Spring!

Well, the first day of spring was on Wednesday and I tell you what, things aren't looking too springy around here... Don't get me wrong, we have had some truly beautiful sunny days! But they've come with wind and chilly temperatures. These past few days brought rain, wind, hail, snow, sun.... and all in a very short period of time. It's been a little crazy. I was even praying for a snowday today but we didn't get quite enough, or at least, not in the right places.

 

A couple of weeks ago Steven and I took advantage of a sunny weekend by hitting up some of our favorite Seattle spots. We visited the South Lake Union Park for the first time. It's a nice enough park but certainly won't become one of our regular stops. Though I do still really want to stop by some time for their floating farmers market. It was fun to be right on the water and it was a beautiful day for it too!! Thank God for a legit reason to wear sunglasses.

 

(Steven's new Cirque jacket! even though I know you can't really see it...)

 

As we drove past SPU I commented on how beautiful the campus looked in the sunshine and Steven pulled over so we could take a short walk around the loop. I just love it there. I want to take all of my stationary or a good book and just find a place on the grass to sit and relax. It's so quiet and pretty and has so many memories.

 



 

The music building is one of my personal favorites. I definitely took some of my better classes in there. Plus, the Loop has the coolest trees.

 

We took a short walk on top of Queen Anne (didn't last long because of the wind) and Steven surprised me with a stop in La Reve Bakery. What a treat! I had a fruit tart and Steven had a twice baked almond croissant. Thinking back, I'm surprised I didn't take a picture. The food they serve there is so beautiful! I want to try everything in the case at some time or another. While we were sitting there enjoying our pastries, Steven and I were fantasizing about living on Queen Anne and being able to walk to our favorite places and having La Reve be our little spot where we take our cribbage board and try a new treat everytime. When we were in Blue Highway I heard a mom drop her son off for a birthday party and she told him he would be walking home and she would see him later that afternoon. How fun would it be for our kids to be able to just walk to Blue Highway for the afternoon?! Sigh, I don't think we will ever find ourselves living back on QA but it certainly is a nice thought.

 



 

Kerry Park. I just can't resist. I have to take a picture every single time. In fact, I have to take multiple pictures every single time. Honestly though, I think this is one of the better ones. The clouds were fantastic that day.

 

We spent the rest of the day with Tim & Annika. We drove over to Ballard for a an extraordinarily decadent afternoon snack at Hot Cakes. Wow. They have some seriously fancy chocolate treats in there. We had one of the hot cakes (molten lava cakes served in an adorable little jar with ice cream, salted caramel sauce, and toffee nibs on the side) and also shared a milkshake that had peanut butter and whiskey in it. Tim and Annika tried one of the grilled sandwiches - chocolate between two slices of potato bread with caramel sauce to dip it in, wrapped in paper and tied up with string - adorable! It wasn't quite as amazingly delicious as I wanted it to be but it was quite tasty and a really fun, special little outing. Plus, the faucet in the bathroom completely redefined our future home that I've been designing in my head for the last couple of years. Hot Cakes is right next to the Matador so I think it would be fun to do happy hour at the Matador and dessert at Hot Cakes sometime (Chad & Whit - next time you're in town!) and when we do go, I want to try a chocolate chip cookie and the butter beer. They smoke their chocolate chips for multiple hours and I'm really curious to know what kind of an impact that has on the flavor.

 

I am SO looking forward to some warmer weather!! The good news is, everything is in bloom. I love it. It is definitely one of my most favorite times of the year -- even if I do prefer it when all of the trees are covered in leaves, I still love this time when you can see everything growing and the days are getting longer. It just makes me feel so hopeful. Hopfully it's having the same effect on you!