Everythng I needed to know, I learned from my Mom.

Happy Mother's Day Mom and thank you for filling my heart with so much love. 

Love, for family, friends and adventure.  Thank you for pushing me when you thought I needed to grow and consoling me when you thought "those" lessons could wait.  Thank you for showing me the world, in our small corner of it.  

I don't know of any other kids in my class that went to see Gilbert and Sullivan on the weekends.  And while I may not have appreciated it then, I know the importance of it now.  Thank you for sharing with me what you loved because it taught me to find what I love. 

There is a saying "everything I need to know, I learned in kindergarten".   
You made sure everything "I" needed to know, I knew well before then.  

First day of school 1976.

I am so proud to say, "everything I needed to know I learned from my Mom!"

My loving, smart, beautiful, funny, life sustaining Mom.

Happy Mother's Day!

love, 

your Wendy girl.

Skagit Valley Tulip Festival 2013

"Who would have thought it possible that a tiny little flower could preoccupy a person so completely that there simply wasn't room for any other thought." - Sophie Scholl

Saturday was grey, it rained, there were a few sun breaks and then I walked through the rainbow known as the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival.  It's stunning, its color breathtaking and even with the sky above 100 shades of grey, the ground was dancing in technicolor.



It was wet and muddy and I hesitated going due to the weather.  The rain started as I merged on the freeway heading an hour and a half  North and the sky was thick with dark clouds.  I was a week late getting up to the tulip fields but I knew if I waited another week the massive blooms were sure to be diminished.  Last year I hit the perfect time just as the daffodils were waving their final goodbye and the tulips were commanding all the attention.  You can see last years daffodil post here and tulip post here.  I was smitten after last years visit and the thought of missing it this year, well I just could not miss it, rain or shine.

"The nature of This Flower is to bloom."

- Alice Walker

Being a bit later in the bloom I happened upon a slightly different landscape, more pinks and purples. And the puddles that pooled between the rows revealed a new perspective,  a peaceful, mirrored reflection.



I have come to love these tulip fields rain or shine.





A quick video with some of my favorite shots of the day.

2013 Tulips from WA Nutting on Vimeo. 

I left with a few bundles to savor some Spring color at home.

I will dedicate this post to all of you, remember to bloom where you are planted, no matter the weather.  Find a cute pair of rain boots, look for the sun breaks and enjoy all the colors in the rainbow.



Photos taken at Roozengarrde Mount Vernon Washington

Pacific Ocean Gratitude.

Last weekend we spent four wonderful days at the coast, beach combing, getting caught in the rain, taking in a low tide, wild crafting on the beach, celebrating a friends birthday and standing in awe of a breathtaking sunset.  We were grateful. 

The Long Beach peninsula is about 4 1/2 hours from our house and it's lovely.  We have no cell reception, no tv, and while you can find just about everything you need at Jack's Country Store, you feel remote, incredibly relaxed and completely removed from the rest of the world. 

It was good.


April 2013 LB from Wendy on Vimeo.

Thank you to our friends who joined us and a big THANK YOU to our friends who so graciously offer their beach house to us for a much appreciated getaway.

All you need is love, ...and the beach every once and a while.

Have a lovely day.

Peace be with you Boston.

We just returned from a long weekend away, completely unplugged with no cell reception, no t.v. and no stress to the horrific events in Boston yesterday; my heart is heavy.

Prayers to the victims, their families, those who witnessed this terrible event, those helping the ones in need and my friends and family living in the Boston area.


Peace be with you all. ♥♥♥

Date night at the corner of delancey and essex ~ and our first giveaway!

I can not remember how I heard the praises of delancey in Seattle, I know I read about it recently, somewhere.  I remember thinking we must go, followed by I just started Weight Watchers and seriously pizza was not going to help me achieve my goal, but it sounded fabulous.  So, two weeks go by at WW and I have lost five pounds and all I can think about is delancey.  The photos on their fb page imprinted forever in my mind the balls of soft dough rising, the wood fired oven,  the fennel sausage, the vintage industrial look of the place.  The reviews, stating superb, excellent, the freshest ingredients with just a tad of mozzarella.  Amazing thin crisp crust pies reminiscent of the pizza mecca in Brooklyn.  The reviews, all the same each visitor standing on their own soap box and shouting with mouth watering details.  And just as they were all in agreement of their love of delancey they also agreed on the only downside, the wait.  Apparently the wait is significant a hour, give or take thirty minutes, seemed to be the general consensus, but aren't all good things worth the wait?   I mean if I were going to make pizza at home it would surely take longer than an hour and I could easily pick up the phone and order from the fast food pizza chains.  But I am 100% confident those chains resemble nothing even close to the culinary expertise of the much celebrated delancey.  So we decided to go Saturday night, we knew there may be a wait and we were prepared to stick it out.

We arrived in Ballard around seven o'clock and when we turned on NW 70th Street we wondered, for a moment, if we were in the wrong area.  Most of NW 70th Street is filled with cute little bungalows and just as I glanced to the right I spotted it.




