El Gaucho

Natharbi likes to eat, so Tuesday evening our pick was El Gaucho. I thought that I had been there before, but it was a completely different location than I expected. Initially, I was very confused. I don't know why I couldn't stop noticing the black walls and ceiling. The restaurant's art work is by Nina Mihkailenko, an interesting blend of gaucho art in warm tones. As always, the company was the very best. The service was excellent, the food was good and there was a lot of it. The piano player did not know the Snoopy song. This should be the first interview question for any lounge piano player, knowing the Snoopy song should a mandatory job requirement.

Moxie

mox·ie–noun Slang.
1. vigor; verve; pep.
2. courage and aggressiveness; nerve.
3. skill; know-how

Natharbi already has moxie; yet, we attended an opening event at Moxie located in Seattle’s Uptown/Lower Queen Anne neighborhood to show our support. You can order a cocktail called "Get Moxie" which apparently, if you are lacking, will help you out. Nathaniel kept sneaking the fruit out of my glass so I am still undecided, is the moxie in the fruit he ate or in the liquid I drank?

Chef Lauri Carter who was on hand for introductions created an eclectic menu of modern American cuisine for Moxie and a large wine list that changes seasonally. We enjoyed a number of the small bites and their signature drink was delic. Moxie is guest friendly with "happy hour” featuring drink specials between 8 and 10pm nightly.

We had the pleasure of meeting Whitney and Wyatt who run a website featuring Serious Stuff and Girly Fluff.

And a chance to catch up on all the news with Natharbi friends Pam and Rochelle of Chat with Women

Nathaniel (post fruit snatching) and Pam chatting it up at the Moxie bar.

Street of Dreams

The Street of Dreams is quite an incredible display. These single family homes are over the top as far as space, decor and comforts are concerned. This years Street of Dreams is located in Woodinville. Natharbi made our way to the transportation point at the high school and had jolly time riding the school bus to the street site. Of course being the cool couple, we sat in the back of the bus! Nathaniel did avoid his former school day antics that got him suspended from the school bus; I was being my usual angelic self.

I really dig fountains and this year fountains are "IN". Indoor fountains, outdoor fountains, Asian inspired, Italian garden, they were all gorgeous. I do wonder if at some point indoor fountains will go totally out of style, or be soooo 2007. I suspect it was not really the intent of the Street of Dreams management to have guest take of their shoes and tiptoe through the Green Leaf Retreat Waterfall fountain, but I did it anyway. It looks a lot bigger in the marketing photo than in real life.









Intent on picking the brains of the builders for the coolest stuff, we took photos of garage doors, washers/dryer in the master closet (brilliant), vaulted ceilings and woodwork. We'll save those photos for our future reference personal collection. They have master bedroom closets that were pretty impressive though none of them would have been large enough to house Natharbi's combined wardrobe. One of the most intriguing point of these homes was the built in espresso machine in the master bedroom sitting room. Who needs Jeeves when you can hop out of bed and push a button for your coffee?

The garden yards were shady, lovely and the concept of the outdoor patio/room that you can use year round...great thinking. But do you really need a TV outdoors when you have the Pacific Northwest greenbelts for views? Most of these homes had television set in every single room, is that really necessary? I think one TV per abode in a communal living space is plenty. Computers...now that's a different story.

Columbia Tower Club, Electric Groove, Harp Music and Bizarre Performance Art

Natharbi started the evening off in the Stratus Lounge at the Columbia Tower Club for a little medium grade nourishment and drinks. This is definitely the place in Seattle to see and be seen, no one really even notices the spectacular view. The pretty people were decked in their finery, a few birthdays were being celebrated and they got the pleasure of being serenaded by the live entertainment. The music was good, the kind that makes you want to get up and dance. One couple did, they really had the swing dance steps down. We got distracted and forgot to get photos until we were outside.

Our next move was on over to the 26th Annual Seafair Ball held at The Shilshole Bay Beach Club where they had a little bit of everything going on entertainment wise. The venue itself is rather elegant with waterfront property and great evening views, tiki torches, quite the romantic stroll by the water.

Natharbi arrived in time to see our friend Darnell Sue of Seattle PI Girl About Town fame. She entertained and did her DJ thing while we chatted up her hubby Ray then we made our way around the venue to check out the atmosphere and other entertainment. They had a variety of DJs in the Electric Groove Lounge, a couple of bands in the DownTempo Lounge and a Butoh Dancer performing to poetry and harp music.

