Mellie Dee

2016 Summer Getaway | Day 1

August 9, 2016 by Mellie Dee 4 Comments

On Tuesday, the 26th, Scruffy came to my house for dinner and to pick me up so I can sleep over since our flight was at 7:30 AM and his house was closer. The rain kept pouring down so we were worried about delays.

We woke up ~~bright and~~ early and tried our best to keep the noise down since everyone was still asleep. New place, new adventures, new memories. We were tired but excited about what’s to come.

He says that every time he flies early, he gets a taco from Pappasito’s so once we got through security, breakfast was served.

Two barbacoa, egg and cheese tacos, please.

Since rules state to come two hours before liftoff, we had a bit of waiting to do. Luckily, nature worked with us and made sure our departure was on time.

Me & Scruffy on our aircraft

While on the aircraft we tried to sleep, plan dinner, and got frustrated that we could not stream any of the shows we wanted to watch after paying eight dollars for WiFi. Ugh, waste. Thank goodness for previously loaded games on my iPad while Scruffy watched live telly on his iPhone.

We finally saw Mount Rainer (?) out of our window which meant we have arrived in Seattle!

Snow-capped mountains, I want to climb you.

Once we landed and retrieved our luggage, we called for an Uber. Uber at the Seattle airport is on point. Organized with designated places for pick up and drop off!

Our Uber driver dropped us off at our AirBnB, a super old building which made us felt as if we’d fall through the ground. They even have an old elevator system where it uses a hinged door and gate – creepy.

Our windows were all nailed shut from the outside which makes me wonder what happens during an emergency. One of our windows had a crack with a tube coming out for air conditioning.

We ran into a weed shop, Herban Legend, on the way to Pike Place Market. It still boggles my mind that weed is legal in some states.

Pike Place Market was filled with people. We totally forgot it was touristy, summer time which meant long lines everywhere.

We went to look at the ocean view and it was surprising how many people were just sitting there enjoying the sun.

A man stole bottles of Jack Daniel’s under his jacket, dropping them all to the floor when the cops caught him while another kid was sitting smoking pot.

As we searched for the famous chowder place, we got stuck inside the Public Market. There were little shops where artists sell their work on one end like jewlery and paintings.

On the other end were little food stands and the seafood market. The seafood was huge! I am jealous of everyone who gets this goodness all day, every day.

The chowder place was packed with a full line so we ended up at

Rub With Love Shack
2010 Western Ave
Seattle, Washington 98121
(206) 436-0390
http://rubwithloveshack.com

Braised Pork Sandwich [pork rub, slow-cooked pork, roasted garlic aioli, swiss, pickled red oinion, romaine lettuce] | $10.50

We’re from Texas and should have known better and knew it was a mistake right when we saw it. We shared it and couldn’t even finish it since it was making us feel sick.

We walked around for a bit and somehow ended up at

The Fishermans Restaurant and Bar
1301 Alaskan Way
Seattle, Washington 98101
(206) 623-3500
http://thefishermansrestaurant.com

Scruffy ordered a beer and was given free Bread and Butter. Sourdough is his least favourite so he tried his best to eat a bit of it.

I ended up getting a Clam Chowder [Northwest recipe featuring hearty clams, tender vegetables, and sweet cream] | $6/cup

Clam chowder is one of my favourite soups in the world so I was in heaven.

Seattle Great Wheel
1301 Alaskan Way
Seattle, Washington 98101
(206) 623-8607
http://seattlegreatwheel.com

Since the Ferris wheel was right next to us, we decided to ride it for $14.90/person.

We were told we would go around three times but it ended up being a good six or so turns.

We didn’t complain though since we were able to snap some great pictures.

Look at this cool guy.

We walked around some stores before Scruffy saw the penny machine and got super excited. We ended up making a Space Needle one. Speaking of which, I still have and need to give it to him.

As we were walking, we saw this beautiful sight. I wouldn’t mind seeing this every day. Sigh. Take me back, please.

Ashy loves antiques so we walked into one to check it out. I was surprised to find vintage Playboys on sale! The ladies look like they were drawn.

