Don’t get me wrong, it’s not a bad thing. It’s just an unusual, and rather cool. This means that the 6-story hotel we were at only had 30 rooms. And that, my friends, can either turn into a nightmare bed and breakfast, or a very pleasant tiny little hotel with personal service. I’ve done lots of research in advance – let’s just say I don’t like unpleasant surprises . And TripAdvisor reviews go a long way in helping with that.

440 Post is indeed an unbeatable address. Just look at the aerial map – the green stuff in the middle is the block of the Union Square; the building to the right of the red arrow is the Inn at Union Square hotel where we stayed:

Amazing breakfast. Beautiful, tiny room with the charm of an east-coast hotel. Aveda products in the bathroom (major score for Irina, and I – admittedly – am quite impartial to their stuff).

Man. Did we come to the right place.

Pictured, from top to bottom, are: hungry me; the best gorgonzola and pear sandwich I’ve had in my life (walnut bread plays a big part here); freshly squeezed orange juice well worth the $3.50.

The place is called La Boulange. Irina claims their Napoleon was just as good, but I was only mildly impressed by the fruit tart. I am quite spoiled, yes.

…..

Second place: Nordstrom near Union Square. Unlike our Downtown Seattle Nordstrom, this place has a fancy-upscale-dinner establishment. They get the spot for the location, amazing service, and the views. Food was just OK; Irina liked their seafood pasta; my asparagus and shrimp risotto was not bad.

But the views!

….

Honorable mention: mushroom soup on Santana Row. Nothing can compare to La Fontana’s mushroom soup. But this one came really, really close. Upside: the bill wasn’t the usual $120 you get for two people at your friendly next door La Fontana .

Here’s the video that I made (Windows Movie Maker is not that bad of a tool, btw):

So, Heiwad and I decided to co-host a party, and with lots of Irina’s help, here’s what turned out.

Evite:

Bar Menu (we had a few “signature cocktails”):

Some party pics (the rest is here):

We asked guests to bring their favorite bottle of hard liquor, so we had a few bottles remaining… I guess we’ll have to throw another party soon

Салатик кушаю..
Even being a veggie-eater for once…

А тут, понимаешь, в дверь звонят, и там, в коробке…
The doorbell rings, there’s a package… Inside of it, …

Миллион лимонов от Михи!! Как приятно!!
Lots of lemons from my brother in California!! Par-tay!!

Пришлось их давить и пить коктейли
So we had to squeeze ‘em and make lemon drops…

David organized a party, had all old friends come… a few cool pics are below. BTW, his review of these events is here.

Мой замечательный друг Давид приехал на пару дней из Монреаля, чем обрадовал весь честной Сиэтловский район. На вечеринке в прошлые выходные (см. фотки) было человек 30, точно. Возвращайся к нам, зараза!! А то приедем и покусаем, блин.

А, кстати, в русской версии можно несколько расширить тему. Мы с Давидом прошлись по старым друзьям в Майкрософте – он зашел к Камалу, мы вместе – к Тудору, Лорану, всем, кто еще в Инфопасе (людей осталось – кот наплакал). Такое приятное чувство… Все встречали с улыбкой, хорошие, все же, люди были в команде когда-то..

С Тудором посидели чуть ли не час. Приятный мужик, все-таки. Я знаю, почему он мне сейчас так нравится. Он понимает с полуслова. Например, когда говоришь “мне так нравятся люди в новой команде”, он правильно между строк читает, что в Инфопасе начальство осталось, ох, далеко не идеальное. Да и просто умный мужик он. Усталый, умудренный опытом, может, не самый активный – но добрый, приятный. И ко мне, почему-то, с самого начала питает симпатии. Может, напрямую с ним было работать не так хорошо – стечение обстоятельств – но человек он хороший.

А еще мы с Давидом сходили в любимый нами всеми ресторан Ruth’s Chris, специализирующийся на стейке. В этот раз было неплохо (не экстраординарно вкусно, в отличие от обычного), но зато напитки (Lemon Drops, конечно же) были что надо. Потом посидели в приятном баре Amber. Кстати, мы с Ириной уже второй раз там за последние пару недель – меню Happy Hour у них просто замечательное.

Кстати, про Happy Hour. Мне коллега из новой группы, Жанин, порекомендовала очень удобный сайт – Happy Hour Finder для Сиэтла. Дико удобно. (Пояснение: happy hour – это время, когда бар предлагает напитки и закуски по уменьшенным ценам; это делается для привлечения клиентуры в традиционно пустое время, например, с 4 до 6 вечера).

Here are the results:

Иринина подруга Андреа живет у нас пару недель. Она – повар в процессе обучения (заканчивает кулинарную школу). Признаться, приятно иметь профессионального повара в доме. Она меня даже научила готовить замечательно блюдо под названием “говядина под соусом терияки”. Результаты – на фотографиях.

BTW, here’s the recipe:

Teriyaki Beef

Need about 1 pound beef steak such as “top round”, sliced thin.

Marinade:
          Veri Veri Teriyaki Sauce
          Sesame oil
          Green onion, chopped
          (optional) fresh chopped garlic
          (optional) finely chopped ginger
          (optional) chopped cilantro

Put the meat into the marinade and leave, covered, in the fridge for at least 30 mins. Can leave for a few days if necessary.

Put the following on the baking sheet and cook in the oven at 450 “until ready”:
          1-2 red bell peppers, chopped
          1 onion, chopped
          Mushrooms, quartered or sliced
          (optional) pineapple, chopped

When done, add the meat to the baking sheet; optionally pour a little bit of the marinade, too. Put back into the oven, literally for 3-5 minutes.

When done, take 1 package of pre cooked rice, optionally add the marinade from the baking sheet, put into the microwave for 2 minutes.

So here are a few recent pics – Irina got a new awesome-short haircut, and we went out to a little bar in Belltown called O’Hana.

He’s a hit at work too! My colleagues just love him! And Pixel’s not shy when it comes to attention. So it’s win-win for all!

Check out his graduation pictures in our photo gallery to see him chewing on his hat!

I arrived into my new home around midnight on June 18th with Continental Flight 667!  The flight wasn’t bad, I made it out pretty happy – starving but really excited! I wanted to be petted! Irina gave me treats and spend some time cleaning me with wipes but I didn’t care, I kept eating and wiggling my very short tail in excitement for all the attention I was getting. There is this super tall dude that kept hugging Irina and flashing his camera at me! Over all, he’s pretty mellow and nice, his name is Alex. He sat on the floor with Irina while I sniffed my new room around and took a nap on Irina’s lap.

So far I don’t like my play pen – too boring; even with toys in it! So I decided to get some attention; I barked and I wiggled my tail and I cried… Anything to get attention and be loud… I bet they think I’m pretty cool now – so tiny but so much personality!  And my hard work of 7 minutes paid off! Irina moved her pillow and a blanket to the floor and moved me to a pretty soft and comfy doggie-bed near her and  that’s how we spend our first 4 hours together… I did get a little too excited and pooped on the floor missing Irina’s foot by less than an inch so that made her put me on the wewe pad but why would she want to do that when I finished my business already?!

In the past few hours I found a few cool hobbies: I like to chew on Irina’s hands and ear when I feel she’s beginning to doze off. And I like to chew on my spiky bone and cupcake toys.

He is undoubtfully very cute! We’ll post a looong story about him a tad later, but here are a few pics.