Danilson, Party of Two

Laundry room/Green house

2010-03-26T12:17:00.000-07:00

Tyson had gotten some plant trays from his folks and he just got this book on growing Microgreens which he was really excited about so the laundry room is now also doing double duty as a mini-greenhouse.

Farmers have always been famous for getting the job done with the supplies they have on hand. Tyson is already showing a great aptitude for farming by creating a small scale watering system from a recycled tomato can.

I helped our house/yard on Sunday too

2010-03-23T20:26:00.000-07:00

Front Door BEFORE

Front Door AFTER

My Urban Farmer

2010-03-22T21:15:00.000-07:00

We had some sunshine this weekend. It was better on Saturday when we were running all over town getting the supplies for the projects we wanted to do on Sunday. But in-between rain showers Tyson managed to mow our cute little yard...
Build a cold frame in his shop for seed starts. The wood was bought used from the RESTORE in Ballard...
He filled it up with good healthy dirt and surrounded it with the special crushed nut (hazel nuts?) compost his folks gave him. Slugs apparently can't stand it, which means we love it...
He topped off the new cold frame with a recycled vintage window from the RESTORE ($4)
...and here he is just looking good : ) I will try to post what I was working on while he was doing all this tomorrow.

Portraits of Friends

2010-02-23T21:42:00.000-08:00

New Side Project for Sarah: I am going to find pictures of each of our best friends in which their personality shows through the photo. For instance, Jason with that hat outside in the snow is pretty classic "Jason". Once I have collected all these pictures I am going to hang them in a big arrangement in the living room. Let the search for great pics begin....

Guess who is a super good uncle?

2010-02-15T20:59:00.000-08:00

It's.................TYSON! Although to be fair it is easier to be an awesome uncle when your nephew is the best baby ever. Nice work Katie and Jamie.

This little piggy....

2010-02-15T20:50:00.000-08:00

I leave the house for one hour and when I get back look who is up on the kitchen counter getting into the dirty dishes! Bad pig, bad!

Actually, I made this little guy the other day out of a medium sized soda bottle, an old egg carton and some newspaper. He is really a piggy bank. I got the idea off of the Martha Stewart site- hers of course looks much more like a bank and less like some sort of stray woodland creature. But I thought this guy deserved a photo-shoot anyways.

Goal for 2010: Blog More!

2009-12-30T11:11:00.000-08:00

I could make these little dresses with my new sewing machine - I know I have sequins and lots of pretty thread (thank you Jan), I might even have some felt....we'll see what I come up with.

Quick Update- More soon I hope

2009-09-21T13:36:00.001-07:00

Hello blog readers,

Life is going well, but the Internet at home is still just really slow which has preventing my blogging regularly for some time. Tyson is going to look into upgrading us to faster Internet soon. With hope it will be a Fall and Winter of blogging unlike any you have read before.

Until then, here is a brief update:

Tyson's new job at The Harvest Vine, they make food like this.

My letterpress class at the Pratt Fine Arts Center is in this building.

We have already pickled some peppers at home. (These are not ours, but ours look just as good)

I attended a cheese making class and have a delicious goat cheese home project I need to try.

Ps. Goats are now considered a "pet" in Seattle and you can have them at your house. How cute are these little guys? Check out the dachshund in the background for a size comparison- tiny!

Over a month since my last post...

2009-06-15T19:08:00.000-07:00

We are alive and well I assure you. In fact we have even been doing some very blog worthy things (new projects, bike club and vacation to name a few). Back in May the computer spent about a week not letting me upload things, and then we were getting ready for vacation, and then we were on vacation and now we're back and wishing that it was still vacation.

I will try and get some update posts up by this weekend. Thanks for checking back in on this.

Coconut Lemon Quick Bread by Sarah

2009-05-13T22:49:00.000-07:00

BEFORE

DURING

AFTER

Blue Beach Bungalow Kitchen

2009-05-13T15:15:00.000-07:00

I came across this picture the other day on the Internet and I have mixed feelings about it. I LOVE the horizontal board wall in the background and the giant open window on the left. I like the color but it kinda seems like a LOT of blue.

Maybe you would love it at first and then slowly you would start to feel like you were always in the water when really you just wanted to cook up some dinner. I mean the table, floor, cupboards and wall are all that exact same shade of blue. It kinds makes me wonder why they stopped at the ceiling- I mean at this point you are pretty committed to the color- why not finish it off and paint the rest of the walls and ceiling as well?

Anyway, I'm sure it is a conversation starter when they have company.

He works hard for the money- so hard for it honey!

2009-05-11T23:38:00.000-07:00

These are some of the fun pictures of Tyson's work I found on flickr when I searched Le Pichet, Seattle.

