Christmas Lights and Gingerbread

Earlier this year given a couple of free tickets to go see a holiday light display in Stanwood, WA.  The large display of over one million lights is called "The Lights of Christmas," and runs during select days in December.

I decided to invite my friend, Melissa.  She lives in Marysville, which is on the way to Stanford, so she was the perfect choice.  I also hadn't seen her in a long time, so it was nice to be able to see her again.  We originally planned to go to the Bellevue Botanical Gardens, to see their holiday lights, but changed our plans, as my friend was unable to travel my direction.

My parents were in town for the holiday weekend, so they came as well.  The weather was nice for the display, but it was very cold.  I am really glad I brought gloves and a warm coat.  There were places to sit and beverages and cookies available for purchase indoors, and various places outdoors. I got some steamed hot cocoa and a cute polar bear cookie (shown above), it was very tasty. 

Fire pits were also available outdoors for people who want to remain outside. 

Hey Diddle Diddle: Created by Weber Thompson. Chef David Mestl.

After seeing all the holiday lights, my family and I went to dinner.  On the way home, we stopped by the Shereton in Seattle.  I heard for years about a large display of gingerbread houses they do every year, and I really wanted to see it this year.

I Saw A Ship A-Sailing: Created by 4D Architects, Inc. Chef Jay Sardeson. 

The gingerbread display was quite spectacular.  There were six gingerbread entries total.  All of them impressive.  One display had a large tree, made with sugar, that looked like turquoise shards of glass.  It had lights and spun in the center of it's village.

Detail of:  London Bridge is Falling Down: 

Created by MulvannyG2 Architecture. Chef Joleen Anderson.

Another, was inspired by the nursery rhyme, "Hickory, Dickory Dock."  It had what appeared to be Swiss Cheese with mice peeping in and out the holes.  A Krazy Kat figure was spinning at the top of that display.

Detail of Hickory Dickory Dock: Created by Master Builders Association of King and 

Snohomish Counties & Gelotte Hommas Architecture. Chef Jay Sardeson. 

I was in awe when I saw the gingerbread boat, rocking back and forth.  It was very impressive, and may have been my favorite.

Detail of:  I Saw A Ship A-Sailing: Created by 4D Architects, Inc. Chef Jay Sardeson. 

There was a large, upside-down shoe, that various creatures lived in - that was really fun.

Detail of:  There Was an Old Woman who Lived in a Shoe: Created by DLR Group. Chef Armstrong.

Another favorite of mine, had a cow jumping over the moon of the village.  There was also a dish and spoon running off together, a cat playing fiddle, a dog laughing, and lots of other details.  It was totally beautiful.

Detail of:  Hey Diddle Diddle: Created by Weber Thompson. Chef David Mestl.

There was so much detail put into every display, they were obviously a ton of work to get together.  I looked over and over at each display, trying to take it all in.  I did not even notice, until I got home, that one of the displays had a Loch Ness Monster as part of it!  So, that was an unexpected delight.

Detail of:  Jack and the Beanstalk: Created by Callison. Chef Lee Baldyga

Overall, it was a very fun evening.  I was happy to share it with my friend and my family.

 Today is the last day for "The Lights of Christmas," but you can go see the gingerbread houses another displays at the Sheraton until January 5, 2014.  Wishing you again happy holiday season! 

Merry Christmas, Everyone!

Merry Christmas to all my readers, friends, and family!  May you have a happy and peaceful holiday season.

Waiting for Santa by jackie-s-eyeslikeacat

Last Year's Ugly Christmas Sweater, This Year's Winner!

Last year I bought an ugly Christmas sweater from a Goodwill.  I was trying to win a contest at Christmas Party for one of the places I worked at.  I embellished it with tinsel, some bows, and some unusual ornaments, but I did not win that year.  That was okay, I still had fun, and the winner was quite the site to see that year.  I kept my sweater around, however, because I thought it might still come in handy someday.  See the process here.

I have since left the one work place, but my other job, that I continue to work at, decided to have an Ugly Sweater contest this year.  

I had to make a few repairs to last year's sweater, but other than that, it was good to go!  So, Wednesday we wore our sweaters, Thursday we had a delicious potluck and voted, and Friday I learned that I won!  I had my choice of 3 Seahawks items.  Two were shirts.  There was a dark blue one, and a bright green one.  There was also some sort of bag, I think.  I choose the dark blue shirt.  It goes nicely with a Seahawks hat I bought myself, because I thought it was cool.  Now, that I have those items, plus a Jack-In-The-Box Seahawks Antenna Ball for my route car, that my friend Marsha gave me for my birthday - I guess I really should watch some of the games?  It is kind of hard, since I cancelled my cable sometime last year.  I don't really miss my cable, either.  

