Train Travel

We're traveling via the 'ol Railroad today to start our vacation. Granted, this railroad has wifi and we're sitting in business clas, so a little different from the "classic" train.  We're heading to Portland for a mini vacation; really just a few days away from everything to relax, take a break and pretty much do nothing except eat, drink and quietly compare everything to Seattle.  That's pretty much what a vacation is all about, right?

We took the 7:30AM Amtrak train this morning, leaving from King Street Station:

But the real treat is inside......

King Street Station

The King Street Station originally opened in 1906, and a restoration was just completed in April of this year; truly a sight to see.  The ceiling used to be hidden by acoustical tiles (see here) which were removed during the restoration to reveal the incredible detail you see in that picture. (More info about King Street Station restoration project here) 

Union Station

We had to make a quick Starbucks run before boarding and got to pass Union Station on the way, which I've heard is equally impressibe inside.  We'll be passing through on the way back so we'll have the opportunity to see for ourselves.

Narrows Bridge

Once on board the train, we settled in to our spacious Business Class seats and relaxed to take in the impressive scenery.  Above you see a shot of the Narrows, we tried for a shot of Mt. Rainier as well but it just didn't want to turn out.

Golden Tidbit:

Although not available for purchase (at least not the original), there's only one appropriate tidbit for today's rail post; the Golden Spike driven at Promontory Point. 

Golden Quote: "Railway termini are our gates to the glorious and the unknown.  Through them we pass out into adventure and sunshine, to them, alas! we return." -E. M. Foster

Wedding Guest Etiquitte

It's June and that means that wedding season is in full swing. This means gift buying, attire planning and celebration to be had for close friends and family!

We were lucky enough to attend a wedding of some good friends last night who included this sentiment on the toasting glasses: 



When attending weddings I have my own set of wedding ettiquite rules that I use, which are pretty common sense, but always a good idea to review for the season. 

• What to wear: Since a wedding is a celebration, not something to mourn, black is a color I won't wear.  Red is also on the no-go list; nothing should take attention from the bride & groom, and red pretty much does that (shades of pink and maroon are fine, but bright fire red seems..... inappropriate). I personally believe it goes unsaid that white is a huge and obvious no-no. Unless of course the invite specifies colored attire.
• What to give: If the Bride and groom have registered, I tend to stick to it.  You know they want/need the items since they've taken the time to list them. I have recently seen a rise in the use of a site called Honeyfund.com which allows you to contribute to the couple's honeymoon (airfare, hotel upgrades, excursions, etc) so they can enjoy their first time away as newlyweds.
• How to toast: Try to keep your toast genuine, heartfelt, and to wishing the couple many years of love.  We've all been at the wedding where the embarassing college or pre-couple story cropped up in a toast and it makes the whole room uncomfortable. Keep the sentiment true to your good wishes for the couple, everyone will admire your thoughts.
• Bonus - Social Media:  In today's age of social share everything instantly, the desire to post pictures of the beautiful wedding is overwhelming. Know your couple.  They may want to be the ones to post the first pics of their special day. Conversely, they may provide a wedding day hashtag to encourage posts (example: #smithwedding).  I've even seen wedding pic sharing apps so that all the pictures the guests take are in one place.  If you aren't sure, ask someone in the bridal party.

Golden Tidbit:

Sometimes you need just the right accessory to complete the perfect wedding guest outfit.  I was browsing at H&M last weekend and found a Pyrite necklace that let me to this Etsy beauty. I've been thinking about picking up something like this for a while, so it was pretty perfect timing. For just $25 what a bargain!

Golden Quote: "Love one another and you will be happy. It's as simple and as difficult as that." - Michael Leunig



Fathers Day Gift ideas

Happy Fathers Day! In honor of all the Great Dads out there (mine included!) here's some gift ideas that don't include Ties and socks.  Let's be honest, dads have more than enough of those. (also, great gift ideas for guys in general, we all know that can be tough sometimes).

Meat Skewers from the Grill from Ipanema

Meat.  On a Skewer.  What dad wouldn't like that? Take dad to the Grill from Ipanema (in belltown) or get a gift certificate.  While I haven't eaten here myself, I've heard amazing reviews from friends.

Woodinville Whiskey

Available at amny local retailers (from Safeway to Wine World), Woodinville Whiskey is one of the few Whiskeys made close to the Seattle area (but not the only one in the state).

