Last Weekend in May: Camping, the Crab Pot, and a brand-new Herb Pot

Hello friends!

Well, another fun-filled weekend has come to a close here with the Fields (or as I like to say, the Olsen Fields)! After several attempts by Carl to get me to blog on Seattle Field Notes, I (meaning Christy) am making my first post! To be fair, I do blog all day long at work (visit us at blog.norway.com), so he does give me a break. :)

On Friday afternoon, Carl and I packed up our newly acquired camping gear to head to Snoqualmie River RV Park and Campground. This was our first time camping together, and we didn't know quite what to expect. But the allure of no TV, cooking over an open fire, and enjoying a peaceful night's sleep in the wilderness made it easy to go on an impromptu 24 hour adventure. Setting up the tent was mildly humorous. I had some serious doubts of cooking over an open fire (they sell camp stoves for a reason!), but Carl surprised me with his innovative grate-and-aluminum-pan method, and prepared us a delicious mixed grill of chicken and vegetables. The people watching was fantastic, with alot of locals mixed in with the campers. The campground itself was pretty okay-- we were glad it was close to town so we could buy batteries for our new AeroBed camping mattress-- but next time, we want to be further into the mountains. We wanted a night away from the continual stream of traffic right outside our window, and there's nothing like falling asleep and waking up to car noise when you're camping! We had a great time hanging out, playing travel Scrabble (thanks to the Osbornes for the travel set!), and eating delicious camping food (smores!). We can't wait to do it again soon!

We drove home to Seattle on late Saturday morning (yes, I even got up at 8:45!), and got ready for a fun day with our dear friends, Ellen and Kyle Aronson. The weather could not have been better-- bright blue sky, slight breeze, temperature in the low 80s. These are the days when people are glad to live in Washington! We started the day with lunch at the Wing Dome, located in the charming Phinney Ridge/Greenwood neighborhood. For anyone who likes Buffalo wings and creative riffs on the classic bar food, this is definitely a place to go. Rated with an alarm system (0-7 alarm), you can choose the hotness of your wings, from child's play to one so hot you have to sign a waiver (no joke). It was pretty spicy, but definitely a repeat. Afterwards, we headed to Denny Park for a game of frisbee (actually, Ellen and I just watched, which was more fun for us!), and walked down to Pike Place Market for the annual festival. There were a LOT of people there, but it was fun to celebrate the rich diversity that the Market brings to our city.

We finished our day with a seafood feast at The Crab Pot, which the Aronsons had never been to! Carl and I had dined at both the Seattle and Bellevue locations, and we were glad to introduce our fellow seafood enthusiasts to this fun restaurant. For those of you who haven't been there, this is a hands-on restaurant, complete with bibs, mallets, and big metal bowls on the floor to discard your shells. We had a huge mixed basket of steamed Dungeness crab, snow crab, mussels, clams, shrimp (with the heads still on!), chorizo sausage, red potatoes, and corn on the cob, all sprinkled with a healthy dose of their house spice mix. It's messy, but a really fun experience and good food. If you like seafood, this is definitely a restaurant to try!

But I digress... Carl's job is the monthly Restaurant Field Report, not mine! Today was a nice, relaxing day to run errands and such. We took a nice walk around upper Fremont, an up-and-coming area which is a little more grown-up than its counterpart down the hill. We bought a cool pot at urbanweeds, a hip niche garden store for city dwellers. I have a new penchant for growing things (okay, just houseplants for now), and I was inspired by my sister-in-law Jeannie (aka the Faux Gourmet) to grow our favorite herbs. We planted 4-inch starts of basil, cilantro (sorry, Jeannie!), rosemary, and oregano. Armed with a trowel and a fresh bag of potting soil, Carl and I officially have our own "garden" with our coastal redwood seedling, amaryllis, a Fire and Ice succulent, and other assorted houseplants. Fun! Upper Fremont is a great neighborhood, and somewhere we can envision ourselves living someday.

The only bad part of the weekend was a very unfortunate twist of fate: I dropped Carl's keys down the elevator shaft. Seriously. It's something all tenants here worry about, with that gaping hole staring you in the face every time you step into the elevator. We were locked out of our apartment and didn't have the number to the after-hours guy, so our options were reduced to knocking on the door of the apartment manager. She was really nice to us, and let us into our apartment. Thank goodness I had my keys here in the apartment-- we would have been charged $500 (yes, you read that right) to have them retrieved during the weekend. There are plenty of other things we would rather spend that money on, so we don't mind waiting until Tuesday!

All in all, it was a terrific weekend. This week marked our one year anniversary here in our apartment, and we are thankful to be done with graduation, moving, wedding, and starting jobs! As we approach our one year wedding anniversary in a few weeks, life here in Seattle truly feels like home. It's great to establish roots with someone you love, especially when that person is your best friend.

Hope you had a great May!