little black journal

When Shane told me last month that he’d been given the opportunity to spend a few days in San Francisco for a work-related conference, I jumped at the chance to tag along, to spend some quality time with my husband, but also snag a little time to myself in one of my most favorite cities.  We flew in on Saturday morning, got settled at our hotel room, and then met up with a couple of old friends who had come into the city for the day to hang out and catch up with us.  Marco is known for making every little outing an ‘adventure’, and indeed, our 8-hour whirlwind tour of 5 different San Francisco bars and restaurants turned out to be an afternoon/evening/night to remember.  We started with drinks at the Gold Dust Lounge – a little saloon-type bar right near Union Square.  It happened to be unusually hot in San Francisco that day, and the bar was pretty toasty inside, so as the beads of sweat began to drip down our foreheads, we decided to call it a day at that place and head out in search of someplace with outdoor seating.  We ended up at Delfina pizzeria in the Mission District and snagged a nice little sidewalk table.  We ordered a couple of pizzas and some wine, and settled into our chairs to enjoy a perfect city evening with perfect food and great friends.  The crostini with fresh mozzarella and arugula was a-mazing, and the pizzas were perfectly light, crispy, and fresh tasting.  I could have sat on that sidewalk terrace all night, but we had a 6 pm reservation at Bourbon and Branch, so we polished off our dinner and hopped in a cab back toward downtown.  I’m still not sure how Marco found out about this place, but Bourbon and Branch has recreated the true ‘speak-easy’ experience.  When you call to make a reservation, they give you the address and a password, and the bar’s entrance is just an old wooden door in an otherwise totally non-descript gray stucco building front.

When you knock on the door, a man in a Dick Tracy-like hat opens the door just a couple of inches, peers outside, and whispers ‘What’s the password?’.  Quite the production, but totally amusing.  Luckily, we had that magic word and were led into a dimly lit bar, replete with dark wood paneling and furniture, deep red velvet-embossed wallpaper, and a drink menu that would impress any cocktail connoisseur.  Since cocktail connoisseur I am not, and since the first page of their menu clearly states, “Do not even think of ordering a Cosmopolitan!”, I nervously flipped through the menu in search of something that looked like it would fit my tastes.  My first choice was a White Lady, which is a mixture of Cointreau, gin, lemon, and egg whites.  The egg whites give the drink an interesting foamy texture, and the lemon cut through some of the really ‘alcoholic’ flavors.  Shane ordered an Old Fashioned (an homage to Donald Draper, for you Mad Men fans), and claims it was the best cocktail he’s ever tasted.  We stayed for one more round, and then headed back out into 21^st-century San Francisco in search another venue to continue our adventure.  We ended up at Lori’s diner and munched on French fries to soak up some of the alcohol that was resting in our stomachs from those uber-strong cocktails.  One more stop after that for a night cap, and we were ready to call it a night.  We said good-bye to Marco and Lisa as they hopped on the Bart, returned to our hotel, and slept like a couple of babies that night, thankful that we’d had the foresight to fill up on food and water before we went to bed.

Yesterday we woke to a fog-blanketed city, but didn’t mind the gray weather, as we had time to get a slow start to the day.

Really, we had only one item on the agenda:  meet up with a couple of other friends to watch the Giants WIN against the Rockies.  It turned out to be a good afternoon for a baseball game, sunny and clear, and as we put on our Giants gear, we silently said a little prayer that our team would come through with a victory (we’ve watched them lose twice this year already, in San Francisco and Seattle, and I was worried that Shane just couldn’t bear a third defeat).  The Rockies started off strong, and we were nervous when they went into the bottom of the 7^th inning with a 5-2 lead.  But then the Giants’ Renteria stepped up to the plate and knocked a pitch right out of the park, bringing in four runs and giving the Giants the lead.  It was one of those all-consuming, totally joyous, game-going moments when everyone jumps up and down and grins stupidly and hugs and high-fives each other.  Very cool.  The Rockies just weren’t the same after that Grand Slam and so our team came through with a 9-5 win.  YESSS!  Games like that make me rethink my only lukewarm feelings about baseball.

