Painting Birds, Drinking Beers

Bridget, Daylon, Dre and I ventured to yet another Corks and Canvas Event.  Daylon and Dre were first timers; that's always nerve-racking and exciting.  This event was unique because it was held at a brewery instead of a winery; Pyramid Alehouse to be exact.  They said we could have wine and I told Bridge that if she ordered wine I would judge her, knowing full well she would never do such a thing.  We're beer girls.  I WON!!  They do a drawing at every event, and my name finally made it into Lisa's (the owner) hands.

Freaking Dre got new fancy brushes with grippers!  Advantage much?

Bridge and Daylon enjoying the moment.

Paintings in progress.  Dre gave his bird a little blackbird friend.  All the painting ladies were so impressed.

Posing with our final pieces.

After Party on the Choo Choo Train - The Orient Express has the most amazing red chicken curry ever!  It's one of my favorite happy hour, pre-party, after-party and whatever occasion spots.  The bartenders are always super cool, funny in fact.  And there are always worse singers then you belting out Karaoke from one of the private rooms; and you are never the drunkest person in that place.

Loves at the Orient Express (my favorite Seattle hangout) .

In the next frame Bridget totally slipped me the tongue...

Mom already has dibs on this painting.  She said it reminds her of both my grandmas.  Yay.  They were bird lovers.

I still can't believe I won!  What a fun night.

Mustache Bash - Al-Bal's Parties are Epic

It was my sisters birthday party last night; we all threw on dirty raper mustaches and partied it up at the Soundview.  For those of you that don't know Soundview Tavern in Everett is pretty trash-tastic.  You are sure to see tweekers, dancing guy, homeless wenches, and a lot of really fun drunk people.  There were a lot of people with legit mustaches; ours were only fakers.

 

Stache cakes!  It was actually quite difficult to do mustaches. I'm not the greatest artist as you can tell.

My sweater for my beer!

Left my phone on the table and Ivy and Doug decided to take a wacky picture, ha ha, so tame!! They could've been a lot more evil.  I'm surprised Tyler didn't steal my phone and do something crazy.

Now that's better.  Oh Doug.

Photo bombed by SMELLY!  Gotta love it.  Stop staring at my crooked tooth:) 

Slushy after a shot.

Daylon's going to kill me for posting, but Ryan had to make an appearance.

Robert having fun with Davonne's blinged out 'stache.

The next day.

I love my Chloe girl.  

We went to the Best Western to sleep but continued to have fun, well most of us. Alison was of course passed out. Daylon's parents weren't there to tell him no.

Davonne reminds me of Jamiroquai.

Looks like she is saying something very profound that requires hand motions.

Father Christmas showed up.

The birthday girl.

Look they're little fishies...Disgusting.  Apparently my grandpa likes to eat these, okay.

Chloe:)

It was really great seeing everyone last night.  I met a whole bunch of new Lowe's people that my sis works with.  Got to see so many of my faves: Smelly and her new fiance, Ryan and Mercedes, Daylon, Bridget, Slushy, Ty Ty, Doug and Ivy, Davonne and Brandon, Nelly, oh and dancing guy of course.  I'm sure I'm forgetting someone.  

Mom and dad are packing for Mexico, I'm so freaking jealous!  Mom was doing a runway show of all of her shorts, tank tops, swim suits and swim suit covers.  Way to rub it in my face.  Then dad just did a fashion show of sunglasses, ha ha.  We picked the ones that made him look like Terminator.  "I'll be back."

Weekend Wanderings (Drinking Version) -- October 5th-7th

The weekly post that provides my readers with all the cool happenings around Seattle for the upcoming weekend.  You will have no excuse to not get out and make memories.

Anytime from Now Until Election Day
5-Spot -- Vote with your liver – 5-Spot is in Queen Anne and is known for their ever-changing themes and menu.  From now until Election Day order up a "blue" or a "red" cocktail featuring broVo Spirits.  Make sure you order one that favors your party.  They also are counting votes based on which door you enter through, blue or red.  Which one will you go through?

Details:

• 1502 Queen Anne Ave N, Seattle, WA

Brunch
Ma'ono Restaurant (Fried Chicken and Whisky) -- Bottomless Mimosas – As long as you are enjoying brunch, you will never see the bottom of your glass.  Yes, please.