Happy Mother's Day to all the Mama's out there

2009-05-11T23:20:00.000-07:00

I should have done a Mother's Day post yesterday but I was too busy hanging out with the mama. I met Mom down in Olympia on Sunday for lunch and a girl movie. We had super yummy food at Red Robin except wouldn't you know it,no good movies out right now- we weren't in the mood for Wolverine just then. So we did a very Sarah and Sharon thing and we went junk shopping.

Mom remembered this fun place over on 4th Avenue in downtown Olympia and it was just jam packed with all different kinds of cool stuff. There were probably at least 30 different little vendor areas. In one of them I found items that mark the start of a new collection for me- floral frogs. You know those cool metal things they used to put in the bottom of vases to arrange flowers before there was that green foam stuff? I found three great ones and am officially collecting cool old metal ones if you come across any let me know.

Martha uses frogs not only for flowers but also for organizing odds and ins on her desk top. The large green one could hold pens and pencils at the ready. The spiky ones without the over cage (I don't have one of these yet) can hold papers up and in order and any of them would make excellent paperweights.

A close up of the original members of my collection. Thank you mama for the super fun day. We will have to go junking again soon!

Wish you were here?

2009-05-11T23:13:00.000-07:00

How about now?

(The beautiful flowers came from Tyson's mom's garden, thank you Jan!)

White cake cupcakes with chocolate chips and chocolate sauce on top!

Tyson has had three already, you better get here quick!

Spring Harvest from Tyson's Garden

2009-05-09T21:10:00.000-07:00

Mixed lettuce greens, spring onions & varieties of radishes

(Left to right) Swiss Chard, Giant Red Mustard and Mizuna greens

French Breakfast and Easter Egg Radish varieties*

*All veggies grown by Tyson, all pictures by Sarah, shared billing for art direction of photo shoot.

Settler Beans by Sarah

2009-05-09T20:46:00.000-07:00

BEFORE

AFTER (with salad)

Farm Stalking!

2009-05-08T16:38:00.001-07:00

Another great farm up North, this one is actually for sale!

It is just shy of 12 acres and near Bow, the house is on the bigger side, there is a 55x60 barn and some established fruit trees in the yard. I know it won't be for sale in a few years when we are looking, but our farm-life dream is sure easier to imagine with this as a backdrop. I am hoping to sneak up there and have a look in the next few weeks.

If for some reason you are interested in buying this house I am not the agent selling it and am not advertising his listing as if it were my own (because that is again the MLS rules).

This little guy is going to help make our Bike event GREAT in September!

2009-05-08T16:30:00.000-07:00

Trece de Mayo BBQ

2009-05-06T23:33:00.000-07:00

The Summary: Good friends, great food, a field trip to Tyson's garden, a half hour hail storm and one of the world's smartest and most well behaved and cuddly dogs- a Sunday afternoon thoroughly enjoyed by all.

The Story: We enjoy having friends over and since Tyson loves to cook we usually plan our parties around a delicious meal. We had been hankering to get folks together and with Tyson's old roommate Garrin headed to Montana to cook at a Dude Ranch until fall this was the weekend to do it.

Per custom we kind of put off all party preparation until that morning.

Tyson headed out to collect ingredients from Frank's Produce (for avocados,tomatillos, etc) and De Laurenti (delicious snack salami) in the Pike Place Market, and Uwajimaya (giant shrimp with the heads and legs still on) and the QFC for the basics.

I headed to my local Goodwill to try and find some festive table dressings. SCORE! For $15 a got a lime green table cloth, 12 aqua cloth napkins (remember this for later in the story), a flat green basket for putting out chips in and crepe paper streamers which were later decided to be-too much (I will just save those for next time). I headed home threw all the new linens in the wash and by the time they came out of the dryer my mom and dad were there.

Mom and Dad had been up North visiting some friends and delivering a very cool and very large piece of art mom had created for them. They stopped by on their way home to say hi. Blessed with impeccable timing they arrived as we were rushedly trying to sweep, dust, and hide the general mess of the apartment. Being the troopers they are they jumped right in and helped with the cleaning but not before mom handed me a gift, get ready for it, napkin rings (I didn't own any)! How does she know these things? I immediately put them on my new napkins to a great result.

They were on the road again too soon and we were left with a spotless apartment (well about as good as it gets) ready and waiting for our guests to arrive.

It was a wonderful party and we will be plotting and scheming to throw another one again real soon!

Catching up on my bloggin'

2009-05-04T20:23:00.000-07:00

Last Monday night: All aboard for the Admiral Theatre! Great little half price theater in West Seattle with a nautical theme. I wish I'd had the camera we were in a 400 seat movie house with only 2 other people- a sight you don't see that often. Although to be fair it was a late movie on Monday night. It's great that these little theaters out there. With 1st run movie ticket prices around $10.75 and climbing, we would much rather see a show at the $5.50 Admiral Theatre in West Seattle or the $3.00 Crest Theatre in North Seattle. Fun times.

