Love Food, Love Life: Still Summer?

Wow! Where has the time gone? It has been ~~almost~~ a month since my last post. This working full time gig has sure put a damper on my writing but hey, I can't complain about work. :) It's a great job with benefits and I work with a fun group of gals. Also, in a few weeks I will be completing a training with Seattle Children's to participate in the 12 week ACT! program. ACT stands for Actively Changing Together and is a healthy lifestyle program dedicated to helping overweight and obese youth (ages 8 to 14 years old) and their parents of several YMCAs. We offer weekly 90-minute group sessions. For the first 30 minutes we participate in fun games and activities for some exercise and then we have 30 minutes of light cooking and nutrition classes. For the last 30 minutes, while everyone is enjoying the meals/snacks we prepared, the families get to interact with the nutrition and physical activity coaches to ask any questions they might have. Should be fun!

Now what have I been up to since my last post you might be wondering?? I've been super busy, let's see if I can remember everything!

July 14-17: One of my best friends is getting married in September and I am so excited to be her maid of honor. We planned a 3-night stay in Minneapolis, MN that included a fun-filled BBQ extravaganza, champagne drinking limo rides, wine tasting, dancing, games, fires, plan-changing thunder storms, Thai dinners, tourist activities, late night pizza, interesting cab rides, muggy heat, piano bars and drag shows. It was a wonderful weekend of bonding that I will remember forever, well most of it.

July 19-27: My baby brother (well, he's 18 now) came to stay with us! The hubs and I both had to work during the work week, but we made up for lost time on the weekend. Our time together included beaches, Woodland Park Zoo, Experience Music Project, Space Needle viewing, china town desserts, an intense game of Solarquest, cross words, debates, Jeopardy battles, BBQs, walks on the Sammamish River Trail, attempted hikes, shopping at Alderwood Mall and cupcakes!

Solarquest - Buy Venus

My Bro & I on top of the Space Needle

Seattle

July 27- August 8: My hubby, brother, Lola and I all crammed into the Taurus and took off to Bozeman, MT where we stayed the night with one of my favorite families. Such a kind, caring, fun, witty and wacky bunch that I love very much! The next morning after chocolate chip pancakes and many hugs we were off to my mama's house in Hot Springs, SD. We spent the weekend at the Elk Lodge Resort in Piedmont, SD for a Rohde family reunion. My grandparents have 9 kids and they all have 2-4 kids plus the growing number of great grandkids, put them all together in one place and you have one rowdy and fun gathering of megaminds! It's always great to see everyone and the weekend always flies by! Then we were back to Hot Springs for sprinkler time with my niece and nephew, picnics by the river, board games, golf, BBQs, DQ visits and some good ol' QT with the fam. Once it started to cool down (we had no A/C in the car) on Tuesday, we were off to P'wood for a golf tournament and to spend time with family and our hometown friends.

Grandpa & I

Grandma & I

My beautiful niece

My handsome nephew

This weekend, we went out to Lunchbox Laboratory for a friend's going away party. Their burgers have been raved about in popular food magazines such as Food Network, Epicurious and Gourmet. My hubby ordered the 'Hot Head' and expressed it was the best burger he has had in Seattle so far, and he eats a lot of burgers. I ordered their veggie bean patty with pepperjack + jalapeno ranch and a side of sweet potato fries. I must also suggest the Nutella milkshake... pure chocolate bliss served in a glass beaker! Afterwards, we met up with some of our Montana friends at Kells Irish Pub before calling it a night. Saturday, we joined friends for lunch at Ivar's before visiting Pike's Market to browse the shops and produce stands. Next we were off to Chateau Ste. Michelle winery for an outdoor concert. With a picnic blanket, some snacks and a bottle of Midsummer's White, we enjoyed Calexico (opening performance) and Amos Lee on the lawn.