I have been incredibly busy the past couple of weeks.  I was taken off the Seattle Route, which I truly loved, to do a new route.  I was chosen because they felt they could trust me and I am reliable, so that is good.  I really miss seeing Seattle every day though.  I feel homesick for it.  I have been putting in some long hours with the new route as well.  Trying to find places I have never been to in the dark has been challenging, even with my TomTom.  It has only been a couple of weeks, but I think I am finally figuring things out, and learning how to drive the route more effectively.  Perhaps, I will even have new things to blog about!

I can still go to Seattle, on my days off, when I have some free time.  Luckily, I live fairly close by.  I really hope to see The Gingerbread Village at the Sheraton before it leaves this year.  I have never done that.  I also have a couple of free tickets to see some light festival somewhere up North, where I have never gone.  I am not sure when I am going to do that, but with free tickets, I don't want them to go to waste.

I cannot believe how quick Christmas is coming this year.  I looked on my calendar and realized it is this Wednesday!  I still have much to do.  Hope you all are having a happy holiday season, wherever you are at, and whatever reason you are celebrating at this time of year.

Places to Eat!

Over the spring and summer months, I had the opportunity to eat out quite a bit.  I did not want my blog to be just about food, so I decided to wait awhile before posting about all the places I have tried.  There are many other great restaurants out there, but I chose only 3 for now.  All of them are in the Northwest part of Washington.

The Colofon Cafe.  I used to go to this place while I attended Western.  It is in the Old Fairhaven part of Bellingham.  It has changed quite a bit since I had last been there.  It used to be a combination of bookstore and cafe,  and now it is a cafe, and there is a bookstore/gift shop that is right next to it – that is larger, but not part of the cafe itself.  They have upgraded the menu, as well.  My classic favorite thing to eat there is the Smoked Salmon Melt, which is smoked salmon, cream cheese, red onion, and Swiss cheese melted onto a bagel, and served with a tomato and sprouts.  It is melt-in-your-mouth good!  My dad ordered the Greek Salad which was also good, and was served pita bread and the best tasting hummus I have ever had.

For dessert I was hoping they would still have their Hazelnut Pie.  It used to be on the menu, and it was excellent.  It has not been there the last two times I have visited, so I am not sure they even make it anymore.  The Peanut Butter Pie is pretty good, but my mom cannot eat it, as she is intolerant to peanuts.

The atmosphere is cozy.  They had some nice artwork hanging on the walls, which adds to the environment.  I believe the artwork was for sale, so it might change from week to week.  I really liked what they had the week we went to the cafe.

The outside of the cafe has almost completely changed.  I took some old black and white photographs of this place when I was in college, and am glad to have those memories preserved.  The renovation is nice, though.  People can enjoy listening to music while sitting on the grass, and there appears to be a place on a nearby building that they probably show movies on in the summer.

La Cocina del Puerco.  Located in Bellevue, Washington.  My aunt introduced my family to this place years ago, and when my mom was over for a visit, she asked if we could go there.  I had forgotten about the place, but remembered where it was, so we headed over there for a late lunch.

I ordered #1, which is Tres Taquitos.  They hand-make their tortillas, and you have a choice of three meats.  I decided to have one meat per taquito, so I had a sample of all three.  I liked the pork one best.  I sort of remember that I ordered that same dish years ago, with just pork , and found that to be my favorite.

When I was asked what I wanted to drink, I noticed a bright red home-made drink behind the counter.  When I asked the cashier what it was, he said, “Strawberry Lemonade.” So I gave it a try.  It was the best Strawberry Lemonade I have ever tasted.  More like strawberry punch, as it had so many strawberries in it.  It was incredibly good.  I went back a few weeks later, craving for the strawberry drink, but they did not have it that day, which was disappointing.  I ordered the #1 again, but just with pork.  The dish comes with rice and beans, too.  They lay a raw green onion on top, which I see more as a pretty garnish when unchopped, but if you like raw, green onions, it is certainly edible.  The chunky salsa on the side is good too.  This is not what you might find as typical Mexican food.  Nothing is deep fried and they use very little cheese, if any.  The beans have maybe a little Parmesan on top, but that is all.  The meats are tender, and have a kind of slow-cooked Crock-Pot taste, that makes it feel like a good home-cooked meal.  It is pretty healthy compared to other Mexican restaurants.