Sunday before last: Tip Toe through the tulipsWe got a nice late start to the day and headed up to Mount Vernon in the sunshine to see the Tulips. I have been suggesting (nagging) to Tyson that we go see the Tulips for the past five years. Since he grew up in the Skagit Valley and has dealt with the onslaught that is tulip traffic for most of his life he was less than thrilled at the prospect. But because he is a very nice husband, this year we went. It was a great drive and we stopped and had a delicious lunch with his folks before heading to the fields. We went to Rosengarten which is one of two main areas where you can walk around a look at a whole variety of tulips. Above are some of my favorites. We didn't stay too long though since it was crowded. We bought some cut tulips to take home and some planted bulbs to enjoy for the next few weeks. All in all it was a very nice Sunday and if you haven't seen the tulips I would recommend that you go- just maybe on a weekday.

Saturday before last- Free tickets again!!!
We had been planning to catch last Saturday's Sounder game at a local pub, then 2 hours before the game we got the call.

A co-worker has friends with seasons passes and they couldn't go again, this is the second time the have been nice enough to pass on their tickets to us. We rushed down to the pitch and saw first hand Casey Keller's triumphant return! It was a great game and the Sounders won 2-0, they have got our full 90 every time. If you are not watching the games you are missing out.

Friday Night before last- Farm to Table
We made homemade pizzas from some delicious dough Tyson baked up, odds and ins from the fridge and some lovely treats from the garden. Yes, you read that right in the same month we had snow we were able to harvest and eat food from Tyson's garden.

Happy Earth Day

2009-04-22T14:59:00.000-07:00

I urge all of you to reduce, re-use and recycle.

However, the post I want to today is more about decorating your home- your own personal earth. Today, we are talking about wallpaper.

Wallpaper has recently made a resurgence back into "young" decorating. For the last 10 years or so while the hip kids have forsaken wallpaper in preference of using every possible color combination and faux finish paint job you can think of some very talented artists have been busy creating beautiful wall papers.Content no longer with covering every inch of wall with the paper, decorators are coming up with great ideas on how to use wall paper to enhance the feel of a room without overpowering it.

In the above photo part of intricate wallpaper pattern was meticulously cut out to add a burst of pattern that comes across more like a piece of art- then the busy feeling it would give if it covered more of the room.

The bold pattern and color of this paper, although possibly an older design feels very modern since it was used to cover not just the wall as you might expect but also the door. I think this would be a good look for a closet or a powder room.

I had never this this technique done before and I love it. Wainscoting or chair rails are done at predictable heights and so often out of beadboard or just paint (I have done it, it's an easy way to perk up a room for not a lot of money). But this high molding about 2 feet down from the ceiling with the wallpaper on top seems to make the room feel taller and the pattern of the paper gives weight and interest to what is otherwise a sort of plain room (I know they have great windows and a giant chandelier but you know what I mean).

This final wallpaper idea is the genius of one lady and is a very earth-friendly suggestion. She takes old wallpaper in interesting patterns and re-purposes it as animal cutouts to decorate children's rooms. She offers a group of small birds, a giraffe, a monkey, an elephant and the above ostrich all in varying patterns. I hate birds and I would still love to have a pair of these ostrichs mingling on the wall at the end of a long hallway.

I just checked and the ostrich with wall adhesive retails for $105.00 plus tax and demand is so high they are currently out of stock- good job lady! (I was unable to find her name, but if you google "recycled wallpaper ostrich" you can find out more.)

Busy Saturday

2009-04-19T16:26:00.000-07:00

All kinds of things happening in the great Northwest yesterday! Tyson's parents came to town. Jan helped Katie pack and move her kitchen to Katie and Jamie's new apartment which has an awesome view off the back of Capitol Hill. Gary and Tyson went to the Woodworker's Show at the Seattle Center Exhibition Hall and I went the Friends of the Seattle Public Library Book sale at Magnuson Park. Busy!

The book sale was HUGE, the had tables filling an airplane hangar with books piled on top and underneath. There was fortunately for the sale but unfortunately for me LOTS of people, the kind of people who so lack the idea of personal space that nothing surprises them. I literally saw a man hop over the back of a lady that was crouched down in the isle looking at a box of books, so that he could get past her and on to looking at more books. I don't think the lady even looked up.

Inbetween fits of judge-full sighing I found a handful of good books (including one on paper mache that I want to try out) and at $1 per book maybe you can deal with the crowd and the Library's REALLY old friends running the sale- when is the last time that you were directed to "the lady with the pink flyswatter" as the next available cashier?

I paid and was on my way to pick up the guys at the Seattle Center and then onto the Gunter's new digs for a tour and to get Jan. The apartment is a neat space and with the clear view of Mt. Baker really did make everyone feel a little like we were back in Bellingham again (which according to my last poll, half of you would think is great, the other half would be wishing they were in Bend OR and Dad would be hanging out at Puget Island).

