Planning for Vancouver

We’re going to be spending our anniversary weekend, which is just over a month away, in Vancouver, B.C. this year. We were there for Jessica’s birthday last year and had so much fun that we had to go back. Amy and Tom will be coming up from Colorado to stay at our house with the girls, which means this will be the first time both of us are away from both of the girls. Our actual anniversary is on Thursday, April 3, so we’re going out to a nice sushi dinner at Shiro’s in Belltown that night, then we’ll drive up to Vancouver the following morning.

When I went to Vancouver with Rico many years ago, we had dinner at a great Italian restaurant called Cioppino’s Mediterranean Grill, which I of course was excited about because Cioppino was my dad’s signature dish that I grew up on. When Rico came over for brunch last Sunday, we talked about that trip, and he brought up that restaurant in particular. Since Jess and I hadn’t yet planned any meals for this upcoming trip, it seemed like a good place to go. Needless to say I made a reservation there for our first night in town.

We also purchased tickets to our first NHL hockey game, which will be the L.A. Kings at the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday night, April 5th. I’ve only been to one hockey game in my life, which was a Seattle Thunderbirds game for Butch’s birthday about 5 or 6 years ago. It was at the Key Arena and I remember everyone having a blast. I’ve wanted to go to an NHL game ever since then so I’m super excited about finally getting to go.

We don’t have much planned other than that yet, but we’ll be staying at the Metropolitan Hotel in downtown Vancouver, which is where we stayed last year. It’s in a great location right off Robson St, which is a very popular area with a lot going on. We definitely want to check out the Kitsilano Beach area, which we randomly stumbled upon last year but didn’t get to spend much time in. It kinda felt like the Alki Beach of Vancouver so we’re looking forward to checking that out.

Not much else going on around here these days. The girls are both doing great and keeping us busy. Elise seems to have more hair every day and is happy as can be. I remember thinking Ava was a really happy baby but Elise may have her beat. She really is a great baby and has settled nicely into an eating and sleeping schedule. Here are a few recent pics of Elise.

Elise 7 months
Elise – 7 months

Elise 7 months

Dinner with Pete & Rico

Last night was one for the ages. I got to have dinner at one of my favorite restaurants (Il Terrazzo Carmine) with two of my all-time favorite people: my Godfather Pete Barbas, AKA Nouno, AKA Poop Deck Pete, or as my Dad used to call him, Poopy, and my best friend, who was also the best man at my wedding, Michael Don Rico, AKA MDR, AKA Don Rizzle, AKA The Don, AKA Uncle Rico, AKA Reek, AKA The Prince of Belltown. I’ve been wanting to set this dinner up for a while, and since I had a break from school this week, we were able to make it happen.

If you love Italian food, there is no better restaurant in Seattle than Il Terrazzo Carmine. It’s a classic place with a lot of history, outstanding food, and a very impressive clientele. A few tables down from us was the former Mayor of Seattle, and its not uncommon to find other Seattle icons like Gene Juarez hanging out there regularly. Over the course of four hours we enjoyed an antipasti platter, Kushi oysters from BC, Burrata cheese salad with golden beets, veal al limone, sea bass saltimboca, tiramisu, and a variety of wines, beers, and cocktails. When I first walked in I quickly ran into an old friend named Victoria that Rico and I used to work with for years at El Gaucho. She ended up serving us all night and took outstanding care of us. She new exactly how to deal with Pete holding court and really added to the overall experience.

The only thing better than the food and service was the conversation. Pete is a Seattle legend and Rico and I wanted nothing more than to soak up a bunch of his stories from the old days of the Seattle bar and restaurant scene. He told us about his days running “Poop Deck Pete’s”, which was Seattle’s original Jazz club that he opened at the age of 21 and ran for 5 years. He also told stories about purchasing a tavern in Beacon Hill, which he renamed to “Pete’s Take 5”, and completely transformed the place. He took it from being a hole in the wall joint that only went through 9 kegs a month, to a standing room only establishment going through 55 kegs a month, and he did all this with no employees, working 100 hours a week! Unbelievable work ethic.

