Scrapbooking my life...one page at a time

Freebies ...

 

Who doesn't love a "Freebie"? 

You know, just a little somethin'-somethin' that some company hands out for free and you are there in the right place at the right time and you score one. 

A totally Free, out of the blue - Freebie.

And 'm not talking some cheap little out-of-the-cereal-box type of  free 'sample sized' goodie. 

No sirree Bob, I'm talking the full meal deal.

The  'full sized', 'here you go - take one, it's yours', 'no-strings-attached', honest to God,  type of Freebie.

Feels good right!  

Well, needless to say that kind of Freebie rarely happens to me but this week all the stars must have aligned just right because it rained all kinds of 'it's yours if you want it' type of free for Mike & I.

For starters ...

Freebie No. 1 ...

Mike got a pair of Freebie baseball tickets from work. 

Precor, his company, are long-time season's ticket holders and will randomly give tickets out to employee's when the wig-bigs don't want them or the sales staff don't need them to schmooze a client ... and this time ... we got them. 

Yeah! 

And, oh-happy-day, it gets better because the seats just happened to be located in my all-time favorite baseball watching section of the ball park, the Terrace Club!

What makes the Terrace club my favorite section of the ball park?  

Well, It's designated as  a private "ticket-holders" only area so without a ticket you don't get in.  

It is not quite as 'upper crust' as the private guest suites but as I said, it is a section where only 'Terrace club' ticket holders are allowed into and I love that.

And please, don't get me wrong, I don't love it because only certain people are allowed in but rather because not many people are allowed in and, girls you'll understand & appreciate this, the limited entrance ensures that there is never any waiting in the Girls washroom!

Hallelujah, no line-ups!

That's right people, I'll admit it in mixed company ...  at my age a good outing hinges on bathroom location & accessibility. 

Sad but true ...

 

So Freebie No. 2 came via email one day this week. 

It was from the Mariners - thanking us for becoming Season Ticket holders again (a 16 game pack this year). 

They were so happy to have us back that they wanted to invite us to be their guests for the April 21st BB game against the Baltimore Orioles. 

We got another set of Free Mariners tickets .. ah,  but these were no ordinary tickets. 

Oh no, these were not view box or Terrace Club tickets ... they are tickets seats in one of the M's private Guest Suites and they are going to be hosting a free drink & baseball buffet too! 

Free tickets with dinner & beverages during the game in a private suite ... SWEEET!

 Side Note:  Baseball related but definitely not Free.  On Monday Mike & I attended the Opening Day Game at Safeco Field.   We were excited because it was our 1st ever Opening Day. 

Parking downtown for a game is always expensive - a necessary evil -

but SERIOUSLY ...

     

 

 

$50.00 ...

We ended up in the $30.00 (which was actually the closet lot because it was the cheapest. (right across the street from the park)

Most lots were going for either $40 - $45 dollars.  I mean - the lots that is $50.00 is  were we usually park and it's usually only $15.00.

I think it's called 'Highway robbery' 

We stumbled upon Freebie No. 3 just last night - quite by accident.

When Mike got home from work, we decided to head over to Crossroads Mall for dinner and to return a DVD to Blockbuster (I thought I'd bought this video used from them but they sent me an email and told me they wanted it back ... oops - I'd had it for over a year!) 

This is where the Freebie No. 3 comes in ...

I have been patiently waiting & watching for this new restaurant to open up at Crossroads Mall for the last few months now and when I drove past the other day it looked like it was getting pretty close  so when Mike & I decided to go out for dinner last night we drove past it to see if it was open yet.  

It didn't look open to me because the OPEN sign wasn't lit up but then Mike noticed that there people sitting inside eating and so we decided to check it out.

The hostess looked at us and said, 'Do you have a reservation for tonight?". 

We said "no - do we need one" and he just kinda stared at us (insert an uncomfortable silence) and then said ... 'Oh, yes, ummm  I mean no, er, well - I'm not sure", (then he looked around and said in a quiet voice), "Okay - well, it's no big deal - I see a table - follow me".  