After the tour, we scooted off to City People's Garden store and had a good time looking things over and picking out plants with Jan and Gary. We have already decided next time they are in town and have time to shop we are going to the larger City People's Mercantile out by UW to see what they have.

With our treasures loaded up we headed home and towards some more of Tyson's wonderful cooking- the man can't help but make delicious food! he BBQ'ed up some flank steak, made a great potato, green pepper and tomato salad, a new style of salsa to accompany the meat and a whole pan of mouth watering corn bread. Here is a snapshot of Gary's plate before he dug in.

Sarah's Container Garden

2009-04-19T15:54:00.000-07:00

I planted a nice little container garden today with three different types of pretty grass and a yellow-green shrub. I purchased these great plants at City People's Garden Store yesterday, Tyson and his Mom helped me pick them out.

The tall blue green one is:Magellan Wheatgrass.
The shrub one is:Pinocchio, it gets purple flowers later.
The wispy one in the back of the box is:Fescue.
The little guy in thr front is:Northern Lights- hairgrass.

I will post pictures of the grass garden every now and again so you can see how much they grow. The shrub can get up to two feet tall but I don't think it will in this pot. Everything else is in the 6" to 18" range.

He plays his banjo at night!

2009-04-19T10:45:00.000-07:00

(Go back and sing the title, like the song "I wear my sunglasses at Night", it's more fun that way.)Tyson has recently taken back up his a pickin' and a pluckin' of the banjo. Such a great instrument- he has a song or two down but just about any noise you can get from it makes you want to say loudly, "Well boys, that was some mighty fine a 'pickin and a singin'" a la the movie O Brother, Where Art Thou? after The Soggy Bottom Boys radio performance.

Seeing yellow...

2009-04-14T22:53:00.000-07:00

Yellow is the most difficult color for our eyes to adjust to, yet it is often used in home decorating. I saw the image below in magazine years ago and have always loved the shade of yellow. I have thinking about having a room this color in my future house but can't seem to decide if it would be overwhelming. I definitely like the more saturated shades- no pastels, thank you, but I feel like this is ones of those things where you actually have to paint the whole room- give it a few weeks and then decide if you have made a huge mistake.

Another interesting twist on yellow in home decorating is that they almost always pair it up with black. I'm assuming this is to make the yellow "pop" and read to the eye as even brighter. But I think it gives the room a formality that not all of us would want, as in the picture above.

Happy Easter Families, we love you!

2009-04-12T18:36:00.000-07:00

Good news!

2009-04-09T21:01:00.001-07:00

Today at work, I was given a promotion and a small raise- live it up!

We moved and this is the view from our new apartment!

2009-04-07T23:43:00.001-07:00

Just kidding. Look for another decorating post like the perfect pouf one coming later this week. Until then I hope you are enjoying the heck out of the sunshine!

Inexplicably pulled to crafts that seem possible to make whether they are neat or not….

2009-04-07T23:29:00.000-07:00

…these however are in my opinion pretty neat as well as they seem likely possible to make. They are tiny houses with little yards all set in a teacup, so you get a feel for the scale. I found them online and the lady that makes them also makes $300 handmade cloth dolls. These are cooler than the dolls. Pick your favorite. I like the second one or the white house with the tweed yard best.

Yesterday

2009-04-07T23:14:00.000-07:00

We slept in, had waffles, took a nap, went to the garden, got ice cream, walked the two mile loop at Seward Park, bought groceries, invited Kim over for dinner, Tyson made steak, potatoes and beans for wraps, put out all kinds of snacks and made delicious corn bread again, wonderful day!

This Past Weekend

2009-04-07T23:11:00.000-07:00

If you know what I do for a living than you know that this past weekend was my busiest of the year- everything went well and Sunday in Seattle couldn't have gone better. Everyone at work was happy with the outcome and I am very pleased with the results- it was worth all all of my hard work these past few months.

Two Sundays Ago

2009-04-07T22:59:00.000-07:00

It was a beautiful sunny afternoon. Tyson broke out the BBQ for the first time this year and cooked up some great pork. Dani and Jason were in town from New Mexico and came to visit. Kim came over and we had a great evening of catching up and remarking on how it seems like they have been here all the time. That Monday after work I picked up Kim and Dani and we drove up to Bellingham to meet up with Jason and Tyson at Calhan and Liz’s house. Liz made a delicious dinner for all. Their roommate Mike was home and we had an impressive and funny few rounds of charades. I unfortunately didn’t have the camera-but even without photographic evidence just know that we have wonderful friends and it has been way too long since we have all been able to get together.

FREE SOUNDERS GAME FOR US!

2009-04-07T22:50:00.000-07:00

A girl I work with has a friend with season passes and none of them could go to the game to Saturday’s ago- the second in the season. We got the tickets and the Sounders won again, this time 2-0. It was a great game to watch and I am looking very forward to April 11th when we get to go again with the tickets Tyson got.