Now I have to admit that I only know the name of this Butoh sort of dancing because I just looked it up on the website. A performing version of modern art it does nothing for me but make me observe, "the dancer seems to really be taking herself and her art seriously" I really would have preferred to just here some harp music to the background noise of the Puget Sound lapping the beach. Here, you can see me shying away from the grotesque contortions of the dancer making love to her umbrella, obviously, I didn't "get it."

We ran into friend and associate Lisa of Eastside Spin and spent a little time catching up and listening to the band.

While the Seafair Ball marquee noted clothing optional, I did not shed my corset as the photo above suggests. The population of the ball didn't seem to pick up to freaky and unique until later. As we left I noticed a number of people in costumes, I suspect we may have missed the real show of people watching. Next year perhaps...

More Happy Birthday to Natharbi

I love to give gifts and of course, I love to receive them. First, I bought Nathaniel a pair of cuff links with our initials engraved on them and a few other fun incidentals, quite boring in comparison to Nathaniel's surprise for me. WOW, Nathaniel really hit it out of the park with my birthday present. This man was granted with an innate a blueprint of my sentimental heart.

He pulled out this gigantic wrapped box, which I immediately tore into and when I got the top open I saw the sweetest, most touching gift I can recollect being the recipient. When I saw it, I was completely overwhelmed with emotion and the tears started to roll.

It was a 1907 RCA Victrola! Many years ago I owned one and through a series of unfortunate events ended up selling it. It was a piece that I cherished and had a lot of memories that went along with it. With all our recent antiquing I had mentioned what nifty items they were and shared the story when we saw one.

We got so caught up in the gift giving moment we forgot to take photos. However, in a short time, the 1908 record that I bought on ebay will arrive and we will take photos to post of the inaugural playing of our new antique!

As well, it is the gift that starts a collection, now I get to keep my eye out for all the old favorite antique records.

Naps are for grown ups

Natharbi spent a week being mostly on vacation and the nap-attitude from vacation is really pleasant. Nathaniel is already a big fan of naps; I think I may be a convert. It is so nice to sleep whenever you feel like it. Being a pair of night owls we slept late every morning and napped every afternoon. That's all, I just wanted to compliment naps.

Port Townsend & Mink Coats

Port Townsend is the BEST! There is some much history here, it is fascinating. Between the historic Victorian homes and museum, the spectacular antique store shopping and the views, Natharbi was in tourist heaven. It was so much fun!

Natharbi started out Sunday with a leisurely drive to Port Townsend, on the way we stopped at Fort Flagler State Park and strolled the beach, admiring the breathtaking views.

We shopped, and I experienced the rare pleasure of retail ecstasy when you find THAT item that has been waiting for you to find it. I had it, not once, but twice in one day, in Port Townsend. First there was an antique store that was going out of business on the main drag of town. We were just about ready to leave and I spied a small rack of vintage wear. The most fantastic taupe cocktail wiggle dress caught my eye and a unique little bolero jacket. I shimmied into this dress and I was hooked. It will be perfect for the Fedora Lounge event on the Queen Mary! Then as if that wasn't enough as we were departing a second antique store, it happened all over again. Love at first sight with an antique mink coat in perfect condition, I wish it was winter so I could wear it every day. The red eye here signifies shopping trance...The Victorian heritage of Port Townsend has been carefully preserved. After the shopping we drove around the residential neighborhoods checking with a touring map and checked out the homes. One in particular The Rothschild House has been saved as a landmark and turned into a museum. We pulled in late in the day and the tour guide was so gracious she stayed open and let us tour the house. We enjoyed an in depth conversation with her over the lifestyle and family history and they had a cool antique bridal wear display. People were so tiny!

Last but not least, I got to ride a wild carousel buffalo at the ice cream shop!

Lavender, Lavender Everywhere, Poodles and Hootenannys

The Lavender Festival is really cute. Apparently, lavender can be incorporated into everything. Natharbi quaffed up some honey lavender ice cream, tried lavender lotions, bought the lavender soap and even made some lavender candles. We saw lavender balm and lavender salve which Natharbi questioned what sort of $12 marketing words are salve and balm? Who goes to the store and says, "I need to pick up some salve"?