We turned in early last night after a relaxing swim in the hotel pool, and I am now beginning my first day to myself at Café Centro, trying to decided what kinds of adventures today will hold.  I’m suddenly feeling like the opportunities are endless…

Wandering the streets of downtown Portland was wonderful, but getting to spend some time hanging out with my niece was even better.  Elise is motoring all over the place these days, darting from room to room, pausing only occasionally to catch her balance, and then she’s off once again.  She still loves books, and I treasure the moments that she’ll snuggle up on my lap and let me read to her.  She is expanding her vocabulary daily, but still uses the bit of sign language she has learned when she really wants to get her point across (the sign for ‘more’ is very popular when it comes to snack-time).  As with any one and half year-old, she has her mellow moments and her not-so-mellow moments.  I caught her on one of her more mellow mornings yesterday, as I hung out with her on Alberta Street while Kathryn got her hair cut.  We went to a coffee shop together, and she sat on my lap as I drank my latte and she munched on rice cakes, while we flipped through the paper together.  It was lovely, true auntie-niece bonding time.  I love this little girl so much, and although I hate to miss out on so much of her growth, I am already looking forward to seeing what new words she has learned or interests she has developed when I catch up with her again next month.  It’s fun to see her personality shine through more and more with each visit.  And is it really possible that she just keeps getting cuter and cuter?

I returned yesterday afternoon from a three-day trip to Portland – a work-related conference took me down there, but I was fortunately able to squeeze in some time to enjoy the city and hang out with family.  It was nice to have a few hours to myself to wander through downtown with my camera – I was reminded of how much I love the city’s textures and charm.

Portland has this unique industrial richness to it that imparts a sense of age of vibrancy to the street fronts and neighborhoods.  The brick warehouses and historic water towers of the Pearl district, the fire escapes that zig-zag across the fronts of so many buildings, the facades in varied colors of stone and tile…  I’m a sucker for all of it.

And for better and for worse, the ‘grittier’ areas are slowly being infiltrated with trendy cafes, boutiques, and galleries.  I love coffee, fashion, and art, so far be it from me to complain, but I hope that these new establishments are able to respectfully work within the existing architectural and urban character of the city.

Ahhhh, I love this city…

I am constantly looking for new ‘Schnell Family Traditions’ that Shane and I can instate and take part in year after year.  Today I think we may have found a perfect summer ritual – we called a couple of friends, hopped in the car, and were off to do some blueberry picking.  Our destination was Bybee Nims Farm in North Bend, which was beautiful.  We wandered among the aisles between heavily-laden bushes as Mount Si loomed beneath a layer of misty clouds in the background.  Perfect.

The berries were fat and juicy – so good in fact, that for every few Shane dropped in the bucket, I caught him popping one or two in his mouth.

The darling hands of our little helper plucked the berries from the lower boughs…

We walked away with over 5 pounds of berries, at the bargain price of only 10 bucks!  We’ve been gorging ourselves on them all day – sooooo good.

We were up bright and early yesterday to catch a ferry from Mukilteo to Whidbey Island, to do some sightseeing with Shane’s parents and some catching up with friends we hadn’t seen in awhile.  We spent most of the day hanging out at our friend’s beautiful beach home -  Shane and his dad fished off the shore, while Shane’s mom and I enjoyed lounging in the sun.  I believe there are few things better than the feel of a cool ocean breeze blowing across your face as you squish soft, warm sand between your toes.  Heaven.

Shane was not so lucky in fishing endeavors, as he didn’t catch anything other than a sunburn on the back of his neck and the tops of his feet, but he wasn’t complaining.  Just the act of standing by the water, casting his line in and watching the waves crash, was enough to put a smile on his face.

Not a bad place to park yourself for a Sunday afternoon, huh?

Once we’d gotten our sand and sun fix, we headed into Coupeville for some scrumptiously fresh mussels at Toby’s, followed by ice cream cones from the parlor down the street.  Bellies full, it was time to bid farewell to the island, which we did by way of Deception Pass.  The view of the bay was amazing, but I was just as taken with the lacy structure of the steel bridge that crosses the pass.

And so another beautiful summer weekend in the Northwest came to a close (and I silently cursed the arrival of Monday)…

Today was painfully hot in Seattle, as we reached the hottest temperature ever on record here.  Now, I lived in California’s Central Valley, so I know heat, but I also know that in California, you can usually count on coming home to an air-conditioned house.  No such luck here, so once again, we headed right back out the door once we got home from work to seek refuge from the heat.  After calling a couple of restaurants in search of AC, and visiting a couple of others, we finally found ourselves at Pyramid Brewery and promptly ordered a round of cold beers.  Sweet relief…

After dinner, we spent some time hanging out at REI, fiddling around and waiting for the sun to go down, and left the store just in time to swing by Elliott Bay to catch the last remnants of a vibrantly pink sky.