Fun facts about the game:
1- We took the bus in because traffic is horrible around the stadium and parking is expensive.
2- The entire lower ‘ring’ of seats in the stadium, which we had tickets in, stands for the entire 90 minute game- after 45 minutes it doesn’t even seem weird.
3- High-kicking and slide tackling are not against the rules in major league soccer.
4- It is possible that the ball was hit with players heads almost as much as their feet.

The Perfect Pouf

2009-03-27T22:24:00.001-07:00

If you look around in all of the most fashionable houses these days you are likely to find what is essentially a small, firm, leather bean bag.......this is called a pouf.

Originally a popular household item in Morocco, these tuffets have taken the US by storm. Unfortunately, their staggering price (around $300 for a smallish one) prevents them from being available to the masses.

They can function as extra seating, ottomans or even end tables. Their versatility makes them the perfect choice for smaller spaces.

Yes. I really, really want one (or maybe two). Butter-yellow leather for one and maybe a pretty lighter brown for the other. Yes, I know that I am part of the "masses" that I mentioned above...but aren't they neato?

What is the state flower of Alabama. I'll take shrubs for $400 Alex.

2009-03-26T18:53:00.000-07:00

The pictures above were taken tonight on my way home- these are just some of the pretty Camellia shrubs I pass on my commute. I think they are beautiful. I'm not sure if it's because they bloom early and I am just happy to see flowers again or because their pink-red shade and round shape are just so perfectly what flowers should be.

I first really started noticing Camellias last year. I thought they were pretty, asked around and found out what they were. A year went by and I completely forgot what they were called. When they started blooming again this spring I kept thinking I ought to track down what they were. After taking all the pictures tonight I decided to Google around and figure it out.

Have you tried to Google something when you don't know what it is called? It is harder than you would think. After searches for "early blooming shrub" "pink blossom flowering shrub" "Washington state flowering shrub" all came up to nothing I did what I often do when I don't know the answer, I called my parents.

My Dad, who has planted enough trees that he and Seuss' Lorax could be the best of friends and gave top effort to a raised bed garden of cucumbers and carrots back in the 80's that the birds took in the end knows his fair share about plants- but I wouldn't call him a Gardner, no one would. After hearing the same 3 or 4 word descriptions of this mystery plant, he suggested offhandedly that, "oh, it might be a Camellia" "Yes! The name clicked in my head, that's what it was." Another mystery solved, my Dad just may be smarter than Google.

Here is what the computer had to say about Camellias:
A long-lived evergreen shrub, the Camellia plant is a beloved Southern shrub with graceful blooms that have been enjoyed by gardeners for years. Camellias are well suited for part shade.

It is also the state flower of Alabama.

Makes you wonder why you're not eating cornbread all the time.

2009-03-25T18:21:00.000-07:00

Tyson, among his numerous other interesting talents and amazing achievements also happens to make the BEST cornbread in the world!

It is unreal how good it is, it is, okay-i'll-have-one-piece-oh-yum-better-make-that-two-wow-forget-the-chili-lets-just-have-cornbread-for-dinner-jeez-this-is-good-why- are-we not-eating-cornbread-all-of-the-time?!?! Yes, it is that good.

The Farm Stalking has Begun!

2009-03-22T21:27:00.000-07:00

Today, Tyson and I started what will be a multi-year process to find the perfect farm property up north for our future home/business. We jeeped the back roads of Skagit Valley for about four hours and identified some of the towns we like better than others. There are a ton of options up there and many more places to check out.

The picture above was one of the favorites of the day, we stopped back by after dinner with Tyson's dad to take a picture, unfortunately it was pretty dark by then. But it is a great two story white farm house (with a green metal roof I think) on a decent sized rectangle of land with an old barn.

I just added a daylight picture I found from the Skagit County Assessor's office. Ignore the weird outbuilding, I already planed to get rid of that. Bummer though, it seems that the house is only sitting on 1 acre of property. We would have to convince the house behind to sell us their 10 acres or the house next door to sell us some of their 40 acres or....we might have to keep looking.

The WORLD'S game is coming to Seattle...

2009-03-18T21:31:00.001-07:00

...and we are going to see it! Feel free to be jealous or join us!If you are not a soccer fan, then just admire the sweet wooden swordfish I have up on the wall.

Surprise-y Sam the Solider

2009-03-18T21:08:00.000-07:00

Sam came home for surprise leave a few weeks ago. When I say that everyone asks if it was a surprise to him or us? It was a HUGE and wonderful surprise for us. Not wanting to disappoint people if he had to change plans at the last minute Sam called his wife from Denver to ask her to come pick him up at the airport!

He continued this sneaky streak by appearing unannounced at my parents house. They were driving home from the store and mom noticed "some man"in the yard- turned out to be Sam.

