Jessica's Birthday

Tonight saw the Andersons, regulars here on iamellarose.com, over to the house as part of a regularly scheduled Beelzecchi-Anderson-Johnson quarterly get together. Tonight was special as we were actually celebrating Jessica’s birthday... Sadly the Johnsons were unable to make it, but we know we'll catch up with them again sometime before the end of time.

While Mommy and I were attending a play at the Seattle Children's Theater of The Green Sheep, Daddy spent the day cleaning the house. On our way home from the play we stopped at Ballard's Larsen's Bakery to pick up Jessica's chocolate cake.

When Mommy was plying Jeff Anderson for information about Jessica's favorite food, he informed her that Jess is waaaay into Chinese food. You might want to bet on the Beelman's because we've got a bomb-ass Chinese food restaurant right in Ballard. Mommy let her fingers do the walking and dialed us up some yummies from Louie's Cuisine of China.

A.J., Brenna and I had a well-behaved time working on art projects and playing in my kitchen. Happy birthday to Jessica and congratulations on your beautiful new home. If she's lucky her sweetie Jeff might just buy her a new ironing board or microwave for the new house. Looking forward to our Flathead Lake, MT trip with the Anderson's in August!!

Zoo Tunes - Brandi Carlile

Tonight Mommy, Daddy and I rendez-vous'd with the Smiths (Tia, Doug, Campbell and Carter) at Seattle's Woodland Park Zoo to take in our first Zoo Tunes concert of the season. And tonight we were serenaded by the fine sounds of Miss Brandi Carlile.

It wasn't too long before the Black Box wine made it's appearance and the adults were having some liquid refreshment to wash down the BBQ from Smokin' Pete's BBQ in beautiful Ballard.

I wolfed down my BBQ and was ready to partake in some refreshing ice cream action. Mommy put the damper on my spirits by instructing me to wait patiently while Campbell finished her dinner. Jeez girl... Can you eat any FASTER?! There's ICE CREAM to be had!! Daddy didn't take too kindly to my rapid onset of grumpiness and laid out my options... Turn that frown upside down or we were going to go home.

But cooler heads prevailed and I got the ice cream I so badly wanted. Brandi put on a great show and it was super fun to hang out with the Smith's, par usual. Before the evening was over, us gals got inspired to do a little toe-tappin'.

Big Girl Bed

On Friday night while I was having a bad dream I awoke to Mommy next to my crib as I was standing inside shivering buck-naked and basically talking in tongues. She scooped me un in an embrace and it was the usual routine of her trying to comfort me to get me back to sleep. But on this particular night, the first of my ENTIRE life, I wanted to go back to sleep with Mommy. In HER bed. A BIG persons bed.

This was on Friday. It happenend again on Sunday. Starting today I'm officially sleeping in my own BIG GIRL bed. But wait... Not excactly though. We don't actually have a BIG GIRL bed here at Chez Beel. Instead we have an inflatable bed that more closely resembles a raft. Hey, whatever works... I'm just glad to be DOIN' IT.

Bawling

Last night Daddy stayed up late to watch I Am Sam for the first time. While Mommy and Daddy were discussing it, Mommy got worked up and started to cry. Right now she's putting her make up on for the second time this morning.

Business Venture

This morning Daddy and I were brainstorming a new business venture so that he could continue his indulgently expensive photography habit. Are you ready for this?! Diaper rentals! Good news... The following domain names are available:

www.rentdiaper.com
www.diaper_rental.com

25th Wedding Anniversary

After months of planning, sworn secrecy and clandestine operation, Saturday was the surprise 25th wedding anniversary party that Mommy and Daddy threw for Papa Jack and Nana Cynthia. It was a big production with catering services provided by Chef Berttron, cakes by Mary Wildenhaus, guests flying in from California (Fairfax, Santa Rosa and Laguna Beach) and Pittsburgh, PA and a whole lot of coordination on a local level by Mommy and Daddy. It's truly amazing that Nana and Papa have been married so long and I know Nana and Papa's marriage is an inspiration to my parents. Heck, it runs in Papa's family... Gramps and Gramma J recently celebrated their 50th!

Chef Bert and his uber-professional crew arrived early to start setting up while Mommy, Daddy and the Logans ran around putting all of the little details in their place. While all of this was going on I was under the watchful eye of Miss Silver Galloway, friend of the website and teacher of mine at ELDC. Mommy wisely had her lined up to watch the kiddies during the day... And kiddies there were (at a certain point there were 12 kids under the age of 6). Since the weather was kind to us and we had tents set up and on hand, the only logistical wrinkle of the day was having to run out for 40 chairs to accommodate the idea of a sit-down dinner that Chef Bert conceived at the last minute. Mommy, the chairman of her very own operations dream team, tackled this little task with the greatest of sleaze ease.