Get Dad a walking food tour of Pike Place Market. Small groups, fewer stops mean a better background and bigger bites! Chek out Seattle Food Tours for more info

Golden Tidbit:

Today I'll be attending a friends Graduation party and I'm very excited for him.... however, he's graduating from UW (yes, my rival college).  It was requested that I wear Purple, which I don't own, so of course I'll wear gold. and bring some Cougar Gold.  What else could be the appropriate start for College rivalry? Available at QFC & Costco locally, and also online from the WSU Creamery for $20 (cheese, in a can, shipped to you.  Pretty amazing!)

Golden Quote: "My father gave me the greatest gift anyone could give another person, he believed in me." - Jim Valvano

Leaning In

If I haven't mentioned it before, I travel a lot for my job.  This means a lot of windshield time, but a lot of air time as well. In todays case, this post is brought to you by gogoinflight wifi from 30,000 feet. The past 5 days will have me at a total of  4 airports (SEA, LAX, MSP, IND), 4 states (WA, CA, MN, IN) and 2 airlines (Delta & Alaska Air).  Lots of air time means I have the opportunity to get some uninterrupted work time, but also some good reading time as well. 

After reccomendations from a slew of friends, I finally read  "Lean In" by Sheryl Sandberg ($12.99 on Amazon) and absolutely loved it.  A little background on Sheryl Sandberg; she is the COO at Facebook, and was named one of Fortune's 50 most powerful women in business.  I whole heartedly recommend this book to anyone in business and leadership (men & women).  Sandberg covers mentorship, leadership, work-life balance and some great common sense advice to women (and men) about how to shape the careeer they truly want.  She shares a lot of her own experiences as well as those from her peers, giving you a unique insight to both entry level and at a high leadership level.  She also challenges the idea that anyone has to choose between family and career (the old idea that you can/can't have it all) and why so many limits are ones we put on ourselves based on expectations, experience or perception.  Mostly, to Lean In to what you want instead of pulling back.  A few quotes that stuck with me:

"Careers are a jungle gym, not a ladder"

"And what I saw happening is that women don't make one decision to leave the workforce. They makes lots of little decisions really far in advance that kind of inevitably lead them there."

Personally, parts of this book I agreed with and other parts made me absolutly irate.  But that's the point, and that will get people talking.  Sometimes the timing for a book is just right and I think the timing on this was perfect; I found a lot of useful info and think there's a lot of daily business application.  If you've read it, I'd love to hear what you thought; love it, hate it, think she's way off base or hit the mark? Leave some comments!

Golden Tidbit:

I am still kicking myself for not picking up a Gold luggage tag when I saw it on clearance at a Banana Republic a few months ago, but I found this one today that I think will fit the bill perfectly!  Leather and a sturdy buckle to make sure it doesn't leave your luggage; available on Amazon for $27

Golden Quote: 
"Fortune does favor the bold and you'll never know what you're capable of if you don't try.”  - Sheryl Sandberg

Purse Mission: Completed

I can now say that I am the proud owner of a Rachel Zoe Purse.
OK fine, its a Satchel, but let's not get technical here. RZ is still RZ.  

Rachel Zoe Lee Large Satchel bag

Ever since RZ's first line came out, I have been in love with her style, and knew she'd be the one to come out with the perfect affordable bag (I know, it's still not the Prada perfection but it'll still be there when I'm ready). Although larger than what I had in mind, this happens to double perfectly as my new Laptop travel bag.  I have one of those generic laptop bags that work gives you for free and its... well, it's pretty much as generic as you can get (no, really, I tried to find a picture and it's so boring its no where to be found).  This little beauty will fit my laptop, iPad, folders and any other little bits and pieces I need to carry when traveling for work, or make a handy large purse.  That cuts me down from 3 bags to 2 when traveling, which helps since technically only 2 carry-ons are allowed.  I'm all about efficiency, especially when traveling.

I found this guy at Nordstrom Rack in Downtown Seattle, and they still have a few more as well as a white one.  I will say I strongly considered white, but since it is leather, and the bag will be doing a lot of travel, I decided that it would have quickly become dingy.  In trying to find a good pic of the bag, I have come across the rest of the collection and now have my eye 2 others that are a bit more of an everyday size. That said, I've never been one to shy away from an oversized bag.

