Peddler Brewing {First Outing}

For the two week anniversary of our second vaccine {when we were officially fully vaccinated!} we decided to go out and celebrate with Cullen, Nicole, and Mackenzie at Peddler Brewing.  There are a lot of things I've missed during the pandemic {and a lot I'm still not quite ready to do} but drinking a cold beer outside at a brewery with fully vaccinated friends was right up there at the top of the list {it's the little things}.  It was great to see this crew twice in one week and be able to toast taking a small step towards a bit of normalcy, something I'll never again take for granted.  Cheers!

xoxo,

stephanie marie

An Afternoon at Gas Works Park

Sunday afternoon I did something I haven't done in a VERY long time - I hung out with a group of friends!  When Nicole mentioned she was going to be in town for the first time in like 15 months, we all decided it was time to finally get together after a long hiatus.  We met up at Gas Works Park on the most gorgeous day so far of the year {it felt like summer!} and since I'm still not fully vaxxed until the end of the week, I kept my distance {as you can see in the pics} on my own picnic blanket while they all snuggled and hugged after a year plus of not seeing each other.  It was a perfect day to soak up the sun {the park was expectedly busy, but everyone kept their distance so it felt safe} and it gave me a little glimpse into post-pandemic life of seeing people I love and getting out to actually do stuff again.  Such a lovely day!

see that crazy guy that jumped in the water?  that's cullen

xoxo,

stephanie marie

Just Married {David & Mackenzie}

Last Saturday we all came together to celebrate the beautiful {and fancy} wedding of David and Mackenzie.  I've known both of these wonderful humans since right about the time I moved to the city and started my first job {13 years ago!} and after many life changes I was so happy to be able to witness them finally tying the knot.  The big event took place at the Seattle Art Museum, so Christian and I took advantage of being downtown and spent the night at the Fairmont {extra fancy status}.  We got to the event early for cocktail hour to mingle with the guests - some I hadn't seen in years! - and as the ceremony began you could tell it was heartfelt, sweet, and full of lots of laughs {this is David and Mackenzie, after all}.  After the ceremony we had some more cocktails then headed up to the reception space where we proceeded to eat great food, drink way too many glasses of wine, and dance the night away on the dance floor, stopping only for pictures and a few toasts.  It was such a beautiful evening that I'm honored I was a part of and I can't wait to see where life takes these two awesome people.  Cheers to you, Cullens!

 me and my cutest date

 my other cutest dates

 the cullen family toasts

 happy couple

 gettin' down on the dance floor

xoxo,
stephanie marie

Happy Monday!

Happy Monday!  How was your weekend?  Mine was taken up mostly by the wedding of some dear friends, which was fun, fancy, and fabulous :)  While I'm still recovering from all of the fun we had, I'll leave you with a few of the pics I snagged from the photobooth on Saturday night, which we took full advantage of over and over.  Man, I love a good photobooth!

Cheers to a good week ahead!

xoxo,
stephanie marie

Nina & Cooper

If you need some cute puppy pics for this Monday, look no further!  I'm housesitting/dogsitting for Nicole for a few days, so this past weekend we brought Nina over so the two of them could hang out and become fast friends.  I mean, they look similar enough, right?  We had a good few lazy days going for walks around Montlake, watching that {awful} Seahawks game, and breaking into a fancy bottle of wine from Nicole while the dogs played musical couches and fought over who got more snuggles from Christian.  It was a pretty great weekend :)

xoxo,
stephanie marie

Eve

Last week I got an email saying Nicole was in town and she wanted to grab dinner- yay!  After our first attempt at a restaurant was closed, we ended up at Eve in Fremont where we grabbed cocktails {my Palomita was excellent} before being seated for dinner.  I didn't grab pics of all of the plates we shared {my absolute fave being the squid} but the pork tenderloin below was was definitely pretty enough for a picture.  It was so fun catching up with this girl that I rarely see anymore and it made me realize how much I miss her {and our old crew}.  I love that no matter how long it's been we can always catch up right where we left off, and combine it with a great meal and yummy drinks and we are definitely in our happy place :)

xoxo,
stephanie marie

Gettin' Together

How was your weekend?  Friday the sun came out and the afternoon was beautiful, which was a perfect setting to have drinks and dinner with the old crew - Leslie, Nicole, and Cullen, along with Mackenzie & Christian.  We started out with happy hour at Percy's where the doors were open and the sun was shining in before heading across the street for dinner at Stoneburner, where we shared plate after plate of delicious food and great wine while closing down the restaurant {unfortunately, no pictures were taken, but believe me when I say a great time was had by all}.  I love getting together with this crew even though it's been infrequent with everyone living and working all over the place, but whenever we get together, it's like we never left.  Good friends like that are the best :)

xoxo,
stephanie marie

Canlis

I can't believe it's been a full year since John passed away.  There's not a day that goes by that I don't think about him, wondering "what would John do?" or wishing I could take him out to happy hour and ask his advice.  Since last Thursday would've been John's 50th birthday and since we weren't able to get to Canlis with him last year, the 5 of us {Nicole, Cullen, Leslie, Delila, and myself} headed out for a birthday dinner there to celebrate our dear friend.  We all got dressed up in our fancies and after a pre-dinner cocktail in the bar, we were escorted to our corner table with a view for our close to 4 hour meal.  We had a fabulous time eating, drinking, laughing, and reminiscing about John, and I know he would've had an amazing time with us {even if he would've had to wear a suit :) }.  We brought along Dave the Minion in honor of John, and when Mark Canlis stopped by to say hello, he took to Dave right away.  The food, of course, was amazing and the company even better, and I couldn't think of a better way to celebrate John than with good food and the people he loved.  We miss you, dear friend.

 cullen, me, & nicole

 leslie & delila

 mini corn on the cobs + taquitos

 geoduck + fennel & canlis salad

 orecchiette + lamb ragu, foie gras + figs, & dungeness crab + polenta

 black cod + tomatoes + artichoke & filet mignon + peppers

 japanese style cheesecake + plum sorbet

 after dessert macarons with a serving for john that our sweet server left us {which we of course ate - he wouldn't have wanted us to let that go to waste!}

We love you John - happy birthday!

xoxo,
stephanie marie