully awesome JKoe Photography intern, Zoe, graduated from high school. Because Zoe is so amazing, she needed an equally amazing party.  We called it The Zoe Extravaganza. 


What: My inspiration was a little kid's backyard birthday! It's a PERFECT theme for someone graduating high school and entering the real world. A celebration of youth if you will. 

Food: What do kids like to eat? We served pizza, kettle corn, Mexican coke in the bottle with fun straws and had a gourmet s'more bar later in the evening. For the s'more bar, on top of the regular supplies, I added, banana, nutella, white chocolate, strawberries, pineapple, Reece's Peanut Butter Cups, Kit Kat bars, Andie's Mints, peanut butter and apples and let people go to town making all sorts of yummy combinations. 

Games: We had a rousing round of "Zoe Trivia" and then, what little kid party is complete without a piñata? We also had corn hole and ping pong. Guests were given bubbles, pinwheels and other little toys to enjoy too. We set out Jenga for people to play throughout the evening and then sign blocks as sort of a guest book for Zoe. 

Photo Booth: We are photographers, she is a photographer, so naturally, there was a photo booth. We set it up in the side yard with our chaise lounge and fun props keeping with the kid-party theme. There was even a teddy bear. 

The End: We concluded the night's festivities with our gourmet s'mores, glow sticks and sparklers. 

Drink of the Month: Lavender Cocktail (with Lavender Fondue!)

Yesterday Jenny, Brittany and I had a little Lavender Party in Britt's back garden to celebrate the unseasonably warm weather that we've had here in Seattle. 
Here is the recipe we used for our yummy Lavender Cocktails
2-3 oz Gin 
3/4 oz Lavender Simple Syrup (see recipe below)
3/4 oz Lime Juice
1 dash Bitters
2-3 sprigs Mint

Muddle mint sprigs in lime juice, bitters and simple syrup. Add gin and ice, shake, and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a mint leaf and lavender. 


Jenny made the delicious Lavender Syrup beforehand:
• 1/4 cup Lavender Flowers (stripped from stalk)
• 1 cup Sugar
• 1 cup Water
Add ingredients to a pot. Heat while stirring with a spoon until the sugar dissolves. Bring to a boil, turn off the heat, cover the pot, and let sit for 2 hours. Strain into a bottle or other container, and store in the refrigerator. 

We also had a delicious Lavender Goat Cheese Fondue using the Palace Kitchen's recipe!

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup dry Riesling 
• 1/2 teaspoon dried lavender blossoms
• 1 cup (8 oz.) herb-flavor fresh chèvre (goat) cheese
• Pepper
• 2 Fuji apples (1/2 lb. each), rinsed, cored, and sliced 
• Preparation
• • In a 1- to 2-quart pan or fondue pan over high heat, boil wine and lavender until reduced to 1/4 cup, 6 to 8 minutes.
  • Reduce heat to medium-high, add chèvre, and stir until boiling, about 4 minutes. Add pepper to taste. Set pan over a candle or on an electric warming tray.
  • Use forks or thin wood skewers to spear bread and apple slices and dunk them into fondue.
• 
  
• PS. Brittany prepared the other delish dishes you see above including the Japanese Cucumber Salad and Cilantro Lime White Bean Hummus. 
• 
  
• (Cocktail recipe inspired by Cocktail Virgin. Photos by our own Jenny of JKoe Photography).

Happy May Day!

I've always been intrigued by May Day. Especially the Maypole...what's the deal with that thing anyway?

Over time, it seems that May Day has been used as a day to celebrate everything from pagan rituals to socialist worker's marches and now the Occupy movement...

I still think May Day is a great excuse to get excited about spring and leave your friends flowers or some other little treat at their door!

Traditionally, you're supposed to do the whole ding-dong ditch thing, however, I offer another option that works well when your friend leaves for work before you've even gotten up in the morning. You could always take something over to their house while they are at work and then take a picture of it like this one.

And if your friend (or friends, in this case) happen to look at your blog often, say, because one of them writes it with you, then you could post the picture of the succulents you got them to the blog and SURPRISE! Happy May Day friends!

PS. Your cat was being super cute...

What's Your Name Again?

Don’t you hate it when run into someone you should know, but you can't remember their name? Or you meet someone new, chat for a few minutes and realize their name has already slipped your mind because your so caught up in the discussion of who's cat did something cuter that day.

How do you remember names? Any good tips or tricks out there?

