Columbia City & Decorating

See

This weekend we began our Christmas decorating. Saturday we began with the outdoor lights (still a work in progress):



The experience called for some very hot apple cider - and we even had real snow!

After buying up all the red and white lights at Lowe's yesterday we realized we really needed to go back for one item:



Because, really, who doesn't need a light-up palm tree!

Today we also put up the tree, which is a (surprise!) tropical/Hawaiian theme:



Eat

Friday I hardly ate anything all day because I knew we were going to one of my favorite Mexican restaurants, El Sombrero, in Columbia City.



They serve up the best pollo in Seattle, the Pollo Asado dish: three small chicken breasts, pounded out flat and soaked in a spicy citrus marinade. Served with a healthy portion of rice & beans, guacamole and your choice of tortillas.



Yes,this is Mexican comfort food - as we whiteys know it - and done much better than your standard Azteca.

Dan had the seafood chimichanga, which I can also vouch for as delicious.



Drink

Yep, we are still in Columbia City for this section, and still at El Sombrero. If you are a lover of the margarita, you must have try the Margarita Grand, with a generous dose of Grand Marnier - and check out the size! Have two and you'll be loving the art next door at the very snazzy gallery (trust me).



Read

We have decided to go with 4 readings for our wedding, 1 from each of our siblings (who happen to all be sisters). Okay, that decision has been made. But wait! What do we have them read?

Some of my favorite books:





Time to keep looking, I think...but it will be fun to search for those perfect passages that speak to Dan, the reader and myself.


Remember

When we rented this house, we were most worried about one thing: no dishwasher. After going without for most of my years as a renter, the last place I lived was blessed with that wonderful instrument that swishes and sometimes clanks and ultimately makes our lives abundantly saner.

Living 6 blocks from Lowe's can be dangerous, and it wasn't long before we threw our wallets at this little guy, the portable dishwasher.



It's a very strange thing, and pretty clumsy. You wheel it over to the sink, plug one cord into an electrical socket and the hose clamps onto the faucet. You turn the hot water on, get your soap and settings ready and then you wait 2 hours for it to finish.

Seriously. It takes forever. So, we now have plan when we can run the dishwasher and we often end up doing dishes by hand in between the two or so times per week we have time to run it.

Still glad that we got it, sure, but something to consider if you're in the market for one.

Worry

The roads weren't too slick on Saturday night, as we made the drive down to Kent to retrieve more of my past to go through, burn, recycle, mock and blog about.

Dan made a snowman with the powder on the hood and it survived several miles.



I hope people are careful this season, and I hope people stop using their cell phones while driving. I hear that the State Patrol will be cracking down this season, giving out hefty fines to any drivers on the road with a phone in his/her hand. I'm still unclear as to what the law actually is on cell phone use in cars, though.