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.

Washington Blogger Meetup: The Beginning

Kendra and I threw our first blogger meetup today, and it was an amazing success.  I am looking forward to more events to come.  Our concept was casual and low key, although we were able to get some cool giveaway prizes and swag bags.

Meet the lovely ladies who attended:

Brittany from Three Years Down

Meghan from Shine On

Ashley from Life on the Parsons Farm

And your Co-Host's Alicia (well that's me) and Kendra from Adventures of Brad and Kendra

The meetup took place in my Townhouses clubhouse; which was absolutely perfect.  It is fully equipped with plenty of comfortable seating, a full kitchen and even a game room if you were so inclined.  We served a spaghetti lunch with some random snacks and punch.  The whole thing was just magical in my opinion; we had the best personalities show up.  There was no lack of conversation and definitely an agreement that we can grow these meetups and keep them going.  We had two fabulous giveaway prizes, and with only 5 of us, pretty good chances of coming away a winner.  There was a Painting class for 4 at Corks and Canvas, as well as (2) packs of O' Boy Oberto BBQ Pork Jerky.

Apple Orchard Punch

Swag bags full of:  Starbucks mints, Oberto Teriyaki Jerky, Oberto Cocktail Pep, A hai tie (crafted by Kendra), Candy, Burt's Bee's face day lotion, a Blue Spectrum Technology stress cube.  They were damn good swag bags.

The lovely group.

We are looking forward to many more meetups to come.  We'll do one after the holidays for sure.  If you have suggestions or want to make sure you are included on the invite, please leave a comment.

Getting to Know Alicia 3/30 and Other Randomness

3. Describe your relationship with your parents.


Mom:  My mom is one of my best friends.  We love to spend time together, going on trips, shopping and just sitting around staring at each other.  Sometimes we have too much fun together and then we have to get divorced.  I can talk to her about anything, she's my go-to person when I have issues.  And the same is true for her, she comes to me.  I definitely inherited her party animal side, and her eagerness to go go go.
Dad:  I've always tried to be my dad's son he never had.  I used to go fishing and crabbing with him all the time until I was too cool for him.  He was always so supportive when I was a soccer player, he'd come to every one of my games.  Nowadays we have a solid relationship, but we don't spend a ton of time together.  We always do have a good time when we do though.  I enjoy his culinary talents greatly!  He makes amazing everything really, whether it's pico de gallo, pulled pork or pickled beans.
Photo Time:

I just thought this was funny, because there is totally a vibrator with the same name.

Bridget took me to Boondockers in Marysville and they had 5 different mimosa flavors!!! Wowza.

My recent craft project.  I've had these mason jars forever to do this project and I finally got around to it. I'm pretty happy with how they turned out, but it is hard to write with  hot glue gun.

Bridget and I went painting Tuesday night.  I like how mine turned out despite the fact that the teacher was pretty bad. Usually their artist's are awesome.  

Painting the Seattle Waterfront

It's that time again, time to sip wine and paint!  Corks and Canvas had an amazing painting planned.  My usual painting partner was unavailable so I invited Tyler.  He was intrigued by the idea, but you could tell he was a bit nervous, much like my first time.  You ask yourself, "What if I suck?"  But, truth is, it doesn't matter.   Their motto is, "If you don't like your painting, just have a couple more glasses of wine and you will."  But, honestly, their instruction is so good that they make it so easy, breezy.  

Tyler and I met up at one of our favorite places for food and drink, Orient Express (Seattle).  It's a restaurant, bar and karaoke lounge all in a train!  How freaking cool is that.  Not to mention, they serve THE BEST red chicken curry ever.  It's always super spicy just like I like it.  Also, the drinks are bad-ass.  The bartender, Carrie, is pretty cool as well.  I even talked her into doing a Corks and Canvas event soon.

Orient Express train

Tyler, getting his painting face on.  Trying to shed his stressed, work face.

We arrived at the wine bar, Urban Enoteca, and grabbed our first glass of complimentary wine.  I sat down and noticed that my brushes were super stiff.  They always warn that if you don't store your brushes in water the acryclic can harden and ruin a brush.  So I had to sneak and trade my brushes with the empty seat beside me.  I know, I know, I could have asked for another brush.  I thought it was more fun to take them and make Tyler uncomfortable.

My brushes, all inspected and healthy, ready for some painting.

 This picture tonight, of the Seattle waterfront, is by far the most detailed.  It was really challenging, with all of the lines and windows.  I ended up getting filthy.  Maybe this is my norm, but it's the first time I was touching up with my fingers.  I think I still have some paint on my elbows, he he.  I felt bad for Tyler because it was his first time and it was a super hard painting.  Oh well, he did great.

Dirty Girl!

 Drum roll please...

Alicia's Masterpiece

Tyler's Masterpiece

Isn't it great how we painted the exact same thing and they each have their own character?  I'm so addicted I'm going to have a whole wall of these paintings.

Pioneer Square at Night (Kind of)

Bridget and I did it again.  We tried our hand at painting once again.  This time we headed to Vino at the Landing, in Renton.  I'm truly obsessed with the Corks and Canvas concept.  Painting while sipping wine; they make it so straight forward even us science nerds can do it.

Final products, we look pleased with ourselves.  The hardest part is to put the paint brush down, but if you don't you eventually ruin it.

Bridget's masterpiece.  I love her branches.

Tasty platter to snack on.  The Beecher's No Woman cheese was my favorite.

Alicia's masterpiece.

Bridget pre-partying in the car on the way over.  By partying, I mean being silly.

After painting eats at The Rock.  Always a good time.  And it was late night happy hour.

 If you've never done this, you must try it.  It is so fun.  I plan on going a couple of times a month.  It's only $45, which I think is so worth it.   We've decided we are going to go to a couple more then start having them at our places.  So stay tuned.

-Alicia

Two Science People Attempting Art…

My friend Bridget and I decided to take a leap of faith and attempt to paint.  There is this business in the Seattle area called Corks and Canvas that I’ve been hearing about for a while.  The concept is that you go to a local winery or wine bar.  They have a canvas that an artist painted, which serves as the focus for the evening.  While you are sipping wine and getting tipsy, an artist walks you through step by step how to recreate the model painting.  They teach you color mixing, brush techniques and so much more.  You can try to completely copy the original or give it your own twist.  At the end of the night, everyone’s paintings look unique and surprisingly good.  I was shocked that I could actually paint.
Our experience went down at Corks and Canvas, which was a beautiful establishment.  They had various bars set up featuring different wineries.  The food was a little to uppity for me; or perhaps I just don’t have a sophisticated enough palate:)  Dishes like salt cod fritters, pork belly croquettes and roasted cauliflower.  I had an interesting bathroom experience.  The words were in Italian (I think) and it was not clear which was the women’s.  I just took my chance and then hoped that there were no men; I guess right and I wasn’t the only one that had that experience, whew.
                                                                   Bridget and I with our finished piece  
                                                                        Alicia’s rendition of the Seattle Skyline
                                                             Bridget added water, which was an excellent touch
And we just signed up for another wine sipping and painting session for next week!  Okay maybe not sipping.