Cozyland has been too busy with work this week and practically post-free – but lets start the weekend out right with this picture of Henry Burke Olivier (just love that name!).

Henry, or Hank as his BFF’s may call him, was born this past December to Miriam and Michael who must just want to gobble him up when they see him like this cuz he’s so darned cute!

I have a feeling we’ll be seeing a lot of Henry because any baby who sleeps like this must be feeling very uninhibited and that means cozy! Sweet dreams Hank!

But lots of adventures happened in the meanwhile which I will be happy to share with you starting this weekend when I can finally sit down and take a breath. I may even explain what this picture above is all about…it was quite glorious!

More soon!

And by soup to nuts I mean EVERYTHING! That includes all furniture, paint and accessories!

That’s just one of the concepts behind her brilliant new website TheFrugalLifestyle.com where Marissa Winfrey will give you all kinds of tips on how to live fabulously for a song! We at Cozyland applaud this concept! She’s got coupons, resources, lots of links and even tells you creative ways to make money.
Now who doesn’t need that?

I’ve had a great time “thrifting” with Marissa, she has an incredible eye for a bargain along with a way of placing furniture that is sheer genius. I tried so hard to learn from her but I still can’t come close!

Click on her blog for a totally itemized account of all the goodies in this room – including flea market purchases, garage sales and yes, even a curbside discard. Can you say dumpster diving?
Heck, I’ll never forget when I found the most amazing leopard circle chair in my back alley dumpster back in 1980something. I called my friend Valerie so fast to come and get it your head woulda been spinning! That chair has lived its leopard life at Val’s house for many years but has since been reupholstered into something a tad more sophisticated but continues to live on! Marissa from the TheFrugalLifestyle.com would highly approve!

Marissa can really inspire you to realize you don’t have to have a lot of money to really create a beautiful space and live well. Although I am personally possessed by her design section there’s information about all the important stuff too like housing, insurance, debt, tech and even how to have FUN! No one can afford not to check it out!!!

And stay tuned to Cozyland as I have a curbside cozy post coming up a la TheFrugalLifestyle.com that will rock your socks!

Nothing can be more fun than having your girlfriend come and spend her birthday weekend with you in your new city, a city you already know she loves!

Valerie and I met in some dark punk club back in the early 80′s and have been hanging out ever since. Boy, have we been through a lot! And this weekend when she flew out from Los Angeles to Seattle we 3 sunny/cloudy/sprinkly days just doing all kinds of stuff that cozy memories are made of!
Above, a walk around Queen Anne where even in glorious fall the Dahlia’s are still in bloom!

To warm us up from the walk, a pot of tea at The Teacup on Queen Anne Blvd. They were out of Earl Grey so we ordered Irish Breakfast and it was delicious!!!! They are in the spirit of the season and this pumpkin is actually tattooed (so Seattle!).

I decided to do a cozy birthday dinner party for Valerie at home serving a new Autumn favorite – roasted pork tenderloin with apples and onions, potatoes with rosemary and of course, chocolate cake for dessert! Did I mention lots of wine? Well, lots of wine…

The next day after a nice sleep in we’re off to the countryside in search of a pumpkin patch. Why? Because that’s just the kind of girls we are! And I really wanted Valerie to see the farmland of Washington as it really is incredible and inspiring! Both Val and I love to cook and the whole farm to table movement is something we’re both interested in. Also the very important pumpkin to porch movement too!!!

While getting a little bit lost driving around not paying total attention we noticed an Vintage Flea Market – who could resist that? The booths were beautifully merchandised and I knew both Val and I could do some serious shopping damage here if we weren’t careful.
(I loved this drawer full of antique salt and pepper shakers tied up with raffia!)

I suppose luckily for us and our wallets, the market, which I later found out is called Ruffles and Rust, “officially” started that night at 5pm. We found this out as we were “officially” being kicked out. I gotta remember Val’s parting words “I’ve been kicked outta better places than this!”

Next stop was our pumpkin patch at The Farm at Swan’s Trail in Snohomish. Choosing which pumpkin patch/corn maze can be a daunting task as there are so many options in the area north of Seattle so I was really glad to get a recommendation from my friend Kimberly who had visited this one the previous week. Good choice!

First stop at the farm was to buy a bowl of their delicious pumpkin soup laced with some sour cream. It was the PERFECT soup day and we couldn’t have been happier. We decided to forgo the corn maze, strolled through the petting zoo and then headed straight out to the pumpkin field where not only do they have an incredible variety of pumpkins but some are actually still attached to the vine. Nothing phony about this place! We had a hard time choosing….

That night dinner and a movie – well if you consider mini burgers dinner? Hey, we were in a hurry to make the 7pm of Social Network (good movie!). Afterwards a stroll through the leaf strewn streets of Ballard which on a Friday night was absolutely hopping in a beautiful, old building, tree-lined kind of way!