He ended up surprising me as well, I called home and was talking to Dad one evening, I think it was a Wednesday if that helps you picture it better, and I could hear Paige running around in the background. Mid-sentence my Dad says hang out a second- what does this mean? Well to me it quite clearly meant that I was going to talk to Paige, as I waited to hear her voice, Sam started talking- well, had I been sitting I would have fallen out of my chair.

The simple conclusion that he was home on leave didn't even occur to me. I was completely confused trying to figure what was going on- was the war over (probably would have heard that on the radio) was his unit done, was this some sort of very expensive 3 way call from the middle east? No, Sam was home to visit for two weeks, YAY! These pictures are from when we all went down to the Island house and hung out.

C R A S H ! ! !

2009-03-18T20:57:00.000-07:00

This is from a few weeks ago- he is all healed up now. On his bike commute home Tyson attacked the road with his face. He broke his helmet and glasses, but you should see what he did to the road!

Your hair is now probably longer than mine.

2009-03-18T20:40:00.000-07:00

This short film was taken about two weeks ago, which if you know anything about haircuts means that my coif is just about starting to look good. The video and laughter is coming form some of my co-workers who went with me for the BIG chop.

It has been about 8 or 9 years since I have had a whole pony-tail cut off. I am enjoying how much easier short hair is (after he trimmed it up it is now just past my shoulders) to take care of but have already decided (how inevitable is this?) that I will be growing it out again, long hair just kind of feels more normal to me.

Below is a picture featuring my locks on their last day at the office.

We OFFICIALLY have a farm....

2009-03-18T20:28:00.000-07:00

…and by that I mean that I made this neat bag with a possible name for our possible future farm!

Tyson gave me this cool DIY canvas bag kit for Valentines (craft project in a bag- a wonderful gift!). It came with the bag and a whole bunch of iron-on letters and pictures, you supply your own creativity and this is what I came up with.

It went together really quick and I’m happy with how it looks. I used a dinner plate to get the curved letters in “Danilson” to come out even. However, as I am not yet an iron-on champion I think I need to use some fabric glue to secure a few of my letters before they jump.

Getting Mail is SO fun!

2009-02-04T18:09:00.001-08:00

Today I picked up the mail and mixed in with the bills, credit card offers, dentist appointment reminders and grocery store ads for grocery stores that are no where around here was a MYSTERY postcard!

I have no idea who it's from, but the handwriting on the address part (I cut it out of the picture so people wouldn't try to break into the apartment to get at Tyson's homemade corn bread) looks like a girl wrote it or a boy with very neat handwriting. My only other clue is that only a handful of people know that Tyson and I visited the downtown Seattle Library (the background of the card) earlier this month. Help me solve the mystery, tell me who sent the MYSTERY postcard.

I love getting FUN mail! Thank you MYSTERY writer.

Monday Night

2009-02-04T17:48:00.000-08:00

This is what Tyson made for dinner on Monday.

Grilled steak, boiled baby potatoes, salad greens with vinaigrette and home made cornbread with butter and honey. Just you know for a regular old dinner at home. It is because Tyson does things like make giant delicious dinners from scratch for no special reason that I am just fine with his track bike posing as modern art on our living room wall.

He is wonderful- no matter how many bikes he owns.

Holy Snow-moley!

2009-01-26T20:17:00.001-08:00

It snowed here on Sunday for most the afternoon-which seems crazy, although it was very COLD so maybe not that weird after all. I tried to take a picture to show it, but they were little snowflakes that didn't stick to the ground and didn't really show up in the picture.

I added some snowflakes into this picture so you can see what it was like...think of it as a snowflake reenactment

and enjoy.

Cha-Cha-Cha Don't You Know That I Love You....

2009-01-26T20:06:00.000-08:00

Cha-Cha-Cha-Cha-Cha always thinking of you....

The fun kids pictured here went to the Cha-Cha Lounge (where everything is in fact VERY dark, but looks very RED on camera) this last Sunday and had some cheap drinks, delicious burritos and made it home before the bands finished sound check. A successful Sunday indeed.

Senior Danilsons for the Day

2009-01-19T22:26:00.000-08:00

In celebration of MLK day, Gary and Jan Danilson made their annual trip down to visit us Junior Danilsons at our Seattle home. Okay- just kidding but we did the math and it had been almost a whole since we had invited them down- we are gonna have to work on getting invitations out more often, we love having company.

We were very happy to spend a day visiting some of our favorite spots in the City with them on this sunny Monday. After a little relaxing at the Casa, reveling in the magnificence of the bookcase, we headed over to the Columbia City Ale House to fill our hungry bellys. The food was great- Jan took a few pictures there I will try to post when I see them.

From there we made the scenic drive around Lake Washington over to City People's Garden, who claim to be open seven days a week all year, but however were closed today. We will have to try again next time Gary and Jan are in town because it really is a neat store.

Thwarted, we headed over to the Queen Anne neighborhood to stroll and take in the shops. A few boutiques and a couple grocery stores later we were loaded down and ready to take over another part of town.

