I’m warning you all ahead of time that this is an EPIC EPIC post… one post to basically cover the ENTIRE month of March! I’m settled into my favorite corner table at Top Pot with an Americano and 30 minutes to summarize the last 30 days. And I have SO MANY things I want to tell you about, I don’t know where to start!! There are restaurants, books, movies, music, lectures, sporting events and other various inspirations to talk about, so start where it best suits you.

Crush

Cantinetta

Tilikum Place Café

Restaurants | Of course, I start with food…

As part of the Dine Around Seattle event, Dana and I met at Crush early one Thursday evening and secured two seats at the chef’s counter. Jason Wilson’s restaurant has been on my “must try” list forever and while the host was a little snarky (words of warning: Crush favors reservations and we didn’t have one), the rest of the evening was a true delight! We each selected the 3 courses for $30 option, along with the $18 wine pairing. (For those of you who have dined at Crush, you know that this is a bargain!) For starters, I chose the Braised & Grilled Berkshire Pork Belly with Pinata Apples, Parsnips and Bourbon Glaze. Followed by the Alaskan King Cod with Preserved Lemon Sabayon (AMAZING!), Chorizo Broth, Controne Beans and Gremolatta. Followed by the Buttermilk Beignets with Jam, Chocolate Sauce and Cream for dessert. EVERYTHING was ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS, including the bread that had a hint of rosemary and the perfect dusting of sea salt. Crush is located in a little house turned restaurant on E Madison St. and its all-cream modern interior is lovely. I highly highly recommend this restaurant for your next special occasion…or the next Dine Around Seattle event.

I also tried a new Italian restaurant with Tanja, Cantinetta. It just opened recently in an old dental office on Wallingford Ave. N and it’s wonderful what they have done with the space. It’s welcoming…simple, rustic and convivial. I arrived early and the staff immediately made me feel at home while I relaxed with my book and a glass of wine until Tanja arrived. There were so many wonderful things listed on the menu, we had a hard time choosing, so we selected several items to share. Beets with Fresh Mozzarella and Pistachio Pesto. Kale with Preserved Tomatoes and Cranberry Beans. Mussels with a Puttanesca Broth. Gnocchini with Oxtail and Jerusalem Artichokes. Chocolate Torta. Bombolini with Citrus Confit. Yum, yum, yum! Highly recommend!

Oh, and there was also Tilikum Place Café where Heather and I enjoyed brunch one rainy Saturday morning. It opened last November and has a great atmosphere, very “neighborhood bistro.” We each ordered a Dutch Baby — Heather had the sweet version (with pan-roasted apples) and I had the savory version (with duck confit and cranberries). It was the perfect place to spend several hours catching up over a wonderful breakfast and pot of French press Lighthouse Roasters.

Thank you again my friends! Words never adequately express how blessed I feel to have you in my life! The way you each savor the world and share your hearts and enthusiasm with me inspires my every moment! xoxo

I still have several restaurants on my “must try” list, including:

• Joule in Wallingford
• Sitka & Spruce in Eastlake
• Poppy, Olivar, and Oddfellows Café & Bar on Capitol Hill
• The Corson Building in Georgetown
• Branzino in Belltown
• Tamarind Tree in the International District

Hopefully I’ll check off one or two more in April!

A Novella, Poetry, Letters | I didn’t have much reading time this month, but I did discover a couple of small treasures… Along with poetry by Yusef Komunyakaa & Donald Hall, I also savored a wonderful little read, The Uncommon Reader: A Novella by Alan Bennett. I discovered Bennett because I had previously read (and adored) another one of his novellas, The Clothes They Stood Up In. Here’s a little more info:

From Publishers Weekly
Briskly original and subversively funny, this novella from popular British writer Bennett (Untold Stories; Tony-winning play The History Boys) sends Queen Elizabeth II into a mobile library van in pursuit of her runaway corgis and into the reflective, observant life of an avid reader. Guided by Norman, a former kitchen boy and enthusiast of gay authors, the queen gradually loses interest in her endless succession of official duties and learns the pleasure of such a common activity. With the dawn of her sensibility… mistaken for the onset of senility, plots are hatched by the prime minister and the queen’s staff to dispatch Norman and discourage the queen’s preoccupation with books. Ultimately, it is her own growing self-awareness that leads her away from reading and toward writing, with astonishing results. Bennett has fun with the proper behavior and protocol at the palace, and the few instances of mild coarseness seem almost scandalous. There are lessons packed in here, but Bennett doesn’t wallop readers with them. It’s a fun little book. (Sept.)

84, Charing Cross Road was another wonderful little find this month, which I discovered in a used bookstore…

Amazon.com Review
84, Charing Cross Road is a charming record of bibliophilia, cultural difference, and imaginative sympathy. For 20 years, an outspoken New York writer and a rather more restrained London bookseller carried on an increasingly touching correspondence. In her first letter to Marks & Co., Helene Hanff encloses a wish list, but warns, “The phrase ‘antiquarian booksellers’ scares me somewhat, as I equate ‘antique’ with expensive.” Twenty days later, on October 25, 1949, a correspondent identified only as FPD let Hanff know that works by Hazlitt and Robert Louis Stevenson would be coming under separate cover. When they arrive, Hanff is ecstatic–but unsure she’ll ever conquer “bilingual arithmetic.” By early December 1949, Hanff is suddenly worried that the six-pound ham she’s sent off to augment British rations will arrive in a kosher office. But only when FPD turns out to have an actual name, Frank Doel, does the real fun begin.

Movies | Dustin and I saw Two Lovers at the Seven Gables starring Joaquin Phoenix (superb performance even though he has morphed into one strange dude!), Gwynneth Paltrow, Vinessa Shaw and Isabella Rossellini (lovely as always!). Mom & I saw the charming (yet also a little creepy) animation in Coraline at the Metro. And on DVD, Little Children and Happy-Go-Lucky. I recommend them all!