Next day we headed down to Pike’s Place Market. No trip to Seattle should be without it! We arrived early enough to be able to really see them making the cheese at Beechers which was great. I also lucked out at a free wine and cheese tasting at DeLaurentis (didn’t think I could love this store more but now I do!). The fruits, vegetables, flowers and seafood were spectacular as always!

Valerie was able to get a few goodies to take home to her husband and 2 children and we even did a little shopping at Nordstrom.

It was nearing 2 o’clock and time for a late lunch. Since I also had wanted to show Val Fremont we headed over there and had lunch at the new and adorable Homegrown, the sustainable sandwich shop!. They are soon to open in Queen Anne and I can’t wait! Anticipating a heavy dinner we both had the beet salad and I had a small cup of the potato roasted garlic soup. Yes, it was definitely another soup day and I could not resist!
After some R&R at home we had altered our plans omitting the pumpkin carving segment as the weather was not permitting and with hats and umbrellas headed out on foot to our neighbohood pizza place Via Tribunali.

Three blocks away we hardly had time to get wet and we luckily managed to score a table after a 5 minute wait. The place was jumping, apparently we were not the only ones to think this was the perfect place to be on a blustery, drizzly October night. After a bottle of red wine and 3 amazing just like in Italy pizzas we were ready to leave when in blew Gavin just returning from some rowdy baby shower. I suggested out next bottle of wine come from my house and so off we went. We definitely weren’t drunk but we were singing towards the end of this evening and we can thank Marc’s iPad for providing the answers to all of our music trivia questions (Silent Lucidity vs. Extreme?).
Val had an early flight the next morning and I returned from the airport as the sun was rising over Seattle and it was quite beautiful! What a great weekend with my girlfriend!!! Next time bring Tony and Nick and Milana!!! In fact, next time move here!!!!! Something tells me Valerie would love it here as much as I do!

Wow, this is the kind of day dreams are made of! At least my dreams being the Autumn-addict that I am! Yesterday (Sunday) we took a walk into Queen Anne with jackets buttoned in search of coffee (and a birthday card). The right coffee is easy to find, the right birthday card is another story….

I know the rain will come eventually but so far my 3+ months in Seattle have included a lot of days like this with brilliant blue skies and white puffy clouds. This is especially beautiful when overlooking the Puget Sound!
And now that the leaves are turning colors it’s in my book, even better!

My girlfriend Valerie is coming into town this Thursday and we will have FUN rain or shine, but please please please let us have a couple of days like this!!!

Wow, what a Saturday we just had! It had so many layers, so many adventures, it’s hard to recount them all!
(But I will of course!)

It started out as a day with really no specific plans. Then a quick text exchange and we are meeting Gavin and Kimberly for coffee down the street at Cafe Fiore.

Kimberly and I are decadent and run across the street to Top Pot Doughnut for a little “addition” to our coffee! These really are the BEST doughnuts I have ever eaten!

The next thing I know we all jump into Gavin’s car and head off to the Apple store so Kimberly can take her computer to the Genius bar. Thank God the JCrew store is right next door (I’m not sure who to thank for that but somebody was thinking!). I didn’t buy anything but I’ve got my eye on a few things as always…

I probably will NOT buy these sequin sweat pants!

So whats next? It’s a beautiful day – hardly a cloud is the sky and temps in the high 70′s. I want to be in nature! We head off to nearby Magnuson Park which is right off of Lake Washington.

The water is so clear and the shore is lined with all kinds of smooth pebbles perfect for skipping. I hunted for flat ones and Kimberly was the Champion skipper (she got several rocks to jump 5 times!).

The path we hiked along went mostly along the shore but it did cut inland a bit where there were nothing but tons of blackberries bushes loaded with berries ripening in the sun!

Afterwards we jumped back into the car heading towards Ballard but got sidetracked when we realized we were driving by the famous Gas Works Park which Marc and I had not been to yet – we had to stop!

The old “Gas Works” factory, what remains is a cool old rusted factory which really is impressive in its antiquity. Especially since it sits perched on Lake Union and is surrounded by a beautiful green park. People seem to like to get married here. Lots of sailboats and people just relaxing. I guess you could say (or sing) “Saturday, in the park…”
It’s past 4pm and you know what that means – HAPPY HOUR!!!!!! and if there is one thing I have learned after being in Seattle for almost 2 months is that they have GREAT happy hours!

Hey! Fu Kun Wu to you too!

We started out at Thaiku in Ballard. Thaiku is super cool. Styled in what I’m gonna call Asian Apothacary you’ll definitely want to help yourself to an elixir or two at their dark and mysterious Fu Kun Wu Lounge.

Exotically cozy (thats a new one!) there’s a great assortment of unusual and delicious drinks to choose from 3 of which you are only allowed to have one of because of this special ingredient. Leading this list is the Radiant Flower.

