My Review: Skagit Valley Tulip Festival

This past weekend the buds and I went to the Tulip Festival in beautiful Mt. Vernon, WA. Kira arranged the whole caravan, which I had been wanting to do for a few years but just never got the gusto to do. So Kira, Paul, Pat, Nutting, Jess and I got some coffee, got into two cars and made our way up north where the open fields of tulips awaited our arrival. Needless to say, I was excited. We entered the first tulip farm that we passed because we were so excited and by doing that, we entered Tulip Town. Bad news is that it cost $5 to get in and all they took was cash (What the hell? There’s like a huge amount of people that go to this stuff, shouldn’t they be prepared for multiple forms of payment?) Thanks for the loan Pat.

So we got in there and it was super cheesy. Like there was a mini statue of liberty. Once you got out into the tulip rows though…sue-wee it was gorgeous. The whole area was so brightly colored and it was like a huge rainbow cascading across the landscape (I’m a poet I know). So we walked around the whole perimeter and took a ridiculous amount of pictures, even pictures of us taking pictures. Once we departed, we decided to try the brewery in Mt. Vernon for lunch and it was great! I was really hoping to get some homemade ice cream in the country town but we had to settle for TCBY in Lynnwood. Blah. We did get directed to the Dairy Queen twice by the “locals”.

I would say that it was a great trip for all of us to go enjoy together…the tulips themselves were amazing but the Tulip Town I could have done without. Everyone could have done without that. The festival goes until next weekend if you get a chance to go!

You won’t be “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” Anytime Soon

Thanks Sydney Morning Herald!

I had lowish expectations for the most current Apatow movie Forgetting Sarah Marshall but those were completely BLOWN AWAY by how awesome the movie was! Plus there was full frontal male nudity. What I didn’t realize was that it was written by the lead character Jason Segel who I LOVE (he’s the one from How I Met Your Mother and Freaks and Geeks). I think the story line was something that everyone can easily follow and sympathize with but obviously never gets too serious. My model friend JJ said that it “touched him” but that’s because it made him want to be in a relationship…which is a pretty big deal because he shuns relationships, so I guess the movie is that good.

I was impressed with the cast, but most of all I enjoyed the vampire puppet musical. And with that I leave you to go see the movie.

“I need to B my L on someone’s T’s.”

Bear Spray!

Kira, this post is for you:

STUDY SHOWS BEAR SPRAY EFFECTIVE!

“The study says bear spray is effective 98 percent of the time.”

Shocking celebrity news

Apparently Ashlee Simpson went ahead with the crowd and got herself knocked up by Pete Wentz. Nice “engagement” story you guys told the media a few days back…how about you go ahead and tell them something new? That you got pregnant and had to get engaged to make it look like it wasn’t a mistake? I love The Superficial (many of you know this) and I especially love how he HATES Pete Wentz. The Sun reports:

Pete recently posted a blog online announcing the couples’ plans to make something that cannot be illegally downloaded, hinting at a baby. In the bizarre video message, Ashlee and Pete, who have dated since last summer, also reveal that the “release date” is July 2008, before Ashlee poses with a cushion stuffed under her top.

I don’t believe this story, not because it’s from the Sun but because Ashlee can’t be due in July. Unless she is giving birth to a couch cushion of course. That’s major bump hiding and I don’t believe it. But she’s still probably sperminated.

photo courtesy of my man at The Superficial

Butter and Jam Thumbprint cookies

People, these are a hit. They seriously take about 20 min to make AND bake and are a total hit. A HIT! Ok, enough. But honestly if you need to bring something in for a potluck or you want a super easy baking session with small children (or maybe just for yourself if you always seem to burn whatever you are baking – it’s OK, it happens alllll the time) then use this recipe. I’m thinking of replacing the jam with chocolate or peanut butter…

BUTTER AND JAM THUMBPRINT COOKIES

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon fine salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks), softened
2/3 cup sugar, plus more for rolling
1 large egg
1/2 vanilla bean, seeds scraped from pod, or 1/8 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/3 cup raspberry, cherry or strawberry jam

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats.Whisk the flour, baking powder and salt together in a bowl.

In another bowl, whip the butter and the sugar with a hand-held mixer until fluffy, about 5 minutes. Beat in the egg and vanilla until just combined. Slowly beat in the dry ingredients in 2 additions, mixing just until incorporated.