Off we went to The Macrina Bakery, the new one in the SoDo area. It was late enough in the day we missed the full bevy of dessert treat options they normally have- but still were able to find some sweet treats AND amazing parking. If you like Macrina but can't bear the thought of parking downtown or on Queen Anne, there is ALWAYS free parking, right out front of the SoDo store.

Sufficiently strengthened we headed to our final destination of the day, the Uwajimaya Asian Grocery Store. Tyson and Gary got dinner essentials while Jan and I checked out the cool gift shop stuff. Far too soon, Tyson was checked out and ready to go home and get cooking.

Katie and Jamie came over and joined us for a delicious dinner of: Roasted Chicken, Potato Gratin and Stewed Cauliflower, cooked of course by the overly talented Tyson. Fun was had by all. Everyone left stuffed and happy and I have been blogging ever since!

Thank you for visiting Senior Danilsons, we are happy to host you whenever you are in town and hope to see you here again soon : )

Year of the OX

2009-01-19T21:40:00.000-08:00

On our way home from Dim Sum the other day Tyson and I came across a string of firecrackers three stories long hanging down from a building in China Town- we were curious.

We waited for about a half hour as official looking men arrived and a cable with money attached as long as the fire cracker string, with a head of lettuce attached at the bottom was lowered down from an upper window of the building. We had found ourselves smack dab in the start of a Kung Fu Club's Lion Dance Ceremony as part of the Chinese New Year Celebration.

Two dragons and fours lions (the kung fu club members in costume) fought it out on the street as HUNDREDS of fire crackers were thrown everywhere by men on the sidelines. After the black lion ate the lettuce and money string, the three story string of fire crackers were lit- the whole thing was such a fun spectacle to come across.

Tyson and I decided if we ever do the Origin of the Species Parade that we will be a Chinese Lion, because they are pretty awesome. The picture below can help you figure out what your Chinese zodiac animal is.

The Green Lion, representing friendship.

More information about the dance:

In the old days, the lettuce was hung 15 to 20 feet above ground and only a well-trained martial artists could reach the money while dancing with a heavy lion head. These events became a public challenge. A large sum of money was rewarded, and the audience expected a good show. Sometimes, if lions from multiple martial arts schools approached the lettuce at the same time, the lions are supposed to fight to decide a winner. The audience would judge the quality of the martial art schools according to how the lions fought. The winner lion would then use creative methods and martial art skills to reach the high-hanging reward. Some lions may dance on bamboo stilts and some may step on human pyramids formed by fellow students of the school. The performers and the schools would gain praise and respect on top of the large monetary reward when they did well.

Let me tell you a little about Dim Sum...

2009-01-19T21:22:00.000-08:00

1. You may not know this, I didn't, Dim Sum tastes good and is fun to eat.

2. Again you may not know because I didn't, spring rolls are delicious and should be eaten often.

3. If a nice old lady with a cart of steaming Chinese food offers you a small porcelain boat of wok-fried, sweet walnut sauce covered shrimp- for the love of god take all that you can get! SO good!

4. While you may trust your friends, the people you are dining with, do not trust that they will remember to remove the paper from the bottom of the steamed buns that they are sharing with you- or tell you as a first time dim sum eater that you are supposed to remove the paper- or that they won't laugh at you a lot after they discover that you ate the bun, paper and all and still thought that it tasted pretty good.

5. If you're in Seattle and hungry I would like to direct you toward the Jade Garden in the International District China Town, it changed my life.

All booked up

2009-01-19T21:07:00.000-08:00

We filled the new bookcase and love it! Amazingly, there is still room for more books, whoo-BOY!And yes, when possible the contents of each shelf were organized in rainbow order- Sarah approved!

Super Saturday

2009-01-18T14:16:00.000-08:00

Old "Bookcase"

New Bookcase/Desk - ready for books!

Dr. S. Scott and Sharon Horner came up to Seattle to visit yesterday, bringing with them the amazing piece of furniture you see me seated at in the picture. This wondrous shelf was a gift from my mom for Christmas and is going to make my apartment dreams come true when I move Tyson's 8 million books from their current milk crate homes to this more permanent and adult structure.

Mom and Dad are headed to their Hawaii home for a few weeks and we enjoyed their company squiring them around town before dropping them at their Seatac Hotel for the evening. We had amazing steak and potato burritos compliments of Tyson- this is my new favorite thing that he makes- Casa Que Pasa eat your heart out.

Then we went to go look at Swedish Modern furniture at the Dania store just for fun since we hadn't been before. Then to Elliot Bay Book Store, where we bumped into Katie and Jamie, small world! Next we ventured over to Columbia City to look at the neat little stores and shops there. We had planned to take them out to dinner at the Columbia City Ale House which we had dined at recently and really enjoyed but we were all still too full from our Burrito lunch.