Papa Jack's brother Bob gave the toast at Nana and Papa's wedding 25 years ago, so it was only fitting that he provided the toast yet again. Bob is a handsome fellow and a fine speaker... There was not a dry eye in the house. And after dinner we all headed into the living room to see a custom-produced movie that Annie Aaronson, sister of Mary Wildenhaus, had prepared from 100's of still images provided by Bob and Mary and stolen from the photo archives of Nana and Papa. Less like a toast and more like a roast, we'll just say that the video contained some pretty incriminating evidence (primarily of Papa Jack). Who knew Papa looked so hot in pantyhose, flats and a skirt!

And just how exactly did Mommy and Daddy manage to get Nana and Papa out of the house to allow Chef Bert and his crew to set-up in addition to managing the precise time of their return? By spinning a web of complex lies and deceit of course! Our friends Anne Marie and Brett Herron claimed that since Mommy and Daddy were too busy preparing the planned 13-course Julia Child anniversary dinner for Nana and Papa, they didn't know who else to turn to for watching baby Alice while they were to attend a wedding. Managing the return was easy... Cocktails and appetizers were to start at 3:00PM and you know Papa wouldn't be late for that!

Mommy and Daddy would like to thank each and every one of you for keeping the whole thing a secret and for showing up to make the party truly fabulous. But they would also like to give some individual shout-outs (in no particularly order) to some folks that went out of their way to help out:

• Mary Wildenhaus for making the cakes
• Brett and Anne Marie Herron for deploying Operation Baby Diversion
• Lanetta Robarge for running to the airport
• Deb and Lance Logan for flying from Fairfax, CA
• Sue and Tom Trautwein for flying from Laguna Beach, CA
• Joan and Jerry Herzog for flying from Santa Rosa, CA
• Bob Herzog for flying from Pittsburg, PA and providing the toast
• Chef Bert and his crew for a job extremely well done
• Tia and Doug Smith for loaning Daddy their camera
• John and Sandy Schmidt for clandestinely staging the AA Party gear
• Joe and Dan Wildenhaus for running interference on the parking
• Bonnie Kosko for the excellent last minute party chair referral

And finally, on behalf of Mommy and Daddy, I'd like to congratulate Nana and Papa on the marital success they've had to this point and wish them continued succes for the next 25 years and beyond. We love you two dearly and are so happy and proud to share this achievement with you and all of our friends.

Happy Father's Day

This Father's Day was quite the production as a lot of family and friends were in town as a result of yesterday's big party. The day kicked off at the Palisade Restaurant for a wonderful brunch. I took every single person in our party for a tour around to show them all of the sea life living in the ponds and waterways inside the restaurant.

No Father's Day would be complete without a round of golf, right? Daddy, Papa Jack, Lance Logan, Gramps (a.k.a. Jerry the King) and Uncle Bob Herzog headed to Jefferson Park Golf Course to test their mettle. I didn't inspect the scorecard, but I think Lance won. After the round everyone congregated out our house to enjoy a cheese plate, have some pizza, drink some wine and have a lot of laughs. Watch out for the wrath of Old Lady Nelligan!

Thank you to every one of our cherished out of town guests: Sue and Tom Trautwein, Deb and Lance Logan, Gramps and Gramma J, and Bob Herzog. Congratulation again to Nana and Papa on their amazing milestone. And a super-duper Happy Father's Day to my favorite dad in the world!

Luke Edward Mead

Our dear friends Shannon and James Mead in Toronto, Ontario have just given birth to 9lb. Luke Edward Mead. Congratulations guys and we can't wait to see him!

Picnic and TV Coverage

Mommy has cooked up a regular Wednesday night picnic with the Light's that we hope will lead to many wonderful outdoor summer nights soaking up all of that famous Puget Sound gorgeousity. Tonight, our first, was instead spent indoors at the cozy confines of Chez Light. Don, Amy, Henry and Audrey played great hosts as we unfurled our pulled pork sandwiches and corn on the cob... True picnic food if there ever was any. And speaking of unfurling, Henry and I spent a LOT of time in the Light family bathroom practicing on the potty.

When we got home Mommy booted up a TiVo'd episode of Evening Magazine from last night. She got a hot tip from one of her triathlon coaches that John Curley would be hosting the show from Saturday's Issaquah Triathlon and some of the background footage might contain people of interest. Well guess who made it on to the show... Mommy and Nana!! There were two shots of them in the background loading in their gear while John Curley rambled on like, well, John Curley. Mommy even got a split second of face time!

Weekend Redux

FRIDAY
Family Pizza Night #164. We broke from the normal Papa Murphy's DeLite or frozen jobbies from Trader Joe's and instead gnoshed on some Pagliacci's. As a lifetime Seattleite, it's easy to grow tired of take for granted the award-winning consistency and overall yumminess that Pagliacci's has to offer... Perfectly crispy sourdough crust and a great selection of tasty toppings and combinations. Without a coupon though, you won't see us shelling out for the good stuff for just any ol' time.

Since Mommy was competing in the Issaquah Triathlon early the next morning, she took off shortly after dinner to spend the night at Nana and Papa's. Daddy and I both wound down with a bottle and some books while Mommy watched a movie with Nana and Papa.

