V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N

Well, it's hump day of the week following my one glorious week of vacation, and I am surviving.

I am well aware that I did not blog once during that week. Even if I did not possess that inner awareness, He Who Puts Up With Me gave me more than enough reminders. If I had a nickel for every time he said, "You haven't blogged in forever. I'm giving up on you," I would have a truckload of nickels.

Since HWPUWM is in the process of starting his own blog (only the harder way, with a blank slate and html programming from scratch...not that he knows html yet, mind you), I hearby lay down the blog challenge: I double-dog-dare him to blog every single day beginning with the day he posts his first official entry.

To be fair, I will issue to the same challege to myself (again, starting the day of his first official post). May the best blogger win.

I had a lovely vacation (oh, how I miss thee already). We stayed in city, with the exception of a day trip to West Seattle, which has the amazing quality of not feeling like Seattle at all (I'm talking about the tip of Alki Beach, here, especially once you make it far enough around where you can't see downtown Seattle anymore.

I had a small list of restaurants I wanted to hit, but only made it to two: Baguette Box and Le Pichet, both of which I heartily recommend. The roasted pork loin with apricot aioli baguette was divine, and HWPUWM was quite pleased with his roasted Oregon leg of lamb baguette. A shared cup of truffle fries and plate of beet salad with garlic olive oil rounded out the meal nicely.

I felt there was no more appropriate way to kick off the Fourth of July than with a late breakfast at a French cafe. So off we went, to Le Pichet, to satisfy ourselves with two servings (total, not each...please!) of oeufs plats, jambon et fromage. That would be two eggs broiled with ham and gruyere for you non-French speakers. I admit that I ordered in English, because I couldn't remember how to properly pronounce "oeufs" (it's been a long time since high school French class, OK?). Our lovely, cheesy, breakfast came with a tasty baguette and sweet butter. Oui! Oui! Please monsieur, may I have another!

And another vacation, while you're at it. S'il vous plait.