What I've Been Up To

I've pretty much spent this entire week on the couch either reading, watching tv/netflix or e-mailing. I'm really horrible at being "sick" and don't lay around well so by day 3, I was getting ancy (despite feeling icky) and needed to do something to keep my hands busy. I decided that all the recipes I'd clipped out of magazines over the years were beckoning me, begging to be organized (as I'm sure this won't be a priority after baby arrives!) So I went to work...

You should see how many recipe cut outs I have! I mean, when I went off to college, the floor of my bedroom closet at my parents house was covered in 3 foot stacks of cooking magazines that I'd collected over the years (and that was 7 years ago!) Gradually, I worked my way through each and every one of the them, clipping out the recipes that interested me and recycling the magazines so I wasn't a pack rat coming into our marriage.

It was high time to put these clippings in usable form so I spent two of these sick days categorizing the recipes, taping them onto sheets of scratch paper and putting them into protective sleeves in a big binder (so that any kitchen spills cannot damage them). I even played around with food pictures to create the individual title pages for each category. Normally, I don't think I would go into this much detail but with Graham off working 12 hour shifts and me home alone bored, I went all out!
I'm sure I will continue to find and clip recipes that look interesting to me but I'll guess I'll just have to set them aside for the next sick day.

Speaking of sickness, I'm hoping I'm on the mend. I don't feel great yet but at least think I'll be able to leave the house today (which is good because we have an infant CPR class to attend and also wanted to purchase a video camera and baby monitor--things I was hoping to get done this week but couldn't).

In other news, I went to Safeway on Thursday only to realize my credit card was missing. Hmmm.....I hadn't left the couch since Monday so that meant it had been gone for THREE days. After a few minutes of heart racing, I ran home HOPING it was in the pocket of the outfit I was wearing on Monday (and if you've been around me lately, you'd be impressed that I was able to even recall what I was wearing on Monday!!!!) Now if only I could find the grape juice concentrate I set out to thaw on Thursday....I thought I set it out in the fridge but it doesn't seem to be there....I'm a little nervous about where it might show up.

The Wallingford Pizza House

A couple Sundays ago after church, we finally ventured into the Wallingford Pizza House to give it a try. Graham has been wanting to pay them a visit for a while now and for one reason or another, it never happened.

We went with our friends the Moodys and I must saw were very pleasantly surprised. We walked in at the prime Sunday lunch hour but were greeted by a bunch of empty tables which made us a bit nervous. Why was no one else eating here? Thankfully, it must have been a fluke because our meal was fabulous!

We began with a Greek Salad to share, complete with spinach, red peppers, kalamata olives, onions and large chunks of creamy feta cheese. We easily split the salad between the 4 of us.

Next, we ordered the "Full On" 12 inch deep dish pizza which included canadian bacon, sausage, pepperoni, mushrooms, green peppers, olives, onion and pineapple t0pped with mozarella cheese. We even splurged and added jalapenos on one half and spinach on the other. The pizza arrived and was over 1 1/2 inches thick! I wasn't sure it was going to live up to my previous Chicago-style deep dish pizza experience (actually in Chicago) but it did! The crust was perfectly done, not at all greasy as one might expect with our rich topping selection.

We had a coupon from our entertainment book that cut 1/3 of the cost off our bill which made for a great steal of a meal. Normally when I go out, I like to try gourmet eclectic restaurants but I think we just might be paying the Wallingford Pizza House another visit here in the near future...

What I'm Eating

And in case you're wondering, no my food choices are not related to pregnancy cravings. I left work early yesterday because I was feeling a bit under the weather and wanted to rest up and get better. Of course, working in a hospital means I have endless resources, recommendations and suggestions from nurses on how to alleviate even the most minor of problems. As I was leaving, one nurse suggested that I a) drink pickle juice (which I actually used to do when I was little!) or b) eat a lot of dill pickles to help my sore throat. She said there's something about the vinegar in the pickles that has an antibiotic affect if what I'm up against is bacterial. Whatever the case, I'm desperate to feel well again before baby decides to make his/her entrance into the world so I didn't ask questions and had Graham serve me up a bowl of pickles when I arrived home. This same nurse also suggested sipping hot orange juice with honey to ease my throat pain. For some reason, this sounded more disgusting to me than drinking pickle juice but at this point, I'll try anything. The concoction is actually quite nice and really does feel good on my throat! In fact, I think I'll go heat up a mug for myself right now....Pray for good health soon as baby could decided it's time at any given moment now that I'm term!

