Dear Diary: Updated

Sometimes I feel like quitting my blog. But then I realize that as trivial and un-viral as this blog is, it plays an important role in my life. When I get happy news, one of the first things I want to do is share it on here. Same for when I feel sad. The very act of writing out my feelings helps me to digest and massage them. Even if I am upset about the silliest thing, I can express those feelings here and not worry about anyone judging me (well, not to my face anyway). Then I can try to move on.

Last night I did exactly that. I vomited my feelings so that I could try to put them behind me. And then this morning, I deleted those feelings. I realized that even though it's therapeutic to write things out and put them on paper in order to help get them out of my head. It is not always a good idea to hit that "publish" button.

Once things are released into the internet world, they live forever. That's a scary thought!

So instead of posting my emotional vomit, I'll focus on the awesomeness of this weekend.

Friday night was Date Night One. We headed out on a full-blown adventure, trying a new pizza restaurant in the Georgetown neighborhood of Seattle. Sitting around a delicious pizza exploding with two inches of toppings, my husband I were horrified to realize that we hadn't been on a real date since May, mother's day. After pizza, we went to a historic theater and watched an up-and-coming band called Lucious. They were incredible. I enjoyed the show despite my incredible back pain I got from standing for two hours to watch it (I learned early on in our music-filled dating experiences that, thanks to eight years of competitive running (and then two pregnancies), my back is destroyed and I cannot stand for longer than 30 minutes. As sad and old as I sound, I refuse to go to shows that do not have assigned seats. Turns out this show did not, so I was resigned to sitting on the floor halfway through and staring at everyone's asses). But the show was so good that it was worth crippling back pain.

The next day, we spent quality time with the boys in anticipation of Date Night Part Two. I took Ryan to get a haircut.It's amazing how a haircut can transform your baby into a big boy. Tear.

Jacob got to go rock climbing at the local gym. He's a little timid, just like me. But he did great!

For Date Night Two (I'm such a lucky gal), we walked to our local theater (I love that we have a brand new fancy theater within walking distance!) and saw Gravity in 3-D. Wow. That was the best movie I had seen in a LONG time. It was so fantastic. I would highly recommend 3-D, it made the experience so incredible! My sister saw the movie last week and told me it had no plot. But for the entire show, I was clutching the armrests and on the edge of my seat. It was amazing. As I held my breath time and time again wondering what would happen next, I couldn't help but laugh at my sister's review. The entire thing was an intense survival story- how is that no plot?!

Sadly, the 3-D glasses did NOT work in bed. (cough, cough). Can't blame me for trying.

When we went to pick up the boys this morning, we were greeting with huge smiles and even bigger hugs. As much as I love date nights, I love reuniting with my babies even more. Ryan's grandma dressed him all up in fancy boys clothes (a far cry from the sweat pants we dropped him off in), with his haircut, he looked too perfect. I couldn't help but to do a mini-photo shoot.

My baby is losing his baby face- NO!

Waving "hi."

Now everyone is home and together. We're going to spend the day cuddled up in our sweat pants and cheering on the Seahawks. Now that it is football season, all my Sundays for the foreseeable future are completely blocked out. I'm totally obsessed. And I'm now fully equipped to raise two sports-loving boys. Go Seahawks!

Escape From Mommy-Hood

This week, in a rare showing of spontaneity (I'm usually the spontaneous one in the relationship), my husband booked an online deal for a hotel in the heart of winery country. And for no good reason at all, aside from the fact that we are long LONG overdue for a real date, we decided to redeem that deal this Saturday.

Our first destination (after saying our goodbyes and dropping off the kids), was to do a little winery hopping. We made it to three different wineries in 2.5 hours and sampled four to five different wines at each one.  The wineries ranged from a dinky warehouse that offered only five choices (but they had a chocolate fountain!) to a swanky, upscale winery that boasted 10 different rieslings alone! The whole event was fun but it also reminded me that I'm not much of a wine girl. I'll drink it anytime but there are so few wines that I actually love. Most days, I'd just prefer a Rainier beer!

