Well another birthday has come and gone and I’m just a teensy bit older. As I mentioned yesterday, Pearl is now two years old and I am just a few years older than that.
I had a pretty darn good birthday celebration this year and I’d like to share it…
I arrived in Seattle early Saturday morning and my sister and I went to the grocery store to stock up for the weekend. After having a brief lunch, we headed to Woodinville (about 15 miles northeast of Seattle) for some wine tasing with some friends.
Our stops included: JM Cellars, Silverlake, Woodhouse Family Cellars, and Januik/Novelty Hill. At the first stop (JM Cellars) we happened to run into Jason from the Bachelor and yes, he was still with Molly.
I snapped this with my phone.
They were apparently getting a private tour of the winery and were nice enough to pose for a few pictures with folks. We were sophisticated and left them alone, although had it been our fourth winery of the day, I am pretty sure my sister would have asked him for a piggy back ride.
The other wineries were lots of fun and each had its own distinct appeal - both in wine and in the tasting facility. JM Cellars was very much a country-style winery set atop a hill with an indoor tasting room, but an outdoor seating area with a barbeque. Silverlake was actually in a business park and it felt like we were driving to The Office, but the folks there were super nice and we met Uncle Rick, as he called himself, who made best friends with my sister (he was fond of her). Woodhouse was also in a business park setting but their spot was well decorated and was complete with a full kitchen, in which they do cooking classes.
The last winery, Januik (pronounced jan-ick), was very contemporary and almost industrial-feeling. They had a large tasting room and an outdoor area with tables and a bocce court. They closed us down before we could make it out there because they were having a wedding that evening. Other than the wine at Januik, the best part was being mistaken for a Porsche-owner. A nice woman came up to me to ask if the Carrera outside was mine and I laughed and said, “No, but I would be happy to pose in front of it if you’d like.” She explained that her and her husband were trying to guess who the owner was and that he had seen my shoes (my Reeboks with the straps) and thought I was the perfect fit. Well I wasn’t, but it sure was fun to be thought of that way.
After the wine tasting we went to… ya, you guessed it, a wine bar. ‘Purple’ has two locations in the Seattle area and we had picked the one near Woodinville for dinner. They had an impressive menu and wine list, off of which we ordered two bottles, and some super yummy food. I had a mini-bucket of baked mac and cheese with lobster (pretty much tasted like Heaven in a bowl). My sister had some tasty risotto that was so rich she could only eat half. Incidentally, I only ate half of my dinner as well.
From dinner, we went on to a lounge/bar in Downtown Seattle. My sister and her friends explained that it was very much a NY-style place - hard to find, small, good drinks, and cool atmosphere. We sat and talked, got a small bite to eat, and pretty much killed time until the comedy show started.
My sister had arranged for us to see a comedy show at a small club a few blocks from the lounge. We showed up and had some time before they would open the doors, but they had a bar which we found quite convenient. Being the birthday boy, I was treated to a stiff Jack & Coke, but had finished it with time to spare before they would let us in to our seats. So… I was treated to a beer. Right then, they let people in and we started to mozy over to the door, but were stopped because there was no alcohol allowed in the theatre. Bummed at this news, we huddled off to the side like a bunch of teenagers downing beers in the parking lot before prom. I felt proud in this moment.
The comedy show was really funny and they even pulled my sister on stage to ‘help’ them with a bit. You know the game Cranium? Where you have to move your partner in positions until they guess what they are doing.? The comedy skit was like this in that my sister had to move the comedians in various positions while they narrated. It was pretty funny, but would have been better had they been more cooperative. It seemed she was fighting them more than guiding them.
After the show we all parted ways and headed home. It was a long day, but totally fun and I couldn’t have asked for a better birthday celebration. When you break it down, we had our fair share of wine, great food, comedy, and even celebrities. Not to mention the great company. Thanks to my sister and her friends for being so hospitable, generous, and fun!
