Road trip

This past Saturday, the sun was out (!) so we decided to take the opportunity to get out of the apartment, away from the computer and take a little road trip up north. Usually I reserve day trips up north for the outlet malls or for korean food, but this time we decided to head into Skagit County and Whidbey Island to explore.

After a requisite stop to Dairy Queen, and plenty of eagle and swan sightings, we made our way up north and stopped at the Padilla Bay National Estuary Research Reserve. Part of the reserve includes a 2.25 mile shore trail/bike path that cuts through a dike. I didn’t take any pictures since we didn’t have time, but you can see some here. Next time I head up to these parts, this will be a must stop.

Later, we drove through the state park and ended up in Edison, Washington— a lovely little artist community that reminds you instantly of a movie set— with an artisan bakery, art galleries, a saloon and the Tweets Cafe all intersecting on one corner. At the very least the little neighborhood reminds you of a travel spread that would be featured in Sunset Magazine. (We first heard about Edison through an article BBFF was working on while at City Arts and wanted to return to.)

After grabbing a quick americano, we dashed off to Rt 20 to catch the sunset at Deception Pass and mussels at Toby’s in Coupeville before catching an 8:00 ferry back to Mulkiteo… not bad for an 8-hour day trip, and gave ourselves a well deserved pat on the back!

Smith Vallee Gallery

Wood shop

Window love at Lucky Dumpster



Knitta action!

More window love

Tweets Cafe

Bread Farm

Deception Pass

Year in Review

For my last post of 2010, I thought I would summarize the last 6 months or so.** I’ve been MIA more than usual this past year— a lot has happened and I hope to start 2011 with more energy and time for friends, family and personal projects. Happy New Year’s all! xoxo

**I warn you now, there’s lots of scrolling here!

Home cookin’
I’ve stopped spending all my money on design books long ago, but now it seems I can’t get enough of cookbooks. Good thing, since BBFF moved in late last year and he can eat more than me! Here’s a snapshot of the cookbooks I started and ended 2010 with, many of them being gifts from friends and family.

Goodbye
Last Memorial Day, my step dad—a.k.a Uncle Nick— was diagnosed with stage IV pancreatic cancer. I was lucky to spend many weeks with my family through the summer and be with Nick during his final days. A true patriot, he passed on July 4th, 2010. Thank you to all my friends and family who supported me, my brother, Kenny and my mom, Patty. We love you all very much.

Shira-Z
Last spring, Kaomora started designing a limited-edition bibliography for Chet Ross Rare Books on the Japanese explorer, Nobu Shirase, and his expedition to the South Pole. After many months, we were happy to have the final book printed at Blanchette Press in Richmond, BC. and bound at Roswell Bindery in Arizona. The book is typeset in ITC Galliard and Futura.

Guu’d
While we were in Vancouver for press checks, we took the opportunity to EAT: famed tubular meats at JAPA DOG, Japanese Izakaya at GUU and more meat and cheeses at the Salt Tasting Room in Gastown.

Show-going
I went to few shows this year, but made it out to few memorable shows with friends in 2010: Wilco, Deerhunter, and the Flaming Lips… here’s Wayne in all his glory at the Paramount show in September.

New addition
As summer closed, we finally decided to adopt! Many of you may know Wiki from a previous post. He’s pretty much taken over the Kaomora household, and it seems hard to imagine him as shy as he is in this photo we took of him at the PAWS shelter the day we first met him.

Meow
I promise no more cat photos in this entry after this, but I wanted to make special note of the original monster, Meow Meow. These pictures taken by BBFF with his GF1 over the summer for me while I was away in Chicago and missing my family in Seattle.

Cheshire Cat and friends
Finally, after five years in Seattle, I visited a REAL pumpkin patch with friends, followed by a stop at the Issaquah Brewhouse for some Rogue beer. Afterwards, we headed to the Raghary’s for some pumpkin action.

Research
Sometimes I really can’t help from wanting to do “research” while I am slow at work. A couple of fashion happy moments this year included the opening of a Madewell store at U. Village and the purchase of pair of Rachel Comey Penpal booties in grey from my favorite store Totokaelo. I live in these boots and they are perfect for running around Seattle, rain or shine— as you can tell from how worn these look already, sorry!