It was so fun to spend time with my husband. Day in and out, I get to see my husband the "father," my husband the "employee," and my husband the "chore-doer." It's pretty rare that I get to see my husband the "best friend." It was so great to hang out with him in carefree, agenda-less environment. Lucky for him (Hah!), I got to let my hair down and bring out my usual crazy self. Thank god I found someone to marry who is not easily embarrassed!

"Bottoms UP"

I'm such a light weight.

After the wineries, we headed to our hotel which was a gorgeous establishment on Lake Washington. It was fabulous. It smelled just like a hotel should smell: bleached sheets, ginger soaps, and a hint of adventure. It was upscale but not snooty. I squeeled in delight when I saw the gigantor king-sized bed and immediately pressed my cheeks against the cool sheets and did a bed "snow" angel. Then I promptly consumed all the pillow chocolates and took a tour of the bathroom where I did a happy dance the moment I saw the fancy hand-held showerhead and luxurious bathrobe hanging on the towel rack.

We dropped off our stuff and went looking for dinner. The hotel restaurant was packed and their menu was less than impressive. So we headed to the restaurant across the street (La Grand in Kirkland, Washington) where we found immediate water-view seating. I'm so thankful that the hotel restaurant was packed that night because, at this unassuming place across the street we had what we both agreed was the BEST MEAL OF OUR ENTIRE LIFE (haricots verts, crab cakes atop carrot puree sauce, and steak with garlic butter).

After returning to our room, we luxuriously fell asleep BEFORE 9pm. And the next morning we enjoyed a leisurely breakfast before picking up the kids. There's nothing quite like being away for 24 hours to make you truly appreciate your children. When we walked into my in-laws' house, the kids bounded up to the door beaming from ear to ear. We wrapped them in big hugs and reminded ourselves just how lucky we are to have wonderful children to come home to. Jacob talked nonstop on the way home while Ryan chimed in on the noise-making with his singing. We were in such high spirits when we got home and the sun was shining (rare for a wintry Washington weekend) that I mustered up the courage and energy to take both kids to the park on my own. My husband had to leave for a work event so I had the kids all to myself.

 

We frolicked down to the park as if we were hamsters let free from their cages. We enjoyed our freedom, soaked up the sunshine, and Jacob and I giggled happily at Ryan who was making silly noises and desperately trying to escape from his stroller. He wants so badly to be like his big brother Jacob. He kept reaching desperately for Jacob's Thomas the Train bike and the look in his eyes was a mix between curiosity and envy.

The happy mood quickly turned sour a mere five minutes into our trip when Jacob decided he was suddenly and desperately cold and absolutely needed to have hot cocoa within five mintues or else parish an unthinkable death.

I refused to leave so soon after our long trek to the park. Plus, Ryan was having fun crawling back and forth through the tunnels of the big toy.

That is....until he went one crawl too many and fell face first onto the grated floors of the play structure.

He has a rhino horn!

On the way home, I had to haul both the stroller and Jacob's bike back uphill to the house while listenin to Jacob cry hysterically about how cold he was. Funmy how Ryan was the injured one and he was doing JUST FINE.

It was a losing battle for the rest of the evening as Jacob was sent to his room for (1) hitting Ryan, although he claimed he was just "drumming" on his head, (2) putting a large box over Ryan's body after being told not to, (3) back-talking, backtalking, and backtalking some more, and (4) coloring all over our furniture with markers. Jacob also refused to eat any dinner despite my begging and pleading. When he was sent to his room the fourth time and I noticed that he hadn't touch his dinner, I ate it myself to keep from being wastful. Of course the second he was out of his room he demanded to know where his dinner was and screamed at the top of his lungs because he was "SO STARVING that his tummy was going to melt!"