Very covert.  I felt like we were sneaking in ...

He left us sitting there unsure of what was happening but then the waitress came by and explained that while it was true that they were not officially open yet we were fine.

She told us that people were there because it was really just a practice run to make sure that the kitchen, staff and bar was up and running smoothly before their Grand Opening on Saturday (see above) and the people eating were actually all family & friends of the staff.

We told her we didn't know anyone working at the restaurant and had just walked in - she said, "no big deal - It's your lucky night because dinner tonight is on the house".

So, we shared a  free appetizer & dessert (Key Lime Pie) plus we each got a free entree & beer (we could have had any  bar drink)!! 

Woo-hoo!    Our 3 course dinner and a beer each ended up costing us - nil, zippo, nada!   

How cool was that! 

You gotta love a  Freebie!

And everyone was a winner because the waitress ended up with a nice fat tip.

As we were leaving the waitress whispered to me that I should come by at lunch tomorrow because they would be test running the whole operation again for the lunchtime staff and I could get another Freebie.

Hummm, I'm thinking maybe I'll meander over to the mall today  around noon and see what's happening at the mall ...

I hope your week has been full of love, happiness & maybe even a Freebie or two

N

MVP ...

I can't remember if I already mentioned this or not but earlier this year Mike was nominated for and selected as a Microsoft MVP (Visual C++).  

'MVPs make exceptional contributions to technical communities, sharing their passion, knowledge, and know-how. Meanwhile, because MVPs hear the opinions and needs of many others in the technical community, they are well-placed to share highly focused feedback with Microsoft.'

If you are a computer geek you probably already know that this is quite an honor.

You are nominated by your peers and selected by Microsoft experts and a panel of current MVP's.

 

This week was the MVP Conference which is held in Bellevue & Seattle.  His work agreed to pay him to attend the 4 day conference  (which is BIG since he is a contract worker and normally he only gets paid for the days he is actually in the office- no PTO)  He was very happy to be able to take the 4 days off with pay to attend.

 

All week long he has been going to presentations, seminars, networking events and last night they had their BIG +1 wrap-up Party.

There are about 1000 MVP's at the conference and they have flown in from 70 different countries to attend so the party last night was quite an event.  It was held at a venue called The Garage which is located in Capital Hill in downtown Seattle. 

It is a large old converted garage which now a mixture of 20 bowling lanes, 25 pool tables, 6 bars, 3 private rooms, and plenty of lounging room for a night out. It is nearly 40,000 square feet and so there was plenty of room for everyone.

And can I just add, Microsoft throws a mean party - they are not stingy.  Aside from the bowling, pool and dancing they also had numerous buffets and a completely open fully-hosted bar.  They had everything from Beer & Wine to Martini's & Cosmopolitans.

 

We didn't hang around too long because we didn't know anyone there, don't drink much, don't play pool and the bowling lanes were all busy.  We just had something to eat, a few drinks and then left.

 
 

Sunshine today!

Have a good one.

N

Sunny Days & Sun Burnt ....

This weekend Mike & I headed over for some R&R with Doug & Kathryn on Vancouver Island.  We have been meaning to get over there for a visit and check out their apartment in Victoria.  So back  in early June we made the commitment, set the date and made the reservations and headed down to Pier 69 to catch a ride over on the Victoria Clipper last Saturday.

The Victoria Clipper is a passenger only ferry that leaves from downtown Seattle and goes non-stop over to Victoria.  It takes just under 3 hours to get there if the weather is good but, as we found out on Saturday, if the winds are rough it can take up to 4 hours to complete the journey.  

I always forget how much I love being out on the water.  It is so beautiful & refreshing - to smell the clean air, taste the salty spray on your lips and just soak up the miracle of being out upon the ocean  ...

It is easy to take for granted what an incredible & diverse area we live in -  the ride over left me breathless ...

 

At times during the ride over the water was as smooth as glass ...

and at times - rough and choppy ...

at times there wasn't a cloud in the sky ....

and at other times that cloud cover & mist seemed to engulf the islands ....