The atmosphere is fun.  There are card tables with colorful tin chairs to sit on, and piñatas and other paraphernalia hanging on the walls and shelves of the little restaurant.  Your order at the counter, and they will bus your tables after you leave.

Update:  Sadly this place has closed since I wrote this blog.  I miss it. 

The Sammamish Cafe.

“It is like a fairy-tale!” my mom said as she saw my order of M&M Hot Chocolate.

“It IS a fairy-tale!” my dad incredulously retorted, looking at it, too.

If Patty’s Eggnest is too far North for you (I mentioned Patty’s Eggnest in a blog found here), Sammamish Cafe is pretty comparable.  I have been there quite a bit, both for breakfasts and lunches, and have enjoyed everything so far.  The first time I went there, the wait was very long, but after that, not too bad.  I guess it just depends on when you go.

The first thing I ever ate there was the Special of the Day, so it is not on the regular menu.  It was a Coconut Creme Crepe.  The waitress told me to try it before pouring the syrup she served on the side, because it tends to be pretty sweet.  She was right.  The crepe was really good, but too sweet to have the delicious syrup poured over it.  It came with bacon and eggs.

The next thing  I ate when I went back was their Huevos Rancheros.   They had pretty good flavor.  The tortilla was not crisp, or deep fried, which a normally like.  It was pretty good, nevertheless.  The hash-browns were cooked to perfection as well.

Other items I recommend are the California Omelette and the Prime Rib Dip (which is most excellent).  The orange juice is freshly squeezed, but the M&M Hot Chocolate is quite tasty as well.

The atmosphere is woodsy and sporty, which is pretty fun.  The waitresses there are really nice, too.

There are so many other great places to eat that I haven’t mentioned, but if you haven’t checked these out, I recommend all three.  So maybe when you are shopping around during the holidays, you can take a break and have breakfast or lunch at one of these places.  

Wishing you a Happy Thanksgiving coming this Thursday!  I plan on cooking the traditional turkey, mashed potatoes and graving, stuffing, and pumpkin pie.  It is a lot of hard work, but it is worth it.

Halloween & November

This month, one of my Polyvore groups came up with an interesting contest, with some set rules - to create a series of sets in a journal-like form.  Only 3 sets can be entered in the contest, but you can make more sets on your own.  It was kind of a fun thing to do.  Here are my entries:

November 4, 2013 by jackie-s-eyeslikeacat featuring wooden window treatments

Distressed t shirt / Dana Buchman black trousers / Qupid mid calf flat boots / Red ruffle scarf, $13 / Old Navy stretch glove / Smythson Jump For Joy textured-leather notebook / Wooden window treatment / Wall art / Black home decor / ferm LIVING home decor, $115 / Autumn photo - Scattered by the wind digital file - Autumn leaves -... / Percy & Reed Dry Shampoo 150ml, $19 / Infinity - Birds - Temporary Tattoo (Set of 2)

November 3, 2013 by jackie-s-eyeslikeacat featuring a fig tree

Long sleeve t shirt / A.N.A peplum top / Topshop skirt / Mama.licious black tight, $37 / Vintage style brooch / Smythson Jump For Joy textured-leather notebook / Gold home decor / Alessi home decor, $37 / Doodle Kittens With Pen, $4.67 / Fig tree / Apple iPod Touch 32GB MP3 Player (5th Generation)- Black (MD723LL/A) / Realistic Stuffed Tuxedo Cat 11 Inch Plush Animal by Aurora at Stuffed... / Celestial the Stuffed Unicorn by Aurora At Stuffed Safari / Playforever Mini Speedy Le Mans by Julian Meagher, $35 / TY Toys 'Rainbow Dash' Beanie Baby Blue One Size / Green Toys Recycling Truck

November 2, 2013 by jackie-s-eyeslikeacat featuring a black scoop neck tee

Black scoop neck tee / Plus size tee / Boot cut jeans / Striped socks / Paul Smith umbrella, $160 / Smythson Jump For Joy textured-leather notebook

As mentioned above, I got a Sailor Moon action figure in the mail that I am really excited about!  I had been looking at it for awhile, and showed a link of it to my sister over the Internet.  My sister bought hers first, and I was feeling a little envious about it, so I wound up getting one too!  It is actually really cool, even though I haven't taken it out of the box yet.