Details:

• Weekends from 10am to 2pm
• West Seattle:  4437 California Ave SW, Seattle, WA
• $12 for bottomless mimosas

Saturday or Sunday, October 6th or 7th
Oktoberfest Party Cruise – I purchased tickets to this through Living Social, and there are still some available.  It is sure to be a blast.  It's one of Living Social's Adventures featuring 2.5 hours of cruising with stunning views, a DJ, buffet of late-night bites, beer, and Oktoberfest trivia and games.  And the best part is I'm going with Bridget; we always have fun.

Details:

• Pier 55 - Seattle Waterfront
• 9:30pm - 12:30am
• $40

I'm pretty stoked for the party cruise as well as a Sounders game on Sunday with my titsy friend Daylon.

Have a great weekend!

Beer and Pretzels: Oktoberfest

'Tis the Oktoberfest season where you have many opportunities to fill your belly with dark, seasonal fall beers.  It always blows people's minds that a lot of the Oktoberfest events are in September.  The real Oktoberfest runs from the end of September through the beginning of October.  Although, it's confusing, does it really matter?  I'm not arguing with the Germans, they can be feisty especially after a full day of drinking.

I found a really fun article on NBC news about 15 facts that you don't now about Oktoberfest, see source article here.   I wanted to share some of these facts and put my spin on it, as I'm a HUGE Oktoberfest fan.  I've already attended one and plan on attending up to two or so more before the season is over.

1. The main event takes place in Munich, Germany.  More than 6 million people attend the celebration every year, making it the biggest beer festival in the world.  I prefer to go to the local ones; there was quite a turnout at the Enumclaw one last year ;)  I probably should add the real one to my bucketlist.  maybe I'll shoot for Leavenworth for now.
2. "Prost!" - You are supposed to say this before knocking back a lager.  Another popular phrase is "zum wohl", meaning "to your health".  That's what I'm talking about.  Drinking for my health!! Ha ha.  I know it helps with happiness.
3. The following are what you are going to eat at a traditional Oktoberfest:  Hendl (grilled chicken), Brezel (huge pretzels), Sweinshaxe (pork knuckles).  Guten Appitit!  One of my local haunts changed to a German concept and they have amazing soft pretzels.  It's not so much the pretzel but more the cheese sauce they give you, yummy!!
4. The rules of Oktoberfest dictate that the beers come from one of the six Munich breweries:  Paulaner, Spaten, Hacker-Pschorr, Augustiner, Hofbrau and Lowenbrau.
5. The original Oktoberfest was in fact October 12th, 1810.  The festival has been moved around for many reasons but partly due to weather conditions.
6. "O'zapft is!", means "It is tapped!" and is the official rallying cry of Oktoberfest.
7. Even though beer is flowing, Oktoberfest is a family-friendly event with carnival rides, carousels, roller coasters, musical showcases and traditional parades.  Children are even allowed in the tents but children under the age of six must exit by 8 pm.  Does that mean if you're over 6, you can stay and have a beer?  Oh those Germans, I thought that stuff only happened in Texas.
8. Cincinnati houses the largest Oktoberfest in the US.  It is a 3 day festival that takes up 6 blocks of down town.  Maybe that's more fitting for my bucket list, a lot cheaper.
9. The ladies bow on her dirndl dress signifies her status.  If it's on the left side, she is single and willing to mingle.  If it's on her right side her affections are already given to someone else.  A virginal woman will place the bow in front of her dirndl dress.  Get me a left sides bow please.
10. Enough beer to fill three Olympic swimming pools is typically consumed during Oktoberfest.  Wowza!  I would like to contribute.

Check out my Weekend Wanderings posts to hear about upcoming Oktoberfest's in the Seattle area.

What's your favorite seasonal beer out right now?

Weekend Wanderings: Sept. 28th-30th

The weekly post that provides my readers with all the cool happenings around Seattle for the upcoming weekend.  You will have no excuse to not get out and make memories.

Wednesday to Sunday, September 26th - 30th

Decibel Festival – The festival's concept is to provide live performances, interactive multi-media art, state of the art sound and technology based education.  This festival has solidified itself as one of the premier electronic music festivals in the world.  Some of the performers this year are:  Orbital, Kimbra and Cannabinoids featuring Erykah Badu.

Details:

• Multi-day festival for those beat lovers.
• Events are going on all over Seattle at multiple venues, to name a few: Paramount, Neumos, Showbox, Re-bar.