We walked back to our AirBnb, changed for a fancy night, called an uber, and ended up at the

Ballard Beer Company
2050 NW Market St.
Seattle, Washington 98107
(206) 783-0179
http://ballardbeercompany.com

Scruffy & I with THE best grapefruit beer EVER

I got the Postdoc Grapefruit Kolsch and he got the Burdick IPA.

The grapefruit beer reminds me of grapefruit juice and I surprisingly loved it! I wish I could ship some back home. So light and refreshing.

We decided to hop to a bar that had appetizers since we were both hungry and ended up at

Kangaroo & Kiwi Pub
2026 NW Market St.
Seattle, Washington 98107
(206) 297-0507
http://kangarooandkiwi.com

I thought it was pretty cool that it’s from an old public library but sad that it means libraries are going out of style.

He ordered a beer and we both shared an Uluru Nachos [corn tortilla chips, melted cheese, black beans, jalapenos, guacamole, sour cream, & salsa fresca] | $5

We made them Aussie Style [top nachos with authentic Aussie-style seasoned ground beef] | $3.

We finally called an uber to take us to our dinner reservations at

Ray’s Boathouse
6049 Seaview Ave NW
Seattle, Washington 98107
(206) 789-3770
http://rays.com

Bread and Butter | free

Scruffy finished it all up. Him and his love for bread …

Puget Sound Mediterranean Mussels [smoked onion butter, herbs, red pepper] | $15

It was a Thai curry type sauce. Mmm … This was easily our favourite dish out of everything we ate at the restaurant. Scruffy even dipped his bread in the sauce because it was just that good.

Seafood Fregola Sarda Pasta [toasted pasta, Penn Cove mussels, Manila clams, Uli’s chorizo, salmon, whitefish, light cream, marinara sauce] | $26

We were both not a fan of this dish. Scruffy’s description is that it tasted like dog food. It was a big let down because fregola isn’t the type of pasta I thought it’ll be. And I agreed it didn’t taste well. I made sure to eat all the seafood though.

Dungeness Crab Cakes [summer squash + zucchini, jasmine rice, herbed lemon yogurt, red pepper coulis] | half $16

He ordered the half which was just right for him since we had nachos and appetizers beforehand and had already decided for light snacking later in the night. He liked his dish enough to finish the crab cakes.

After dinner, we took in the wonderful view while we waited for our Uber. Sigh, perfection … even though dinner wasn’t exactly perfect.

This place, though fancy, didn’t meet my expectations and since then, he and I decided to jump around restaurants and pick something small from each one to try out.

We were dropped off at our AirBnb to change into comfy clothes and pulled up Pokemon Go. Seattle is PokeStop city, guys!

As Scruffy looked up some bars around us with happy hour oysters we noticed that Yelp! had added a filter for “PokeStop Nearby.” All I can say is, wow …

Queen City Grill
2201 1st Ave
Seattle, Washington 98121
(206) 443-0975
http://queencitygrill.com

This place showed up on Yelp! for happy hour oysters. It did disturb me a bit that there wasn’t much people around but we proceeded to order.

He ordered a Hefeweizen while I ordered a Bellini [peach puree married with bubbles] | $8

Six Oysters on the Half Shell | $2.25 each

We could taste the shell on some of them so he wasn’t a big fan of it.

Prawn Cocktail [chilled prawns with a classic cocktail sauce] | $7

Prawn is a different meaning up here, I guess, since it was more like little shrimp. Nothing too special.

We jumped ship to

Rabbit Hole
2222 2nd Ave
Seattle, Washington 98121
(206) 956-4653
http://rabbitholeseattle.com

where he ordered a beer and we played two rounds of skeeball where we both won once and called it quits and moved over to

Wakefield Bar
2318 2nd Ave
Seattle, Washington 98121
(206) 770-7824
http://wakefieldbar.com

They didn’t have any food though so we quickly left and oddly bumped into my old college friend, Patrick, on the street. He lived a few buildings down! Small world. I hadn’t seen him in over four years.