Also, just before November started, my office decided have a costume contest for Halloween, I decided to dress up as Wonder Woman.  I wasn't sure if I wanted to dress up at all - but it turned out to be fun.

DC Comics Wonder Woman Glitter Juniors Red V-neck Cape Tee (found at Amazon.com), Headpiece and Gauntlets (found at a Spirit Halloween store), "The Golden Lasso of Truth" (not called that in the store, was found at Home Depot), round red earrings (by Avon, years ago).

There were many great costumes, at my office that day.  There was a Whoopee Cushion, a Bad Tooth Fairy, a couple of hippies, a pirate, a witch, Minnie Mouse, Avril Lavine, The 13th Fan/Man (who was a cross between the "Ghost Face" from "Scream" and a Seahawks fan, with skeleton hands), a Reindeer, and Superman too!

I did not win, someone who dressed up as a convict stole the prize!  (Pun intended - yeah... I know, boooooo).

My Birthday and the EMP Experience

Jason's mask and machete from "Friday the 13th"

Last Friday, October 11th, was my birthday.  I usually know exactly what I want to do every year, but this year, I was a bit stumped.  One friend took me to lunch.  I had dinner later with another friend, who asked me if I wanted to go see a horror movie thing at the EMP.  "A horror movie thing?"  I said, "I don't really like horror movies."  Then, I realized, it would not be watching horror movies, but looking at the props.  That sounded kind of cool, so I told her I would let her know.

Entrance to the horror exhibit at the EMP, I think it is a really cool design.

While I was looking online, I noticed that the EMP also had Science Fiction and Fantasy movie props!  There would be a Dalek from Doctor Who there, a cool dragon, costumes from "The Princess Bride," and many other interesting and awesome things!  We bought our tickets that night, and went on Saturday.

Above:  Costumes worn by the cast of "The Princess Bride"

Below:  The sword of Indigo Montoya, and the sword of the Six-Fingered Man 

and his glove (The Princess Bride).  I am not certain what movie the bottom sword is from.

Susan's bow and arrow's from "The Chronicles of Narnia"

We started off looking at the Nirvana exhibit.  It has been there for awhile, in fact I went with my sister and her husband before they left for Japan.  I saw a few things I don't remember seeing before.  One of the things I did not remember seeing was a MTV moon-man award given to Nirvana at one time.  That was pretty cool.  There were some also funny little hand-written letters with drawings that may have been there, but it was so crowded the time we went that I did not bother to read them.

Part of the Nirvana exhibit at EMP.

We looked at another area of the EMP and saw Eddie Van Helen's guitar!  I have always thought his guitar was really cool looking, so it was fun to see in real life.

Eddie Van Halen's electric guitar.

Next we went to the Jimmy Hendrix exhibit.  I am almost certain they changed that a little since I have been there.  I was looking at some of his clothes they had on display, and was amazed at the quality of fabric they were made out of.  I would not have guessed from photos I have seen of him how nice the fabric was, but it was quite luxurious looking.  I really like the outfit currently on display with the vertical striped jacket.  It is very nice.

Jimmy Hendrix's cool style.

The Sci-Fi exhibit was our next stop.  We walked through some fluorescent lights that looked as if we were traveling through space!  The first things we saw there were from the classic T.V. version of "Star Trek."  There was red dress uniform, as well as a yellow pants uniform, Captain Kirk's chair, with a bunch of furry little round things (called "Tribbles") surrounded below it.  I had no idea what they were supposed to be, but after some research it sounds like they are some sort of furry and purry alien thing, so I would probably like them.

Ex-ter-min-nate!!!  Beware - it's a Dalek from "Doctor Who!"

Yoda's cane and necklace, it is!

So many other things were on display, Neo's coat, from The Matrix (which had a really cool texture to it), the cane that Yoda hobbled with (which was maybe a foot-and-a-half tall?), and the necklace he wore in "Star Wars," Superman's outfit that was worn by Christopher Reeve in the first movie, and my personal favorite thing - a Dalek from a classic "Doctor Who" show!  There were many other items there from various movies and T.V. shows, it was all very spectacular.

Is it a bird?  Is it a plane?  No... it's Superman's outfit!

Exiting the Sci-Fi exhibit, a little down the hallway, was a very large, wooden door to open into the Fantasy Exhibit.  Inside was dimly lit, had what appeared to be some sort of straw on the ground, there was an odor of a fairy-woodsy-smell, and music to set the mood.