It's location is unassuming and small I was thrilled not to see a line out the door and jumped out of the car to put our name on the list, while Clyde parked.  I followed another gal in who was seated right away and for a split second I danced a little happy dance that we would soon be next.  When the host came back she quickly brought me back to reality, "the wait for two is an hour and a half".  Oh those words stung, but I was prepared I put our name on the list and wondered what we would do in this cute little neighborhood for 90 minutes.  I thought to myself, should we leave and come back?, should we go scour the Village on Holman Road?  She soon suggested we could wait in the bar next door and she would call me when our table was ready.  I went back outside and waited for Clyde to return.  We decided to head into essex, the bar next door, for a pre-dinner drink and let me tell you it was wonderful.



essex is cozy and warm and oozes, "we love what we do".  This is not your typical neighborhood bar but after only a few minutes inside and a quick glance at their menu you can only wish this bar was in your neighborhood.  Think local, think handcrafted.  They make as many of the liquors as they can and have selected only the finest other brands to carry, no Bud, or Bacardi here.

We sat at the bar and had the best time.  The staff was fun and engaging  and watching them prepare the drinks was a real treat.   Their drinks are creative and innovative and being not much of a drinker I am already looking forward to going back and trying something new.  Last night I had a Americano ~  Campari, Sweet Vermouth and Soda while Clyde had a wonderful Rye Beer.



Sitting at the bar is paramount if you can, watching them mix drinks was so fun and Clyde and I were both intrigued by one we saw being prepared and we decided to try it.  The Alondo ~ Gin, Elderflower Liquor, Chartreuse,  and Charred Rosemary, served in a vintage, silver champagne goblet. It was showy and I was so glad I had my camera on hand to capture it's preparation.


Alonzo cocktail from Wendy on Vimeo.


Before we knew it, it was time for dinner.  We walked through the back of essex, right in to delancey, and were seated in a very full dining room.  We chose two pizzas, the Margherita, and the Sausage, made with their house made fennel sausage.


I'll be eating lettuce for the rest of the week, but it's all good.

Yum, they were so delicious!

Simple, fresh, bursting with flavors and the crust was equally crispy and chewy.

Pizza perfection!

Worth the 20 minute drive from Edmonds and completely worth the wait. When you go, be sure to put your name on the wait list at delancey's and then go enjoy a cocktail at essex.  And by all means sit at the bar, it's just so much fun.  I guess I'm on the soap box now, and speaking of soap...

...but wait it's not just a shameless plug, it's a giveaway!  "GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED"


I promised and it's finally here, my first giveaway.

I am giving away a four pack of our wonderful handmade soap. 

How to enter:

1. Check out all of our soap on our Etsy shop at Vintique and Handmade

2. Then leave a comment below, on this blog post, about a new soap scent you would like to see us create.

3. Post about this giveaway on your own blog or facebook page and leave a link in the comment section.
_______________________________________________________________________________

The first winner will be drawn at random and a second winner will also be chosen if we pick your soap scent, we will send you a four pack of the scent you suggested, when it is ready.

This giveaway will run from April 7th through April 15th 2013.

The winner(s) will be drawn on Monday April 15th and announced on Tuesday the 16th, good luck!

Cancel the search and rescue, I'm back, yay!

It has been 65 days since my last blog post and that is just too long, way too long.

I have missed my little blog, I have missed clearing my head and weaving in a few photos along the way.  I have been checking in though and I know you are all out there.  While all the viewers remain anonymous, I can see how many people viewed on a particular day, what countries have visited and which posts are the most popular.  It's wonderful this little blog and I have missed writing dearly.

Just before Christmas our beloved dog, Bailey fell quite ill, we thought our days were limited with him and it consumed all of our time outside of work.  We cancelled outings with friends to snuggle with our "best" friend as much as we could.  He is 100% better now and I will post about what happened to him at a later date.  While he was sick, I was very heartbroken.

In January, I was hit by the flu, not fun at all, and mid February a horrible sinus infection.  This year has been a blur for me but I am feeling 110% better now.  I am anxious for Spring, ready to grab hold of 2013 and create something special out of this year. 

So I decided to leave out the photo of the nightstand scattered with Vick's Vapor Rub, Kleenex and cough medicine but here are a few, more memorable moments, of our year so far.

I made a lovely sourdough starter, it was beautiful, it smelled amazing and I was anxious to see what I would do with it.

I was able to keep it long enough to make these delicious sourdough pancakes.  They were so good and worth all the fussing over the starter.  Light and crisp and the tang melded perfectly with the Maine maple syrup I had in the pantry.



Unfortunately, the starter fell ill shortly after I did, as I neglected it for a few days.  I will have to start another one, maybe next fall.

We did meet friends for brunch at Sitka and Spruce.  This was our second visit and we are hooked.  Their small menu with seasonal offerings of locally grown and carefully prepared food is a real treat.  If you live locally go, by all means go and enjoy this fabulous cafe.



And we just had to stop and smell the most fragrant roses, outside of my Dad's rose garden, at Marigold and Mint in the Melrose Market.  They were heavenly.



