Sci-fi night at the Seymours

Sci-fi movie night at the Seymours looked a little like this.

 

Mark: “I’m in the mood for sci-fi! Here are our choices: ‘Blade Runner’, ‘The Fifth Element’, or ‘Mad Max.'”

Me: “Um… ‘Moulin Rouge’?

Mark: “Sci-fi.”

Me: “Well, I’ve already seen ‘Blade Runner’, and I saw five minutes of ‘The Fifth Element’ on TV once and didn’t really like it, so… ‘Mad Max’ I guess?”

Mark: “You don’t sound very excited.”

Me: “Well… yeah.”

 

For the record, I wasn’t a fan of “Mad Max” – should’ve gone with “Blade Runner”.

On my nails

My newest obsession has been nail polish: uber-girly, I know, but I feel like I completely missed out on the nail polish train when I was younger. Thus, I've jumped on full steam ahead! I change my polish every two or three days for the following reasons:
  1. The color starts to bore me. I need variety!
  2. Sometimes my weekend shades aren't exactly work-appropriate. I feel like my co-workers are judging me when I wear a near-black on Monday morning. Come on, it, uh, matches my pants!
  3. I enjoy the process of a manicure just as much as the end result. There's something about the precision and perfection required for a good manicure that appeals to me.


On my nails at the moment: OPI's Sweet Heart, a cotton candy-esque pink creme. I'm not a huge fan of cremes because the application has to be absolutely flawless or all your mistakes are evident (microshimmers and glitters are more forgiving when it comes to minor dents or scratches), but this polish came in a set so I had to try it out. It's a bit light for my complexion but it works for the office. I had to use three coats to get rid of the streaks, but I don't mind - again, I love the process. If it's worth doing, then it's worth doing well.


Parking Fail

I couldn't see where the parking lines were!

Danish mid-century

Mark has a continuous love affair with Danish mid-century furniture and he points it out everywhere - antique stores, commercials, building lobbies. I let him do his thing when it comes to furniture, so we came home with these two pieces on Monday.


Our new (well, old) coffee table

This table replaced the circular table we had by the window. The chairs are the next to go.


February snowstorm?

February 2011 060

Of course, the moment I post this, the snow has stopped and I can see blue sky out there. How strange.

Awkward Award #2

Is there any way to look normal while waiting for someone at a Starbucks? So you don't look like you're lurking next to the mugs for sale?

I was waiting for my friend to join me at the University Village Starbucks on Sunday afternoon when it occurred to me that I must look ridiculous lurking in the corner. And why I thought that meeting at that particular Starbucks was a good idea, I'll never know. Imagine an outdoor mall on a sunny day with little parking and crammed with students and strollers. There were absolutely no free seats so waiting at a table was out of the question. I can only pretend to look at mugs and carafes for so long before it starts to get weird.

I can't lie - if I don't have a book or a computer in front of me, I have a problem with staring. My eyes just automatically fix on whatever's in front of me or across from me, so if that happens to be a face then that's not really my fault, right? It's not like I'm meaning to look at you. You're just there.

So what I'm trying to say is I made eye contact with at least half the people in that room. For 20 minutes. It doesn't get much more awkward than that. Someone save me from myself.

#72: Get our Seattle neighborhood map framed

Now that we're no longer in college, hanging posters without frames isn't as acceptable as it once was. We acquired this amazing illustrated map of the Seattle neighborhoods and hung it sans a frame in our old apartment, but noticed it was quickly aging without the protection of a frame.

We trekked to Aaron Brothers downtown today to check out their frame offerings and hoping not to spend an exorbitant amount (framing is PRICEY). We found exactly what we were looking for -- a simple wood frame with glass -- on sale with a 40% discount! There wasn't really a question of whether or not we should buy it - next thing we knew, Mark was carrying it to the car (paid for, of course). The map has been re-hung - let the arguments on which neighborhood you really live in begin. ("I live in Greenlake!" "No you don't, the boundary for Greenlake ends here!" "Well... I still live in Greenlake!")

Richard's blog

My brother, the soccer aficionado. I love reading his take on happenings in Major League Soccer and around the world.

Favorite brother ever. :)

#26 Double Feature: Blackeyed Peas in a Goa Curry and Anglo-Indian Beef Stirfry

Le cast of characters for the curry dish, minus the bananas
This goa curry was a primary reason I bought "5 Spices 50 Dishes" - it sounded so delicious and it did not disappoint! The dish is perfect for vegetarians or vegans and is hearty enough to be a meal all by itself. It involved some prep work but I sped up the process by using a food processor to mince the onion and tomato. I'm all for technology. And I use pre-grated ginger now... don't judge me.

I used thinly sliced skirt steak for the beef stirfry which worked very well - the thin strips cooked quickly in the wok. This dish is one where you want to have everything prepared and measured out beforehand so you can quickly add the ingredients to the wok at the proper time - I was caught off guard by how quickly the ginger and onions cooked and scurried to measure and add the spices before something burned.

Blackeyed Peas in a Goa Curry
Substitutions/omissions: None
Mistakes: None - I'm getting better at this game.
Repeat: Oh yes, and I may be inviting you over to share.