Music | Last night, Bruce & I had a bite to eat at Union (oysters with horseradish & lemon; ricotta dumplings with rabbit ragout; excellent!) and then went to see the Portland Cello Project at The Triple Door. PCP is a group of 18 (8 were in Seattle) classically trained cellists who do more than just the normal repertoire. A couple songs were performed by PCP only and on others they collaborated with Weinland*, Anais Mitchell and Seattle’s Throw Me A Statue. Weinland’s Adam Shearer MC’d the show. It was like our own little one-night SXSW festival! EVERYONE was fabulous!!! 5 Stars!

Also in music, I downloaded the new Neko Case CD this month — Middle Cyclone – and I am loving it!

Television | G3 and I finished watching Season 4 of The Wire. It was just as fabulous as the other seasons! We only have one more season to go and then we’re going to have to decide on a new series to occupy our Netflix television time. Suggestions?

Soccer, March Madness & Hockey Playoffs | I completely heart Fredy Montero, the Columbian forward for our new Seattle Sounders FC team. OMG, he’s adorable! Okay yes, he’s a little young for me — 21 — but the kid can kick! He scored two goals in the first game, along with one assist, and then another goal in the second game. Speaking of the first game — the INAUGURAL game! — I was there and it was one of my favorite Seattle sports moments. (Thank you Bruce for our amazing seats!) I’ve actually attended most of the inaugural Seattle games over the last several years, including the Mariners at Safeco, the Seahawks at Qwest, the T-Birds at their new arena, and the Silvertips. I’ll always be loyal to our local teams and a sports fan in general, but I feel the Sounders pulling on the strings to my heart. :)

March was the ultimate sports month! There was hockey (the T-Birds were in the playoffs & I attended game 3, thanks Mitch!), March Madness and two Sounders matches. And even though the T-Birds (shush Brendan), the Huskies AND the Zags lost, it was an exciting month and I spent more time than I’d like to admit hanging out in pubs.

Lectures | On the 18th, Heather, Mom & I met for an early dinner at Matt’s in the Market and then attended Scott Simon’s special SAL event at Benaroya. Simon has published a few books and is best known as the host of NPR’s “Weekend Edition Saturday.” He was very sweet and engaging. He read from a couple of his books and talked about his upcoming memoir about adopting two babies from China with his wife, French documentary filmmaker Caroline Richard. Here’s a little sampling of Simon’s work: “Reflections on Welcoming a New Family Member.” You can also follow him on Twitter @nprscottsimon.

I also attended Yusef Komunyakaa’s poetry reading on the 26th. Komunyakaa was born in 1947, grew up in Louisiana, and uses his childhood experiences to inform many of his works: growing up in the rural South before civil rights, his familial relationships, jazz & blues, and his later experience of serving as a combat reporter in the Vietnam War. He was awarded the Bronze Star for his work with the military newspaper, The Southern Cross, and won the 1994 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. Currently, he is a professor in the Creative Writing Program at NYU. He was fabulous! Here is a sample of his poetry, if only he could read it in his rich voice for you…

My Father’s Love Letters

On Fridays he’d open a can of Jax
After coming home from the mill,
and ask me to write a letter to my mother
Who sent postcards of desert flowers
Taller than men. He would beg,
Promising to never beat her
Again. Somehow I was happy
She had gone, and sometimes wanted
To slip in a reminder, how Mary Lou
Williams’ “Polka Dots & Moonbeams”
Never made the swelling go down.
His carpenter’s apron always bulged
With old nails, a claw hammer
Looped at his side and extension cords
Coiled around his feet.
Words rolled from under the pressure
Of my ballpoint: Love,
Baby, Honey, Please.
We sat in the quiet brutality
Of voltage meters and pipe threaders,
Lost between sentences…
The gleam of a five-pound wedge
On the concrete floor
Pulled a sunset
Through the doorway of his toolshed.
I wondered if she laughed
And held them over a gas burner.
My father could only sign
His name, but he’d look at blueprints
And say how many bricks
Formed each wall. This man,
Who stole roses and hyacinth
For his yard, would stand there
With eyes closed and fists balled,
Laboring over a simple word, almost
Redeemed by what he tried to say.

Also, I think I’ve been remiss in mentioning the Junot Diaz SAL lecture at Benaroya in late February. It was fabulous! I loved how he kept it real and there were so many quotable moments. A group of us (Tanja, Heather, Kate, Mary, Mom, G3 & Bruce) attended and we all met for dinner beforehand and conversation afterwards at Union. Another fun & inspiring evening spent in the company of friends!

Other Inspirations | Thanks to Ms. Boyd, I discovered a website full of fun wallpapers and icons to “redecorate” my Mac with – pixelgirlpresents.com. This also inspired me to finally clean out all my old electronic files and back everything up to my new external hard drive. While doing this, I realized that I have 2879 songs stored on my computer and according to iTunes could listen to my iPod for 8.8 days without hearing the same song twice.

Thanks to little notes from all of you, I also discovered a couple new blogs that I am very much enjoying:

• In the Kitchen & On the Road with Dorie
• Dooce
• Mer Mag
• Tartelette
• Cannelle et Vanille

Other inspirations included joining a volunteer group, some heavy Spring cleaning in my condo, a sunny walk across the UW campus to admire the cherry blossoms, reconnecting with more old friends thru Facebook, and trying to stay current with technology by joining Twitter (@joiedevivre9).

Tonight, I’m meeting Tanja & Amy for dinner at Café Presse and tomorrow, April Fools’ Day. Happy Spring!!!!!