My wish, on a budget

Yesterday my hubby absolutely SPOILED me for my last birthday without kids. My birthday wish was simple: to go out to eat for every single meal. As a foodie, this was an absolute dream for me! I feel like we already have so much stuff and I didn't really want to have to find storage space for more stuff so I made my birthday wish list short and sweet. Graham is a genius and set strict rules for himself to ensure we ate really well while staying within budget. The man is amazing--I don't know where he comes up with the deals that he does but he had a discount for everything which took away a lot of the guilt for all our indulgences (although I must say there was a bit of guilt hangover this morning as I tried to ignore the number I calories I must have consumed yesterday!) :o)

Our day started off at Julia's in Issaquah. This very well might be becoming a traditional breakfast for my birthday. Last year, Graham took me to the Julia's in Wallingford where I experienced the most amazing pancake of my life. So this year, I didn't even have to think twice (or even really look at the menu) when deciding where I wanted to go and what I wanted. Once again, I ordered their skillet-sized pancake with everything in it (blueberries, granola, poppy seeds and chocolate chips) and a fresh-squeezed orange juice. Heavenly! Graham had their biscuits and gravy and a fresh-squeezed grapefruit juice.
I was instructed not to order coffee with breakfast and I obeyed. As if our huge meal wasn't enough, next we headed off to the new Zokas location that just opened in downtown Kirkland. The shop is ultra modern with lots of light wood accents. Here we shared a small caramel soy latte (which was FREE I might add due to a coupon happened upon by my savy husband). The coffee tasted just like what we had in Italy....yum! We enjoyed lots of conversation and people watching here before we headed home for a little nap.
Before we knew it, it was time to eat again! :o) Graham took me to another eastside favorite (I've blogged about it previously): Gilbert's on Main. We ordered their french onion soup that came with a wedge of ciabatta, a mixed green salad with apples and Gorgonzola in a light walnut vinaigrette and a spinach, garlic and swiss bagel with whipped cream cheese. Once again, we were not disappointed!

The weather was starting to clear up and we were both warm in our long pants so we enjoyed our meal out on the patio.

Do I look full yet?

Next, Graham took me down to Pike Place Market so we could play tourist in our own city. Pike Place never fails to disappoint--the flowers in particular were amazing given that we're in the dead of summer. Dahlias and sunflowers are definitely in season right now!

Mr. Romance let me pick out a birthday bouquet. We had to walk the strip of flower stalls twice for me to decide on the perfect bunch. Graham ended up spotting this bouquet which is just what I love--green and white with a splash of orangy color.

After awkwardly trying to take a self portrait of the two of us with the flowers, some nice gentleman stepped in and offered to snap our photo.

By this time, we were actually both quite beat (I mean seriously, we'd be sitting and eating ALL DAY--that's enough to wear anyone out!) We decided to head home to relax and change (and get hungry!) before heading out for dinner. Graham gave me two options for dinner--he wouldn't tell me the names of the restaurants but read me the menus so I could decide. I ended up choosing the menu at Mona's Bistro in Ravenna. We didn't really get any good pictures of our meal because the place was dimly lit and I was embarrassed by our camera flash. Needless to say, the food was great! We started off with an arugula salad with Humboldt fog goat cheese, truffled honey, red peppers and pistachios. The salad with HUGE even though we ordered a small! For our main course, I ordered Wild Boar Papparadelle and Graham ordered the "Spur of the Moment" which happened to be Pork Ravioli with leeks in a Shitake Mushroom cream sauce. He also had a glass of red wine (which unfortunately we can't remember the name of) that had strong earthy and leathery tones. I could only imagine that it went really well with my rich red sauce (Graham said it did). I must say Graham scored with his entree choice--it was divine (thankfully he shared with the birthday girl). My dish was also good but I found it begging for some really good, sharp parmesan cheese to contrast the rich sweetness of the sauce (can you tell I read too many foodie books?)

After dinner, we stopped by Coldstone for my favorite treat: Cake Batter Ice Cream with brownies, cookie dough and peanut butter--which we brought home to share while watching So I Married an Ax Murderer (Graham watched, I fell asleep).

Sigh. What a wonderfully, fabulously, deliciously relaxing day!

(PS-I woke up this morning, went straight on a walk and then had a bowl of bran buds with raspberries as if to counteract my behavior yesterday.) :o)

36 weeks!

