Tomato, toMAHto

So. Remember that time I told you about my Le Creuset pot? Turns out I don’t have one.

I took in said pot to BB&B like I said I would in my previous post and said I needed to exchange my Le Creuset for another one.

Sales Associate: “Oh we don’t carry Le Creusets in the store but I can do an exchange online or an in-store refund.”

Me: “Really? But I got mine in the store last time.”

SA: “Maybe someone else returned theirs and that’s why it was here.”

Me: “But there was a whole selection of them in the cookware section.”

SA: “… Oh, well you’re welcome to go check!”

Then I handed her my pot and set off for the cookware section to prove myself right… where I found a selection of Fontignac dutch ovens, which was obviously the brand that I bought since I remembered the packaging. Where I got it in my head that I had a Le Creuset I have no idea. I didn’t even look at my pot because I was so sure it was a Le Creuset. So then I had to shuffle back to the front with my Fontignac and face the SA.

Me: “So… I apparently didn’t have a Le Creuset! Sorry about that, I don’t know where I got that.”

SA: “That’s ok! They look exactly alike so I understand how that happened.”

Me: “And all this time I’ve been telling people I had a Le Creuset… how embarrassing.”

They still exchanged it for me free of charge but I’m sure I looked like the annoying know-it-all customer… ah well! To the SA’s credit, she did an excellent job of giving me the benefit of the doubt and not smirking, at least to my face. They have a tough job sometimes!

Bring on spring

Since the winter blues have grabbed me in full force, I’ve taken to stalking my favorite clothing websites since their spring collections have been released. Nothing like a pop of color to brighten my day and forget the drizzles outside!

I’ve been prepping my spring wardrobe a bit early this year to take advantage of the sales retailers have been offering – New York & Company recently had a sale for 50% off their new spring collections so I headed over to take a gander. I wanted some colorful pieces and NY&C usually has some great options color-wise.
I LOVE the recent trend of colorblocking so I got this top, a combination of deep navy, gray, and a pretty mint green.


They also had a great selection of royal blue, which I want to incorporate more of in my wardrobe. I picked up this cute patterned top; my new goal is to not be afraid of patterns! I normally prefer solid colors but that can get boring after a while.


Bring on spring!

A spring wedding

Not only do I get to be in a wedding that takes place here in gorgeous Estes Park, CO:


But I get to wear this cute little number!


Who's excited? This girl. I love weddings! I can't wait to celebrate in June with my three best friends from home - the lovely bride Breanna, and Megan and Sarah. Together forever!

Snow days


Proof that all you need to have fun is a cookie sheet.

We got not one snow day this week, but two. Seattle tends to become immobilized during bouts of snow due to the steep hills and I was grateful for a chance to stay home and enjoy the beauty of the snow! By now though I'm going a little crazy and am almost looking forward to going to work tomorrow.

Almost.

The fun thing about Seattle snow is it brings out pedestrians in droves. Nearly everyone and their dog goes out for a walk during snowstorms and our local pizza joint, Pazzo's, was evidence. They were stocked to the brim with customers and we were lucky to get in our order for calzones before they ran out of ingredients since their delivery trucks couldn't make their deliveries.

Plus you see any kind of device substituting as a sled. I saw a girl try to go down a hill while straddling a snowboard like a sled. And no, I didn't say, "Um, sweetie, that's not how it works..."

Because she could've said the same thing about our cookie sheet!

Snowmageddon 2012!

Snow much?

I'm convinced that no one likes to talk about the weather more than Seattle.

After stories like this one predicting Snowmageddon the likes of which we haven't seen in decades, I was REALLY hoping for a snow day today.

And then I woke up to a rainy 36 degrees. So I got dressed and here I am. Cliff Mass says there's still a chance ("so you're saying there's a chance??") for Snowmageddon and the Coloradoan in me says, bring it on! But the Seattleite in me says to please wait until I get home... thanks. No one wants another commute from hell.

My lucky day

Moral of the story: you never know if you don't ask!


Example number 1: I bought a Le Creuset pot about a year and a half ago from Bed Bath and Beyond. The pot worked splendidly until a couple of months ago, when I noticed a small ring on the inside bottom of the pot. I continued using it since it only looked like a slight discoloration. Well, the slight discoloration became worse until the enamel gave way and cracked, revealing the cast iron beneath the enamel. I treat the pot very well and knew there was no way I could've caused that kind of damage - it's not like I hit the pot against something to cause any internal damage. Since I didn't have my receipt or even the original packaging for the product, Mark checked out Le Creuset's website to see if they would replace it - they will, apparently, but only if you ship it at your own cost. And those pots are HEAVY! So I've put off doing anything about the pot for a while because I was dreading repackaging and shipping it.

