Spring needs to get here and act like Spring!

Alex's parents visited from California for his birthday in late February. As always, it was a cast of characters converging to enjoy a weekend of feasts. 

On Thursday, after a networking event at the Sofitel hotel, I met him and his family at the new Dutch restaurant, noord café. We had just gotten our save the dates in the mail that day at the office, and I brought some to show everyone. We were very pleased with them. They're so adorable, with a Seattle theme. 

Funny, some people assumed that they were the invitations when they received them in the mail. I guess that if we had not already ordered official invitations, I might have stuck to that story and not bothered with official invitations. Ha ha.

Alex had taken me to this café before, last summer probably, as a surprise. It was fantastic. At the time, there were not that many people in the restaurant and a reservation was late. The chef came and spoke with each table individually for a few minutes at least. He also drink wine with the patrons, which I thought was very charming. 

From this dinner, however, the thing that I remember the most is the amazing almond butter cake at the end of the dinner. He served it with a platter of all of their desserts for us to sample. I could have eaten the entire cake, I think. No... I'm positive.

Recently, we have been working a lot. Probably one day per weekend we designate a few hours to go into the office or work from home. Now that we are both in the city, it is very nice. We feel as though we got enough time with each other during the week, that work on the weekends no longer feels like a threat to me.

The last two weekends, I have stopped at a café on Spruce called Plenty. I have been disappointed in something each time we had visited. This morning, I stopped by for a chai tea latte. The barista substituted gingerbread syrup for the chai powder without asking me. It tasted like Christmas, Thanksgiving, and Halloween flavored coffee. .... Well, putting it that way actually sounds pretty amazing but it was definitely disgusting. I guess I'm done with that place.

Last weekend, even though I am gearing up for these weeklong depositions in Montana, we decided we would go to New York City to visit my cousins and see off our friend, who was moving to India. It was a really nice weekend, despite next week's depositions looming. 

It was fantastic to have a little crew in New York. We got to see the cousins, Pauline, her sister who was in town from Georgetown, and our mutual collection of friends who live the adventure that is life in the Big City. 

While we had our little mini reunion over here, Joe and the family celebrated another year for grandma. He sent adorable photos from the dinner party. Jackie's mom and my mom also got lots of photos of us partying together on this coast. If that doesn't swell our mothers' and grandma's eyes with pride and joy, I don't know what would. I only hope that the next generation of kids our kids will have as much fun with and fondness for one other. 

Today the warmest day in weeks. While the city is bustling with people sharing drinks and celebrating a day that is over 40°, I am exhausted and home trying to rest up and pack for a weeklong trip to Billings, Montana. I am referring to them as "my depositions," but really I am preparing a partner to take the depositions. Four people in three days and one week in Billings. 

I feel like I am cramming for finals and then have to teach someone to take the test for me. Very interesting process. I have never even seen a deposition taken before, so I am not sure if I am doing it correctly, but the partner seems pleased with our progress so far. Can't beat that.

Looking forward to making up all the sleep. Gonna catch an episode of Cheers (my new favorite show parentheses, and take a nap. After that, I'll eat some junk food watching cheers and go to bed. Saturday prep meeting in the office. Perhaps ironically, although exhausted, I'm excited and feeling blessed for these opportunities.