Anglo-Indian Beef Stirfry
Substitutions/omissions: The author paired this stirfry with turmeric-infused steak fries, which I chose not to make last night. I only wanted to focus on the beef since I already had the curry going.
Mistakes: None
Repeat: Definitely

Valentine’s Day

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I met up with my friend Claire yesterday afternoon after work and was lucky enough to catch this singing valentine as it happened. These four men walked in with a rose and a song for the young woman behind the counter who was obviously stunned. It was so adorable! They sang “Dream A Little Dream of Me” while her boyfriend/significant other videoed the performance. As the singers finished and walked out, Claire walked in and I said, “You missed it!!”

Scribbles

Flyer rev

Part of my job is to decipher scribble! My co-worker and I turn it into a collaborative process and pass the confusing bits back and forth to see who can decipher it first (she keeps a magnifying glass in her drawer for this very purpose). The game only gets harder when misspellings are involved.

#11: Backpack in Central America

"Guess what, babe? We're going to Central America!"

We bought our tickets last night and will be flying into Belize and out of Honduras, hitting up four countries in three weeks. We don't plan to spend much time in Belize at all since we've already been there, but will probably bus directly to Guatemala, then south to El Salvador, and end the trip in Honduras. I can't wait! I've been trying to brush up on my rudimentary Spanish and hopefully the ticket purchase will force me to get my rear in gear and work on some vocabulary and phrases.

We've been doing our research on where we want to visit. Antigua made the list as well as the ruins in Tikal, the largest known Mayan city, in Guatemala. We'll visit more Mayan ruins in Copan Ruinas of Honduras and hopefully hop up to the Bay Islands on the northern coast of Honduras. I can't remember our exact proposed itinerary for El Salvador off the top of my head but there are plenty of national parks and forests to hike.

Speaking of the 100 List, I hope to cross some other items off the list during the trip:

11. Backpack in Central America (obviously)

9. Attend a soccer match in South America - this is up in the air, but perhaps?

42. Hold a monkey - also up in the air, but the possibility is there.

67. Take a red eye flight - scheduled for April 10.

100. Hike in a rainforest

puppy love

I just finished Garth Stein’s “The Art of Racing in the Rain”, a novel set in Seattle about a dog, Enzo, and his owners, and I now have dog fever. Our current apartment and life situation don’t allow us to own a dog at this time, but I’m looking forward to it someday when we have more space.

I grew up with dogs and we’ve owned, at different points, a blue heeler mix, a red heeler mix, and three miniature schnauzers. I usually count my aunt’s and uncle’s dogs as my dogs also (they approve) so I’ll also throw in a fourth miniature schnauzer and a prissy miniature poodle (Sundae, as in an ice cream sundae – may she rest in peace).

Here are some dogs I wouldn’t mind owning, but not all at once:

English sheepdogs seem like sweet, lovable, furry messes to me - what's not to love? I have absolutely no experience with a sheepdog, save for my Peter Pan obsession, but I'm sure they are lovely.







I love the ears of corgis. Enough said.











Snoopy was a beagle!

Awkward award

Few situations are more awkward than when you have to confess to your original hair stylist that you went somewhere else and it was a mistake.

My stylist is on the spendier side so I thought I’d go to a less expensive salon for a trim. Nothing major, just a quarter inch off the ends – take off the dead stuff. I picked a salon near my work for convenience and made an appointment. A trim should be pretty foolproof, right?

All went well until she got to the back of my hair.

Her: “So, you want to trim layers back here?”
Me: “Not new layers, just trim the layers I already have.”
Her: “Ok, so, layers.”
Me: “No, see, the layers are very subtle – just trim them.”
Her: “Gradual layers.”

Then she proceeded to cut off AT LEAST two inches off the back and layer it all. I initially started to panic but what can you do when the first snip has already been made? My original cut was a longer inverted bob, so the front was longer than the back – she didn’t really incorporate the longer pieces with the rest of what she cut though, so my front pieces are much longer (too much) than the rest. My next mistake was to wave her off when she asked if she should blow dry my hair straight. In my defense, I normally don’t allow stylists to do this because it takes forever and my hair is feisty and requires technique that I’ve been developing over several years. However, if I would’ve seen it blown out, I might have noticed that some layers had been missed and the front was obviously too long for the overall cut. But I didn’t see all this until I dried it myself the day after.

Cue the awkward phone call to Susan, my regular stylist.

Me: “Hey Susan, this is Heather Seymour… so… I made a mistake and I went somewhere else for a trim but they messed it up. Could I please come in and have you fix it? I’m so sorry.”
Susan: “Ok, where did you go? What happened?”
Me: “Oh, I went somewhere near my office because it was convenient and…” (I explained the issues).
Susan: “When do you want to come in?”
Me: “In half an hour?”

I couldn’t go in that day but I’m going in this afternoon and Susan will assess the situation. I felt like such a traitor! Susan, thank you for taking me back!

Midweek Tidbits

The top chocolate factory tours in the U.S. - Vegas, Hawaii, Brooklyn, San Francisco, and Vermont.

Are the typical big-box gyms going the way of the dinosaur? I'd love to hear what readers have to say about their gym experience.

I don't like to pay big bucks for trendy clothes because fashions change so quickly, so I love Charlotte Russe for their affordable trends. Here's a sneak peek at their spring threads but I'm not sure what I think yet - I've never fully embraced prints.

Check out this slideshow of the snow hitting the midwest - so glad I'm not there!