Kiss Cafe

My first restaurant rec on this blog and currently our favorite Ballard place to be. I do not love this place because the food is exquisite, although it is very good, but because the people who own and work at Kiss are very possibly the most authentic and lovely people I have ever had the privilege of buying beer from. They cultivate the atmosphere of a true neighborhood bar by attracting people who are equally as friendly as they are. Check out the Ballard Drinking Team's 99 Bottles of Beer list, and homemade rice crispy treats. They also have espresso and tea for when you aren't in the mood for the amazing beer selection, and homemade pickles to go with your french dip. We are trying not to show up every day, but they make it so hard..

http://maps.google.com/maps?ie=UTF-8&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&q=seattle+kiss+cafe&fb=1&view=text&latlng=17875146574524929713

Vote, please.

I will be getting up in the AM and making it my first activity of the day. My last activity of the day will be falling asleep with happy anticipatory dreams of our sane president-elect and fully qualified vice-president elect. GOBAMA!

Indian Summer...squash

It's a cucumber! No a zucchini! Ummmm, no....



It turns out that this year's "experiment" was actually squash. What started as a harmless little seedling from the compost eventually turned into a ground eating 10' plant. I found out too late which were the male and which the female blossoms, so no fried squash blossoms in my belly this year, but if I ever attempt to let nature run her course again there will be no respite for the pretty flowers. *sizzle*

Encounters at the End of the World

The new Werner Herzog film is not brilliant, but it is inspiring! Where else will you see underwater footage of Antarctic diving, or Shackleton film from the turn of the previous century? It is absolutely worth looking into!!

http://www.apple.com/trailers/thinkfilm/encountersattheendoftheworld/trailer/

Bell-UH!!

My exceptional neice, Isabella Jeanne Ohlsen, was born June 11th at 2:45 AM. Her Mom and Dad were so strong and amazing throughout the labor and everyone is now healthy and back home. She was alert from the beginning, staring around at us all with her beautiful deep blue eyes and tasting the air with her tongue.


Here she is with her Papa Zac about
fifteen hours after she came into this world:








Sleeping in her brave and beautiful Momma Rachelle's arms:




Bella seems comfortable with anyone, and except when she is hungry is content to look around or nap on your chest or lap. She even sleeps through intense action movies, although the adults are considerate enough to lower the volume. She knows all about electric eels, since she slept through that show, too, even though she knows they are really freshwater fish. Smart girl!










And the new Ohlsen family at home:

Chocolate Negro

My new favorite chocolate is Blanxart Chocolate Negro. Usually I go for something darker than 65%, but this is luscious! It has a silky peanut butter flavor--something that I haven't ever tasted in chocolate before.

Russell/Brimble Scrabble

Well, you all know that JD beats me at Scrabble with ridiculous two letter words that are worth 50+ points, while I create elaborate and beautiful themes with my multi-syllabic words.

So, guess what happens when we both break the rules?!:



We both earned our highest scores on this game, but he still beat me!!