Change of plans, we headed back to the apartment, grabbed out swimsuits and head for the Seatac Marriott- they have an amazing 5 story arboretum with full grown trees a pool and hot tubs in the middle of the hotel. Drinks, soaking and saunaing, we were officially a very relaxed group. After dinner there we headed home. Mom and Dad had a 5am wake up call and are undoubtedly soaking up some serious sunshine right now!

We are good looking

2009-01-06T17:12:00.000-08:00

The Squish-Face Chronicles: Part One

SNOW DAY!

2009-01-06T17:04:00.000-08:00

Fall Harvest

2009-01-06T16:48:00.000-08:00

Tyson is offically twenty-six!

2008-09-30T23:17:00.001-07:00

Custard's Last Cupcake
Tyson Bowling it up, he won the 2nd game, Monica took all the glory in the first round.

The party was Sunday and we celebrated by hosting, Tyson's Cowboy Chili Cook-off and Birthday Bowling Bonanza! We had some great friends over, Tyson cooked up a big pot of Chili and baked cornbread, the food was of course delicious and enjoyed by all. I made cowboy cupcakes with chocolate chips, they were yummy but watch out for the attack frosting!

After dinner we headed out bowling at AMF Imperial Lanes on Rainier, we hadn't been there before, but we were really pleased with it. It is a five minute drive, easy parking and it was $20 for two people to bowl two games, this will be our bowling alley of choice from now on.

Thank you to everyone who came and made Tyson's birthday so special, he had a wonderful time and it really is because of great friends like you guys.

The EVO Party

2008-09-30T23:02:00.000-07:00

The hip crowd, you can't see the weird-os in shorts and pumps but they are there!

Tyson with a really BIG smile

Casey, Cory and Tyson being too cool for school.

Evo is a snowboard/skateshop/art gallery in between Fremont and Ballard. Casey and his friend Molly go to stuff there all the time, Molly works there doing website stuff.

So this last Saturday, Tyson and I headed over the 'Space Craft' season product launch party with Casey, his roommate Cory and Cory's girlfriend Bobea. Unfortunately Bobea and I didn't get the memo that THE thing for girls going to parties at snowboarding stores in fall to wear was really short shorts and high heels, I went ahead and wore jeans and a t-shirt, I feel like such a cad.

Anyway, we just stayed a little while, chatted and checked out the artwork, the party was fun and Evo has some sort of shindig every month so if you are interested talk to Casey.

Our Kitchen has Gone METRO

2008-09-30T22:47:00.000-07:00

We were in search of a VERY space efficient way to store our dishes, the appliances and with hope create a second food prep/ serving area since we are low on kitchen counter top space.

A neat-o 1950's buffet has carried us through since this past spring, but with the added surplus from the wedding it just couldn't keep up. Our new solution, which we love, is a industrial Metro shelf, you can find a similar unit in every professional kitchen-EVERYWHERE. This meets all of the space needs listed above, it is sturdy, with adjustable shelves, and lots of possible add-ons it will be a great piece of furniture to have around for a long time.

The workspace shelf is an aftermarket addition created by my Dad and modified by Tyson and his Dad. This work area is great for me so I can be out of Tyson's way when he is whipping up dinner and still have a place to chop avocados or what-not. It also was the perfect location for the drink bar at Tyson's Birthday this past weekend.

We highly recommend Metro shelves to all of you. You just can not believe how much stuff will fit on them!

The Garden

2008-09-23T00:01:00.000-07:00

So we have a garden and it is pretty rad. Sarah and I (tyson.... i get to post on this too) have been gardening at the Courtland Place P-Patch all summer and are getting geared up for the fall/winter harvest. Our hibiscus is defying the odds by continuing to live, giving us a new blossom every couple of days.

These cabbages were started in a nursury on Puget Island and are humming right along. The savoy are getting ready to cut and the red globe are a little behind.
The chard is getting a good start and i am looking forward to cutting this all (?) winter.
The radishes are probibly our most loved crop of the year. They grow fast and don't really need us to do anything but pick em and eat em. These red radished are about halfway done and there is another patch of white radishes just sprouting. Other things to look for in the Danilson P-Patch are golden beats, green onions, chineese broccoli, and hops. Lookout!

A few fun wedding pictures from friends...

2008-09-15T20:04:00.001-07:00

New bloggers on the loose

2008-09-15T19:21:00.000-07:00

ME: Hi, my name is Sarah and I am a new blogger.
Group in unison: Hello Sarah

ME: Well, I was pretty excited to be blogging, get some info and pictures out there for all of our friends to see. I composed a thoughtful and information filled post about why we are happy to start blogging, what led up to this blog and things to look for in the future-and then I refreshed the page-and it all disappeared. SO I will instead just post this, and some pictures. Tyson will home from work in 3 or 4 hours and I want to re-arrange the living room furniture before he gets here. I will try to post again soon. Thanks for understanding, back soon.