Vegas {Part I}

For my birthday Christian surprised me with not only being in town on the actual day, but with inviting me down to Vegas for the weekend where he had to be for work.  I jumped at the chance to get away for a few days, even if it meant 110+ degrees :)  I arrived in Vegas Friday morning and after he picked me up at the airport we headed straight to the hotel so we could drop off my stuff and get outside and explore.  We spent the majority of the day {of which we walked 16 miles according to my phone!} walking through casinos all along the strip, admiring the super fancy shops, and ducking into as much air conditioning as we possibly could.  Back at the hotel we were surprised with champagne and chocolate covered strawberries from the concierge for a birthday treat before we decided to head back out to find dinner.  After walking all over {again} we settled on Gordon Ramsay's Pub & Grill in the Caesar's casino where I had the most delicious short ribs washed down with a yummy beer.  After dinner we headed back to the Bellagio where we watched the fountain show and I was still sweating at 11PM because it was that hot :)

 the view from our room

 there really is nothing quite like vegas at night

 slow roasted braised short ribs

 beef wellington

 the shoe wall at sjp

xoxo,
stephanie marie

Let's Ride

How was your weekend?  Ours was pretty low key and relaxing until Sunday afternoon when we decided to go for our first bike ride together.  Christian is an avid bike rider and I, well, am not, but when Stacey left for San Francisco she gifted me her bike so C and I can go out cruisin' together on the weekends.  We started out pretty easy on the trail along Elliott Bay all the way down to the Olympic Sculpture Park where we grabbed a coffee before our ride back to my house {which seemed a lot more uphill than the way downtown}.  We biked almost 7 miles on my first time out and though I know it was probably excruciatingly slow for Christian, I was pretty impressed with myself for keeping up and not complaining too much :)  It was fun to get out there together and see the city in a new way and I'm excited to explore more of the city's bike trails together throughout the summer and fall.

xoxo,
stephanie marie

Farewell Stacey & Steph

It's been a rough last month at work with the departure of some of my faves, including Stacey to San Francisco and Stephanie next week to North Carolina.  The 3 of us started out in our department at almost the exact same time, and the past 3 and a half years have really cemented our friendship both at work and away.  I've spent countless hours with these girls airing our frustrations, traveling to fun places, cheering on our favorite teams, and, of course, drinking many bottles of wine.  I'll miss these two not only because work is about to get a whole lot more crazy, but because they're going so far away and I'll miss just seeing their faces everyday and having people to go through it all with.  I know we'll all visit and that we'll always be friends, but it's not going to be the same and I'm going to miss their faces like crazy.  Good luck out there girls!

xoxo,
stephanie marie

The Pantry {Paella!}

I totally forgot to show this, but a few months back Christian and I headed to one of my favorite places, The Pantry for their Paella cooking class.  I had purchased the class months before after we had such a fun time at the last one, and now that we were "pros" I knew it would be even better.  I was drawn to the Paella class because of my time in Spain, and I've always been fascinated with the huge paella pans you see cooking over large open fires filled with deliciousness.  We were grouped into teams to make 4 different paellas {we were on the Seafood team, but there was also Landfood (chicken & chorizo), Vegetarian, and Rabbit & Snail} and our teacher Laura was amazing at keeping all the teams on track and making yummy food so we were all done at the same time.  Halfway through cooking we were treated to one of my most favorite Spanish dishes, Pan con Tomate {bread with tomatoes} which took me back to afternoons in Granada sitting on the plaza and eating this delicious and simple treat.  This class was a first for me in that we actually watched a rabbit be butchered {not something that needed a picture taken} but it was so delicious that I could get over watching the chopping of it and it was really interesting to see where your food actually comes from.  At the end of cooking, we got to try all 4 paellas, and they were all so delicious that it was hard to pick a favorite {though that rabbit and snail one was pretty legit, our seafood was perfectly cooked and delicious}.  Paired with delicious Spanish wine, it was such a fun night cooking something we typically wouldn't make at home, but now I'm pretty obsessed with buying a paella pan and trying some of these recipes on our own.  Who's up for a tasting?

xoxo,
stephanie marie

Mom's Birthday Surprise

A while back Mom's good friend Patti invited me to come up and surprise my mom at her birthday party with her girlfriends, so last Wednesday I headed up north for a fun evening with the ladies.  Mom was definitely shocked when I walked in to the backyard shindig {we pulled off the surprise!} and it was so fun to watch how close she is to all of her friends and how genuinely happy they were to celebrate her.  We toasted the birthday girl with cocktails and cake and she was showered with gifts from these awesome girlfriends of hers.  It was so fun to hang with the ladies for the night and I felt honored to be included in their celebration of my Mom :)  She deserved it!

xoxo,
stephanie marie

Birthday Shenanigans

I had such a wonderful birthday last week, especially because I decided to treat myself and take most of the week off :)  It started out with a dozen beautiful red roses and a sweet card from Christian, then since everyone was working I took myself out to a delicious brunch at one of my faves, The Fat Hen, since it's practically impossible to get a table at this sweet little place on a weekend.  I then treated myself to a pedicure before the Novak family came by to spend the afternoon with me.  Linnea picked out the most awesome pair of glow in the dark glasses for me {and her} and we spent the afternoon running to dark spots in my house to make sure they were still glowing :)  Later that evening, Mom and Dad came down to take Christian and I out to dinner at Ray's Cafe where we sat at the best table on the patio and soaked up the sun but also caught a breeze as we watched the boats sail by and ate delicious food.  Afterwards, we headed back to my house for some of my favorite lemon dessert that mom had made by special request.  It really was a perfectly low key day with some of my most favorite people :)

xoxo,
stephanie marie

Happy 60th Mom!

Happy 60th Birthday {Saturday} to the best Mom in the world!  Mom - there's a reason everyone has been celebrating you so much these last few weeks - it's because you are so deserving of being celebrated!  You really are such a positive energy and shining light and everyone that knows you is better for it.  I'm so proud to call you my mom and so happy to have you as a friend - I really am so lucky.  I hope you've had the best birthday ever!

xoxo,
stephanie marie