You Must Have Been...

Ah, new pots!

A few years ago, Mom and I were in Macy's and stumbled across a major cookware sale. I picked up a Tools of the Trade Cookright open wok for something like $9, and it immediately became my favorite pan. Made of hard anodized aluminum, the non-stick surface allows me to cook most foods without any oil, which is important to a person who doesn't process high fat foods properly.

Anyway, after all these years, I finally thought to find out the manufacturer of that pan and do a web search. As it turns out, Tools of the Trade is Macy's own brand, and they do make a full set! They're good looking pots, dark anodized, with glass lids just like I've always wanted. I took a chance and bought the set, 12 pieces on sale for $99!

I was a little nervous, taking the plunge like this, but so excited to have matching pots for the first time in my life. Even the pots I grew up with in Mom's kitchen were a mishmash, and it was wonderful to get rid of all of the scratched and scorched pots and pans. It turned out that Pete was in need of some kitchen basics, so he came over and picked what he wanted from the pile.

From the first usage, I loved these pots. A few weeks later, I haven't managed to cook in all of them yet, primarily because the chef's pan gets used just about every day. Every time I go to the cabinet, it seems like there is a perfect pot for whatever my application. The glass lids are great, the silicon handles stay nice and cool, and I've never seen pots clean up as easily as these do. Decent, name-brand sets containing fewer pieces than this one cost upwards of $250, so I feel like I got a great deal!

I Wish I Was Comfortable

Before the season started, my boss gave Dave & I tickets to a Yankee game. This time, we were able to leave work a little bit early so that we could walk around the stadium before the game started. The main difference between the old and new stadiums is that there is no separate entrance for the bleachers now. We were able to walk all the way around the entire stadium and look at the many vendors and history that has been brought over. Once we found our seats, we had some awkward moments when we found out that we were actually sitting with my boss' parents and daughter, which he had not told us. Having to be on our absolute best behavior made the game slightly less enjoyable, but we still had a nice time.

...Bluest Skies You've Ever Seen

So, there isn't a whole lot to do in Seattle. We managed to see pretty much all of what we were told to see in about 4 hours, including the market, aquarium, and Space Needle. The two-day long conference that Dave & I were there to attend was agonizingly boring, and we sold very little product. Gina met us out there and didn't have to work like we did, so she took field trips (Mt. Ranier and such) and had a great time.







Definitely, the highlight of our trip was the Mariners vs. Twins game at Safeco field. On our way into the stadium, Dave snagged a batting practice home run ball (it actually hit him in his nether-regions on a bounce). It was a giveaway day, too, so we all got little Seattle Mariners toy trains to take home. I'd gotten us tickets for the last row on field level behind home plate, and we had a blast.














Oddly enough, at home we were on our second month of all rain, all the time. In Seattle, it was 85 degrees and sunny the whole time we were there.