This weather has been a great incentive to get out and enjoy the city, but then again, tonight we’re sleeping on an air mattress in our living room, because it’s just two degrees cooler down here than in our upstairs bedroom.  This is what desperation feels like.  (Yes, I do know that I’m being dramatic…)

Seattle is hot, hot, hot this week, with temps approaching 100 degrees.  I feel like it’s heresy for a Seattle-ite to complain about heat, since we always seem to be complaining about the absence of sun, but we are approaching the point of unbearable-ness.  This, coupled with the fact that Shane’s dad is visiting and we’d like to show him the city, is incentive to do all we can to get out of our AC-free house in the evenings.  And so tonight we headed out to Ballard for Thai food (after calling ahead to make sure that the restaurant was air conditioned), then decided to check out the Ballard Locks.  It was a great night to be out near the water.  We watched the boats travel through the canal, oohed and ahhed over the huge salmon that were running in the fish ladders, and reveled in the feel of the cool breeze coming off the lake.  Lovely.

We got back this afternoon from an absolutely fantastic weekend of camping in the San Juan islands, enjoying the beauty of nature and the company of good friends.  We played on the beach (and laid on the beach), laughed around the campfire, caught a couple of beautiful sunsets, and fell in the love with the tiny little paradise that is Shaw Island.  Scenes from the weekend:

Our approach to the island.  The anticipation builds…

We set up camp on Friday evening and decided around 8:30 that we’d try to jet across the island to catch the sunset.  We made it just in the nick of time as we came across this little bay and west-facing view.

Saturday was a day to play and be lazy.  I spent much of the afternoon lounging in the sand with the ladies, while the boys played on the beach, skipping rocks, hitting rocks, and overturning them to see what kinds of little marine life might lie underneath (boys will be boys…).

That night we caught another beautiful sunset, then spent the rest of the evening sitting around the campfire, munching on s’mores, chatting and laughing, and enjoying the sound of the waves crashing on the beach adjacent to our campsite.

It was truly a perfect weekend in the woods – we are already talking about our next trip back, hoping this voyage to the island is something we can instate as an annual tradition.  It will be nice to sleep in my own bed tonight, but man, I will miss the sound of the ocean as I drift off to sleep…

Shane and I spent this weekend down in Central Oregon at my parents’ place, where we met up with my three closest girlfriends from California.  It was a fabulous couple of days – it was great to be reunited with this group of ladies that I’ve known for over a decade now.  We often don’t do as good a job as we’d like of keeping in touch, but the second we’re all together again, it feels as if we’ve never been apart.

Much of the weekend was spent just lounging around the house, playing ping-pong and board games and giggling ourselves silly.  But we did make sure to get a good dose of the outdoors – Central Oregon is home to some of the most beautiful mountains I’ve ever seen.  On Saturday afternoon, we did the grand tour of Newberry National Volcanic Monument.  This was the breathtaking view from the top of Paulina Peak:

And Shane was such a good sport, hanging out with a bunch of girls all weekend.  Bless his heart for enduring, and even enjoying, two full days of listening to our incessant giggling and reminiscing.

One of our last stops on Saturday was at the obsidian flow in Newberry Park.  Mounds and mounds of pumice and obsidian as far as the eye can see.  Sort of desolate-feeling, but also so beautiful.

And on the way home today, as Shane and I kept catching these amazing little glimpses of a snow-covered Mount Hood, we decided to take a short detour to Timberline Lodge to get a better view of the mountain.  Totally worth the trip – Shane and I walked around in our flip flops and took in the view while we watched geared-up skiiers come flying down snowy slopes.  Bizarre.

I was sad to see this weekend come to an end, but so thankful for the chance to enjoy some quality time with friends and family.  Already looking forward to our next reunion, wherever that may be…

Far too often, I take for granted the fact that we live in the midst of the Pacific Northwest and all its natural glory.  And so yesterday we resolved to embrace the outdoors, as we hopped in the car and headed east for a hike up Little Si (Mount Si’s smaller, less intimidating sister mountain).  I am not much of a hiker, but the 2.3-mile trip to the summit sounded manageable.  This hike wasn’t necessarily the leisurely stroll through the forest that I had imagined – within a few minutes I had broken a sweat and fallen short of breath – but as we pressed on, I fell into a groove and we were soon at the summit.  We found a place to sit on a rock and take in the views of the mountains and valleys and endless blankets of lush green trees all around us.  Well worth the sweat.

We are talking about conquering Mount Si later this summer – now if only there were a Margarita stand at the top…