Archive → February, 2010

Seattle on Valentine’s Day Weekend

16 February, 19:49, by Kim Toomey
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So as I mentioned, my honey and I spent Valentine’s day weekend in Seattle. We stayed two nights at Hotel Max (full disclosure – they are a client of Anvil’s and hooked me up with a great deal & bottle of wine! Thank You!) Client or not, this is a great hotel to stay at in Seattle, just a few blocks away from the big downtown Nordstrom. It doesn’t hurt that they were also named the #2 sexiest hotel in the U.S. by TripAdvisor (ooh la la).You’ll have to go to their website to see pictures because we didn’t take any inside our room that were meant for public view (j/k…maybe)

Friday night we checked in and headed over to Red Fin – a sushi restaurant attached to the hotel. It was quite yummy. And we got to sit at the bar and watch them make sushi which eliminates the need for talking – we had been in the car for three hours, we didn’t need to talk anymore.

Saturday the hotel staff pointed us to a nearby restaurant for breakfast, Lola. While I was initially shocked at the prices for eggs and potatoes, I must say that it was some of the best breakfast I’ve ever had. So we forked over $40 for breakfast. Dylan was painting a mural during the day Saturday, so I supervised with the owner of the shop and got some projects done. Then it was back to the hotel to scrub spray paint off Dylan (sorry for the blue towels Hotel Max!) and off to an evening massage. Dylan had planned all of this and it was quite fabulous.

Brace yourself- here is where I remembered that I had my camera…

We took the monorail back to our hotel and the Space Needle was all lit up – very romantic!

I only had my point and shoot and it hates taking pictures at night – but I kind of like it blury.

Saturday night after getting all dressed up after massages Dylan whisked me away to a fancy little place called Urbane. I had some of the most amazing mashed potatoes ever. Great but spendy wine selection – just be prepared to spend a good chunk of change here and you’ll be fine.

Sunday morning, after lounging in our comfy King bed at the hotel and watching Olympics highlights we made our way to Pike Place market for a true Valentine’s day adventure. My sweety spent his last dollar on a tulip for me – all the flowers down there are beautiful. It made me wish the stupid cat didn’t want to eat every living flower/plant we bring into the house.

Overall, it was a great weekend escape . We left the doggy in Portland at her daycare/boarding facility and had an obligation free time! Thanks for an amazing weekend away – Love ya!

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My Take on Valentine’s Day

12 February, 08:40, by Kim Toomey
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Oh Valentine’s Day – how people love to hate you. I feel like there are two camps in regards to Valentine’s day. The Folks who say that it’s stupid and why should you dedicate one day a year to telling the people you love how you feel. And then there are the people who Loooove valentine’s day, and are shunned by the first group for neglecting their loves all other 364 days of the year.  (Just the impression I get and spurred on by stupid Ashton Kutcher)

This year, Dylan and I will be spending Valentine’s day weekend in Seattle without dog/cat/houseprojects/cooking/cleaning/dvr etc. And we’re staying at a swanky downtown Seattle hotel and going out to sushi dinners and getting massages and my hair did – the whole nine yards. Of course, this is all taking place on the 12th and 13th and we’ll spend 3 hours in the car on actual Valentine’s day and probably not do much else (this is called cheating the Valentine’s day system). But I only see Dylan 3 days a week – which is equal to only 156 days out of the year (assuming he’s working 4-10′s out of town through 2010) So dang it, we’re going to celebrate Valentine’s day and enjoy every minute of it.

And I’ll probably tell him I love him the other 156 days I see him too :) That’s how Valentine’s day works at the Toomey house this year.

Love ya!

Indian Cooking Experiment

09 February, 18:38, by Kim Toomey
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Not that the Pioneer woman needs any more links or shout-outs as she was on the 25 most influential web people for the year,  but I’m making a recipe from her community cooking site that she provided step-by-step instructions on and I had to share.

Butter Chicken by the Pioneer Woman

My poor sheltered soul has never had Indian food before, let alone attempted to cook it. So I went over to Whole Paycheck, stocked up on some bulk spices that have never seen the inside of my kitchen before – Cardamom and Cumin and got at it. Let me tell you, Cumin and Lime are a distinct combination, and if it turns out you are not a fan of said combination, you’re going to hate your life. Because that smell is not leaving your kitchen for a while. Luckily, I am happy to be transported to some faraway – warmer – land.

I’m halfway through this cooking debauchery for the evening and it seems to be a fairly easy recipe. Don’t burn the onions – That’s what happens when you try to cook, chase the dog out of the kitchen, text your husband and blog all at the same time. Maybe someday I’ll get the hang of it!

But seriously, my kitchen smells amazing and I’m not sharing so make it yourself – you can do it!