Because of the rough waters of the open Sound on Saturday we were diverted up through Deception Pass and along the San Juan Islands.  It afforded us the opportunity to go under the Deception Pass Bridge.  Although it added almost an hour to the trip it was spectacular ...

Doug picked us up at the ferry dock and we went over to drop off our luggage and check out their apartment.  They have a really nice one bedroom place in James Bay which is just a short walk from the Empress, the Parliament Buildings and the water front. 

Their building has a very nice little guest suite which you can rent for $25.00/night so we dropped off our luggage at the suite, went up to check out their place, pick-up Kathryn and then went off to do some sight seeing downtown. 

 

The crowds downtown were not too large so we just wandered around for a couple of hours (we didn't dock until around 1) and we saw ...

The magnificent Empress Hotel  ...

If you've never been inside this place ... WOW.  It is truly a wonder!

The entrance columns into the grounds at the Empress ...

On our travels we found a great costume shop and decided to check it out.  It was called Nightmare Entertainment and it had a fun 'Haunted House' set up inside the costume shop which we went through.... fun

Mike & the Nightmare Man ....

 

The hanging baskets around Victoria are amazing ...

 

BC Parliament Buildings ...

 

There must be hundreds of horse & carriages and rickshaws in Victoria ...

 

The first night we went to Chinatown and had sushi for dinner.  It was very good and after dinner we strolled home along the waterfront.  By the time my head hit the pillow later that night I was exhausted.

The next morning we had cereal out on the deck and then decided to tour a few of the many local gardens.  The first one we hit was the Abkhazi Gardens (click on name for more information) which are very beautiful and have a very interesting history. 

 

 

We also toured the gardens at the Government House  which were also well worth the time.  If you are every in Victoria I would recommend visiting both of these gardens in addition to or in lieu of the better known Butchart Gardens.

 

It was a whirlwind mini vacation but we had a great time.  On the boat ride home we were lucky enough to be gifted this incredible view of Mount Rainer. The only bad thing about our trip was the vicious Sun Burns that both of us brought home ...

    Hope everyone had a great weekend

- N -

Chicken Feet, Cow Hooves & Some Mighty Good News ...

 

Today I was out running around, doing a bit of this & a bit of that and as I was heading home I passed by Uwajimaya.  We are very lucky to have one of the three Uwajimaya stores right down the road from us and I often stop in for a look see ...

Uwajimaya is an Asian market which features food & gift items from all over Asia but focused primarily on Japanese goods.  It is still a family owned business and is based in Seattle, Wa.  Started in 1928 it was originally located in Tacoma, Wa but the family was sent to a Japanese Internment Camp during WWII and when they were released they resettled in Seattle. 

They always has the most interesting stuff for sale and is always worth taking the time to pop in ....

Today I went mainly looking for fresh fruits & veggies.  They have an amazing selection of fresh fruit & veggies and carry the most unusual selection too.  Today I went in search of Napa Cabbage which happens to be a favorite of mine - LOVE IT - and bean sprouts - LOVE THEM TOO!

 

My biggest problem in the store is that many of the packages in the store are written primarily in Japanese or Chinese and so not only do I not recognize what is in the package but I can't read the label either ...

Anyways, after getting the usual 'salad fixin's' I decided to head over to the Meat & Seafood area to check out what they had lurking over in that section ...

I found quite an interesting selection:

• Chicken Feet - 1.89/lb
• Pig's  Feet - 1.79/lb
• Cow  hooves - 1.89/lb
• Chicken Heart Tips - 2.99/'b
• Fish Heads - .99/lb
• Beef Tongue - 3.99/lb

Just looking ... none of these items were on my list today!

And now for some 'Mighty Good News' (no, Mike didn't find a job yet) ...

Katy just found out she is going to receive another scholarship from the Bio-Science Department again this year ...  WELL DONE KATE!  She will receive the scholarship when I am out at WSU for Mom's Weekend in April!

Congratulations Katy
Love Mom