Cheers! To the People Who Remind Us...

One of The Non-Scotsman's good, rowdy friends also happens to have a magic touch. He came up to visit in Seattle to see my man, of course, but also to rent an ancient camera: a 35mm Hasselblad.

This man shot some of my favorite things without any editing! He gave me a fresh vantage point above my life, where I am now standing with arms open wide, yelling "THANK YOU!"

My neighborhood joint:

My place of work:

My parent's backyard:

My husband and my views:

My new hang at Melrose Market:

And even me in my pearls, made by my dear friend Jessica Andrews:

(I actually was very happy here; although I look like I'm about to pounce)...

Cheers to Nate and his wife for reminding me how beautiful life is, remind me to look at the details, remind me to be thankful.

Merry Christmas Seattle!

A Perfect, Bitter Stocking Stuffer

This year, I am all about the small things. (Think: "stocking stuffers" of life). They might not be the biggest packages under the tree, but they often bring the most pungent joy. And these little, beautiful, things happen all over Seattle.

Watching my nephews open their gifts early in Issaquah.

A great phone conversation with a new friend in Belltown.

Scoring 250 points in skeeball at King's Hardware in Ballard.

A cup of peppermint tea in this nook at Roy Street Coffee & Tea on Capitol Hill

An impromptu Christmas kiss with my husband at Canlis,

(Canlis, 2010 - photo compliments Christopher Keuhl)

The sweet success of victory after a 3 day battle with port-braised short ribs

And watching the Packers lose yesterday with an avid Packer fan!

However, if I could name my most favorite REAL stocking stuffer of 2010, it might be these:

Scrappy's Bitters:

While strolling 12th Avenue on a rainy night on my (Capitol) Hill a few weeks ago I stumbled across these incredible bitters at the 12th & Olive Wine Co. It was about 9:00 at night, and I have to imagine the owner was avoiding going home or something, because he spent a good half hour deconstructing (ie: tearing apart like a wild coyote!) Woodinville wineries and then showing off these bitters.

It didn't take much convincing to fall in love with a line of hand-crafted organic bitters with flavors like celery, orange, lavender, chocolate and cardamom. What a beautiful addition to anything, be it beverage or food. I'd take a stocking full of Scrappy's any day!