I made a great hummus with this recipe from Smitten Kitchen, it was easy and delicious.



During the first week of March we finally opened our Etsy shop, Vintique and Handmade.  I will post more details about this in the next week.  It is new and who knows where it will go but we love our soap.  I will be having a four bar give away the first week of April so keep an eye out for that.



Just when you think the rain will never stop, your lightweight rain layer has become an everyday staple and Spring seems too many days away; Seattle hosts the Northwest Flower and Garden Show.  We spent a few hours here one Sunday afternoon, our friends from Circle Creek Home had a fabulous booth in the new "vintage market".





.....and on Sunday March 10th we celebrated a dear friends birthday for which I made the best Coconut Cake.  And let me just say the Barefoot Contessa never fails me.  Her recipes are easy to read, always come out beautiful and everyone loves them.   If you like coconut, this should be on your baking bucket list and if you cook but don't bake, you should invite Clyde and I over for dinner and I'll make it.  Yum!



Seriously, is that a beautiful cake or what?

Oh, it's good to get this post out, it has been in my head for weeks and it's so very good to be back.  What have you been up to in 2013?  Are you finding the beauty in the little things and making the most of your one wild and precious life? 
Thank you for checking in and as always have a lovely day!

Our weekend, music, football and a unicorn.

Our weekend was fun.
We started celebrating the weekend on Friday night.  We heard that one of our favorite up and coming artists was playing at the swanky 67 lounge, inside the Edgewater hotel in Seattle, and thought it was a perfect way to end the week.  We had seen Matt Brown in August at Seeds restaurant in La Conner and really enjoyed his edgy blues vibe.  We arrived shortly after 9pm but just in time to secure the last comfy seats in the lounge.



He rocked the house playing mostly his own music and a few covers during his second set.   I would compare him to John Mayer or Michael Buble with an edge.  You can hear some of his music on his website, www.mattbrownsongs.com
 


Saturday was spent running errands a few returns, a few groceries, they usual run of the mill weekend to do list, but Sunday was a crazy day.

Sunday started off early with me baking Brown Butter Blueberry Muffins from Joy the Baker.  These were delicious and came together super fast.



They were perfect with a hot cup of coffee on a chilly winter morning and a great treat to have during the suspenseful Seahawks playoff game.



And speaking of the game, it was right down to the wire and with just a few minutes left in the game they came back from a 20 point loss, but just could not keep the Falcons from scoring and taking the win.  Ugh!  I was so bummed.  I think this is why there is so much beer consumed at football games it's so stressful.  I even thought about getting into the Patron Clyde gave me for Christmas.
 


When the game ended, we thought a change of scenery was in order and we needed something to take our mind off that game.  So I threw on a pair of sparkly flat gold shoes and we were out the door.

We landed at the Unicorn, on Capitol Hill and it was exactly what we needed.
 


Never having been here we did not exactly know what the scene was going to be like.  I would describe it as antique taxidermy meets vintage carousel.  It's funky.

The menu is crazy with a long list of specialty corn dogs, fried pickles, fried dough, popcorn balls, ect.  And just so you know they have a Unicorn Dog, Unicorn Salad, and Unicorn Balls if you really need to be cheered up.

The drink menu is just as interesting with drinks called, Unicorn Fizz, My Little Pony, Rainbow Brite, Unicorn Tears, Sno-Cone and Cotton Candy.  Yikes, are you feeling a little sugar rush yet?  They also have the usual beer and wine but how many places can you order a My Little Pony and a plate of Unicorn Balls? giggle, giggle.  
 


We sat by the window and when Clyde asked what I wanted,  I so wanted to order the My Little Pony just to hear him order it for me, but I went with the Shay Shay Mar Mar and he made me order, ha!
And just in case your wondering, he had a beer.



As you can imagine, shortly after we walked in the door, our minds were not on the Seahawks loss at all.  the Unicorn, it's an experience.

Downstairs is the Narwhal room, another bar, a lot more seating and the epic games of my youth.  Ms. Pac-Man, Galaga, Donkey Kong, Centipede, and a game I had never know about.



A game in so little production, only 10,000 units of this version were ever made, ever, and this was 31 years ago,  I thought back to all of the hours I spent at the Dream Machine arcade in Auburn, Maine, all the games I played at the movie theater on Main Street, at the pizza place, at the mall, at all the places I went in my teens and I never knew there was a Baby Pac-Man.



I was mesmerized.   It's very different, combining a video game and a pinball machine in one game.  It appears that you start of playing the video game and one of two vertical tunnels, at the bottom of the video screen, allows you access to play the pinball portion.   Apparently this game was designed and released by Bally-Midway and was never authorized by NAMCO.  It, along with three other unauthorized versions of Pac-Man, eventually led NAMCO to cancel the association with Bally-Midway; at least that is the story on Wikipedia. 

Oh my gosh what a day. 



What a fun, crazy day.  If you live in Seattle it's worth a visit to the Unicorn.

Wishing you all a lovely week!