Carlile Room & Sparking Rose

Sometimes the best things come in the form of a totally unplanned event. Which coming from a type A planner says something. Lately it seems that my life and that of others is so planned out, it's hard to just 'get together.' A few weeks ago something magical happened. A friend and I just got together (on a Friday even) for happy hour at a new Seattle spot by Tom Douglas, The Carlile Room. It was perfect. Excellent drinks albeit not so great happy hour deals. Oh well. I enjoyed my pink bubbles so much I found out where I could buy it in Seattle and promptly ordered a few bottles. (On a side note one should check out Mad Wine for good deals). My friend enjoyed their beer BUT they too thought the delicate bubbles of the rose were intoxicating and promptly ordered a glass and then another. I have to admit, I was hesitant to try The Carlile Room, especially since it has been promoted as a place to go before going to The Paramount. I had visions of a hotel lobby bar with ugly carpet. It is in fact does not even have carpet and great design work inside. As far as food goes, we only tried some small bites; however, the menu looked great. What we had was tasty: homemade chips and dips, little mozzarella croquettes and barbecue pork sandwich. My favorite were the croquettes, but really how do you go wrong with fried cheese?!? The best part was having time to connect with an old friend. Our lives can get so hectic, so planned, it was nice to be spontaneous for a change. And did I mention the pink bubbles? Those ALWAYS help a night go well.

Barre.... Round 5

Barre... as in exercise. Barre is a combination of Pilates, ballet/dance and yoga. It has become quite popular. You see it in magazine now or hear of celebrities trying it. I've blogged about it before, yet I have never kept it up. This time though I'm trying a dual approach. Committing to blogging about it AND testing it out as a sole form of exercise. Can committing to just barre really be enough exercise??? This lady is going to try it out for real this time. What makes this time different? A lot of things actually. I discovered Barre a few years ago when a friend brought me to a class with her sister. I was both very self-conscious about it and intrigued by it. It was even a bit humbling. Who knew moving just inches could inflict so much pain, but it does. To prep for my wedding, I combined working out in the 'regular' gym along with regular barre classes to get the ever-so-coveted 'wedding arms.' This combo was actually very effective. It toned all the places I was looking for. Fast forward 3 almost 4 years. I've now been married, had a baby and work full-time. I worked out throughout my whole pregnancy, including barre classes, cycling, yoga and group classes. I set myself up for those baby pounds to just melt off right!?!?! Wellll not so much. Some weight came off, I was on track and then life happened. Colicky baby, working full-time, buying a house, moving all before she was 1. Followed by another health set back and a mini stroke right before she turned 1. Needless to say my idea of where I would be now is not reality. A new Barre studio opened within minutes of my house, YEAH! I took a free class this weekend, and it was great. The real question I have always had about barre is.....is it enough to just do barre? I've never canceled my gym membership because it just feels wrong. It goes back to that mindset that you need a real gym or classes to fatigue yourself in, in order to be in the shape you want. But is that true? What I know is that when I did Barre3 (my favorite of the barre classes offered in Seattle) my body was the most toned it had ever been. BUT I did do some workouts at the gym still. I also know that I always felt great when I left barre class. Unlike other exercises where you feel whipped afterwards, I felt energized. I had this same experience this past weekend. It begs the questions, can I turn to barre alone for exercise? You never know until you try. So here we go. What do I have to loose? I've struggled to find a good exercise routine that fits in with my busy schedule and really makes me feel great. This seemed like the perfect experience to see for real if barre is really enough and see if I can get back on the blogging bandwagon.

You Know What's Good...finding time to actually blog about it!

So it's been a while. That seems to be the theme of many of my blogs since motherhood. But here we go again! This time, I'm using my blog to keep me accountable for trying new things and taking care of ME. In early motherhood, we often loose ourselves somewhat as we learn to balance our new normal and our life before. It is something I never understood until it happened to me. Your free-time shrinks significantly, and that is okay. I found for me though, I still need to find time to carve out for myself. It really does make me a better mom because it makes me happy. And when mom is happy, so is my daughter. It's a hard concept to grasp sometimes. We have this idea in our head that being a 'good' mom means being dedicated to your child or children every single moment of every single day. That is what I used to think being a good mom was, and I was guilty of judging myself for not doing this early on. What I discovered is that it's okay to take moments for myself and in doing so, I enrich my soul. I have more patience, more understanding and more love to share with my daughter. I am teaching her that taking care of yourself and valuing yourself is important. While at 11 months she doesn't fully understand this, I am planting a seed. I have also found it strengthens her relationship with her father. She benefits with quality time for both of us. There are moments when guilt tugs at me, when she doesn't want me to leave to go do something. I remind myself that this is special time for my husband. I also remind myself that it is important for me, that I am worth it.