The first room had a "Xena, Warrior Princess" costume, also a costume from "Snow White and the Huntsman," (that Kristin Stewart wore in the prison scenes), looking around the room there were several illustrations of from various movies, shows and books.  The second room had the most amazing dragon.  It appeared to be sleeping, but when you moved it's tail a little, he sort of opened his eyes wider, to wake up a little.  He was one of my favorite things.  There were also some costumes and props from the Princess Bride, Narnia, Labyrinth, as well as many other exciting items.

The prison dress from "Snow White and the Huntsman."

David Bowie wore this in "Labyrinth."

This is a very cool dragon (though the photo is lousy, sorry), while it tries to "sleep," it's eyes are more 

shut and red,then you go pet his tail, and he starts to wake up!

The last exhibit we walked into was the section that my friend wanted to see most.  The Horror Exhibit.  When we first walked in we saw a white shirt with blood stains on it with a red tie.  We were both kind of hoping for some reason it was a shirt from the popular TV series, "Dexter," but it was not.  We saw the ax from "The Shining," Jason's mask and machete from "Friday the 13th," one of the actual masks from "Scream," and a bunch of other things that I did not exactly know the movies, but I think some I recognized from previews from TV.  My favorite thing at that exhibit was a costume worn by a dancing zombie in Micheal Jackson's "Thriller" music video!  Since it was not the costume that Micheal wore himself, I had to re-watch the video to see which zombie it was from the video.  I forgot how awesome that music video was!

Worn by a dancing zombie in Micheal Jackson's "Thriller" music video.

After seeing the amazing exhibits at the EMP, we went to this place called "Pie" in the Seattle Center Food Court and had, well, pie.  I first had the Chicken Pot Pie, which was delicious.  I had trouble deciding on a dessert pie.  I originally was going to order the Strawberry-Rhubarb pie, but I had a strawberry-rhubarb thing recently, so I ordered the Almond Cream pie.  I was expecting the filling to be fluffy and light from the looks of it, but it was thick and rich.  It was not exactly what I was expecting in taste or texture.  My friend let me try some of hers (she did order the Strawberry-Rhubarb pie), it was very tasty.  I kind of wish I had that, instead.

(Pie was eaten too fast for photo to be taken.  Photo person was very hungry.)

We left Seattle, then I hung out with my friend at her apartment and played video games and watched "Frankenweenie" which I saw last year, and really enjoyed.  It was a perfect ending to our awesome day.

A cool poster to a movie I have never heard of.

For more information about the exhibits and the EMP, visit http://www.empmuseum.org.  

"Can't Look Away, the Lure of Horror Film" only runs till the end of the month, October 31st, so if you want to go, go now!

My Review of "Alice I Have Been" by Melanie Benjamin

Alice I Have Been by Melanie Benjamin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars on audio, 5 of 5 stars on digital.

My mom recommended this book quite awhile ago.  The book is about a woman who was the inspiration of the “real life Alice” of “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” and “Through the Looking Glass.”  At the time, my mom told me the book was fiction, and I started reading it, thinking it was purely fiction. Later, my dad looked online and told me that it appeared to be a true story, that “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” was inspired by a real person (which it was).  However, at the end of the book, it states that the book itself is fiction, with historical facts, which, in that sense, does make it fiction.  There is much speculation in the book, and I was starting to feel a little judgmental about certain characters, but after reading the afterword in the digital version, one cannot be sure if what was written really happened or not, or perhaps back then, for some reason, it may have been more acceptable, under the circumstances.  The afterword is not in the audio version of the book.

The book is funny in some parts, creepy in others, romantic, and heartbreaking.  It draws you into Alice’s view of growing up and growing old might have been like.

I started listening to the audio version first (as read by Samantha Eggar).  The voice actress has a pleasant enough voice, but there are a couple of times in her narration, that the tone seems wrong.  Like, for instance, when a character is supposed to say something calmly, and it comes out of the narrator’s mouth as agitated.  There are only a couple of incidents, but it was a bit distracting.


I might have been about half-way through the book, when I decided to also download a digital copy to read along as well.  I noticed it also had pictures, which always seems to bring the story to life a bit more.
The book was definitely intriguing.  I enjoyed reading it.  I wonder about some parts, hoping maybe the speculation was a bit misunderstood.



Because of this book, I am listening to an audio version of “The Adventures of Alice in Wonderland & Through the Looking Glass,” as read by famous actor, Christopher Plummer.  So far, he is doing an excellent job with the reading.  The voices are really perfect.


View all my reviews