I'm a goober - I totally forgot our complete order at The Original Pancake House. My sister reminded me that in addition to our Pumpkin Pancakes, Swedish Pancakes, Potato Pancakes, Cinnamon Apple Crepes, and bowl of fruit, we ordered Chocolate Chip Pancakes and a side of Scrambled Eggs. Okay - we three girls porked out. Maybe it isn't such a good thing that there is a Original Pancake House in Seattle...
Back From DC
My DC trip was shy of a week and I’m damn proud that I only packed two pairs of shoes. This is a first for me. Secretly though, I hoped this would be the perfect excuse for me to shop for more shoes. This never happened.
The majority of the days were spent hanging out with my sister, Lindsay, and Brady.
Brady is sumolicious... At 2 months, Brady weights in at 16 lbs. 8 oz... Most 5 - 6 month old babies weight 16 lbs!
Lindsay never stops accessorizing... she must always have a pair of shoes on and whatever else she's in the mood for. She's a girl after my heart.
Although it was cold and windy, we managed to make it out for a few excursions. One afternoon we went to a favorite place of mine, The National Building Museum. It’s been over a year since the opening of the Liquid Stone Exhibit and I’m still waiting for the catalog to be published. The release date for the catalog has been pushed back to February 2006. Don’t you think the catalog should be available by the opening date and not after the exhibit closes?
I’d like to visit all the concrete buildings that are featured in the exhibit. Anyone interested in starting an annual trip where we knock off a few from the list? Here are two favorites...
White Temple, Near Kyoto, Japan
Mexican Embassy, Berlin, Germany
I checked out A Building Tradition: The Work of the Prince’s School of Traditional Arts Exhibit. I love the repetition of geometric shapes used to create patterns in tiles, mosaics, stained glass, and architecture of Islam. A lot of the pieces reminded me of tiles and mosaics that I saw at the National Tile Museum in Istanbul.
After a few exhibits, shopping in the museum store, and throwing pennies in the fountain, we headed over to Teasim for lunch. The Penn Quarter location is just a few blocks from NBM.
People love teasim for their tea and food. I love their tea but am not a huge fan of their food. The menu is all over the place from traditional Japanese dishes like the Salmon Teriyaki Bento Box and Plum Ochazuke to Buffalo Burgers and the Meatball Bento Box. Most of the food is served cold and their sauces could use some work.
My Tuna Bento box was decent and HyeSook’s Scrambled Eggs with Tea Cured Salmon tasty. I’ll definitely go back for tea but skip their food.
We celebrated my sister’s birthday at Sette Bello. Sette Bello is an upscale Italian restaurant in Arlington that’s only 6 weeks old. Although we were underdressed and toting two kids, the staff was extremely polite and took really good care of us.
The food was amazing and some of the best Italian food I’ve ever had. The Calamari Fritti was tasty – it wasn’t chewy and the crispy batter melts in your mouth. The Arugula and Fennel salad was perfectly dressed with a Lemon Vinaigrette and tasted so fresh. The spaghetti with olive oil, garlic, mussels, clams and chili flakes was simple yet full of flavor. I loved everything.
My sister enjoyed her salad, Boston lettuce, walnuts and Gorgonzola cheese, and her Gnocchi. Lindsay’s favorite was the warm bread – she devoured piece after piece. Their wine list is excellent and we were pleased with our selection.
Given the portions, the quality of the food and service, I think their prices are extremely reasonable. I can’t wait to go back next time I’m in DC.
I’m realizing now that every excursion of ours revolved around eating. Another excursion of ours was breakfast at The Original Pancake House.
Their famous Apple Pancake.
My sister, Lindsay and I devoured Pumpkin Pancakes, Swedish Pancakes, Potato Pancakes, Cinnamon Apple Crepes, and a large bowl of fruit. I don’t know what was funnier – the waitresses expression after we ordered or the expressions of other customers when our food was delivered to our table.
Our experience at the Original Pancake House reminded me of when I used to go to the Scarlet Tree Restaurant and eat 2 orders of their French Toast in one sitting. Every time I placed my order with a new waitress, they would always double or triple check to clarify that I wanted 2 orders!
The Original Pancake House was founded in Portland, Oregon. Turns out there are an Original Pancake House in Seattle – anyone want to pig out on pancakes together? Or we could make a weekend road trip of it and visit the Portland Restaurant, check out some art and loads of shopping. Plus, I know of a great hotel - Hotel Lucia. It's the best hotel I've stayed at in Portland and one of my favorites in general.
Another Snow Day
I hate snow. I left snow in Seattle and now I've got snow in DC.
Two months later and I’m in DC again. Why? Because of Ms. Lindsay, of course.
We’ve spent the last two days dressing the house up for the holidays. Last night I spent many hours putting up Christmas tree lights and now my hands are all beat up from being poked by all the fake pine needles. Most people add a few strings of lights to their tree and call it good. Or they buy a fake tree that comes pre-strung with lights. But not me… every branch gets wrapped with several inches of lights. Stringing the tree with lights was a total pain in the ass but I'm a sucker for Ms. Lindsay and I'll do anything to make her day brighter.
