Year in Review {2012}

In continuing with the tradition I started last year, I thought I'd take a look back at my highlights of 2012.  Boy, was it a busy year :)

I rang in 2012 (and said adios to 2011) with the best New Year's date ever, made a big purchase, whipped up some of my most favorite soups new and old, celebrated the gorgeous wedding of two people who were absolutely meant to be together, and spent a relaxing long weekend catching up with two of my favorites in Big Sur.

February was all about the gals - a day trip to Bainbridge Island, a Valentine's dinner with two great friends, the discovery of a new favorite restaurant, and a girls-only trip to Sunriver.

In March I discovered Instagram, found out how delicious (and easy) infused tequila can be, and braved the wait at an amazing restaurant, but the absolute best thing I did was head down to Belize for a week of pure bliss with my travel buddy.

With April came the beginning of baseball season, celebrating a milestone birthday, a bit of reflection, and the ultimate highlight - meeting my cooking/writing/photography/general life hero.

In May I introduced springtime to my apartment, we reconvened Grub Club, I officially became obsessed with paper, took a class,and the weather was nice enough to start sailing.

With June being the unofficial start of wedding season, I excitedly helped two bachelorettes celebrate their upcoming marriages and toasted one in one of the most beautiful weddings I've ever seen, while also introducing you to my famous enchiladas and spending a quick weekend visiting the bro.

July was a busy one - my favorite day of the year on the island (as always), a gorgeous wedding, a much needed home improvement project, a rainy hike, an exciting (and wet) sailing lesson, a fabulous family wine tasting weekend, and the perfect birthday celebration on the water.

August was no less busy, spending time at the beach with a little munchkin, rediscovering a favorite artist, meeting two local food celebrities, spending an evening crabbing, trying something new, and celebrating 10 years out of high school.  Oh, and I met a boy.

We said goodbye to summer and hello to September with a Labor Day pig roast, I met my childhood hero, day tripped it up to Leavenworth, did the Puyallup, and finally 'discovered' what everyone was talking about.

In October I was "Blown Away", hosted a fall dinner for some special ladies, spent an afternoon strolling the Arboretum, made the best blueberry muffins, spent a rainy day on Bainbridge, picked the perfect pumpkin, and literally had the Best Night Ever.  

November brought inspiration, a fun family holiday, my favorite christmas tradition, but best of all, the most perfect little baby ever.

As the year drew to a close, I hung out with some kittens, bought myself a new toy, celebrated another milestone birthday, painted the town red for a special bachelorette, and tried to explain the Nutcracker to a boy. 

See you soon, 2013 - you have a pretty fabulous year to live up to :)

xoxo,
stephanie marie

Christmas Day {in pictures}

 checking stockings

 the aftermath of christmas morning

 my stocking since i was a baby

 brunch

 grapefruit

 my new favorite christmas picture

 shaun and a friend

 the great grandkids and great-grandma

 one of my presents - a ceramic ram my dad made in elementary school that grandma has kept all these years (do you think he knew back then that I'd be a CSU ram?)

 kitty under the tree (next to my awesome stack of cookbooks)

 christmas dinner on fancy china

hope everyone had a very merry christmas!!

xoxo,
stephanie marie

Christmas Eve {in pictures}

quiche for breakfast {recipe to come later}

christmas kitties

 mom and shaun

 mom and me

 putting together the present of the year - nana's new tv

 opening presents at nana's

 uncle mark, nana, uncle don, and mom

 mom and dad

 uncle done and mom

xoxo,
stephanie marie

Merry Christmas

Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas filled with lots of love and happiness! 

xoxo,
stephanie marie

See what else this girl was up to in 1985 here :)