Rocco’s
2228 2nd Ave
Seattle, Washington 98121
(206) 448-2625
http://roccosseattle.com

We stopped here for to-go orders of pizza slices and headed back to his apartment for a quick catch up.

Pizza is always the best late night drunk food regardless of where you live.

Scruffy got a regular pepperoni while I opted for the veggie one. His definetly tasted better than mine but I enjoyed mine nonetheless. I wanted another slice the next night and I don’t even love pizza!

I’ve never tried watermelon wheat beer until that day. It tasted like a light watermelon juice.

After catching up, Scruffy and I bid our farewells and headed back to our AirBnB to recharge for the next day.

Pretty eventful first day if I do say so myself.

2016 Summer Getaway | Take Me Back

August 2, 2016 by Mellie Dee 1 Comment

Hi world! Scruffy and I are officially back to reality. We went into work today (I worked half at home after taking Dad to the doctor) and we were both so tired. I wish we were still living the good life up in that good weather eating that good seafood.

I took so many pictures that I know for a fact Scruffy was annoyed. I am one of those people who takes a picture of EVERY. SINGLE. THING. because memories. Here’s a picture to tide you over until I have a chance for a recap.

We found this little leaf in the hallway of our AirBnB in Seattle. I’m told it’s a marijuana leaf. I’ve never seen one before so I’ll believe what I’m told and since it’s legal in Seattle and Vancouver, they’re apparently everywhere.

Until next time,

Pokemon Go and Red Eggs

July 26, 2016 by Mellie Dee 2 Comments

Luna loves sitting on me.

I went over to Scruffy’s after work, Friday, empty-handed. I was supposed to pick up Los Cucos for him, but issues with the restaurant occurred and so we ended up eating lunch at Buffalo Wild Wings instead.

He plated this fancy snack a few hours later for us to enjoy, all pretty so I could put it on the blog. Sweetheart alert. It was the first time I’ve ever tried a green olive and I surprisingly liked them. I have come to realize, I only hate black olives.

Saturday, Mum, June, Brother, and SIL went to Bonchon for lunch. They all loved it especially the fries. We finally got the salmon bomb thing and it didn’t disappoint.

We got our aunt to drive us around at La Centerra for some Berripop and Pokemon action. Does anyone else get that annoying GPS error? It bounces right back though … not to mention, all those little Rattatas. Ugh.

Speaking of which, Scruffy saw this at Petsmart the other day. You betcha he got his $10 gift card.

Jasmine turned one-month-old Friday, so there was a red egg celebration Saturday. A Chinese tradition. Another excuse for a reunion. Always a crazy, loud, time. I loved holding her. Sigh …

Sunday, we all had brunch before the siblings and significant others left. Later that night was crab boil. Literally just boiling a crab. I’m not a big fan of crab and all that work but it was nice eating together.

Rizzo and I have been spending a little more time together this weekend since I haven’t been going out as much. We even take long walks after dinner. I’m gonna miss him. No Riz for almost one week seems like torture.

It’s been a long but eventful weekend … filled with Pokemons. haha What has the world come to?

Things I’m Loving | Kit Kat Big Kat

July 22, 2016 by Mellie Dee Leave a Comment

I got this wonderful surprise at my desk after a long meeting yesterday morning. Mmm …

If you put a Kit Kat in front of my face, there is only a 50% chance I will accept, but if it’s a Kit Kat Big Kat (or a dark chocolate Kit Kat), there is a 100% chance I’ll grab it and hide so I could enjoy it in peace.

In peace, because ~~I don’t want to share~~ I always got made fun of with how I eat my Kit Kats. Kourtney demonstrates it perfectly in the video sent to me by one of my friends to make fun of me some more especially because I’m doing something a Kardashian does.

via

Unless it’s been in the freezer, only monsters would chomp down on a perfectly, wonderful Kit Kat bar like that.

A Kit Kat should be enjoyed by savouring it, layer by layer, and since I finally have alone time right now …

Happy Friday!

Fernando’s | Sugar Land, Texas

July 19, 2016 by Mellie Dee Leave a Comment

Luna sleeping on me.