Rico is well on his way to becoming a Seattle legend, and is probably the most well-known person today in the Seattle restaurant scene. If you’ve worked at a nice restaurant in Seattle you’ve either worked with Rico, heard about him, or served him at some point. Regardless of his local fame and notoriety, he’s been a big brother/uncle to me for a long time now and I really love that guy. He will always be family to Jess and I, and we are very excited to have him over this Sunday for brunch; he hasn’t met the girls yet and we’re long overdue at this point.

Pete was in rare form last night and had Rico and me howling at his jokes and stories. He kept saying that we need to do this more often, so I made a promise to setup another dinner in the next month or so. Next time I’m definitely brining Jessica; I know how much she will enjoy hanging out with everyone. By the time we were leaving the restaurant last night, Rico and I were talking about how 30 years from now we’ll still be talking about this night, that’s how epic and special it was. I’ve probably got more great memories with Rico than any other of my friends, but this one has to go right up near the top of that list, mostly because of Pete being such a character.

I’ve got a couple more days off school before resuming the quarter. As always, it’s been super nice not to have to worry about homework, but at this point I’ve only got about 4 months to go so I just want to finish strong and be done with it. Jessica and the girls have been doing great; we just made plans to spend our anniversary weekend in Vancouver, BC this April. Amy and Tom will be coming up to take care of both girls while we’re gone, meaning this will be the first time we’ve been away without either of them. We’re going to a hockey game while we’re up there, plus will be exploring some different parts of the city that we didn’t spend much time in last year. Obviously we’ll being eating well as well.

Tomorrow Elise turns 7 months, meaning that we’ll have some new photos of her up very soon. For now, here’s a few new pics of Ava, as well as a couple shots from dinner last night.

Pete and Rico
Pete and Rico

Pete, Rico and me
Pete, Rico and me

Our little painter
Our little painter

Ava Seahawks Parade
Ava at the Seahawks parade, before her meltdown

Having fun at the zoo
Having fun at the zoo

Seahawks Win!!!

Sunday night the Seahawks finally won the Superbowl! Having lived in Seattle for 30 of my 33 years, I can attest to how horrible they have been for much of that time. The last few seasons have been completely different though, and this year they finally reached the pinnacle of American sports. This was the most watched Superbowl in history, and it wasn’t even close. We beat the Broncos 43-8, which was something that no one saw coming.

The Broncos were widely considered to be one of the greatest offenses in league history and no one was giving Seattle much of a chance. Seattle has the number 1 defense, but everyone was betting on Peyton Manning. Too bad for them. The girls and I stayed home to watch the game and ended up having a blast. Laurel came over to join us for the first half and we all enjoyed our day. I made turkey chili, home made tortilla chips and french fries, and guacamole. I almost lost my voice from all the screaming, which poor little Elise did not appreciate, but I couldn’t help myself.

After the game the four of us hopped in the car and headed downtown to Century Link stadium. As you can imagine, the city was going absolutely nuts. I’ve never seen so much excitement like that and I’m really glad we did it. People were running down the streets high-fiving each other, others were hanging out of cars screaming and honking their horns. It was unforgettable. We ended up parking in Belltown and walking around to soak up all the Seahawks glory. Yesterday after work I bought a Russell Wilson jersey, and tomorrow the girls and I will be going to the celebration parade on 4th Ave.

I’ve heard a few people on Facebook complaining about how none of this really matters and we should devote our energy to more important causes. Although I understand their point and respect the fact that they haven’t jumped on the bandwagon, I think there’s something to be said for so many people uniting and enjoying this experience together. We may not be solving the world’s most important problems, but all these good vibes have to be worth something.

Can’t wait to go to the parade tomorrow and take some photos. Ava and Elise won’t remember it, but we’re going to have a great time. Go Hawks!!!