fantabulous weekend ☺

What a glorious, wonderful, fantabulous weekend it has been here in Seattle! For me, it started Thursday afternoon with the arrival of two of my favorite people, Sunrise Sister and Country Parson. The weather cooperated brilliantly as they arrived for the warmest weekend of the summer which was still a good 10 to 20 degrees cooler than their side of the mountains. We opted to eat in on Thursday and had a sampler of salads from my favorite cookbook, Simply Classic. (This book is near and dear to my heart as I was an instrumental part of its design and development. Plus, it's a darn good cookbook!!!) With the French doors open to the deck outside, we sipped a little wine and enjoyed catching up face to face.

Friday morning brought another glorious day and the three of us took off for downtown Seattle and a perfect ferry boat ride to nearby Bainbridge Island. The city shone in the sunlight and we had the rare treat of standing on the sun deck in shirt sleeves without freezing to death! Bainbridge Island provided a little travel shopping where SS & CP both acquired new hats and water bottles while contributing to the economic survival of the island ☺. A lovely lunch at Cafe Nola and a stroll around town (which turned into a bit of a trek when we took a wrong turn--oops) completed our afternoon before the return trip to Seattle.

We arrived home in plenty of time for a little R&R before meeting up with another favorite of mine, H3Images. Our party was now four and we went back downtown for a lovely dinner at The Dahlia Lounge. A notable first for me as I enjoyed my first martini--shaken not stirred--followed by a delicious meal which included lots of seafood and a surprise order of Peking Duck. Our designated driver, H3, proved to be a wonderful tour guide and offered us an amazing sunset off the cliffs of Magnolia Bluff with a full moon rising in the east. A perfect ending to a perfect day!

Saturday started with leisurely breakfast (serve yourself) at home and then a visit to the Patricia Rovzar gallery where we got to visit the backroom as well as look at the wonderful exhibits on display. Our next stop was in the Georgetown area where our artist friend, Melinda Hannigan, was preparing for an open house in her gallery. Being unable to attend during the designated time, she invited us to stop by in the afternoon. We met another delightful artist in the meantime who shared her sweet dogs, Sammy & Kitty, with us. (Keep an eye posted at Riley's site for more descriptions of these two cuties!) My biggest treat of the day came when Melinda and H3 agreed to make a trade of art and I ended up with a lovely series of three beautiful paintings called "Anthropogenesis" (i.e. the study of the beginning of man). Lucky me!!!

A stop for lunch at the famed F.X. McCrory's (sneaking in before the Seahawk crowd arrived--whew!!) and then inspired by the gallery touring, we had to make a stop at Daniel Smith art supply and pick up a few of our own tools ☺. Back home then for a brief regroup and then it was time for the sporting event of the day--my daughter's evening game in the soccer tournament. A drive to Snohomish found us watching soccer in the beautiful evening glow while skydivers and hot air balloons floated above and we munched on hot fresh kettle corn. The icing on the cake was a win for the team. Snacking on lunch leftovers at home and viewing some photos of the day (and more) ended another amazing day.

This morning, SS & CP said goodbye as they headed back east. Shortly, thereafter, H3 & I went to the semi-finals of the soccer tourney where the girls gave a valiant effort. The game finished with a 1 to 1 tie and ended when the other team scored the winning goal in the sudden death shoot out. I hate to admit it, but I was pretty happy to not have another game today, so I could come home and recoup before my next adventure ☺. Tomorrow morning I will be hitting the road for what I call my "baby road trip". More details to follow...

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend, too!!! Life is good!!!

reflection by h3 images; magnolia sunset by lucy