Celebrating Seven!

On Sunday Bryan and I celebrated seven years of marriage. Seven years! That is a long time, and yet so short when you look at the big picture. Last year, Bryan surprised me with a trip to Lincoln City, so this year I took over and surprised him with a trip to Seattle (funds are a little tighter this year, but we still had fun!). We went up Saturday afternoon and checked into the Marqueen Hotel, a old-time, super sweet hotel in the Queen Anne neighborhood. It had old charm, wood floors, and a grand staircase (check out the website!). Our room had a bedroom, large living room, and a full kitchen with a breakfast nook. I LOVED it, it was so amazing. We then went to the Melting Pot for dinner. It. Was. Phenomenal. It was literally around the corner from the enterance to the hotel. It was a ton of food and everything was amazing. The best part of eating at the Melting Pot is that it forces you to take your time, so you have a ton of time to talk and hang out while you are waiting for your next course to come, or while you are waiting for your meat to cook in the broth. We were there for three hours!

We came back to the hotel and watched a movie and snuggled in the big comfy king bed. We were sooooo full from dinner! And our room was in the corner on the second floor, so we had street views on both sides of our bedroom. The street the hotel is on is busy. It's a main road in Queen Anne, and there are restaurants and bars all around. So needless to say it was noisy, and at first I thought the noise from the people and cars would keep me up all night, especially since our house is so quiet, but it was so opposite. I found the noise to be comforting! I slept so well to the noise and the honking of cars and the talking and stuff. Weird, right?

The next morning we got up and took the shuttle to Pike's Place, where we ate freshly made mini donuts, bought flowers for Carissa and Nana (who watched our kids! Thanks!), got some Mick's pepper jelly - which is so good, my dad is a huge stalker/fan of the stuff - and tried some fruits the vendors were handing out. I love Pike's Place! There is so much to see and so many interesting stuff to look at (we bought some chocolate pasta! Crazy, I know!), and lots of crazy people to watch. Bryan and I decided that when we get old and senial that we would live in a little apartment close to Pike's Place and walk down there every day for produce and flowers and to watch people. But we would only live there for a few months, we just want to know what it's like, and then we'll move on (to Maui!! Haha!).

After Pike's Place we shuttled back to the hotel, got our van out of valet (there is no parking in Seattle, which is one thing I hate!), and headed to Alki Beach. The "beach" is located on the other side of the sound, so you get a great view of the Seattle sky line. We hung out, snuggled on a blanket since it was freezing outside, and just enjoyed being together. We then looked up Red Mill Burgers on our GPS and went to lunch. Red Mill was showcased on a Food Network Special for having one of the best burgers in the country. How could we not go?? I wasn't a huge fan of the burger I got (but in Red Mill's defense I wasn't very hungry and I wasn't feeling very well) but Bryan loved his BBQ Bacon Burger and the onion rings were really good!

Overall we had a great time. We would definitely go back to the Marqueen Hotel. We will 100% go back to Melting Pot (it is awesome to go as a couple, and awesome to go with a group!). And I am for sure going back to Pike's Place for homemade fresh cinnamon-sugar mini donuts. Heaven in my mouth! And I am certain that I love my husband more than anything else in the world (even mini donuts!). We are completely opposite in so many ways; I'm always cold, he's always hot. I love Diet Coke, he's a regular soda guy. I grew up in the suburbs, he grew up in hicktown. I've never birthed a cow or a horse, just kids :) But even though we differ in so many things, we agree on what's important, and (to be completely cliche) we complete each other.

Enjoy the pictures!I got Bryan tickets to a Seahawks game in December. He was way excited!

Bryan got me a super thoughtful gift. Isn't the necklace pretty? The bottom part of it is mother-of-pearl. Sigh.

Look at these avocados! They were huge! But the guy said they were water-based instead of oil-based, so I don't know how great of guacamole it would make...

See? Where else do you see stores like this? Isn't Pike's Place great??

Alki Beach

At Red Mill