We chuckled at the Red Hat Ladies and I got snarked on by one who said, "don't you wish you were 50?" I cannot image the look on my face when she said that, wish we had a photo. However, I can honestly say, "no I don't, 30-something is just fine for me right now and I don't have to be any particular age to go out in public in hat if the mood strikes me." See here, I am trying on a crazy alpaca hat.

Something I saw at the Lavender Festival that I do not want to ever see again is an old man wearing a front pack with a poodle in it. A man wearing a small poodle...it just isn't right. This hat reminds me of a poodle.

The lavender farms are decked out beautifully with their rows of lavender poofing out. The farmers must really make their money this weekend because the gardens surrounding the lavender fields contribute a great deal to the cuteness of it all. Natharbi strolled the street fair, made our way to around the area to probably five farms. One was particularly cool and had the coolness factor of having a bunch of vintage car owners park their cars. Wise idea, give the men something to look at, after their wives have dragged them all over the crafts booth.

They also had a 9 day old baby alpaca, I challenge you to look at this creature and not say, "awwww."

Hootenannys, hoe-down, barn dance, promenade, square dance....this same farm had a barn dance Saturday evening Natharbi attended. It was fun! To dance, to watch all the people

dancing and having a country good time! It was so cute, I don't know why I can't think of any other adjectives for the lavender festival. We danced the night away, walked in the yard and ate cherries off the trees and raspberries off the bushes before the crotchety farmer chased the kids away for doing the same thing!

The Romantic Birthday Bash

Nathaniel get high marks and praise for planning birthday surprises! Our dinner reservations were at Dupuis restaurant located on Highway 101 west of Sequim. Apparently it has been a local favorite since 1920, and is toted as the best restaurant in town. On arrival were met with a quaintly decorated eatery with all the July 4th lights still up and a piano player. It was cozy. The seafood dinner was delicious. (We took our leftovers but the B& B folks tossed 'em.)

I was completely shocked at the special order birthday cake from a local bakery reading "Happy Birthday Natharbi!" Two candles ... a wish for each of us and party hats that Nathaniel sent earlier in the week rounded out the surprise party. This chocolate cake was to die for, and we munched on it the following two mornings for snack. The staff was great, took our photo and was so pleasant even though we closed the placed down at 9:30 p.m. on Friday night--we weren't in Seattle anymore Natharbi.

My birthday wish already came true, and I saved the cork from our bottle of wine to start a new drawer and commence a new era.

The Road and Ferry Trip

Our birthdays fall with in a couple of days of each other (I will not be sharing numerals) and Nathaniel had planned a marvelous weekend of celebration. Friday afternoon we goofed off for two hours in the ferry queue to Sequim via the Edmonds/Kingston ferry and made our way to BJ's Bed and Breakfast where we stayed in a room with a gorgeous antique canopy bed and views of the sound and flower gardens.

It was a first ferry ride for the BarbiBug, yahoo, we got to be first in line.

It was fun to be out on the sound, quite windy, of course we had to photograph a quick reenactment of the Titanic "I'm flying" shot, short on helicopters today this snapshot from the side. We saw some baby seagulls nesting in the ferry port equipment. Geez baby seagulls are ugly little spotted buggers. It was a short ride, no sea sickness or people overboard. All was good.

The Lavender Festival was held in Sequim a picturesque farming community with a wide spot in the road town that as a couple of antique stores and the craziest street names. Kitchen Dick Road was apparently the property line between the Kitchen Farm and the Dick Farm, turn off that on to Woodcock to get the B&B. Other names that left me giggling Ain't No Way, Beer Run and Ladybug Lane. Eggs are sold along the side of he road on the honor system take your eggs drop your money in the cooler. It was a little like stepping into another era.

Natharbi did our part to contribute to the local community, we took some eggs home with us!

BJ's Bed and Breakfast has flower gardens everywhere and is a prime location for a weekend getaway. We stayed in the Victoria room and had an incredible view from the patio with the hot tub. Can't comment on the breakfast, we were on vacation and slept in every day!

Off to the Lavender Festival

Check back early next week for Natharbi's full report on Port Angeles, the Lavender Festival, Port Townsend, Bed and Breakfasts and hootenannies (that's Nathaniel's word).

Bravo!

Wednesday Natharbi attended the Seattle Opera's Bravo! Club 2007/08 Season Kickoff Party that was held at The Olympic Sculpture Park. The Bravo! Club is one of the premier Seattle arts organizations for the 20/30 something hip crowd (yes, we do meet the criteria) that provider a variety of social activities along with discounted performance tickets. For the kickoff party five pieces were performed by opera singers. The emcee was entertaining in a "way too into the opera" sort of a way.