Then my co-worker suggested asking BB&B if they could ship it to Le Creuset for me since I bought it from them. I said I doubted it since I had nothing to prove I had bought it from BB&B, but I'd try anyway. And what do you know, BB&B offered to exchange it for me in-store since it had a lifetime guarantee, regardless of whether I had the receipt or not! Win!

Example number 2: I've been struggling with some issues with my contacts for a couple of weeks now. I use Acuvue Oasys contacts for Astigmatism and have been for years now, and have only had these problems within my most recent two boxes. I started developing oil spots on a pair that I'd had in for about a month (that's a short wear time for me - I usually stretch them for at least two months). I could rub off the oil spot with saline solution and it would remain clean for about five minutes, but cloud up again. So I threw that pair away and put in a brand new pair. Same problem. I've gone through four pairs now and experienced the same problem each time. With my most recent pair, my face was completely washed and make-up free, and I'd also flushed out my eyes: I put in a contact from a brand new package and within five minutes, a cloudy spot had developed on the contact.

I refuse to believe that my eyes are the problem. I've never had this issue before and it conveniently started with this new batch of contacts. So I called Costco, my provider, and asked if they could refund me or do an exchange since these seem to be defective. At first she said no. Then she asked if she could order me a trial pair since I had no contacts at the moment. I agreed (something is better than nothing), and she went on: "How about this - I'll order you two new boxes of contacts, free of charge, and you can test those out?" Sounds like an exchange to me, I'll take it! I don't know if my problems will stop with these new boxes, but it's the logical next step to take.

Who else can I call today to ask for favors??

House hunting in the snow


Leave it to us to go house hunting on the first day of snow in over a year in the Seattle area. I don’t know which is more shocking, that we’ve started looking for a house or that it actually snowed! You heard right – we’re on the hunt for a house with a real live mortgage. The good news is that we aren’t in any rush. If we find something, great; if we don’t, we’ll live. No pressure.

The first day of house hunting was eye-opening, to say the least. Most houses (townhouses are on the table too at this point) in the Seattle area are in our price range for a reason, and we encountered our fair share of places situated on top of busy arterials or overlooking the freeway. We’ve also discovered that we’re going to have to at least be open to making some compromises on factors like the area we want to live, or the amount of work we want to put into the acquisition. I keep reminding myself that this is a starter house and we likely won’t be in it forever. People buy and sell houses all the time! But it’s hard for me to think in advance and keep my eyes open for a house that we can grow into, rather than one that fits us now.

So we’ll see. I’m grateful we aren’t in a rush – I imagine it must be stressful to look for a house when you’re under a deadline!

Gaston

My friend Megan and I used to play a word association game where we started off with a single word, say, "lamp", then shut up for 60 seconds and let our minds wander. After the minute was up, we'd shout the new topic our mind had stumbled onto (Bruce Willis!) and then describe the path our minds took to get there. Yes, we led very interesting lives.

Mark walked in on me singing a song from Disney's "Beauty and the Beast" today (the one Gaston and company sings in the bar) and asked how I had started singing that song in particular. I was putting away laundry when I saw a brochure for the musical "Oklahoma" (playing at the 5th Avenue Theatre) and thought that maybe I wanted to go for my birthday. That sentiment sounded familiar and I then remembered that some time last year someone told me that "Beauty and the Beast" was coming to the Paramount Theater around my birthday. I should check that out, I thought. Then my mind flashed back to an online chat I was having with a friend yesterday. I said something about how I was thinking about such-and-such and my friend quipped, "Thinking, that's dangerous," which brought me back to "Beauty and the Beast":
Gaston: "Le Fou, I'm afraid I've been thinking..."
Le Fou: "A dangerous pastime-"
Gaston: "I know."
Which brought me to thinking about Gaston "persecuting harmless crackpots" (seriously, how genius are those lyrics?) which brought me to my current state of waltzing around singing about Gaston, which is where Mark found me. Yes, I lead a very interesting life.

Happy New Year!

Last night we rang in the warmest New Year in recent memory with some friends and champagne at our apartment. The night flew by and we almost didn't get the champagne poured in time for the midnight fireworks show atop the Space Needle! Our friends stayed until 1:30 before everyone decided it was time to turn in for the evening. Happy 2012 everyone!

Host and hostess
The ladies of the evening

The fellas, who really impressed me this year with how well they
dressed up.