SATURDAY
Daddy was up at 6:30AM to water the garden, clean the house and do some work on some portraits he shot Wednesday. It was another lovely day, so when I woke up Daddy and I had breakfast on the patio while listening to Sky Blue Sky, the latest from Wilco. Our backyard is really coming along; It's great to see the baby's tears filling in and the clematis finally making its way up to the trellises... Or is it trelli?

After some coffee and breakfast we headed to the Mt. Baker neighborhood for the weekly Sponge session. It's always great to see Maestra Lorena and all of the other Spongiforms. Today we learned: Es ruidoso (It's loud), Es silencioso (It's quiet), Es duro (It's hard), Es suave (It's soft), Helado (Ice cream), and Mantel (Place mat). Next week is revista, so Daddy and I are going to have to put some time in to remember all we've learned in the past four weeks. Sadly Campbell Smith and friend of the blog Doug Smith weren't there as a precautionary measure as little brother Carter is suffering from croup. Get better Carter!

Daddy and Mommy have been looking for a specific style of container for the pots they'd like to plant in the backyard for a couple of weeks now. While appearing quite robust and solid, they are in fact very light and made of aluminum or a hip new composite material called fiberstone and have kind of an aged zinc look about them. They found many examples on display at Swanson's that are the perfect size, but Swannie's doesn't actually have any available and don't expect to be getting any more. So the search continues. After Spanish Daddy and I hit: Herban Patio, Pottery Time and Home Depot while down in the general SoDo area, striking out at all three. Where does one find these pots?!

After coming up short on our quest for the pots Mom and Dad have in mind, we headed back to Ballard with a nap on the short list of things to do. But not without one worthwhile detour... The Scoop at Walter's on 32nd and 65th in Northwest Ballard. I had a cup of strawberry ice cream while Daddy had the mojito sorbet. We actually got them to go so we could enjoy them at home while waiting for Carrie Palk to stop by with a delivery for freshly picked organic vegetables.

Carrie is a foley artist and audio engineer at Bad Animals in Seattle, representative and harvester for a new grass-roots organic community-based farming effort called Growing Washington, worldwide traveler, and the uber-sweet girlfriend of Daddy's boss Michael Berlin. We signed up for their CSA Program (Community Supported Agriculture) to receive bi-monthly deliveries of the freshest organic and sustainably farmed fruit and veg that money can buy. It always feels great to support a friend and visit with the always truly enjoyable Ms. Carrie Palk.

After my siesta I awoke to freshly showered parentals as they were gearing me up to head to the house of my pal Owen for the evening while they spent some time on the town with Owen's dad Joe Moriarty and mama Lynn Burgess. In this case Mommy and Daddy were heading to the tapas lounge across the street from my school called Oliver's Twist. While no strangers to Oliver's Twist with frequent pre-pick up cocktails as just the two of them, or alongside uber-friends Doug and Tia Smith, tonight was a dedicated assault on both the bar and the food menu: Martini's, Crown and rocks, Bartender's fancies, vodka gimlets, watermelon carpaccio, roasted fingerling potatoes, Mt. Townsend Camembert cheese plate, Tomato cappuccino and grilled cheese sandwiches, lacinato kale, bleu cheese and bacon stuffed dates, and the oregano Salumi salami. Nothing was left on the table, whistles were whetted, appetites sated, and foody anxiety put to bed. Owen and I had a fun time going wild in the back yard in the meantime.

SUNDAY
After Mommy and Daddy fanatically sharing their love of the Hi-Life as a superior local breakfast choice during their dinner with Joe and Lynn all night, it was no surprise to see Owen, J.P., Joe and Lynn roll up on the joint to see what all of the fuss is about. I have yet to get the full report from the Moriarty-Burgess crew, but Mommy, Daddy and I were once again impressed with the Hi-Life's offerings.

After breakfast we zipped back to the crib so Daddy could meet Henry's dad Don Light. They were meeting there to head out to Port Orchard's Trophy Lake Golf and Casting and rendez-vous with Papa Jack and friend of the blog, Mickey Kosko. The word on the street is that Daddy and Don absolutely put on clinics... Don on what to do (shoot an 82) and Daddy on what not to do (shoot a 122).

While Daddy was off doing his thing, Mommy and I headed to the Ravenna neighborhood to help ELDC friend Nola Parnes celebrate her 3rd birthday. Mommy had the address, but after 45 minutes of looking for this mystery park locale, she decided to pack it in. I was so looking forward to the party (as I had been talking about it ad nauseum for 3 straight days), but I felt it was my role to sooth Mommy's clearly visible frustration. Better luck next time, but happy birthday to Nola as a consolation.

And the piece de resistance of the day and the swan song of the weekend was meeting up Amy Light and her pups Henry and Audrey at Green Lake. Earlier Mommy and I had cruised around the lake, played on the playground, and even went swimming together in the lake so we were really in a groove there. It was fun to play with Henry while the gals caught up, but I'd have to say my strawberry shake and splitting a burger from Red Mill pretty much super ceded all else.

Happy Monday tomorrow. =(