T-Pie, Take 2
Thanksgiving was spent on the farm again this year, and after two years I think I’ve started a tradition of bringing the apple pie. This year’s pie was decorated with leaf patterns with cookie cutters Mom gave me last Christmas. I use a modified recipe from Martha Stewart that is time intensive, but well worth it. To see last year’s pie, click here.

Southern Holiday
This year, instead of staying in cold Chicago, Mom wanted to spend the holidays away. My brother chose Hilton Head Island as our home away for a week of family time, good meals, and sightseeing in the Lowcountry— it even snowed in SC while we were there! This year was a tough year for mom, but she’s still hanging on strong and making Christmas special for us like she has year after year.

Check!
As we get closer to the end of the year, I am happy to report that I achieved one of my goals for my trip to the south for the year: Chick-Fil-A! Some of you may know that I travel to ATL quite a bit for work, and it seems I never seem to get the chance to have a Varsity Dog or a Chick-Fil-A sandwich. In North Charleston, my goal was achieved. Sadly, I’m told by pal, Regenius, that I ordered the wrong sandwich! Oh well, it was in effort to “be good”— and my grilled chicken sandwich and waffle fries were delicious… but next time I will get you, #1!

NYE
So that’s that! Last year I dropped my iPhone in the toilet right after midnight, so this year I’m skipping the parties (but if I did go to a party I would go to Jfun’s prom party) to stay in with BBFF with champagne, Annie Hall and fireworks from our patio in Queen Anne. See ya in 2011!

FIG!

For Christmas this year, my family decided to head to Hilton Head, South Carolina. One of the highlights of our trip was a day trip to Charleston. After a sunny day of sightseeing, we ended with a meal at FIG— recommended by Regenius and the November 2010 issue of Bon Appétit. Food is Good indeed. A few highlights from our dinner:

Classic Negroni to start

Menu for the evening

Mini butter pots!

Crispy Caw Caw Creek Pork Trotters

Sheep’s Milk Ricotta Gnocchi (my favorite for the evening)

Herb Roasted Scamp Grouper

Pannacotta

Chocolate budino with salted caramel

Chicago food, part deux

I must not forget to mention, of course, that there was pizza consumption: deep dish supreme with sausage patty at Gino’s East. There are so many Chicago pizza chains downtown— Giordanos, Lou Malnati’s, Pizzeria Uno, Pizzeria Due— that it’s hard to decide which one is best (for us it came down to which had the shortest waiting time). After a half hour and walking in circle, we ended up at Gino’s East on Superior— the one closest to where we were staying, and the one with the best sign, of course.

Chicago food

Per tradition, I always meal plan a week before I go home. Potbelly, Phoenix dim sum, and Portillos are regular pit stops, but I also like to try at least one new place on my list.

This trip was highlighted by a visit to Avec in the West Loop. Since Avec doesn’t take reservations, it was probably better that we had planned a late dinner after a day of being touristy. We arrived at about 10, had a glass of wine on their outside patio and were seated within 20— even though it was clearly packed. With a bar on the left and communal table seating on the right, we lucked out and were seated at the chef’s counter at the bar, where we could watch all sorts of deliciousness happening.

Unfortunately, I don’t have documentation of all our amazing food, but here was our menu for two (the description should be enough to make your stomach growl):

House Marinated Olives
Chorizo-stuffed Medjool dates with smoked bacon and piquillo pepper-tomato sauce
Farro salad with roasted peppers, rutabaga, crowder peas, fried egg and salsa verde vinaigrette
Wood-oven braised pork shoulder with garlic sausage, summer squash, tagliati pasta and basil pistou

The staff was attentive and the food was paced just right— which I always think is hard when plates are meant to be shared. Nothing was too rushed and the portions were just right for two people. The braised pork did take 45 minutes, but before we could even ask if they had forgotten our last course it was ready and served.

I was even surprised that Depeche Mode playing in the background seemed to complement the meal perfectly! Now I can finally cross Avec off my list and hope it will become one of my regular stops on my trips home from now on.