Eating Our Way Through the Eastside

Seattle is home to some of the best restaurants in the world. We've eaten in many of them, and have some great favorites. Last week while we were there we ate our way through the weekend, and had a great time doing so.

We stopped at Top Pots Doughnuts in Bellevue on our way home from the airport. Those are some good donuts. Perhaps the best apple fritter I've ever had. For regular old donuts, though, I still love Factory Donuts in Kingsgate.

Thursday night we took Debby and Randy to dinner to celebrate their birthdays. We gave them their choice of restaurant, and they picked what we consider to be the best food in the greater Seattle area. And believe me, we've eaten at a lot of great restaurants. Ray discovered Tosoni's many, many years ago. Walter, the owner and chef, remembered Ray and promised to put cioppino on the menu for Ray that night. Tosoni's is in a little strip mall in the Overlake area of Bellevue. It's intimate and friendly. If you like melt-in-your-mouth, savor-the-goodness, out-of-this-world food, this is the place for you.

Ray and Diane

Debby and Randy - see the kitchen in the back? We're at the front of the restaurant. Cozy and small.

The menu. The cioppino was a special offering.

Mahi Mahi

Veal Piccata

Cioppino

The best chocolate in all the world. I couldn't wait long enough for the picture. I just had to have a bite first.

The chocolate decadence at Tosoni's is like no other. There is no better chocolate that I've had in my life. Ever. Take it from someone who knows chocolate: it's the best.

On the other end of the food spectrum is King Charley's in Snohomish. The service is excruciatingly slow and the only seating are two archaic picnic tables which more closely resemble teeter-totters. But--there is no better burger, nor are there any better fresh fruit shakes in the state of Washington. Or any other state I've been in so far.

Madeleine, Ray, Debra, Jonathan, Randy, Diane

Those are the extremes of our eating. We also managed to squeeze in Cafe Veloce where I had my favorite Pasta Muffaleta, Pizza Bank for a beef gyro, and Pomegranate Bistro, where I had an incredible BLTGA (bacon, lettuce, tomato, gouda cheese, avocado and peppadew aioli) sandwich. 

The rest of the weekend (and, really the best part) was spent being with family and friends. More of that to come soon.

The Beloved Buick

When I was a kid we had a 1965 Buick Sportwagon. Oh, how my mother loved that car. She swore she would never get rid of it. We had that car for a long time. I remember many a cross-country trip taken in it. My mom cried the day my dad turned it in for a newer car. (We kids rejoiced.)

The other day Ray and I were driving and I saw this car: 

It was an Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser, not the Buick Sportwagon, but looks so much like the Buick I thought it was one at first. I was very excited. Those windows on the top were a dead giveaway. Our car was beige, like the one below and had a red interior. It had front and back seatbelts that were dutifully stashed under the seat. After all, if they were out they just got in the way. 

I don't think I've seen a car like that since 1975. It was great to see one again. It brought back a lot of great memories.

Pre-travel Conversations

We're headed to Seattle to see my daughter and family. In fact by the time this is on my blog we may be there already.

I've had some fun conversations with the girls about our upcoming trip. It all started one day while we were on FaceTime and I mentioned how excited I was to come. Madeleine informed me that we would be there in ten and nine days. They'd been counting.

Here are the email communications that have happened since then:
Aug 21

Me: I will see you in ten and seven days!

Love, G’ma

via Debra: no two girls were ever more excited. 

Aug 24

Me: Thirteen days!!

Aug 26

See August 28 post

Sep 3

Me:

How old is Diane?

2

How old is Madeleine?

4

What is the number between 2 and 4?

3

That's how many days until I see Diane and Madeleine.

I can't wait!!
I love you!

G’ma

via Debra: madeleine: we already know that!

they've been counting down, hard core. seven days ago, madeleine said, "diane. there are seven days until we see g'ma and pa'a. and then the next day, there are six. and then five, and then four, and then three, and then two. so there are pretty much two days left."

Sep 4

The girls’ morning conversation, via Debra:

madeleine: diane, guess how many days until g'ma and pa'a come!
diane: oh! 
madeleine: that's not a number, that's a letter! it's two day!

August Report

These monthly accountings of my activities are telling. I still love the goals, but have relaxed a little in my approach.

1. First things first: still plugging along. I do pretty well at exercising, and if I am not eating perfectly, I am at least aware of how I'm eating and paying more attention. Scripture study is better, but not perfect. I've got a course of study I'm following now that I like and think I will sustain for a while.
2. One shelf/drawer per day: it is not happening daily, but is happening on a regular basis. So I'm feeling great about that. This could be a goal for a long time.
3. 30-30-30: my miracle working stay on task remedy. I can't believe how much more I get done when I do this.
4. Skype/webcam: I love FaceTime, but need to sign up for Skype on the off chance that I need it. It almost set me back yesterday to not have it. That's my goal for September: sign up for Skype.
5. Digital photo storage: I'm excited about this. I'm still slowly making my way through learning the system, but it is exactly what I need.

I feel like my life is a little unpredictable, what with needing to be available for my parents, and my church responsibilities. When I push myself to get certain things done I can feel the headaches coming on. I've decided not to impose unnecessary deadlines on my projects. That leaves those necessary deadlines more achievable. It seems great to be making progress, and I'm striving to be happy with progress that will eventually end in completion. If that makes sense. Life's too short and people too important to me to fret about projects that should be bringing me joy and satisfaction rather than frustration.

Happy September!

Juliet by Anne Fortier

I don't know what to say. I should have loved this book, but ended up only liking it.

Is it because I had a hard time finding time to read it and sometimes lost track of what was happening and who people were? Maybe. But if I'd really loved it I would have made time to read it, and wouldn't have been as forgetful.

Is it because I just read a story within a story book that I loved and liked better than this one? Maybe. But if I'd really loved it that wouldn't have mattered.

Here is what I liked: I liked reading what is supposed to be the original story of Romeo and Juliet interwoven within a modern story. I liked the modern story okay.

Here's what I didn't like: I felt the writing was uneven. I felt like the characters were not consistent. Sometimes I wanted to say let's just move things along here, don't take so long to tell the story. Sometimes I wanted to say really? you're going to just wrap that up so quickly?

So there you have it. An ambiguous review. Perhaps because that's how I feel about the book. Ambiguous.