Seattle Weekend Date Ideas: Splurge Vs. Steal

SPLURGE VS. STEAL!

Well, it's Thursday. Which means I'm probably not the only one who is in desperate need of the Weekend. And a drink. Which happens to be the theme of this week's installment of Splurge vs. Steal!

SPLURGE!

Now, you all know that Brett and I love us some beer. But we also love wine! Really, we're alcoholics we don't discriminate when it comes to booze.

So, we thought we'd alert our fabulous fellow wine-o readers of this weekend's fabulous wine event, happening November 21st, 2009 at Fremont Studios : Seattle's hottest wine event returns this fall! Featuring more than 75 of the hottest Washington winemakers pouring their $30 and under favorites (2 pours from each), and the trendiest up-and-coming chefs from 15 restaurants serving delicious culinary treats. It's designed to be an unintimidating and fun night where winemakers mingle with the crowd. Plus, there's a DJ, which means: DANCING!!

Of course, the 35 and under “at heart” are welcome as well. ;)

Tickets on sale now! $50 Single, $90 Pair HOURS: 6 - 10p.m.

STEAL!

Love wine but the above event isn't quite your thing? Why not play the Wine Game with your special someone?

"What in the world is the Wine Game, Brett and Mandy??"

I'm glad you asked: Get together with your sweetie for a night in. Each of you provides one (or two, or three) bottles of wine (as cheap as $2.95 each at your friendly Trader Joe's!), but first, cover the label with paper so your honey can't see what type of wine it is.

Next, you open the first bottle and have a sip. Or a glass. Or several glasses.

Each of you has to write down FIVE DESCRIPTIVE WORDS that you think will show up on the label somewhere (no cheating in using words like 'wine' or 'alcohol content' -- think up creative words like 'fruity' or 'nutty' or 'earthy' or 'sexy' or 'flabberghastingly good' ... which is my favorite.) Write them down, then once you have both completed your lists, compare with the wine label and see who is closest!

With each round, you can think up a new 'punishment' for the loser, or 'reward' for the winner. Email us if you need suggestions.

Why not put in a good movie as background noise? Here is a list of the Top Ten Wine Movies of all time. And yes, Sideways is one of them!

(This couple has the right idea! not sure if Brett and I are good enough to guess the BRAND, but hey, we'll keep practicing!)

Cheers, and Happy Dating!

xo,
B&M

Seattle Date Night: Noodles and Pinball!

October 1, 2009:
Noodle Ranch and Shorty's

He Said: Belltown and quality are synonyms. Arguably the capital of Seattle’s restaurant scene, the place is full of varied and wonderful restaurants. With that, the age old saying “you get what you pay for” is definitely the norm.

It categorically draws a different crowd compared to other Seattle burrows. Check out my Big Picture post for a definition on "wankers"!

I digress. One Belltown restaurant very must against the norm mentioned above is the Noodle Ranch on 2nd and Bell. Bringing together a flavorful and fresh menu at a price that doesn’t require your last three pay slips and pre approval, the Noodle Ranch is conveniently located in the heart of Second Ave’s restaurant and bar cluster.

I got to know it well when I first moved here on a night the lads and I invented called “Suicide Wednesday”. I highly recommend this for people new to the area. Basically it involved going out on the lash on Wednesday nights ultimately with one person "committing suicide" by not turning up to work the next day. Bloody ripper of a night! Anyways, we’d always kick off in this area.

[Me and Mandy at Noodle Ranch!]

For my meal, I enjoyed the lemongrass chicken ($9) and Mandy had the Vermicelli noodles with chicken ($9). Both fresh, flavorful and filling. Back that up with a couple of great beers on tap and you’ll enjoy a 5 star meal all round.

[Vermicelli Noodles/Lemongrass Chicken]

After tea, we headed right next door to a bar call Shorty's. Shorty’s stands out from the crowd due to its extensive array of pin ball machines! With a room dedicated to the classic entertainment device, they have machines dating from way back when they were first invented through to the modern marvels with all of bells and whistles. The last time I played a pin ball machine was the Top Gun machine at our local fish n' chip shop back in '85, so it was a nice piece of nostalgia. A nice way to round out a tame (and inexpensive!) datenight.

Lastly I want to give a shout out to my good mate Will who suggested this datenight. Ask for him at the Noodle Ranch and he’ll look after you.

Cheers, Brett

**Shorty's is cash only, so be sure to bring some! They have a change machine, too, so you can snag quarters to play all night long!

RATINGS:

Romance: 3: Not the most "romantic", per se, but VERY fun and different! Great unique interior at both locations!

Cool Ambiance/Interior: 4 (see above)

All Around Service: 4 Noodle Ranch was great! Shorty's isn't known for their customer service...

Cost: $$ = entrees from $8 - 13

Would we recommend it? 4: ABSOLUTELY! It's a fun and affordable evening, and if you're left with extra quarters, perfect for weekend laundry!

Seattle Date Night: Paint Party!

July 9, 2009:

Painting Party!

She said:

Last night was Date Night! And since Brett and i have been hemorrhaging money with our recent travels, and several amazingly full weekends in a row, we decided to stay in and save some money, with an at-home and uber-creative Date Night!

For one of our first dates back in 2008, I invited Brett over for dinner and painting. I'm certainly no artist, and neither is Brett (that was his first painting party), but we both dove in without abandon. It was so fun to do something different and creative, and tease each other about how terrible our painting skills were.

So, when Brett and i were discussing staying in for Date Night this week, he suggested we do a Paint Party, version 2.0! Having loved the last one, I of course was all for it (plus, we get to be in our scrubbies! who doesn't love THAT on a date!).

Since technically it was Brett's turn to plan, he cooked dinner for me. He made this beautiful penne pasta with ground turkey, basil, zucchini and onion! There's just something about a man cooking for you that is priceless. Especially when he's not wearing a shirt. (Sorry if this is TMI... but it's true! Ladies, am i right?? Men, take note!)


[Yum! (The food looks good, too.)]


[Brett's penne pasta and meat sauce]

It turned out fabulously! Brett's always been great at taking a bunch of random ingredients and throwing them together to make something beautiful.






We enjoyed dinner and wine, and then dove right into the painting! Again, we're not good AT ALL, which made it all the more fun! I already had the paints, but you can buy any type of paint you want for this -- from expensive oil paints, to crayola finger paints, to body paint, if that's your thing. We chose to use some cheap-o acrylic paints you can pick up for about $1 a tube at your local Target. Brushes are available there, too.



For paper, we just use tag board ($.39 each at Target), but you can also head to your nearest art supply store (I am a HUGE fan of Michael's) and pick up some inexpensive canvases for about $5 each, if you're feeling really artistic! They have a great selection of different types of paint, too, as well as paint brushes.



[Brett channelling Australia's famous Ken Done]


[Me channelling Koko, the painting gorilla]


[Ken Done's got nothin' on this guy!]



All in all, a fun, relaxing, inexpensive and creative way to spend a night with your hunny!

You can check out the entire photo gallery HERE.

RATINGS:

Romance:
5: It can be SO romantic! Or silly -- make a game of it and paint each other's portraits! Also helped to have "Crocodile Dundee" on in the background...

Cool Ambiance/Interior:
5: But I'm biased... it's our apartment! ;)

All Around Service:
5: Brett was an extremely gracious host!

Cost:
$$: We had almost all the ingredients for dinner already, so that made it cheap. Most of the supplies you can pick up for under $10 at your local Target. Makes for an inexpensive, creative and FUN date night!

Would we recommend it?
5: Yes! DUH! Even if you suck at art, like we do, it's so much fun!