Friday = Happy Day

The Sexton. Sexy, Very Sexy. I've walked by it many times, always wondering what was inside the cool glass exterior. Friday we decided to check it out after a long week. Once you sit down at the distressed table and look around, it is just as cool as it looks from the outside. A mason jar chandler hangs from the ceiling, matching the glasses your drink is served in. The star of the night was the cocktail. One of the best I have ever had. Cucumber infused vodka, mint & ginger beer. Normally I stray away from ginger beer because it can be too overpowering, but this was not. It was refreshment in a glass, and it had me yearning for summer. Somehow I ended up drinking two straight away. Did I mention it was also a long week? For the last round I 'bet on the bartender.' Basically you give a few details to the server, and the bartender whips you up an original. This was a sparkly concoctions. The food here is Southern inspired, small plates. We opted for the mac n cheese, cheesy grits, sliders and fried chicken. The mac n cheese was tasty, nice and tangy with a few bits of bacon, crunch and balsamic vinegar drizzled on top. The sliders were tasty too, a bit too much mayo for my liking. I love cheese, so the cheesy grits lacked in the cheese department for me, they weren't bad, just nothing spectacular. Lastly, the chicken was very juicy and flavorful. It looked as if it might be too dry when it came out, but looks can be deceiving. It also came with a ginger BBQ and jalapeño ranch to dip in. All in all we were HAPPY, and our weekend started on the right foot. I wouldn't say it was the best happy hour deals ever, but a very sexy place for a Friday. Details: $1 of dinner menu items & $2 off cocktails & $4 wells/beers EVERYDAY. We also got a different food menu with slightly cheaper ($1-3 less) items.

Barre...A new way of excercising

What the heck is barre? That was my first thought a year or so ago. I anticipated a class very similar to ballet, and what I found was a pretty intense workout. Who knew that mainly using your own body weight and tiny isometric movements would have your muscles quivering? After my first trial, I wasn’t convinced that I could do barre as my primary workout, I thought I needed cardio. Then again last spring-summer, as my wedding loomed closer, I gave it another go. I was determined to have ‘wedding arms.’ And the barre classes gave me just that along with slimmer thighs than I had seen in a long time. Granted, I was also doing spinning twice a week. Yet again, I wasn’t quite sure if just those classes would be enough of a workout. Now fast-forward 6 months. I have pretty much been sick since January. Vertigo, bronchitis, a sinus infection and an inner infection make it very difficult to maintain much exercise—especially when you get dizzy just standing. I missed the recent Barre3 28 to Great Challenge, so I decided why not make my own challenge and blog about it to keep myself accountable to both my workouts and blogging? So here we go. I am giving myself 3 months to try barre as my main workout and see what happens. I may even recruit willing and unwilling friends to join me. Stay tuned for updates on how well this works and if it can sustain itself as a ‘you know what’s good’ exercise plan.

I have always had an interest in writing. I secretly want to write a book one day, but I thought I should start with actually sticking to a blog. I attempted to do a happy hour blog and started writing about the last year of my 20's. Somehow life just kept getting in the way. The first time brain surgery and a stroke led to a drinking ban, not so helpful if you are trying to write a blog about happy hour! The last year of my 20's was interrupted by wedding planning. So now I am married, my brain has healed and a new year has begun- the perfect storm to start and stick to a new blog. At first I thought I wanted to dedicate it to one of my main loves, food. I'm not going to lie, this blog may be heavily concentrated on all things food, but I realized my life and the things I like to share aren't entirely focused on eating. While out with friends I found myself chiming into the conversations with "you know what's good...". Somewhere after the 10th time, my friend pointed out that I often utter this phrase. So there you have it. This is my blog dedicated to those things in and around Seattle and beyond that I think are fantastic. I hope you enjoy and find some inspiration to tell your friend's "you know what's good...."