I had the Oolong tea martini which is made with sweet tea vodka and being a tea addict this is right up my alley! Fu Kun Wu Lounge also has great appetizers of which I ate too many!!!!

I just wanna say how much I LOVE Ballard! Seriously, there are so many fantastic bars and restaurants I want to go to there and all are in walking distance in this charming old town. Take that Los Angeles!!!! That said, we decided to head on over to this amazing French Bistro called Bastille where Gavin’s niece Em works.

Em was able to get us great seats at the round window table with the small fire pit in the middle (this is large shared window table great for people watching inside and out!). Here we took Gavin’s cue and ordered the Vesper – straight out of the James Bond movie Casino Royale, it is an elegant clean concoction of gin, vodka and Lillet. A long twist of lemon and voila! Delicious!

Hmmmm, it was getting a little late, well, not really except we knew we had screaming cats at home begging to be fed.There was no getting around that. So that’s what we did. We fed the cats. That is until ten minutes later when our phones were ringing and it was the dynamic duo suggesting a neighborhood walk concluding our adventure at Via Tribunali for their 10:00 happy hour. No need to twist our arms, off we went! The walk felt good and we passed by Kerry Park to see the usual array of tourists snapping away at one of the great views of the Space Needle. Then down to Marshall Park for a moonlit view of the Sound which is always beautiful. Minutes later and around the corner we’re already at a booth at the Trib ordering $5 happy hour wood burning pizzas and carafes of red wine.

Standing at the bar are some of the neighborhood Comstock boys – buddies of Gavin’s we had met at their Horses Cut shop Party. A few seats down is Molly and Chris. In walks Gabe. Oh, and there’s the guy who I have a video of dancing on my iphone (because he’s really good swing/country dancer). Yes, I’ll email it to you right now! Our waiter is the usual John Paul who tells me he saw me at the Apple store today. Who is not here? It was like a bit of a Fellini film but not quite so weird!

We didn’t close the place down and we didn’t get thrown out but our long wonderful day full of parks and walking and nibbles and cocktails and friends was over.

Good night Seattle – until next time (but lets not plan it, lets just let it happen!!!)

Helen was in town from San Francisco this past weekend to attend a Microsoft conference. In an unbelievable coincidence she was staying at a friend’s house just up the street from us! Amongst the many things we did this weekend, just hanging out on the front porch in the sunshine was relaxing and fun. Of course as tech-y journalists, relaxing usually means having some device in your hands be it an iphone or a ipad.

I think I just had an icat. I’m still a little behind…….

I love this picture of Helen and Marc in the doorway. I think they look amazing!

I just love Sunday brunch! Especially when it’s given by really good friends and you know it’s gonna be special! This past Sunday Marc and I were invited over to Miriam and Michael’s new house for brunch and as we wound our ways though Laurel Canyon the green of spring and the wild flowers growing all over the canyon just increased the sense of relaxation – so rare these day!

There is nothing like a spread of homemade quiches (asparagus and lorraine), fresh fruit salad, bagels with all the trimmings and the most amazing cloud of a coconut cake to make you want to reach for a glass of champagne. Wait, did I say that?!!! Yes, I did and that’s because Mimosa’s are Brunch 101 and everyone should know that!!!

Luckily Michael was whipping out some pretty good strong French Press coffee to keep us from entering that lovely but dangerous champagne haze – Miriam calls it the Laurel Canyon Lethargy syndrome (but Marc and I just had such a cozy spot on their couch…!)

Marc and I were the last to leave, honestly I could have stayed on and on just sitting at the dining room table chatting away but the day still called, always something to do, even on a Sunday. Miriam and Michael were expecting some last minute drop ins, perhaps there to finish off the coconut cake or have a later afternoon or early evening Mimosa.

That said, I think it’s fair to say that Sunday brunch is just a state of mind!

Thanks you guys, it was absolutely lovely and downright Cozy!

Why we went ice skating of course!

Some of us felt more at home on the ice…

than others……..

Yes, this is what toddlers use!!!! and thank God for this Penguin! I never would have made it around without it!
I am hanging on for dear life!!!

Now we’re really in trouble…Martin brings us Gluhwein topped off with a shot of Rum!
Cheers boys and watch out for that Penguin, I hear they really can’t handle their liquor!

Perfect 10?? Hardly, but we’re still standing although still waiting for Ice Capades to call!

Look out Tanya Harding wherever you are!

Ok, I admit I know the words to a song from the Shirley Jones musical Oklahoma, how weird is that???

Former roomate Shelly is now living and going to school in upstate New York and the other morning while out to catch her bus she had to play a bit of Crossing Gaurd to prevent what she called a Duck Massacre!

So out in the middle of the intersection she wen (as any of us would do!) and stopped traffic until Momma duck and her long string of cohorts safely crossed the road.

I’m sure there is a joke in there somewhere, just have to figure out what rhymes with duck. Oh, nevermind……..