Sprizee :: A simple girl replete with complications

Electric Co.

I just found this random text file on my computer entitled birthday...

5 friends, 6 cameras, 1 freshly baked chocolate cake, 2 candles that magically added up to 37, a slight breeze, lots of sunshine and a perfect sunset.

Ah right, from the time I surprised The Dude with an Electric Boat Company rental out on Lake Union for his 37th birthday. I also neglected to mention the baby in my belly and how we kept the boat out for longer than we originally rented it for. I highly recommend you rent one of these suckers. So fun.

Roadtrip to Zillah

After the treehouse trip, I was obsessed with surprising The Dude with more unique places to stay. And then I remembered a certain place I had heard about years ago, out in Zillah, Washington. Where? Basically just a little past Yakima, fruit stand capitol of the world! 

So I ran a couple dates by The Dude, made a call, secured a reservation, and marked our calendar for Father's Day weekend. Since we were going to be gone all weekend, we decided to bring Hen along and introduce him to the other side of the state.

The Dude had no idea where we were going. All he knew was that we were headed to Yakima, I mean, the Palms Springs of Washington. 

Of course it was grey and drizzly when we left Seattle and it continued to be that way until we got over the pass, but once we did? Sweet, sweet vitamin d. Our first stop was the Yakima Valley Museum. The place was definately worth a stop (considering what else Yakima has to offer) but we breezed through there in less than hour.

And then we headed off the the actual surprise location, Cherry Wood Bed and Breakfast, to sleep in teepees! With beds! Fully furnished! Like houses! And personal firepits outside! And all the ingredients for s'mores in a mini fridge just inside the teepee flap!

The only things is. Teepees? In 90 degree temperatures? Sitting in the blazing sun? They be hot. Especially when there's only one tiny little flap in which to let any of the hot air out. So we cranked the portable a/c, opened the flap and then decided go wander around the property awhile.

The next morning Hen decided 5AM was a good time to get up. 6 month olds are strange like that. Normally I wouldn't have minded so much but I didn't want to wake up all our other teepee neighbors, so I put him into the carrier and went for a walk. Cherry Wood also happens to be a working ranch with horses and chickens and, of course, rows of cherry trees. But they're also surrounded by acres of vineyards and wineries.

Later, at a more reasonable hour The Dude woke up and I surprised him with some Father's Day gifts. And while he spent some quality time with his 1st born, I took a shower outdoors (calm down, there were walls) while I gazed up at nothing but blue sky above me. That happened.

On our way back home, we stopped at a fruit stand and bought far too much fruit including these strawberry cherries. They sounded exotic, and don't get me wrong, they were good, but they were no dark cherry. I'll take a bing or lapine anyday.

Back home we settled in for the night and spent the rest of the evening snuggling and laying low. First Father's Day for The Dude. Best Father's Day yet.

Good Gravy

If you happen to be lucky enough to be invited to a waffle party, and someone is planning on making savory waffles with cheese, bacon and ham and another someone is planning on bringing fried chicken, I highly recommend you raid your fridge and throw together some savory gravy. Because you can.

Savory Gravy

1/2 lb. pork sausage (I used mild Italian since that's what I had on hand)
1/4 cup flour
2 1/3 cups milk

Brown the sausage and set it aside. Leave the drippings in the pan, turn the heat to low and slowly add the flour. At this point I ended up adding some butter since there wasn't a ton of fat in the pan. Then once I had worked out most of the lumps I slowly added the milk and simmered it for about 10 minutes until it was the right consistency. Toss the sausage back in and add salt and pepper to taste.

Other than Thanksgiving Day I'd never made gravy before, and now that I know how simple it is to make anytime, I'm sort of afraid.

Up A Tree

Months ago a coworker mentioned this place she had stayed called Treehouse Point. I didn't really quite get was she was talking about until she showed me her pictures, and once she had shown me her pictures, I immediately wanted her to tell me everything. Because these aren't ordinary treehouses. These are treehouses with electricity, real beds and leather chairs for leisurely reading a book.

I was also shocked to learn how close it was to Seattle. Obviously, I had been living under a rock for too long.

After stalking their website for about a week, looking for a Saturday opening, I realized if I wanted to stay in the best treehouses, I was going to have to settle for another day. I wanted to surprise The Dude, so I gave him a handful of days we could do this "surprise mini vacation" without giving him any other details, and let him choose the date. 

We ended up taking a Friday off in May, and staying in Trillium with it's unending panes of glass windows. The other treehouse I had my sights on was Temple of the Blue Moon because that rope bridge is dreamy. When we arrived, it was really fun to see the look on The Dude's face when he saw exactly where we were staying. And then he kept repeating, how did you find this place? Surprise mini vacation success!

