First off, my biggest congratulations to Raj and Annika for their natural, epidural-free birth. You two are so strong and I’m so proud of you. Mia is beautiful and I can’t wait to meet her or hear from Spun how the evening went (she was their doula).

As I shot this photo, meant solely to be a beautiful new delicate flower at dawn, I realized there were three buds around it. Truly, religious references could be made here, but I’d also like to think that Mia’s mom and dad are the two buds on the left and all of those who supported them bring her into this world, surrounding them with light, joy, and happiness are represented by the small bud behind the star of the show. These other flowers provide strength, future guidance, and add to the beauty of the moment by being there to witness this perfect flower joining the world today without competing for center stage.

Happy birthday Mia. You’ve come into one of the most perfect Seattle days and you’re surrounded by so much love. Welcome.

From there we rolled up to Naked City Brewery in Greenwood where our friend Tim Frommer’s brown ale was on tap for winning a Seattle Beer Pro Am. Tasty tasty beer Tim (so good we got a growler of it Saturday night … but I’m getting ahead of myself). Great time kicking it with some friends, got to meet a few other people and then we hit the street to check out some art … yup, because of course, there’d be a great showing of local art in the street right as we’re done enjoying a tasty beer. Turns out John Osgood opened up a gallery across the street, Urban Contemporary Art Gallery and had three of his artist friends helping him with a two sided graffiti improv show.

So I got to talking with Zachary Bohnenkamp as he was finishing up his half of one tag teamed piece about shooting a photo a day on the way in to work and was curious how he got going on doing spray work. Good stories on back in the day. Then we were introduced to Xavier Lopez who amongst other things writes an article for the Seattle PI about the underground art scene in Seattle. Great stuff. The interview with Weirdo about the 619 being torn down is excellent. We’ll dearly miss this mecca of mindpower, art, creativity and … well … questionable architecture. So then he recommended we check out John’s place for some other amazing artwork. Oh man, I’m so glad he did. Mat Savage, Weirdo, Jeese Link, Justin Kane Elder, Ninjagrl, Narboo and a whole host of other amazing local artists. Truly amazing. We’ll post up the photos of our pieces at some point soon. No idea how we didn’t get them captured. Kim got a gorgeous orange bird by John Osgood and I walked away with a chickadee “perched” on the intersection of I-90 and I-5. The mixed media nature of overlaying a beautiful painting … depicted in a bottle as well … over top of a map of my favorite city just sang to me. I’ve been looking for the right chickadee for a tattoo … maybe this will be it.

So we are giddy with life, good art, etc. I thank Xavier and he says, amazingly, “Go back and snag one of my prints.” No lie. So I head back under, have a lovely conversation with his two associates who were staffing his section of the gallery and made my way home with a deer-unicorn-woman that spoke to Spun earlier in the evening (unbeknownst to me) as well. Amazing. Thank you.

So how does this all end? Yup, with more art. A friend texts us with “I’ve got two extra tix to SAM Remix tonight, wanna join?” Given that it was the weekend of “Yes” we had to, right? So we dance in the park where we were wed, under the massive moon, amongst friends, strangers, people who cared about this city as much as we do. Stunning way to end the evening. Thank you Michelle.

Saturday

How do you top that? With a sister, her fiancée and puppy in town! We head for Skillet Diner for some breakfast. So full. Never had that huge of a portion of biscuits and gravy before in my life. Coupled with a portion of a cinnamon roll, bloody mary, granola and who knows what else, I was stuffed. As she and Charlie headed over the mountains for her 10 year high school reunion, we went to go see the Sounders. Oh, right, you’re asking, why are Spun and I going to a Sounders game? We’re not sports fans, right? Troof. But, weekend of “Yes” dictated that we accept tix from a friend who couldn’t go. Yet again, running theme here, it was rad. Seats were near the southeast corner … get this … third row. Though they tied, 0-0 against Chivas USA, it was a true experience. Remind me never to sit in the crazy fan section. That’s nutty.

Where to next you may ask? Oh, a surprise park birthday party picnic. Ladder ball, wine, beer, more laughter, super tasty veggie food, some sun, some shade … some sunset, some … let’s go inside. Which led to the greatest match of pop a shot ever, more shenanigans, birthday cheer, and a whole bunch of etcetera. Another absolutely phenomenal day.

