Thanksgiving in Bellingham, WA

Thank you Alaska Air for the non-stop from HNL to Bellingham, we spent less time getting there and more time Being There!  And it saved Chris the 2 hour drive to and from SeaTac.  The stress-less arrival was just the beginning of our restful, relaxed week in peaceful upstate Washington. 

Arriving quite early, we had a wonderful crepe breakfast at Mount Bakery in downtown Bellingham.  This was the first time we got to see the town & harbor.  It has a wonderful, small town feeling and such a pleasant change from our city life.  Chris left us at home and went off to work.  Russ and I thoroughly enjoy the deeply forested Sudden Valley and can just sit and relax, having coffee and reading.  Aaahhhh....

Wednesday we took the ferry from Anacortes to the San Juan islands.  Docking in Friday Harbor, we walked uphill to explore the little town.  It's rather quiet during this, the off season, but we had a nice time and a delicious lunch at Cask and Schooner.  The hard cider was a treat; Chris took home a gallon jug

Thursday, Thanksgiving Day.  We drive across the Canadian border to Vancouver, BC.  It was raining in Bellingham and as we neared the city of Vancouver, it began raining even harder.  So we decided to forgo biking through Stanley Park with a snack at Thomas Haas Chocolatier!  Good choice!

Dinner at Bacchus in the Wedgewood Hotel was beautiful and gave us a chance we rarely get in Hnl, a chance to dress for dinner.  Russ & I stayed true to form and had the turkey dinner.  Wow! and with Chris' choice of wines, Yum!

Driving back to the USA, we waited in line to cross the border.  So many Canadians were going into Washington for the late night/early morning Black Friday sales!

Friday morning dawned sunny and bright!  Chris says, "we must take advantage of the good weather by hiking one of my favorite running trails in Sudden Valley."

After 1.5 hours, the trail looped back to the beginning.  It was a good mix of flat, uphill and downhill.  The forest is so green, peaceful and smells so clean.  There were a few others hiking off their Thanksgiving dinner too.  Time for some shopping--no we avoided the mauls.  The little town of Fairhaven, also along the water, has many small boutiques, cafes, and even a running store.  Russ got a pair of the new  high-tech Nikes.  He'll be much faster now.  "Man Pies" for dinner!!

Saturday we shopped the Bellingham Farmers Market then headed to Seattle for our dinner in Ballard, but not before getting a pedicure.

  Chris was gracious in letting me explore two shops that I'd read about:  High 5 Pie and CakeSpy  both in Capitol Hill.  Then on to Ballard Ave. with so many little shops that we ran out of daylight!



Sunday was a lazy day, with lunch at Blue Fin Japanese Restaurant.  The tempura udon was nice and hot and the broth delicious!  After perusing Henderson's Books, and a brief stop at the Whatcom Museum, I was fading fast.  So a nice walk along Bellingham Bay with a cup of coffee did the trick!

Our Turkey dinner from Trader Joe's.  Just heat and eat!

Alas, time to go back to reality.  Monday morning Russ and I packed, vegged out, read and enjoyed walking Oakcrest Circle.  Not much cell reception here so we stayed close to the house.  Since we would be sitting on a plane for 5+ hours, Chris suggested a walk around Lake Padden, then lunch at Old World Deli.

It was a wonderful, memorable Thanksgiving week.  Thank you Chris!

EZ Packing Tip

A big Thank You! to my friend Susan.  She's a seasoned world traveler and taught me how to use Ziploc plastic bags to keep my suitcase organized.  The 2.5 gallon size is perfect for most of my clothes.  Got the Huge storage size (pillows, kids toys etc.)  for Russ' suits. 
Sure beats the price of those fancy travel-store-brands.  And you can use the same method of rolling, to remove most of the air; allowing for flatter bags.  This not only organizes your outfits and saves space but is see thru so is quick to sort if you're looking for something. And if TSA (airport security) must open your bag, there is no need to create a mess! 
One more benefit--protects from liquids, keeps your things nice and dry!  Try it, you will be amazed at how much space air takes up!