Although I wasn’t feeling well, this past Saturday was pretty blissful. Scruffy and I haven’t had one-on-one time in a while where we didn’t have to worry much about anything. I went over to his house where I became Luna’s pillow. He was getting ready so that we could head to Thai Cottage for lunch and back home to spend time with the pups.

Luna’s Cone of Shame & Lazy Daisy

When we got back, we realized Luna’s stitches came apart so Scruffy ran to the store to buy a cone and some Neosporin. The cone of shame … and those ears. Once her cone was on and Neosporin was applied, it was almost 5 pm. All four of us cuddled on the couch as we surfed the channels before our 8 pm dinner reservations. Our first fancy-ish date night with the use of a Groupon at:

Fernando’s
14135 Southwest Freeway
Sugar Land, Texas 77478
(281) 494-9087
www.fernandosrestaurants.com/

The place has a romantic ambiance though people weren’t really dressed up not that there were many customers as you can see in the picture for a Saturday night at 8 pm.

The waiter brought out Plantain Chips with Avocado Cilantro Cream | Free.

Scruffy and I are not a big fan of sweets so these were perfect, and not greasy. We both cleaned the avocado cilantro cream clean … too good.

For our appetizer, we picked Shrimp-itos [golden baked shrimp; finished in a lemon, butter, and garlic sauce] | $12.

We both thought the sauce was pretty fantastic though the batter could have been a little better.

We both chose the Cesar Salad [traditional salad of Romaine lettuce, croutons, parmesan cheese] | $7.

Just a salad. Not much to talk about.

They serve Garlic Bread | Free with our entrees.

He was looking forward to the bread but it was disappointing, and a little burnt on the sides.

Scruffy chose the Steak Hickl [char-grilled marinated 9 oz New York strip, served with mashed potatoes, topped with mushroom port wine sauce] | $30.

I think the steak was perfect, as it should be since it’s a steakhouse. They had pico de gallo on the side and when you put a little bit of steak, mushrooms, and mashed potatoes in one bite, it gave the dish a little bit of refreshingness … is that even a word?

I chose the Paella [yellow saffron rice, mixed with clams, mussels, scallops, shrimp, fish, crawfish, squids, chicken, and chorizo Espanol] | $26.

They did state in the menu to allow 27 minutes to make. We didn’t mind the wait at all because when it came, we both gobbled it up, except the chorizo. It was very hard and salty. Scruffy liked this dish the best and I would have to agree.

When he made reservations, they stated for us to read all the rules but there weren’t any. When we arrived, they gave us a sheet of paper with the rules which wasn’t entirely written out when we bought the Groupon. False advertising, in my opinion. We bought the Groupon with a $30 off coupon, paying $14 out of pocket, so when our bill came, our total was only $7.43 + tip so we didn’t mind too much.

To say we licked our plate clean was an understatement. It was definitely a well worth meal for the price we paid, $21.43 + tip. Our wallets and tummies were very happy that night. They do receive horrible reviews, but rest assured, the food, itself, is amazing. It’s the slow service that gets them lower ratings, in my opinion. But if you’re not in a rush, it’s a great experience.

After dinner, we took a quick walk around Whole Foods were we saw a couple making out at the food bar. Gross. Then headed to H-E-B to pick up some things before heading back home. I picked up two different versions of gelato. A small Siviero Maria lemon gelato and a big Talenti peanut butter pretzel, both equally delicious.

Luna looking like a camel.

We changed and while Scruffy took the pups out, I sat and surfed through some channels trying to figure out what movie we could watch. We decided on The Purge where I was afraid ~~half~~ most of the time. All I will say is that there were some spillage of beverages which he wasn’t too happy about. Whoops.

Luna sleeping on me

The next day, we woke up and watched random shows before watching The Purge: Anarchy. It wasn’t as great as the first one but equally as scary … for me. Afterward, he went and grabbed a pizza and I took a nap while he watched Ted 2 before I headed home.

Scruffy made a horrible medicine tasting shot.

It was an eventful date weekend. I’m certain he was annoyed with me by the end of it and was happy to see me leave especially since I’m not so great to be around when I’m not feeling well. haha