I can't believe our baby is due in 4 short weeks! Being that his/her arrival is fast approaching, it's time to get your guess on. Even if you don't traditionally comment on my blog but enjoy reading it, we'd love to hear what YOU'RE thinking about the birth of our baby!

Here's the predictions we want from you (*keep in mind our due date is 9/6/09):

1) Baby's Gender
2) Birth Date and Time
3) Birth Weight
4) Birth Length

As the parents, we'll throw our guesses out there too but first, here's some background data on each of our births:

BABY GRAHAM

1) A boy

2) Born 1 week late

3) 9# 12 oz (!!!!!!!!)

4) Don't know

BABY KELSIE
1) A girl
2) Born 1 week early
3) 7# 10 oz
4) 20 3/4 inches long



GRAHAM'S PREDICTION
1) A boy
2) Sept 11th, 2009 at 4:32 AM (5 days late)
3) 7# 2 oz
4) 19 inches long

KELSIE'S PREDICTION
1) A boy
2) September 3rd, 2009 at 7:44 AM (3 days early)
3) 7# 6 oz
4) 20 inches long

Okay people, guess away!!!

Birthday Tubing Trip

Yesterday we took a day trip over to Lake Wenatchee and Leavenworth for some river tubing adventures and birthday fun with my family. Last year, Graham and I took my "little" brother Ben and the tubing guy told us the activity was great for people of all ages (and sizes), including pregnant woman. I made a mental note (even though I was NOT pregnant the last time we went) and decided I would go again when I was pregnant (since there are so many things you're NOT supposed to do, it's nice to have something you CAN do). I couldn't have planned the pregnancy better--right during the heat of the summer! Although we didn't have 100 degree weather, it was still warm and sunny and comfortable for our float. We had a great time--the only downer was that Graham either got stung by a bee or bitten by a horse fly. Whatever the beast, it left a hole in his swollen arm. He's never been stung before so of course I started freaking out that he'd be allergic and so immediately went to interigating him with questions on what we should do if this was the case (I wanted to be sure to get all my questions answered before he passed out!!). He was off floating on his own at this point and of course played it up to the max, telling the rest of us that his whole arm was swelling up, that he was having trouble breathing and then he started seizing in his tube. The stinker! Of course he was fine--it was just a flesh wound--but oh how he loves to fake choke, hold his breath so I think he's quit breathing etc just to get me riled up....

After our float, we went to Leavenworth for a family dinner in late celebration of the July birthdays (Graham's, my mom's and my brother-in-law Michael's) and early celebration of my birthday. We had yummy German food and then hung out in a park, throwing a frisbee and listening to polka music.

The Birthday People (with our candles)Dad

Ben

Mom

Lani and Michael I have a birthday surprise in there!

My family was super generous for my birthday and gave me a number of fabulous gift certificates for after the baby arrives. Thinking ahead, I know that finances are going to be tight and date nights out are going to have to be pretty intentional so I REALLY appreciate their supporting these special treats for us. Lani and Michael gave me a gift certificate for a post-baby massage with free babysitting included. Josh and Ben gave Graham and I a certificate for a movie and drinks at the Big Picture Theater. My parents gave me a certificate for a dinner date out with Graham at a restaurant of my choice (which will more than likely will be The Barking Frog in Woodinville or Cafe Juanta in Kirkland). Free babysitting was also included with their gift. :o) I can't wait!

SERIOUSLY!!!

I so should not be allowed out of the house right now! Or maybe I shouldn't be allowed to work 5 day work weeks anymore in my current state. It's like my brain has completely short wired. I cannot make decisions. And I'm not talking about major decisions. I'm talking about any decision. Period.

I just tried to grocery shop at Fred Meyer and it took me MORE THAN AN HOUR AND A HALF!! I couldn't decide:

-How many apricots to buy
-Whether I wanted any yogurt
-Do I need buffalo?
-Should I buy 100% juice, some fake juice drink, pop or sparkling water for our picnic tomorrow?
-Should I make a separate trip to Trader Joe's to buy sun-dried tomatoes since they're so expensive here?
-What's "Italian bread"? Would french bread be a good substitute?
-Should I buy ingredients the ice cream cake dessert I want Graham to make for me for my bday as a hint?
-What color of nail polish do I want?

The whole thing finally ended in the baby section with me trying to pick out take-home-from-the-hospital outfits for both a boy and girl. BAD IDEA! 45 minutes later...I finally gave up and grabbed 2 things and ran.

When I went out to my car, I found I'd left the trunk wide open.....someone HELP!