Best of 2011

I still can’t believe 2011 is over and we’re almost done with the 1st week of 2012.  I’d say that 2011 was a medium year for us.  We did a lot of traveling but didn’t have as many milestones as previous years (2010 – Izzy, 2009 – wedding and house).  It was actually really nice to have a reasonably low key year. 

Micah and I were talking about our favorite things about 2011 and sort of came up with a list.  Enjoy!

Cooking

I feel like slowly, we’re amassing a good collection of go to recipes we really enjoy.  Micah will tell you his favorite recipe of the year is the semi-mastering of Vietnamese Lemongrass chicken.  This might be one of his top 5 dishes and when I finally nailed it, he was overjoyed.  He asks for it at least once a month.

Other favorites from 2011 are:

Kimchee Fried Rice – Seriously, SO good.  We didn’t expect to love it as much as we do. 

Homemade Bacon and Smoked Salmon -  Crazy good and crazy easy.  The bacon is good in the fried rice above.

Pesto Lasagna  -- Another of Micah’s frequent requests and one of the first things I pinned on Pinterest.

Braised Beef Short Ribs – I made this for Izzy’s birthday though she didn’t really have any.  It was a lot of work but SO worth.

Eating

I think the three meals that blew our minds were at the Corson Building, Staple and Fancy Mercantile and Morimoto.  Eggs.  I was blown away by scrambled eggs on sautéed greens.  If you are in Seattle or going to visit soon, make a reservation at the Corson Building.  You won’t regret it.

Travel

We logged some serious miles this year.  Tanzania and Zanzibar (Catherine), Arizona (Catherine), Mt Rainier National Park (x2), Guatemala, Geneva (Catherine), London (Catherine), Whistler, Idaho, Utah, Crater Lake National Park, Santa Barbara (x2), Zambia (Catherine) and Philadelphia. 

We were talking about our favorite travel moments and we both came up with our day in Tikal (Guatemala) and ATVing in Whistler.  We also really enjoyed spending Christmas with the family in Santa Barbara.  I think I’d add that we were both surprised by how much we really enjoyed Salt Lake City. 

House

It was a year ups and downs at the house.  It seemed like as soon a we finished one thing we had another thing that needed our attention.  I think the highlights have to be getting the wall built on the slope, the mid century modern Craigslist chair recovered and finally finishing the last section of the floors on our mail floor.

Family

I think it was a pretty big family year despite there not being any weddings or births.  My sister moved back to the Seattle/Tacoma area after 5 years away.  We got to see Micah family more than we have in years and little Izzy grew up so much.  I have to say, when we first got her, I thought we’d never be able to get her into a crate let alone leave in the house alone and free to roam around. 

Purchases

Well, Micah got an iPad and loves it.  It actually been really great on trips.  I think our favorite thing is being able to place board games on it.  Micah also bought me a Kindle for my birthday and despite my resistance, I love it particularly now that I can check books out from the library with it.  It truly has changed the way I travel.  No more lugging around 20lbs of books for my month-long work trips.  I think Micah would add his new Keurig and I’m going to say the Bacio61 flats I bought in 2 colors.  My daily commute consists of at least 1.5 miles of walking, so I’m always looking for comfy shoes.  I haven’t had cute flats this comfortable in years.

Entertainment

I’d say we agree that Born to Run was our favorite book this year.  We told everyone to read it and even gave it to someone as a Christmas gift.  If you haven’t read it, you definitely should.  I don’t like running and I loved this book.  I think it’s safe to say that the tUnE-yArDs show was the best thing we’d seen all year.  The singer is AMAZING.  Seriously, watch the video below.  It’s not even her singing but the way she lays down the track.  I think we have different favorite movies.  Mine was Harry Potter and Deathly Hallows pt 2.  I’ll admit, it was more about nostalgia than anything else but I loved it all the same.  We recently went to see The Adventures of Tin Tin which Micah has been talking about for months.  He loved TinTin as a kid and thought the movie was better than expected.  He was practically giddy walking to the car after the movie.  I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s already pre-ordered the DVD.

via YouTube

What are some of your favor moments, events, meals, etc., from 2011?