Kobe Helper

Yesterday, on a whim, Brittany and I drove up to Seattle for the day. After pulling over somewhere on Elliot street and paying the meter, Brittany was chased by a really big bee all the way to Pier 66. I followed slowly behind, taking pictures all the while. It was pretty intense.

It was cold, windy and rainy. It wasn't a very good day for a walk outside. But, undeterred by the weather, and determined to make the most of our day off work, we walked on anyway.

We walked through the Pike Place Market, but it was shutting down for the day when we got there. It was disappointing. We should have probably woken up earlier.

After stopping so Brittany could try on a $575 Italian wool coat (which just happened to be half off), we found a much needed respite from the rain at the Chocolate Box. We shared an Americano and a chocolate chunk cookie. It was good. They both were, in fact.

We didn't actually end up finishing our Christmas shopping as we had planned. But we did eat a lot. We stopped by the wine shop in Pacific Place, tasted some wine and ate a couple cheese plates at the restaurant. 6th Avenue Wine Merchants has some pretty delicious food; I was impressed.

And Brittany and I got to look at

pictures of winery dogs and Marilyn Monroe, and we stared out the window at the people getting expensive hair cuts at Gene Juarez across the street. And we watched it rain.

Soon after we returned home, we realized we hadn't eaten a real meal all day. We scrounged around the kitchen searching for scraps of anything delicious. We came up with Kobe Helper: Hamburger Helper with Kobe style beef. Yum. Kind of a contradiction, though. At least I think it is. It was actually pretty satisfying, though. Not quite as good as the turkey bacon and grilled asparagus pizza I made the night before, though, I have to say.