Can you say ride ‘em cowgirl? Well, seems this kitten can! My very cool friend Shaun Jefford (director of Indie documentary Beijing Punk sent this all the way from his home in Australia, he’s a cat lover too!)
And whether this is the product of photo shop or not (and I like to think NOT) it still gave me my morning laugh and I hope the same for you. Can you say TGIFF? I think you know what the additional F stands for….!

BTW, it’s been snowing in Seattle and the city literally goes crazy! You’d think they never saw the stuff before! For the weekend though the prediction is blue skies and sunshine and I can’t wait!

Marc took this gorgeous picture early Sunday evening right as the sun was starting to set. This is a couple of blocks from our house and called Betty Bowen vista point. No matter what the weather, it is always beautiful and for me always calming! So although it’s only Tuesday I hope you week is going smoothly but if not, take a deep breath and think of your version of Betty Bowen and you will feel much much better!

Is it really already Sunday? What happened to the week? It was a crazy one as usual but at least it started out really nicely on Monday with that holiday filled with hearts and cupids and lots of love!

Usually we plan V day together and prepare some wonderful dinner at home to avoid the restaurant rucus. But this year, being in a new more manageable city, Marc told me he had a surprise in store for the 14th and all he would say me is that I should be ready to go by 7:30 and that I could dress up. And when I mentioned a few days earlier that I saw a topiary at the Metropolitan Market that I kinda loved (in lieu of flowers) he told me to get it myself as flowers would be showing up on the doorstep! Wow, seems romance was truly in the air!

But when we arrived home together and alas, no sign of flowers. A little sleuthing later and Marc discovered the box of roses had been placed on a spot on the porch which had allowed the wind (and there was plenty that night) to blow them right over the ledge. Easily retrievable thank goodness and no harm done to my beautiful bouquet! We exchanged cards over a glass of wine and inside mine was answer to where we were going that night. A tiny copy of the night’s menu for a Queen Anne landmark restaurant- Seattle celebrity chef Ethan Stowell’s How to Cook a Wolf!

What an amazing experience! Each course seemed more delicious than the next! Starting out with an Amuse Bouche of a perfect oyster with shaved red radish and meyer lemon we went on to the first course – I had a roasted beet salad (yellow and pink) with mandarin orange, pistachio and pecorino cheese. Marc had Painted Hills beef Tartar with capers, black pepper and egg with tiny crunchy toasts. The second course was the pasta course – so hard to choose but mine was the absolute winner – Tagliarini with Mediterranean mussels and salsa verde. This salsa verde I would be Sooooo happy to find the recipe in my Ethan Stowell’s New Italian Kitchen cookbook – made with Italian parsley, it was an incredible accompainment to the mussels! I discovered a new kind of amazing olive – Taggiasca in Marc’s dish of potato gnocchi with cauliflower and anchovy. Smaller than Kalamata and milder too, absolutely delicious and I will try and fine these to cook with!

Finally the main course, we saved room but these were not tiny portions we had been having. Still when my Pork Belly with brussel sprouts, celery root and thyme arrived I was in heaven. So delicious! And Marc’s Veal short rib agrodolce with soft polenta was just what the doctor ordered.

Did we really need dessert? Who said anything about need, this was Valentine’s and chocolate was just a given and in this case, it was a subtle piece of dense cake with the freshest orange ice cream and vanilla sauce. Yes, an espresso had to be by its side. Luckily the delicious bottle of red we had made sure that we slept well and cozily that night!

Maybe not the case for everyone but here in the Northwest I see hints of Springtime with signs of tulips and crocus popping up everywhere! For me after living in L.A. for so long I didn’t realize how much I missed the four seasons! And after Fall, Spring is definitely my favorite! Luckily, winter was mild for us in Seattle (don’t get me wrong, it’s still cold!!!) and relatively short. I continue to bundle up on our walks but my eyes are searching everywhere for buds on tree branches and the hint of flowers to be popping out of the earth and I am not being disappointed. Spring is going to be glorious!

As is this table setting which I found on a fantastic new website called Houszz.com shared with me by my fab friend Valerie who is in the process of remodeling her bathroom (and I know its going to be a killer job as this girl really has a mega watt sense of style)!

The white in this room makes such a fresh canvas for the collection of Spring flowers on this table (an idea that is basically adaptable to many rooms/table settings). I also love the eclectic collection of “vases” – vintage bottles, mason jars – just great found items! Most of all, I love the ladder in the background – a clever use of a utilitarian object in interior design!

The other day I took a walk in Belltown where my office is and came across this funny overrun community garden. It was in quite a state of winter shambles but had lots of evidence of future flowers including some already blossoming tiny pansies, surviving Swiss chard and even some arugula. If you look closely you can see it, minus the leaf I nibbled on!

Winter can always surprise us with a comeback so I’ll stay cozy with my scarves and stews but I am happy that Spring is right around the corner for all of us!

Have you ever heard of someone giving up an animal because they were “too nice”? Well, oddly enough, that is the case with my sister Lisa’s new kitty Allegro. She first spotted Allegro one Saturday at a PetCo adoption and it must have just been fate because with 4 cats already at home she was hardly looking for another one but this seemed just clearly meant to be.

And now just look at him, snug as a bug in a rug. Or make that a drawer! And getting along with, well, can we say 50% of his new siblings? In cat averages that ain’t too bad! Just look at him – a real sweetheart and we are very happy he to have him as our Cozy cat of the week!

Come rain or shine, taking the ferry to one of the islands is always romantic and always an adventure.
I’ll call Bainbridge Island the commuter island off of Seattle because the ride from the mainland to the island is about 30 minutes and during the week there’s lots of people making the daily trip to their offices. What a way to get to work, drive onto the ferry and away you go!

This past Saturday was grey and a little drizzly but not enough to stop us from taking out of town friend Jerome on a little trip to Bainbridge Island for lunch. This is the view as you approach the island.

After our short and sweet ferry ride we just hopped into our car and drove into town and arrived within minutes at the Harbour Public House for lunch. The place was hopping so a 20 minute wait gave us time to walk along the dock and look at boats, clouds and water. And once inside, very cozy!

The menu reads like an old newspaper and though the food here is not outstanding I did have one of the most delicious and unique clam chowders I’ve experienced yet (I am having fun exploring the different clam chowders of the Pacific Northwest!) Tiny little necks still in their shells, chunks of potatoes and a delicious rich creamy broth, this was going to require a little calorie sacrificing later on in the day but it was well worth it – delicious! Gavin had a ribolitta that in my opinion was a vegetarian’s dream! I stole a bite of Marc’s salmon sandwich which was great and had a hard time resisting Jerome’s fish and chips.

Afterwards we walked around the village and came across a really cute home furnishing store that carried all kinds of wonderful things. Reminded me of a store I love in Montecito near Santa Barbara, Ca. especially with their impressive selection of Vietri Italian ceramics which made me want to cry. Or buy. Gavin bought some fig dishwashing liquid.

An after lunch coffee accompanied us on our walk back to the car where we walked past a little cottage I found truly inspiring. How welcoming is this? Do I want to be an island commuter? I guess only time will tell. All aboard!

This post is dedicated to Lizzie B.
And if this doesn’t make us want to jump on a plane to Italy I don’t know what will!
I mean, Jenna Lyons, Creative Director of JCrew, in Florence, talking Italian made shoes, in amazingly cozy trattorias and eating pasta and gelato. All that’s missing is someone named Marcello or the likes thereof!
Watch the video and dream!