Weekend on Whidbey

Our weekend on Whidbey Island was awesome – I love that it’s so close to Seattle yet feels like it’s so far away (I’d say the same thing, frankly, about any of the islands up there). We took off Saturday morning, driving up to Mukilteo and catching the ferry to Clinton:

We then drove into Langley and got some lunch at the Village Pizzeria. After lunch, we wandered around the various cute shops, like the Star Store and Chef’s Pantry. In the afternoon, we checked into the Inn at Langley which is situated right on the water, each room’s balcony with a 180-degree view of the water.

The jetted tub

Our balcony

In the evening, we enjoyed the 6-course meal by Matt Costello in the Chef’s Kitchen at the Inn. Literally, the kitchen was right there so we could watch the chef prepare our meal. The meal was delicious!

The next day, after checking out of the hotel, we drove up to Coupeville, which is situated right on Penn Cove so we could enjoy a lunch of Penn Cove Mussels! Pretty lip smacking good….

We continued our drive up and walked around the beach in Deception Pass State Park before heading over to the scary bridge to walk across. The pedestrian part was only 3 feet wide as cars zoomed past us! Nevertheless, the view was breathtaking.

Check out the rest of the photos here...

Happy Birthday to my husband...

Happy Birthday to my dearest husband! I decided to surprise Matt for his birthday last night by preparing an extravagant dinner. Knowing that he had class, I knew I couldn't plan to take him out to dinner as reservations would be rather late...so I decided to have a nice meal at home. Then I had the idea of shipping overnight some baked stuffed lobsters from the Venus de Milo restaurant in Swansea, MA---a favorite of his parents and a place we always go to whenever we visit. I ordered the lobsters and some clam chowder and secretly shipped it to a neighbor for me to pick up after work. On top of that, I decided to whip out some table setting wedding gifts that we had yet to use: new placemants and napkins, our fina china, the crystal Tiffany's candlestick holders and the Waterford chardonnay wine glasses.

The meal was a success! I started off serving the clam chowder. At first, Matt thought I got it from Legal Seafood. Then he started scratching his head and guessing restaurants in Seattle. It wasn't until I brought out the lobsters that he figured out the mystery restaurant.

Man, it was a delicious meal! Heavenly in fact! Here are some pictures...


Preparing the dinner table


Setting the mood


The baked stuffed lobsters


Closeup of the lobsters

In addition to the lobster dinner, I'm whisking him off for a short, relaxing getaway for the weekend up in Whidbey Island, staying at the Inn at Langley. We're really looking forward to it! I've also made reservations at the Chef's Kitchen restaurant at the hotel---will review it when we return!

Escaping the cold

Man, after all my complaints about returning to the cold after spending a glorious week of sun and 80-degree weather in Florida, there were record lows that suddenly hit Southeast Florida yesterday. In Tallahassee, it was 18 degrees, 25 degrees in Jacksonville and 30 degrees in Fort Myers, which is the closest town to where we were staying in Florida! Today, high temperatures went back to the 50's and tomorrow it will head back up to the 70's and then finally back in the "norm" of the 80's. I can't believe the 50-degree drop...crazy.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year!!! We got back from Florida in the afternoon and by the evening, we were in sequins and suit, having a delicious meal at Qube. We topped off the night by attending a party with friends at Barca.

Photo courtesy of Matt Hallett