Epicurean Excursion Sept. 2011

I love this tour!  We drank Chocolate, coffee, ate pizza with habanero soda and after many many more stops, ended with self serve frozen yogurt at the new Tartberry!  Yum, perfect on a hot summer day.

Lunch at PAPA HAYDN

There is nothing like lunch at Papa Haydn on a summer afternoon.  This is the best place to sit and cool off with a fresh salad and tall cooler.  Love to indulge in their fabulous desserts too.  A great first day in Portland.

The Portland Effect

Ever feel like things are out of sync?  Perhaps I was trying to make life and time fit my schedule.  The universe has a way of keeping me in check; causing me to stop and re-assess.

My friend Susan and I had planned a get-away trip to explore Portland, OR.  She hadn't been there in over 30 years and didn't know quite what to expect.  I, on the other hand, researched, scheduled, planned to try to squeeze in as much as possible.  It was obvious to Susan that I love the city and wanted to show her a good time.  Too much!  OCD? 

Susan took care of the flight plan and for weeks prior, we made a long list of shops, restaurants, events, sights etc. we were going to experience.  So much, so little time...we were booked on the red-eye into SFO and then a connection to PDX.

On the day of our departure, Susan calls me around lunchtime; our flight to SFO is cancelled!!!???  What?  So she sweats the details, finally getting us on a flight to Kona, then Phoenix and PDX.  We'd arrive just about the same time as originally planned.  Ok, then, relax, deep yoga breaths.  We leave HNL a few hours earlier to catch the flight to Kona.  Kona airport hasn't changed since it was built decades ago. 

Nevertheless, we sit and eat our $6.00 hot dog and thankfully, some spam musubi that was supposed to be for her friend working at SFO.  Waiting for departure at 10:45pm...still waiting in the plane at 1:00am!!!
Skipping over the gory details, we arrive at the Hilton Waikoloa Village resort at 4:00am.  Lovely resort, nice room and we splurge on room service breakfast after 3 hours of sleep.  When I wake, Susan is already outside calling the airlines to re-book us.  I was really to call it quits and just come home to HNL.  I call the Inn @ Northrup Station, assuring them we will be there, 24 hours late!  The rental agency cancelled our car. 

But, since the re-booking worked out, we actually did leave Kona at 10:45 pm, a day later. 
Phoenix airport is huge!  We make it to PDX two days late. 

It was a fantastic trip, we had a blast and shopped, ate, drank and played.  Susan got the "Portland Effect" in her blood.  Portland is constantly improving and I am always impressed.  We ate wonderful food at first rate restaurants, shopped together--we discovered we have similar tastes, which makes it all the more fun and gratifying.

The lesson here was to "go with the flow" and not try to arrange life according to my schedule.  What happens will happen.  I thoroughly enjoyed sharing the experience with Susan.  I hope that the next time (if there is one) we'll be able to have more fun and find new places, foods and learn from it all.

Baking again

Moved from cookies to muffins today.  The apple-oat with cinnamon muffins smells so yummy when baking.  They look a lot more appetizing than my cookies.  The taste testers, Moku, Happy and now little Maki, loved them!  Froze the muffins and will be sharing with friends who have dogs.  Cakes next!!

Now! you tell me...Japanese skin care tip #1

Japanese women have such beautiful, porcelain skin.  Want to know why?  Here's what we didn't learn early in life:

Anti aging skin care tip #1:  Never wash your face by applying cleanser and rubbing your skin with your hands.  This only pulls and stretches your skin!  Proper way:  using a japanese facial net, create thick, creamy foam with cleanser.  If yours doesn't foam up, get one that does--this is critical!  Now with a cup or more of foam, gently apply to your face, now you have created a thick cushion of cleanser between your hands and your facial skin.  Massage your face with the foam to clean your skin, not pulling and tugging anymore! 

Continue for entire face and neck area (if desired) for 5-10 minutes.  You've just given yourself a mini facial and the result is super clean skin with no stretching delicate facial skin and muscles.  Apply toner and/or moisturizer by pressing on to face in a upward motion, do not  pull or push.  Pat, pat, pat.