Sunday

Here we go. Final push for a killer weekend. How to start, how to start… Pop open the tent we picked up from REI the day before in the living room to make sure it’s all good to go. Nothing short of made of win. Tents, my friends, have come a long way. I’m actually intrigued to go camping now. From there we BBQ’d great burgers with bleu cheese, avocado, over more amazing time with Becky and Charlie before they flew back to LA. So happy to kick it with you guys Congrats on the upcoming nuptials as well! Some errands to be ran were a must for the weekend and then we hit up Schmitz Preserve Park to break in the hiking boots, see some ferns, big trees and explore a forest.

Little did I know, that Spun had something up her sleeve as well. Under the Schmitz bridge, there is a ton of great graffiti. Much of it has been painted over fairly recently … as goes the vast majority of these sorts of pieces of art in Seattle … but there were a few still remaining.

One of which looked almost like it was done in pastels or perhaps with a brush. This “magic mushroom” stood out as the clear winner.

Other shelf mushrooms kept it company in the forest as we roamed about, splashing in puddles and streams, going off the beaten path here and there, and pausing constantly for tiny shafts of sun alighting delicately on moss or mushies.

Ok, so we’re nearly there, an epic weekend with one more choice. Curl up on the couch and watch a movie (Spoiler alert, we did that too later … Battle Los Angeles … bad) or roam Alki beach. Yes. Splashing in the water is much colder than I expected in August.

There was a huge Hindi/Indian festival going on too with fun music, good food, etc. Man I love this city. New plans for the rest of the summer include: biking on Alki and boarding on Alki. Both will likely include chowder and perhaps ice cream. Hopefully, that weekend will also be another one of “Yes” much like we had for the past two days and some change.

To all of you who we had the honor of spending time with: THANK YOU. This was a perfect weekend. One for the recordbooks. One for you to hopefully enjoy just a little bit as much as we did. Maybe I should extend “Yes” to the work week sometime. Perhaps it’d culminate in more amazing than I could have originally expected.

Yesterday we had a surprise birthday party for our dear friend Katrina who’s breaking into her 30s very soon. A bunch of us relaxed in the park, had some bubbly as well as some delicious brown ale compliments of the brewing mastermind, Tim Frommer (on tap now at Naked City), played some ladderball, and then kicked it indoors shortly after the sun went down. Brrr. Gorgeous day. Happy birthday Katrina!

This dinner party is one that we’ll likely continue through the year, with varying themes. We’d love your input on what to do next. Thai or Indian? Orange or square food? BBQ or Cajun? There is no gastronomical limit to what we can pull off as a group, and I have no doubt that each month will ebb and flow with new faces inspiring all to try new dishes and just see what happens. If we can keep fostering a desire to get into the kitchen and make something new, then we’ve done our job.

From an environmental standpoint, we were concerned about excessive waste. The last thing we wanted to do was add to the landfill just because we were having friends over for a dinner. We ended up using 8″ woven wood plates as well as our own dishes so that we didn’t end up dumping a ton of paper or styrofoam into the refuse system. As for glassware, we broke out everything that we had. Tumblers, stemware, stemless wineglasses from Ikea as well as Cost Plus. Not a single one was broken nor did we toss any plastic silverware or plates away.

As for wine, we ended up drinking 5 bottles of mostly Spanish wine over the course of the evening and one home brew Sangria from our neighbors that was deliciously sweet and flavorful. Here’s the rundown on the bottled rioja: 2008 Castaño Monastrell (Yecla red wine), 2008 Terracita Tempranillo, 2008 Ergo Tempranillo, 2009 Santa Ema Cab Sav D.O. Maipo Valley (a Chilean misfit that really fit right in), and lastly a 2007 Campo Viejo Crianza. All were delicious and paired perfectly with their reunited plated counterparts.

For those that attended, please provide your links to any photos you shot during the dinner … amazingly the photo-a-day guy didn’t shoot a single photo during the event … as well as links to your recipes. Third Sunday Supper Club will attempt to share the power of cooking with those beyond our four walls. If only smell-o-vision were available to give you a sampling of the lingering saffron infused air we’re still enjoying today.

Until next month, where I’ll be sure to snap a photo or two. Gracias por su gran comida, amistad, y risa.