bikes and brides

Another fun summer weekend came to an end too quickly. On Saturday, Ashley and I went for a bike ride. I was super excited to go out because I got a new (technically used, but new to me) road bike this spring and have hardly been around this summer to ride. I rode over to Fremont to meet Ashley and then we jumped on the Burke Gilman and went to Matthews Beach. Neither of us had been there before so we enjoyed laying on the grass in the sunshine along the water before heading back to Fremont. Then we had lunch at Homegrown which is a little sandwich shop on Fremont Ave. that is all about being green/sustainable. I usually can't have sandwiches because I can't eat regular bread, but I was surprised to find they had gluten free bread from Wheatless in Seattle. I had the hummus & roasted red pepper sandwich and it was delicious - definitely recommended! I know a lot of gluten-free stuff just isn't as good as the real thing, but Ashley tried it and said she even liked it better than hers!

Saturday night Jenny came over for one last slumber party before she moves to Salt Lake City. I'm going to miss her but I'm excited to have an excuse for a ski trip this winter :) We went to dinner at a new Mexican restaurant on Eastlake called Little Water Cantina. Another place in Seattle that promotes local and organic ingredients - gotta love it! They have a huge outdoor deck that overlooks Lake Union. It was a beautiful view and the servers were very friendly - we stayed for quite a while just hanging out in the sun and didn't feel rushed at all to get out of there. The food was good but overpriced in my opinion - next time I'll make sure to go during happy hour.

Sunday was all about the brides - first up was a bridal brunch for my friend Amber. We went to Hunger which was also in Fremont. It was my first time there and it's a perfect spot for a large group. They had a side room that had a huge table so all 12 of us could sit together. Plus, there was a connecting room that was more lounge style with benches along the walls where we could sit and open presents and play games. They didn't even charge extra to reserve the space - so nice! The food was good but my only complaint is that the portions felt a little small - it was strange to eat at a restaurant called Hunger and leave still feeling hungry, ha ha. However, it was tasty and we had great service so I would go back again.

Then I got a surprise phone call from my cousin, April, who lives in New Jersey and got married last weekend. She went on a honeymoon cruise with her new husband, Ryan, up to Alaska and the boat had just arrived in Seattle. They had a few hours to kill before their flight, so Marc and I picked them up and played tour guide for the evening. They had already seen the classic Seattle stuff like Pike Market & the Space Needle, so we decided to take them off the beaten path. We went over into Fremont (again really?) to see the troll, wandered through Gas Works Park, walked around the UW campus, drove through the Aboretum over to Madison Park, and then had dinner at Cactus. We hadn't seen April in 5 or 6 years and it was our first time meeting Ryan so it was a perfect way to end the weekend.