4th of July

Lucky me, hubby had a day off on freedom day.  We took this opportunity to pig out in Seattle and enjoyed the sunshine.  First things first, breakfast.

Breakfast Menu

We went to Toulouse Petite in Queen Anne for breakfast happy hour. Most dishes on their breakfast menu were priced at $7.50 between 8am-11am.  We ordered the Rustic Duck and Pistachio Terrine and Cured Pork Cheeks Confit Hash.  Apparently, the confit hash was featured on The Foot Network's fall season premier of 'The Best Thing I Ever Ate' and I have to agree, it was delicious!

Rustic Duck and Pistachio Terrine

Cured Pork Cheeks Confit Hash

After breakfast, we headed over to West Seattle and picked up my favorite, Twice Baked Almond Croissant, from Bakery Nouveau.

It's a very crunchy pastry filled with almond cream and topped with sliced almonds.  Since we've come such a long way, it would've been a waste not to try another item from their mouthwatering showcase.  So, hubby got the Chocolate Hazelnut Croissant.  It tasted like Nutella!  

Even though we were full, we couldn't resist.  We took our pastry and drove down to nearby Alki Beach to enjoy.   It's amazing how much we can eat!  

Twice Baked Almond Croissant

Chocolate Hazelnut Croissant

We later took a nice stroll along the beach to burn off some calories (yeah right).  I've never seen the beach as crowded as it was.  Mother Nature was good to us on this day and I thank her.

After getting our dose of Vitamin D, we headed back into town and did a little bit of shopping around Downtown Seattle and Pike Place Market.  Might as well take advantage of the free holiday parking, right?  Hubby would have never agreed to go shopping if it wasn't for my birthday the next day.  

We needed to recharge after all that walking and ended up back in Queen Anne for some frozen yogurt. Hubby had Menchie's when he visited Hawaii in 2009 and really liked their fro-yo.  Menchie's finally popped up in Seattle so we decided to head there for our final destination before heading home.

They had about a dozen different flavors and sample cups were available to try before you buy.  The yogurt and toppings bar was all self-serve so you can mix and match and fill up your cup with as much or as little as you like and you pay by weight.  I think it was 42 cents per ounce.

I can't remember what flavors we had but one of it I remembered was mango whip.  It was creamy and melt in your mouth wonderful and kudos to them for their colorful mochi toppings!

Say "hi" to Mr. Menchie!

The day didn't just end there.  We went home, relaxed for about 2 hours, and headed back out to meet my family for dinner at Cheesecake Factory to celebrate my turning of age.  Holy crap, it was happening, and now I am officially old.  My co-worker told me not to worry because my 30's will be my best years ever.  I'm not too optimistic about that but I'm not ruling it out either.  Hopefully, she's right.

Finally, to top off my weekend of indulgence, hubby surprised me with cupcakes from Cupcake Royale on my birthday the following day.

Triple Threat, Strawberry Velvet, Strawberry Dipped Chocolate,
Salted Caramel, Strawberry 66, Strawberry Shortcake

I love my birthday month because it's strawberry season and Cupcake Royale was featuring strawberry themed cupcakes!  My favorite was the Strawberry Shortcake with fresh strawberries baked into the cake topped with strawberry whipped frosting.  

Hungry yet? ;)