An added tidbit for those fashion lovers out there; in researching quotes for this post, I found the greatest websites: purseblog.com and talkshoes.com

Golden Tidbit:

For those frequent flyers who need a quick make-up trick, I highly recommend L'oreal Voluminous Million Lashes Mascara. I usually use this in combination with another mascara that lengthens, but a few swipes of this and eyes will brighten right up!  Available at most drugstores for around $7-9 (Here at walgreens.com for $8.99)

Golden Quote: "As far as I can remember, every dime I ever had went to something extravagant. I would rather spend more, buy fewer items and have them forever." -Rachel Zoe

Weekend Dining

Happy Memorial Day Weekend!  I know many of you have probably left town in what we should really consider the true start to summer.  We usually stick around for the sole purpose of not having to fight traffic in or out of town, and having the city a little emptier is a pretty good added bonus.
We decided to use up a few of the Amazon Local restaurant coupons that I've been accumulating and have some fun tasting some of what Downtown Seattle has to offer.

First up on Friday was a big favorite of mine, but one that the bf had never been to; Spur.
This is a little gem that has been getting more popular every week, and getting national recognition for amazing dishes. It's on Blanchard between 1st and 2nd, and worth the trip if you haven't been (yet, or recently).  Spur has been featured in Food & Wine Magazine, Conde Naste, Seattle Weekly, etc, but what really maters is that YOU go experience it.  Their seasonal menu changes often, but I had the Tagliatelle, which is a menu staple and pretty much luxury on a plate. This isn't just a restaurant with some of the most amazing food I've ever had, but the cocktails can be an experience all on their own. Just want a bite?  Then I absolutely recommend the Sockeye Salmon Crostini and let the bartender make you a drink that isn't on the menu.  My bf was asked what he liked (Bourbon) and if he preferred dry or sweet (dry) and by then, the drink was already decided in the bartenders head.  According to the bf, if a Manhattan and a Old Fashioned had a baby, it was the drink he had, and it was perfect.

www.spurseattle.com

My rum & grapefruit (with grapefruit foam) concoction; delicious.

Saturday we tried something completely different and decided on Japonessa.  Think Sushi with a Latin flair, and absolutely fantastic.  We arrived during happy hour, which is open to 6:30 in the entire restaurant. Guys, this is probably one of the best happy hour deals in the city, it's delicious, and totally worth it.  We sampled a few recommendations from a friend; Spicy Tuna Takaki and the Rock Star roll.  I could only get through one bite of the Spicy Tuna; the tuna was delicious, and perfectly tender, but I'm not a huge fan of jalapeno and this was swimming in it a jalapeno-based sauce.  I also had the happy hour eel roll which was satiny eel and avocado perfection.  The rolls were great, but next time I'll stick to the sashimi; the quality of the fish was amazing.

 www.japonessa.com 

Golden Tidbit:

When walking the city this weekend, you want to make sure your footwear is comfortable and of course, golden.  I have a pair similar to these from Shoedazzle purchased a few years back and don't wear them nearly enough.  Get these on sale from Zappos.com for just $60.30

Golden Quote: "Ponder well on this point: the pleasant hours of our life are all connected by a more or less tangible link, with some memory of the table." - Charles Pierre Monselet

Gilded Office Decor

I moved into a new office at work recently and realized that even though I've had my own office for almost 2 years, I've truly never bothered to decorate it.  To make it my own.  To put my own personality into the room.  Which is probably the reason my last office always felt a little "temporary" to me.  There's a fine line, of course, between decorating for home and decorating for work.  I want my office decor to be familiar, make me feel comfortable, but completely within the bounds of work appropriate (and yes, partially this is a limit I put on myself, and I'm fine with that).  The funny thing is that I'm in the construction industry, so a picture of a toilet or bathroom would be included in the appropriate category.

Just so you know, when I started searching Office Decor for this post, I never (surprisingly) intended for it to be all about gold.  Apparently my love of Gold is now seeping into decorating and it's HOT right now because everywhere I searched, Gold is prominently featured.  This is a trend I am completely on board with.

funny, but no:

yolo is never appropriate at the office.  Unless you work at a skydiving school.

Yes, that's a gold dino planter. I don't know either.

I don't often use pencils, but if I did, this would be an absolute must.

Office decor I could only do at a home office:

Gold Chevron wall. So amazing.

I'd do gold and white Brocade on the wall instead of this pattern, but still nice and clean

Love the gold screen as an accent

Actual possibilities for my office:

I'd love to do black & white prints of my own photos in different gold frames

LOVING this canvas wrap (gold feathers, could it be more appropriate for me?)

It wouldn't need to be this big, but an ornate gold framed mirror might be just the thing

Golden Tidbit:

I truly can't believe that no one ever pointed out I didn't have a Gold Stapler.  Honestly, this seems like an obvious one.  Already ordered and on it's way to me for just $24 from Furbish 

Golden Quote:   "The principle of the design - the harmony, rhythm, and balance are all the same with interior and fashion design." - Venus Williams