Pre-Iceland Photo Dump

I am leaving for Iceland in an hour - and since I know there will be a LOT of photos to process when I get back in a week, I want to post up the photos I am behind on. Granted I do not have a photo of the day for the last two days... but that is because I kept forgetting to put in a new battery into my camera. Whoops? Maybe I'll upload some camera phone pictures later... but that just seems lame..?



This was at afternoon tea at Queen Mary's Tearoom for Rama's baby shower. Delightful! What a classy place! Perfect place for a baby shower, or just a place to chat and spend some time. Beautiful decorations and tea cups, delicious teas, sorbet, tea sandwiches, scones and all so much more. Wonderful. I am definitely going to return there (or find some more tea rooms in Seattle). It has been oh so too long and makes me think of the amazing tea in London when I lived there.



Next up is Quirkle - a new boardgame. I've been researching games that do not involve much or any english that my family can easily play and this one was recommended to me. Love it! The tiles you see here are the ONLY component to the game. The game can be played with kids of adults and is extremely simple but.... sly? A scrabble with tiles possibly? Anyways - I really recommend it. It is great both with two and four people.



Then there are my first homemade truffles. I have wanted to make them for a while and decided to start off with a classic chocolate recipe. Of course I will turn first to see what smitten kitchen has to offer - and it delivers! Absolutely soft middle, a bit of a hard coating and delightful cocoa powder to top. They are not too sweet - even a bit bitter if you inhale the cocoa powder first. Perfect. I want to try some more iterations - with pistachios, mocha and hazelnut to start? So much to try! It did involve latex gloves and getting the kitchen covered in chocolate... but worth it in the end. I may add that even Ryan (who does not like most of my sweets) loved them and ate about 70% of the almost one pound batch. :)



The above photo is one of the many murals on the fence around my neighborhood construction project - the future CapHill light rail tunnel. I love how they decorated the walls - it made the project look so much more friendly. This particular mural is on the other side from where I usually walk so it was the first time I saw it. On that sunny day it really shone. :) I am looking forward to the light rail tunnel, but for now I am excited to look at the fun paintings.