Saturday & Sunday, September 29th-30th

NW Chocolate Festival – If you are a chocolate lover, you can't miss this festival.  It is taste after taste of amazing chocolate, hand-crafted fine chocolate, artisan quality chocolate desserts, slideshows and storytelling by chocolate makers, tasting a fresh cacao pod, crushing nibs and tasting freshly conched chocolate in workshops, live muic and dj's for entertainment, culinary kitchen demo area with classes and award winning instructors, wine-bee-cocktail garden for the 21+, coffee and chocolate cafes, kids zone! and more tastes of chocolate than you can possibly eat in one day.  Whew that was a mouthful!

Details:

• 9:30am - 6pm both days, @ The Conference Center at the Washington State Convention Center, entered by street level on the NE corner of 8th and Pike
• Single day tickets are $25 in advance and $30 at the door.  Go here to get a last minute deal ticket from Seattle Weekly Voice Deals.  You'll get your ticket for $15.

Saturday and Sunday, September 29th-30th

Festa Italiana Seattle 2012 – This is the festival that follows a week long of events, all celebrating the cultural roots of Italians and Italian-Americans in the Pacific Northwest.  There is  a promotion of arts, food, culture and everything that is uniquely Italian.  And my company, Oberto, will have a booth there, so go check it out. Apparently there is a bocce tournament as well; everybody is lucky that I'll be working so they have an actual chance.  Yeah, I'm pretty good at bocce ball.

Details:

• 10am-9pm Saturday, 10am-6pm Sunday
• Located at the Fisher Pavilion and surrounding grounds at Seattle Center.
• The admission is free, just bring your cash for food and fun!

Saturday, September 29th

Seattle Modern Home Tours – Some of Seattle's most creative homeowners, architects and designers are opening their doors to you!

Details:

• 11am to 5pm
• $25 gets you into all of the homes on tour, 6-10 homes.

Saturday, September 29th

Fresh Hop Throwdown at the Noble Fir – Some of the best Washington and Oregon breweries are throwing down their best hops.  Breweries include:  Anacortes, Bainbridge Island, Double Mountain, Elysian, Engine House No. 9, Everybody's, Fort George, Fremont, Hopworks Urban, Laurelwood, Naked City, North Sound, Schooner Exact, Snipes Mountain, Two Beers, and Wingman Brewers.

Details:

• Starts at 4pm at the Noble Fir, 5316 Ballard Ave. NW
• Bring lots of money for beer!

I have to work all weekend:(  But, I will be trying to check out the chocolate festival if at all possible!

Have a great weekend!

Fremont Oktoberfest

Last night Carly, my mom and I headed to Fremont to partake in their Oktoberfest.  I have to say this was one of the better tasting festivals I've been to.  It was so spacious and spread out that you didn't feel overcrowded.  No lines, clean port-o-potties (which is just insane) and lots of BEER options!  We each had 10 tasting tokens.  The search began for the beers that tooted our horns.

Momsky's taste:  hefeweizens and ciders
Carly's taste: anything that resembles Bud Light (yeah right!), it was a challenge
Alicia's taste:  anything at all minus porters and stouts

I'm getting ahead of myself.  First we had to make our pretzel necklaces.  Every time I go to a tasting event and I see people with these necklaces, I think "dang, I forgot again!"  I was not going to make that mistake again.

Pretzel bin ready!

Momsky, actively threading her necklace, inches of sobering power!

Carly, thinking that I'm a bit crazy but she'll go along anyway.

The Deschutes traveling taste-mobile, all the way up from Oregon.

I love me a good grilled cheese.  Early on I had to eat, since I didn't eat all day.  I knew what I was having.  The classic with some A (avocado).

The Grilled Cheese Experience truck.

Final product:  sandwich with a shot of soup, tomato basil.

We had to get in a good cuddle with the chicken, duh!

They had their image projected all over buildings; it was pretty fantastic.

We did some pretty amazing other things last night, but it was too dark to take pics with my phone.  They had this Ford contest where you kick this virtual soccer ball and try to get 50 goals in 30 seconds.  You look like a spaz, cause you're just rocking your leg back and forth as fast as you can.  I only got 23:(

After we spent Carly's tokens (because as mentioned before it was challenging to find beers she likes) we headed to Puyallup to meet up with an old friend in town from Portland, Kari.  The rest of the night was laughing, rude talk, nachos, pitchers and trying to make this one guy really uncomfortable.  He loved it, you could tell.  

I'm dreading summer being over, because the festivals go away, but I really do need to start saving money and learning to relax.

What cool festivals have you gone to this summer?

What's your favorite beer variety?