Purdue Reunion - Halloween

So, Facebook changed the way they do their photo albums and now you can't copy people's photos.  While I am sure this was some kind of security thing, it's super annoying when you want pictures from your friends!

Anyways, after our big day in Leavenworth, we spent our second day together lounging around, walking the dogs and waiting for J. to get back from work.  We headed north to Anacortes in the early evening and made a few stops along the way ... we had to drop the dogs off for their sleepover with Uncle W. and needed some last minute costume accessories.

All dressed up ... we were superheroes and BatBee!

Margeaux, Elle, Face, Me and Easy A

Take 2 ... I needed a picture without my bat mask:

The black and yellow crew:

Face and Margeaux ... or WonderWoman and SpiderWoman:

The Red and Blue Crew:

Anacortes friends:

Me, Mrs. R, Mr. R. and Mr. Cheese ... Mr. R. had the best costume.

Me and Mrs. R.:

Playing Flippy Cup ... Team SuperHereos:

Team Heart Fail (don't ask):

We were having so much fun, everyone joined in ... the new and improved Team Heart Fail:

G.S. and J. squaring off ... (they were Chilean miners):

Go, Team Heart Fail, Go!

Making our mark on the table:

An intense game ...

And my picture taking abruptly ended.  We had so much fun.  I wish we could dress up more often!

Purdue Reunion - Leavenworth

Some of my best girlfriends from Purdue came to visit last week -- we spent a long weekend catching up, telling old stories, and exploring the Pacific Northwest.  It was a blast.  We did so many things that I'm going to break up my blog posts into days.

They got in late Wednesday night, so by the time we got back to my house they were exhausted.  We chatted for a little bit, had some appetizers and then headed to bed.  

Thursday morning, we got up and got ready and hit the road to Leavenworth, WA.  Leavenworth is an adorably authentic German town, just 100 miles from Everett.  It was a beautiful drive.  We followed the Skykomish River from Everett to Leavenworth and by itself it was pretty, but add in the changing leaves on the tree and the snow on Stevens Pass and you have a picturesque drive.  Unfortunately, we didn't stop along the way to take any pictures.  

We made it to Leavenworth in the early afternoon and decided to make our way down Front Street.  We started at Ryan Patrick Winery's Tasting Room, where we met Toni.  She was awesome and completely made our day.  We tasted some wines and I found a new favorite Chardonnay ... and learned something along the way.  If Chardonnay is aged in a stainless steel barrel (or unoaked) it's a Naked Chardonnay!  Ryan Patrick has a fantastic Naked Chardonnay that I highly recommend.

They put the Naked Chardonnay label on my bag!

From there, we wandered next door to "Cured" to get some sausage and salami to go with our new wines.  They had a fantastic selection and I loved the name ... so creative.  

Looking down Front Street (the main street):

Just doing a little shopping:

 Tasting at Icicle Ridge Winery:

Me, Easy A, Face, Elle and Margeaux

 Lunch at Cafe Mozart ... Margeaux and her Optimator:

My gigantic bratwurst ... good thing I split it with Face.

 Winery #3:

 Tasting:

 Margeaux, Face, Elle and Easy A:

After the third winery, we stopped into The Cheesemonger's Shop to pick up some cheese for later:

 The foggy mountains in the background ... even in the rain, Leavenworth was beautiful!

Elle and Face:

 The Leavenworth Starbucks!

We had a great day in Leavenworth ... and we didn't even see everything!  They have lots of festivals year round, so definitely check it out if you are in the Seattle area.

What we're eating this week ...

Happy November Friends!  I cannot believe that it is November already, where is this year going?  Before we know it, the holidays will be upon us and then we will be ringing in 2011!  Sorry to be posting this so late in the week, but I had my college roommates in town over the weekend and I've been playing catch-up all day!  We had a wonderful time together ... but that is for another post!

Here is what we're eating this week: 

Sunday - Lasagna-Style Baked Ziti from Real Simple.  I LOVE this magazine, such great recipes, ideas, etc.  J. and his old roommate, G.S., went mountaineering all day Sunday so I made them ziti when they got home.  It was pretty good, but a little bland.  I'm not sure if it needed more salt or spices or if it was just the marinara sauce I used.  I served it with garlic bread and it was a very good dinner.  

Monday - Thai Honey Peanut Chicken with broccoli, served over rice.  This. was. so. good.  Seriously.  It is definitely going into our rotation of favorite recipes.  The sauce would be fantastic with any kind of stir-fry and vegetables.  Next time, I think I will try it with shrimp.  Delicious.  

Tuesday - Leftovers.  Tupperware containers are taking over my refrigerator.  Help!    

Wednesday - Breakfast for dinner.  I haven't completely made my mind up yet ... we might have pancakes or waffles or omelets.  Right now I am leaning towards pancakes or waffles.  Yummmm.  

Thursday - my mom is coming to the Pacific Northwest!  Yay!!!  I am going to attempt to make a pot roast ... it will be my first try so keep your fingers crossed that it turns out okay!  

Hope that you all have a great week!  Do you have any new recipes that I should try?  

Real Simple

I love magazines.  But I've gotten rid of all of my magazine subscriptions except for Glamour, they just got to be too much.  I felt like I wasn't getting as good of a deal from them as I did when I first subscribed.  And let's be honest, you get a subscription because it's a MUCH better deal than buying it at the grocery store every month.  One magazine that I especially love is Real Simple ... they've got recipes, tips, ideas, etc.  And today, on In This Wonderful Life, Megan posted a link to purchase a one year subscription for $10.00.  That is a FANTASTIC deal.  The magazine is $4.99 in the store.

So, dear readers, hop on over to Amazon and treat yourself to a year subscription to Real Simple.  Because it's November, it's Tuesday and it's a darn good deal.  They would also make good Christmas gifts for someone!  

Click here to purchase the subscription!  Happy Tuesday!

Hiking - Peek A Boo Lake

We also did this hike before J. went to Key West ... but better late than never, right?  Peek A Boo Lake was a really good hike, challenging in the beginning and then leveled off in the last few miles.

 Heading up the trail:

 A great view from the edge of the meadow, before we headed into the woods and down to the lake:

J. and G.S. using the map to figure out what peaks we were looking at:

 J. and I with the mountains in the background!

W., G.S. and J. ... the lighting was weird, so it's hard to see the mountains behind them:

 Better picture of the mountains:

Back through the meadow to the trail that will take us to the lake:

It was a gorgeous day!

 Peek A Boo Lake!

Log jam:

 Waterfall:

 J. brought us "surprise" Busch Lights:

 A fallen tree ... those are some huge roots!

As challenging as some of the hikes can be, I'm going to miss them when the rainy season starts ...