By 7:00 p.m., I had had enough of my return to Mommy-land. Even though it was 1.5 hours before their usual bedtime, I rushed both kids to bed in record time. Luckily, even Ryan went into his crib wide-eyed but without a single fuss. Then they both fell asleep without a single peep!

Is an overnight date worth paying the price of a thousand child tantrums? That would be a resounding "YES!"

Champagne Is Best At 175 Feet

I usually don't care much about New Year's Eve. We usually leave NYE celebrations feeling disappointed. I think it's because we WANT an excuse to go crazy and party big. But it never really happens. So for the past couple years, we've just stayed home, invited a couple friends over, and stayed up playing games and watching the Space Needle fireworks on TV.

This year, as NYE approached, we didn't even get THAT far. The night before NYE, I received a text from our friends asking if we had plans. Thus began the most impromptu New Year's Eve night on the town, double date in history. Because it was so last minute and low-key, our expectations were low. Anything beat staring at a TV screen, right?

The night turned out AWESOMELY. It was JUST what we needed!

After work, my boss invited me to join him and the other partner for happy hour. The three of us drank a pitcher of PBR at a dive bar and talked about various inappropriate topics including Catholic sex, pedophile jokes, three-ways with Joan Rivers and Kathie Lee Gifford, and ethnic stereotypes. (My bosses are pretty awesome.)

An hour later, I slipped away to meet my date and our friends at the ferry terminal in downtown Seattle. I planned to take them to a new bar that had opened up in the area but after 30 minutes of me leading them (by foot) in circles, we gave up on that idea and headed to our restaurant.

Since I had only begun my hunt for NYE reservations at 9:00pm the night prior, my favorite places were booked until super late in the evening. My only requirement for dinner was that our restaurant have tablecloths. Finally, I scored 7:45 reservations at Palomino. They had tablecloths. I was happy. And it went pretty well.

After a ginger peach martini, lemon drop, and the creme de mint-y goodness of an After Eight shot, we were feeling pretty good!

As we were paying for dinner we decided it would be a great idea to find some champagne and sneak it onto the ferris wheel ride of downtown Seattle. The ferris wheel is a brand new attraction to the downtown waterfront and, at 175 feet high, it is the largest observation wheel on the west coast. We managed to sneak into a local drugstore just 5 minutes before closing and walked out with our prized possession of $7 champagne!

I was so excited about the ferris wheel until the moment I stepped foot into the ferris wheel pod. I nervously sat down in my seat, clenching tightly to the edge, and demanded that no one MOVE A MUSCLE or rock the pod.

Scared

After a couple sips of bubbly (which we decided to call "burpee" for obvious reasons), I quickly overcame my initial trepidation about traveling nearly 200 feet in the air above the Puget Sound. Then I was back to my mischevious self.

Food and drinks are not allowed on the ferris wheel. This fact alone made our champagne taste 100x better. The riders in the neighboring pods cheered and laughed as the four of us popped the cork, took turns passing the champagne, and sipping right from the bottle. The views were excellent.

The company was even more excellent!

After the ferris wheel, we slunk into a nearby bar where we enjoyed one last round of drinks before midnight. Three minutes to midnight, we paid our tab and ran three blocks to the ferry terminal where we expected to see Space Needle fireworks in all their glory. Turns out, the Space Needle is farther from the ferry than I remembered. And there were just a FEW buildings in the way.... (see the ferris wheel to the left?! so gigantic!)

Despite the very tiny firework show, we rang in the New Year all smiles and laughter and in the company of our good friends who we do not see nearly enough. Then, my husband and I promptly boarded the 12:15 ferry back to my parent's house where we passed out in my old bedroom, our two kids peacefully sleeping in the room next door.

Even with our last minute double date, low expectations, and wandering Seattle without any real plans, NYE was a huge success.

Happy New Year!

I was not planning on making any New Year's resolutions. I never do. But this whole evening has convinced me that I need more spontaneity in my life. Here's hoping 2013 brings more impromptu adventure with friends and family.