We left Hendrik with grandma which was probably for the best since we stayed in a loft style treehouse and the bed was on the second story at the end of a steep ladder. And also, that meant we were kid free for hour upon blissful hour. We could go a thousand places and never have to worry if someone was napping in the car, or needed to eat. 

We got there about 30 minutes before check-in and our room wasn't ready yet so we wandered around the property and checked all the other treehouses out. It was suprisingly sunny and warm for May. But of course it was, because I hoped for rain in our little treehouse. There are worse problems.

After we checked in and dropped our bags in our room, we decided to drive out to North Bend and wander through the local shops. That probably took us about 15 minutes, total, for ALL of the shops. North Bend (made famous by Twin Peaks filming) really is that tiny. But we did stumble across Scott's Dairy Freeze which hasn't changed much since the day it was built. We split a cheeseburger, fries and a chocolate shake. Then Mrs. Pac Man and I spent some quality time bonding. 

I had made reservations for dinner at Salish Lodge, but having sufficiently ruined our appetites with that snack back at Scott's Dairy Freeze, we opted to just pick up some food at the grocery store instead. As the sun started to fade, we headed back to our treehouse to watch the sun settle in behind the trees.

Does this picture look magical? Because staying in a treehouse this nice, with windows and lights, and leather chairs with matching ottomans, and a real bed above you head in the loft, is a totally magical experience. I highly recommend it.

In the morning when the light started streaming through the glass, and we woke up long before we would have liked to, we didn't even mind. I mean, who in their right mind could put curtains up to block out all this loveliness outside? Once fully awake and dressed, having realized that cheeze-its and Strongbow didn't sound like an award winning combination for breakfast, we headed off to Salish Lodge to fill our bellies.

I don't know quite how it happened, but somehow, we ended up at private table (hidden behind some tall velvet curtains) with a perfect view overlooking Snoqualmie Falls. And after breakfast as we set our napkins down on the table having properly stuffed ourselves, a rainbow appeared out our window.

We took a quick stroll around outside to check out the falls, and then it was time to head home. The Dude and I definately managed to pack a whole lot of awesome into those 24 hours. I live for days like that.

Broccoli Salad Algebra

Yesterday I made a salad that called for 4 slices of bacon. But I was juggling a bunch of other things at the time like keeping Hen from totally losing it just because I stepped into the kitchen for one millisecond to make sure the bacon wasn't burning. And then I burned the bacon.

So I cooked 4 more slices because I wasn't about to put burnt bacon in a salad I had just spent 20 minutes prepping. But then as I was waiting for the new slices of bacon to cook, I ate the burnt bacon, because, you know, it may have been burnt but it was still bacon.

When the new bacon was done I tossed that in the finished salad bowl and devoured the whole thing for dinner. Did I mention that it was 9 o'clock by then? And that is how I found myself at the end of a very long day having eaten 8 slices of bacon. Oops. 

Salad:
1 head broccoli cut up
4 slices cooked bacon, crumbled
1/2 cup red onion, chopped
1/2 cup raisins

Dressing:
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 1/2 tbsp cider vinegar (or whatever you have on hand)
1 tbsp honey
1/4 cup salted and roasted sunflower seeds

Mix up the dressing and toss in the rest of the ingredients. Don't burn the bacon or you'll end up eating twice as much. 

I can't go back and I don't want to.

Have I mentioned how much I love that Celeste is blogging again? Well, on Twitter sure. But here? This place is dusty with cobwebs and neglected ambitions. Her recent post One Hundred Word Wednesday: Hibiscus reminded me 1) that short is sweet and 2) of my own childhood. Have you read it yet? Go on. I'll wait.

Growing up in San Diego, I too was a destroyer of hibiscus flowers. Along with honeysuckle, geraniums, and lemon grass. To this day the scent of a geraniums takes me right back to 1272 Santa Barbara Street, in the side yard next to the house where my mom, aunts and uncle all grew up, playing in the dirt, singing songs to myself, taking the days of unending sunshine with a sweet breeze for granted.

I like the seasons too much to ever move back there. But it still makes me nostalgic and feels bittersweet.

10 Years Ago Today

To The Dude,

You are an amazing friend, husband, and father. It's been such a joy to watch you interact with Henry. Heart melting, really. And while heartbroken college me never would have imagined that we'd end up married years later, or that after we got married that we'd wait nearly 10 years before we finally had a kid, I couldn't imagine things any other way. I cherish all the time we've already spent exploring the world, traveling. And now I'm looking forward to new adventures with you and Henry.

I'm so glad that I chose so well when we started dating so many years ago. You are kind, generous, loving, patient, thoughtful, smart, funny and fiercely loyal. Also, you still look wicked smart in a slim cut suit. I love you, I love you, I love you.

Happy 10th year anniversary to us.

9 Years Ago Today