I consider myself to be a bit of a name wuss and yes, I just came up with that very technical term. What I mean is, I'll be 97% sure of the name of the person in front of me, but then a little voice in my head will say, "Are you really, really sure?" and I second guess myself, continuing the conversation using lots of pronouns. Meanwhile a battle of wits is going on in my head: "Matt? It's Matt! But what if it's Mike???"

I picked up a helpful trick from my parents long ago, a tag-team of sorts. My dad isn’t always great with names so when we'd run into someone who knew my dad, I remember my mom often quickly introducing herself to he/she who could not be named when she'd see that my dad wasn't making the introduction. Jason and I both do this for each other from time to time now. That way, forgotten name introduces themselves and the name forgetter only has to say, "Oh, I'm so sorry, I didn't realize you guys hadn't met before..." or something along those lines.

The clip above from House Bunny always makes me laugh. Perhaps I should try that technique...

Here are ten tricks to remember names. Perhaps these are a little more realistic than the House Bunny method...

(Image via Ironic1)

Cherry Blossoms

Did you know that Jenny and I went to the most beautiful college in the world?! That would be the University of Washington here in Seattle. On Saturday we swung by our alma mater during a brief sun break to take in the blooming cherry blossoms in the quad.

Seattle Spotlight: Tom Douglas

Have you heard of Tom Douglas? He’s a famous chef here in the Northwest and a sort of local celebrity in Seattle. If you're visiting town or you live here and are looking for a great place to eat, hitting one of his restaurants is a must-do.

I had brunch last weekend at Douglas’ first restaurant, The Dahlia Lounge, with a good friend who was visiting from DC. We loved the crunchy-on-the-outside soft-in-the-middle breakfast potatoes, thick sliced bacon and yummy omelettes.

My family celebrated my dad’s birthday in February at Douglas’ first-class seafood restaurant, Etta’s Seafood near Pike Place Market. Everyone agreed that the seafood was top notch, and in Seattle that’s saying a lot.  

The Brave Horse Tavern on South Lake Union is a great spot for after work drinks or late night shuffle board. Patrick is a huge fan of this bar and their local beers, giant bavarian-style pretzels and laid back cabin-ey vibe. They also have a great heated deck for outdoor seating in the summer.  

Jenny and I enjoyed the amazing food and lively atmosphere at the Palace Kitchen for a girls night out in January. The staff were incredibly nice to us when a rude guest informed us that we were being too loud (on a Friday night! in a jovial restaurant!) and brought us complimentary dessert (a sure way into my heart). Please do yourself a favor and order the lavender goat cheese fondue, this is not something I say lightly, but it is almost better than chocolate.

In front of Serious Pie after some delish pizza

Serious Pie has delicious pizza and root beer floats-- we snuggled up there after ice skating for Jenny’s birthday.

I’d still like to try out his greek restaurant, Lola, sometime soon. Who’s with me?  

(images my own and Brian Smale Photography, and Bon Appetit)

Wedding Wednesday: Wearing the Dress Again?

Ever wanted an opportunity to wear your wedding dress again?

This bride invited her guests to wear their wedding dresses to her masquerade themed wedding reception. It definitely added a fun twist to the night!

What are you planning to do with your dress after the big day? Will you wear it again? Just put it in a closet somewhere?

If you are married, where is your wedding dress now? Have you gotten a chance to put it on again?

I've always wanted to host a tea party for my girlfriends and we could all wear our wedding dresses.
It is such a shame that such beautiful dresses get only one day of wear.

(Image JKoe Photography)

Make Your Own Lip Balm

My friend Daisy taught me how to make lip balm during our impromptu girls night last weekend. It's super easy and in the end, you have this wonderful product, nourishing for your lips, made with all natural ingredients.
Basically, it involves melting things in a pot, stirring them together, pouring it into little jars or tins and letting it set. Anyone can do it, really. Here's the recipe we used for Honey Mint Lip Balm.

Daisy purchased all the ingredients at Whole Foods, but found that they didn't sell large chunks of Bees Wax. It can be hard to find unless you're willing to make a trip to a specialty store. 100% bees wax candles are much easier to find, so we used those and took the wick out once the wax had melted. We used less peppermint than the recipe called for. Daisy used the full amount on her first attempt and equated it to dabbing Vick's Vapor Rub on your lips. Also, the recipe says to mix the honey in once you've taken it off the heat, but she found the honey was a bit clumpy that way. It is much easier to stir it in while the pot is still on the stove.

I'm now obsessed with my new lip balm. It works so well. It would be a really easy gift for a group of people. You could just make a large batch and put it in cute little jars. It would be a perfect party favor for a shower AND it's the type of thing that people think you're super cool and crafty for being able to make. You don't have to tell them it took you five minutes.