Scarves Up!

I have to be completely honest with you -- while I have been looking forward to this Sounders game for quite some time now, I was almost more excited that it gave me an excuse to drag my huge box of sweaters, scarves, long underwear, gloves and hats out of storage. So the whole "scarves up" thing had very special meaning to me on this particular day. Not only was it the first day I've warn a scarf this season (I know, I held off for a long time) but I also got my very own Sounders scarf! It's cute and plaid and soft and I love it. We'll have to go to more games next year so I get some use out of it. We had a blast at the game and it was a really incredible match to get to attend but I'll get to that in a few minutes...

Lovely day for a protest don't you think? I know basically nothing about the "Occupy Seattle" stuff that's been going on. I haven't been reading about it. I just see the headlines here and there about people being arrested and I think it's pretty much petered out by now. The headlines the last few days made it sound like there weren't many people left.

I felt really bad for the people who were stuck in traffic. We were walking up 1st faster than the cars were moving, which can be very frustrating.

We were downtown super early so not only did we find free parking but we also had time to swing by the Pro Shop to get me a scarf, walk up to Pikes Place and eat some of those fantastic little doughnuts, walk back to Pioneer Square, get free t-shirts, eat dinner at Taco Del Mar, participate in slash watch the pre-march festivities, march to the match with a few thousand other people, and listen to Sound Wave. It was a full day of Seattle fun and sunshine.

(waiting to get free t-shirts, they only had 2,000 and ran out in a matter of minutes)

(in our fabulous Kenneth Cole jackets and Sounders scarves)

(enjoying the band -- love Sound Wave! they're so fun. I want to learn how to play the drums just so I can play with them)

(Drew Carey getting everyone pumped up for the game. it was fun to see him there supporting his team and chatting with the crowd.)

This game (last Saturday) was Kasey Keller's last regular season home game and what a celebration it was! People really like him a lot and you could just feel (and see) the spirit of respect and admiration. The place was packed out too! 64,140 people. It was a very exciting game that almost came to a disastrous end in which case I would have told you it was a terrible game (because it was looking pretty terrible for a while) but since we pulled out the win I have to say it was awesome.

We had a blast and I didn't even freeze. Of course I was wearing 3 or 4 layers plus scarf, hat and gloves and for the majority of the game I had two fleece blankets wrapped around me but...

Anyhow, we've spent the rest of the week trying to get rid of our cough. It doesn't seem to want to leave. We've already made a huge dent in that NyQuil we got from Costco. In fact, we took some at 9:30am yesterday because we were coughing so much and by 10:30am we were both asleep on the couch. We didn't really wake up until almost 1:30 and even then only stayed awake long enough for a quick snack and an episode or two of Seinfeld. Miraculously, we did manage to get a full nights sleep last night even after that long day spent on the couch in a NyQuil haze. I made us each a new "rice sock" this week (proper ones that aren't actually made out of socks) and we put the new flannel sheets on the bed -- we are ready for some extreme cozy time. We're trying really, really hard not to turn the heat on in the house until November. I think we're going to make it!

One last comment from the kitchen (simply because I haven't really mentioned anything food related in the last few blog posts) and then I'm off to bed: First of all, I made some marvelous chicken the other night. I dipped the chicken in egg and then coated it in a mixture of seasoned bread crumbs, parmesan cheese, paprika and crushed up crispy bacon that was left over from our breakfast. It was SO good! Secondly, I steeped a bag of Earl Grey tea in a mug of hot cranberry juice tonight and it was the ultimate feel-good fall drink. I loved it! I'm not that big a fan of Earl Grey but this combo hits the spot. You should try it some time.

Hope you have a wonderful weekend! We've got lots of fun stuff planned -- I'll fill you in later.

much love,

Steph