Nutcracker Newbie

Last night I took Justin to see PNB's Nutcracker for his very first time.  As you know, it's one of my absolute favorite things to do during the holiday season, and he was such a good sport to sit through it with me.  In case you're wondering, his favorite part was the Chinese Tiger :)  I don't think I'll ever get tired of seeing these beautiful and insanely talented dancers perform my favorite show onstage and I find myself getting nostalgic watching them leap and twirl to the familiar music.  It was the perfect way to kick off the Christmas weekend (and 11 days away from work!).

xoxo,
stephanie marie

Roasted Chicken Thighs with Sweet & Sour Onions

This past weekend we had our Ladies Christmas Party.  Katie drew my name for the gift exchange and gave me the best present of the night - the 50 Shades of Chicken cookbook.  Katie was the one who introduced me to the actual book series (we can talk about that another time) so it was only fitting that she gave me this cookbook.  Not having many expectations, I started looking through the recipes and was pretty impressed by what I saw.  Since I had promised David I'd make him dinner at my house (because how many times has he made me dinner at his place and I've never reciprocated?), I invited him over last night to try out one of these recipes to see if it was legit.  I settled on "Dripping Thighs", roasted chicken thighs with sweet and sour onions which looked simple yet flavorful.  We were both very happy with the yummy meal (served over rice and accompanied by roasted brussels sprouts) and were even more excited to spend the rest of the evening drinking wine and catching up on Top Chef Seattle reruns.  I'd definitely recommend this one, and can't wait to find even more delicious recipes in this book.  Such a great night  :)

"Dripping Thighs" (Roasted Chicken Thighs with Sweet & Sour Onions)

Ingredients
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken thighs, patted dry with paper towel
2 garlic cloves, minced
Salt
Pepper
1 sweet onion, thinly sliced
1 cup white wine
1 bay leaf
1 cinnamon stick
1 tblsp honey
2 tblsp butter

Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 450.  In a large bowl, toss chicken, garlic, 1 tsp salt, and 1/2 tsp pepper.
2. In a small sauce pan, simmer together onion,wine, bay leaf, cinnamon stick, and a pinch of salt until most of the liquid has evaporated, 15 to 20 minutes.  Mix in the honey and butter.
3. Spoon mixture (minus cinnamon stick and bay leaf) over chicken and toss. Spread chicken and onion mixture and any juices in baking pan.  Bake until chicken is no longer pink and onions are tender and carmelized, about 25 minutes.
4.  Serve over white rice.

Serves 2-3

adapted from 50 Shades of Chicken cookbook

xoxo,
stephanie marie

The Fairmont {holiday happy hour}

Yesterday afternoon, Stefanie and I ducked out of work for a quick happy hour at The Terrace Lounge at the Fairmont Olympic.  I've been dying to go there for a drink all season to see the hotel decked out for the holidays and it did not disappoint.  We sipped yummy martinis and shared snacks while soaking in the holiday spirit.  It was a great way to celebrate the one week marker before Christmas!

the seattle waterfront in candy, created by the head pastry chef

xoxo,
stephanie marie

Girls Night In

Saturday night, we all got dressed up in our finest for a girls night out dancing.  However, after several of Maddie's special cocktails and lots of girl talk, we all took off our dancin' shoes for a girls night in.  It was exactly what I needed :)

 lizzie and erika

 autumn and her new friend

 how many girls does it take to open a bottle of prosecco?

 erin trying on the weave

 autumn and lianna's reaction to me wearing the weave

 ta-da!  as david says, full on country singer hair

 love these girls!

xoxo,
stephanie marie

Bachelorette in Ballard

Friday night, Erika and I threw a little bachelorette outing for Merith.  We started out with a quick cocktail at Hazlewood before heading over to Volterra (one of my faves) for dinner, then ending the night getting our groove on at BalMar.  Everyone loved the bachelorette in her boa and tiara, and we even found a man willing to give her a bachelorette Santa hat (see below)!  It was so great to see how happy Merith was the whole night, and to spend time with friends old and new.  I can't believe that a week from Friday, Merith and Andy will be tying the knot!  Can't wait! :)

xoxo,
stephanie marie