Recently the Bravo club was named one of Seattle's most gossipy organizations in Seattle Spin. Nathaniel has experienced that component first hand, I have yet to be ordained into it.

The Olympic Sculpture Park seems to be a pretty cool place to visit when it is not threatening summer rain down by the waterfront. The indoor displays are curious especially these giant clothes line cord cages. Kinky, caged animal, cage fight are all concepts that comes to mind for these, I have no idea why. I wish I had been one of the first to kick off my shoes and climb in, alas, I was more like fourth. Post entertainment a dj played some 80s dance mixes and apparently on a small percentage of the club dances, there were a lot of people missing out. I doubt they have rhythm.

Afterward we took a little stroll down the The Waterfront for some dessert. This time we
chose the pyrotechnic dessert, awesome presentation and it tasted OK.

One of the high adrenaline points of the night was when we thought the BarbiBug was locked in a parking garage with small opportunity to get it back. Fortune held out that some dudes were working in the building late, we knocked on the windows and they let us through the building to get the car. Thanks Dudes. Time to evaluate the possibility of a downtown studio for all our weeknight events!

Viva la Bastille Day

Natharbi started a fun Saturday of Seattle hanging out doing some shopping in Madison. We made stops at both Gentleman's Consignment and Fury Women's Consignment. Nathaniel picked up some cool bargains, shirts, braces, accessories and I found a gorgeous pair of ruby cuff links. I thought it appropo, they are my birthstone and the pair signifies my first pair to accompany my new French cuff blouses. Nathaniel noted, "they are the kind you can't get on by yourself." Nathaniel, can now consider himself enlistee as my cuff link help man.

Kwik-E Mart - We honored the near opening of the Simpson's new blockbuster film with a trip to the Kwik-E Mart. I am familiar with the Simpson's but apparently the importance of this momentous event was a little lost on me until I saw other people there taking photos. We picked up our Homer cookie, Krusty-Os and Squishy drinks...mmm, watermelon.

Next, Natharbi strolled the West Seattle Summer Fest and checked out several antique stores. Natharbi on the street scene

They had all the usual booths here and the Rat City Roller Girls had a dunk tank fundraiser going. Nathaniel hit the target and dropped the bikini girl in the water first ball, granted he was throwing from the kid's line!

Barbi threw like a girl, I think the ball went over the top of the backdrop of the booth.

On to the antique stores and vintage hat shopping. There really are a large number of vintage hats out there for my collection so I tried on a lot. Do you ever have one of those days when you are unusually clutzy? I think I knocked over four different things. I am going to blame it on many antique store being very crowded. Please Nathaniel, take my hand and lead me to safety, I don't want to buy anything I have broken.

Since Natharbi was unable to spend Bastille Day in Paris we spent part of it at Cafe Campagne in Pike Place Market to honor the day. We ate brie sandwiches and drank wine and enjoyed the band. They were putting on quite a party. Perhaps Paris next year!

Nathaniel looking crisp and dashing even in the heat. I forgot my beret! Viva la France!

Paintdancing Encore with Friends & Family in Tow

Natharbi + 2 MiniMe and friends Briana and Dawn made an encore appearance at paintdancing held at the GasWorks Gallery this evening. It is too much fun to keep to ourselves.

As always Matt Jones was gracious host for the event. For the minimal price and the amount of fun you receive, paint dancing is a bargain. Don't forget to bring your dry staples and potatoes to donate to MashedPotatoes.org a grass roots community project founded by Fremont artist and entrepreneur, Matt Jones.

Pictures worth thousands:

Natharbi's peops line up painting...

Emily, Caroline, Briana & Dawn

Natharbi danced more than we painted this evening.

Briana and her tulips

Emily is more painter than dancer, and painting her foot has nothing to do with it.

Artistic Dawn striking a pose

Caroline is a dancer

Nathaniel lost in an artistic trance in the back

The one painting that I did was so specatular it came up missing, perhaps I will see it being sold for millions on e-bay.

So here we are post paintdancing, goofing off outstide the gallery... Ignore the blurry Barbi, look at the pipe, it's huge I couldn't get up on it by myself, Natharbi climbed through it after Nathaniel climbed up to be king of the hill.