Still baking--Chicken thins wafers

Sidetracked by life...and dogs had to finish the remaining inventory of cookies.  Have been searching for a cookie press and cookie stamps.  Finally found a cookie press.  First attempt at making cookies in shapes was not so successful.  Must work out dough consistency.  This is a great press, it can also be a cake/frosting tube.  Am planning to experiment with frosting cookies now.  Colors too!

Success!  the new puppy, Maki (Shiba Inu) loves these!  Toby--well.....

6 0.K. then!

Just dawned on me that dogs are carnivores and prefer MEAT to sweets!  Duh? Why am I baking things that appeal to me?  Tweaked the recipe and created Bacon Scones.  Flavored with beef bullion and real bacon bits!  Sounds yukky but Moku gobbled the first one, Happy sniffed and actually took one, Toby even nibbled, but didn't eat the whole thing.  There may be hope yet....to be continued



Wish I could eat these!  Wouldn't you get all of these if they were baked especially for dogs?

Hot out of the oven--Bacon Pinwheels.  Whole wheat, a little honey and bits of real bacon.

Next career...

(whole wheat parmesan twists & pretzels)

I love to bake!  But at this stage in my life, the baked goodies don't love me...(sigh).  So I decided to bake for my dogs.  At least I'm not tempted to taste the treats.  Beginning with simple biscuit-like recipes.  My goal is to bake and decorate cakes, cupcakes and other goodies that look so irresistably yummy!

6-0 Digs

My friend Bernie, the Garden Guy is an expert on anything that grows in dirt!  He's a true green thumb, and is a veritable encyclopedia of plant nowledge.  Ask him, he'll have the answer!  By the way, he's 60-ish too.



6-Oh Bow WOW!

What a great little shop!  The refrigerated case looked so yummy, it's difficult to think they're only for dogs.  When I shared with the owner that I have been cooking for my dogs, she told me they can eat just about anything we do, except for certain things that are toxic for them.  She eliminates white sugar and salt; I should eat the same way.  Here are some of the goodies:

6-0h Wow! Touring Golden Gate Park by Segway

On a Monday morning, the park is very quiet.  No one is out early because nothing is open yet.  Being Monday, no one had booked this tour but us--so we had a private tour--just the two of us!  The Segway is very stable and easy to maneuver.  Nine gyroscopes keep it well balanced and responsive.  It's also quite heavy and has enough power to go off-road!  Cody was a great guide who narrated our tour through little radios with ear pieces.  We loved the experience and highly recommend it.  Must be able to stand for 2 hours and be somewhat coordinated.  I don't think I would tour through the streets of a city on this, but being in the park with virtually no car traffic was fantastic!  Also GG park is in a mostly-residential-part of town so is a lot more quiet than the city center.

6-0h! Travel

Tasting a variety of wines, inevitably I spill!  That's why I always travel with a little bottle of LOC concentrate wash to get those pinot stains out right away.  Works great for lingerie too.

6-0 Eye: Healdsburg dog

Healdsburg is so dog-friendly. Met a collie who 'sheparded' me into her owner's jewlery shop by nudging me with her nose! Lady is a rescue dog who looks mostly collie,  who just does what comes naturally; herding.
 Everytime she gets a buyer in the door, she gets a treat! Good job Lady!  (top photo is  Lady.  Bottom photo is outside her shop.)

6-0 Eye Camellia Inn, Healdsburg, CA

Merlot & brownies in the parlor of the Camellia Inn in Healdsburg, CA.  This authentic Victorian home ia a gem of a B & B.  After a 2 hour drive from San Francisco, the town of Healdsburg is a wonderful peaceful respite from the crazy legislative session just completed.  It was the perfect day for a drive across the Golden Gate Bridge--sunny, blue sky with big fluffy white clouds.  Ahhhhhh....

6-0h! Grow

That's a lot of years immersed in fabric, color, fitting, production etc.  My close friends tell me I will never get the lint out of my blood.  Well...try working for the state legislature!  Talk about using the other side of my brain!