Scoop the dough into 1-inch balls with a cookie or ice cream scoop and roll in sugar. Place about 2-inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. Press a thumbprint into the center of each ball, about 1/2-inch deep. Fill each indentation with about 3/4 teaspoon jam.

Bake cookies until the edges are golden, about 15 minutes. (For even color, rotate the pans from top to bottom about halfway through baking.) Cool cookies on the baking sheets. Then get this:

Will Ferrell as George Bush? He’s never done THAT before right?

So I just came across this video of Will Ferrell as Bush and it’s always just nice to see Bush getting made fun of. I’m pretty sure this is from last night’s “Night of Too Many Stars” with Jon Stewart. Plus, the video came from funnyordie.com and I have had some laughs there. So perhaps you will too. I mean, if Bush’s memoirs are a work of fiction on TAPE, sign me UP.

Do we get to keep the Sonics now that they’ve won?

Thanks Page 2 for the photo

This Page 2 writer sums up a lot of the feelings us Seattlites are, well, feeling. I mean, read what Kevin Jackson writes during the last game Sunday night:

Much of the crowd seemed to be caught in the same emotional conundrum. For the first quarter and a half, the building was eerily pensive. There were no video tributes, no commemoration of 41 years of history, no acknowledgement of the elephant in the arena. Then, midway through the second period, the Jumbotron flashed an image of Sonics legend Gary Payton sitting courtside. A long, raucous standing ovation awakened the place, and the next two hours — perhaps the final two hours of KeyArena — harkened back to the glory days of the old barn.

Owie. That pulls at those heartstrings a little – especially after winning for probably what? The third time this season? (I kid, I kid, you know I love you Supes). So when Kevin Jackson writes that one of the more meaningful relationships of his life came to an end Sunday night, it tugs at those little strings. And I’m not even a born and bred Seattlite!

Read Page 2 all the time.

The Five Stages of Grief for Sonics fans

Tonight was the Sonics’ potentially last game (we won’t know until the court case in June but let’s see the glass as half empty for this post ok?) Over 15,000 fans showed up to support the Sonics in their VICTORY (yeah I know right?) against the Mavs. The Seattle papers have been pretty against the Sonics leaving but this article I found was unusually emotional… well emotional AND hilarious. The Five Stages of Grief for Sonics fans.

From the Seattle Times and Angry fans:

Tonight is the final — maybe forever? — home game for the Sonics. As fans grapple with the potential death of their team, we finish a five-day series on the five stages of grief, and we asked fans where they’d place themselves. Here is what 3,945 readers said:

Denial: 6% (248)

Anger: 47% (1,857)

Bargaining: 4% (159)

Depression: 10% (378)

Acceptance/hope: 33% (1,303)

That’s a lot of people in the anger phase but if you ask me, that’s 1,303 TOO many people who have accepted the Sonics leaving. That must be the Blazers fans who happen to reside here in Seattle. Whatever. Save our Sonics!! I’ll be updating the plight as details unfold…

photo courtesy of Seattle Times.

I know some people who may be interested in this…

While catching up on my weekly news tonight I saw this interesting article with the word marijuana in the title. I was a little intrigued so I investigated. I didn’t even read the article, I won’t lie to you…I just stopped after I read $600 a day for smoking pot.

Bromances aren’t uncommon

I ran across this interesting little article while perusing my Seattle Times tonight…seeing that I have a multitude of guys involved in various “bromances”, I figured this is something to put down in the old blog. Mainly because that word is hilarious. Says the Times:

Two straight male doctors who are, without a doubt, in a bromance, a relationship defined as “the complicated love and affection shared by two straight males,” according to urbandictionary.com.

There seems to be little worry about perceptions of homosexuality in a bromance filled with macho pursuits like drinking beer, watching sports and playing video games. But rifts can occur when serious girlfriends enter the picture or someone moves to another city. Tipograph and Kopstein both have girlfriends and make it work.

Apparently the transition to adulthood is taking a decade longer than in the olden days so men feel like they can be single and have their bromances. The fact that this type of article is in the Seattle TImes is so fantastic, maybe now bromances everywhere can be recognized and celebrated (aka JJ and Ron).