Berlin is helping me study

I am taking the Washington bar exam in February and Berlin is using his poodle lawyer skills to assist. He has found a perch on the corner of my desk...

It's still snowing and Seattle is in a panic

Seattle really doesn't know how to deal with snow. There's no real need because it doesn't snow here often. Every 10 years or so they get a bad storm and don't have the plows and other equipment to deal with it. All of the shovels at Target have been purchased and we can seem to find a decent tool to scrape the ice off the car.

I have worked from home for several days and Charles walked into downtown one day because the buses were coming on such an irregular schedule. He did bring his camera though...

Snow in Pioneer Square...


Looking out our window at home...
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Some extra photos (including a few of Charles' office) are in this set.

Snow in Seattle!

Yesterday we were promised a good snow storm and I was sorely disappointed. Today I woke up to a winter wonderland in West Seattle. I didn't make the 20 mile drive to work, but Charles did manage to catch a bus downtown. Here is a pic he took this morning that was posted on The West Seattle Blog...



More to come...

Some Late Halloween Pics

I know it's a bit late, but our Halloween pics are too cool not to post. Charles and I went as two video game characters, the Heavy and the Medic from Team Fortress 2. Here is the inspiration for our costumes...



And here we are...



We went with some friends to a party at the Showbox. Here is our clan...



For the whole set which is huge see here.

A Historic Day

Last night was undoubtedly historic and this election was very special to us. We voted for Obama in the Global Democratic Primary in The Hague and got to hear arguments for and against him from our Dutch and other European friends. It was definitely a very different perspective and I will always remember these pics Charles snapped before the nomination.

In Seattle, I hardly knew anyone who was not voting for Obama. My law firm even served as his political counsel. So it wasn't a big surprise that he won, but I am still elated and showing it off with my Obama threads...



Because last night was so historic, I am sure I will be asked "Where were you when Obama got elected?" Unfortunately we were in the doggie emergency room. I accidentally cut Remus' leg while trying to get a matt out of his fur. He needed stitches, but he's a tough little poodle and will be OK. Here is a picture of the little guy at the vet on this very special election night...

Poodles at Westcrest

The poodles explored their wild nature this weekend at Westcrest Dog Park...



Charles did some fancy camera work to make Berlin look big...



And we caught Remus in the act of doing one of his favorite things (e.g., trying to be the center of attention)...



Afterwards the little fluffballs got a bath...



For the whole set (including some action shots of other park patrons) see here.

Congrats to Elliot and Colin!

Elliot gets one more tagged mention in our blog. Congrats to Elliot and Colin whose civil partnership ceremony Charles and I attended in England this past weekend. We were too jet lagged to take pictures, but there are some here.

Seattle House Pics

We're no longer in the Netherlands, folks. As of July 14, Charles and I are residents of Seattle. We've found jobs and last week we moved into a house in West Seattle. We bought a tonwhouse on SW Avalon Way which is about a 10 minute bus ride into downtown

I don't have a good picture we took ourselves of the outside, but this is from the builder's web site...



We live in the green unit in the middle of the picture which is the second townhouse. There are four units in total, each with slightly different layouts. Two women live in the unit facing the street and someone just bought the third unit in which is red and cannot really be seen in the photo. The last green unit is still for sale. When you walk in on the ground floor, you see something like this...



In the hallway, you'll see our snazzy new washer and dryer...



We have a guest bedroom for those who might want to come to Seattle and visit (it doubles as a poodle room, but we'll move them to the office if we have guests)...



The guest room opens into a little backyard...



The guest room also has its own bathroom



Next you'll find our bedroom (no bed frame yet)...



The bedroom has a door..



With a porch (we need a little table and 2 chairs maybe)...



And a view of Seattle...



There is also a master bathroom...



Upstairs...



Is the top floor...



Where you'll find our kitchen...



Living area...



With swanky fireplace...



Dining room table...



My office...



A place for poodles to perch...



And a view (you can see our bus stop)...



Just for kicks here is the view the other way...



OK, I know that was a lot, but I like the house. If you want to see the rest the set is here.

Before we leave...apartment pictures!

As some of you may already know Team Vaughn has recently decided to cut our stay in the Netherlands a bit short. After a year in Holland and living in two cities (Rotterdam and The Hague) we've decided we're moving to Seattle!

We'll keep the blog going to detail our adventures there, but we figured we owe everyone pictures of our apartment in Den Haag. We will only have lived there for 3 months, but it provided us with a great view of the city...



Here is our main room...



Kitchen...



Bedroom...



This place is generally smaller than our place in Rotterdam, but the bathroom is much bigger...



You can see the rest of the tour here. And we'll end with a picture of me crashed on the sofa with poodles...

Koninginnenach 2008

After my last post, I thought it was time for a more positive one so here's the photo tour of the Vaughn celebration of Koninginnenach (the night before Queen's Day).

The night before Queen's Day, The Hague offers lots of free concerts and other activities in the city. We had a couple of friends over beforehand for drinks and appetizers (Charles made guacamole!) and then we hit the town. Here are some highlights.

Before having friends over, we visited the Kermis or Carnival in the city center...



Charles won me some stuffed puppies so hopefully Remus and Berlin won't be jealous...



We also encountered a giant order of fries...



After some homemade guac and wine, we hit the streets which were crowded and full of drunk people wearing orange (the national Dutch color)...



But we were in good company so it was a fine evening...



You can see the rest here.

For the actual Queen's Day, we avoided the crowds in Amsterdam, stayed home and played Grand Theft Auto 4.

Our worst customer service experience to date

Since moving here we've had to put up with non-attentive wait staff and often had to be a bit obnoxious to flag someone down to get a refill on a drink that's been empty for over an hour or a check that's already been requested twice.

Yesterday was a new low for Dutch customer service. Charles and I decided to take the poodles to Scheveningen which is a small beach town near Den Haag. After letting the little guys run around in the sand (dogs aren't allowed on the beach after May 15) we decided to have dinner at Strandrestaurant Blue Lagoon.

We sat down and ordered drinks and bread right away which came out quickly. After a few attempts to flag the waiter down we made out dinner order: kip (chicken) sate for Charles and sashimi with a side order of french fries for me.

Over an hour later: I had my sashimi but nothing else. We flagged down our waiter to get refills on our wine, but didn't want to be rude an ask about our meal. We waited about another thirty minutes and then asked our waiter when he thought the fries and kip sate would be coming. He said did not hear us order these so he didn't hear us order two out of the three items! This was crap because I ordered my meal and Charles ordered his. So he just didn't hear Charles at all? And he heard half of my meal? Be real and admit your mistake.

So about fifteen or twenty minutes later we had out food (how long does it take to make fries and chicken on a skewer?), but were tired and wanted to leave so we asked for the bill. The bill, of course, charged us for every single item (even the mayonnaise with the fries which proves he heard the fry order!). No discount.

So we're in a country that doesn't tip as much as the US does and we feel like we had a terrible dinner experience. We decide not to tip at all. The waiter also left his little card reader machine on our table so Charles hand it to him on the way out.

He gets all moody and says something to the effect of "No tip? Were you not pleased with your service here?"

Us: "No, we weren't."

Him: "Well then, I'll never serve you again."

We walk away because we don't plan on coming back and don't want to start a scene. It ruined our evening and I am now a bit weary of going to beach restaurants.

Southern Biscuits, dutch style

Coming over to the Netherlands was tough on my recipes. It seems like the things I enjoy cooking always require an ingredient that's damn hard to find here. Perhaps most difficult is my family's biscuit recipe. Similar to an unsweetened scone, this marvels of soft and flaky deliciousness, requiring both baking powder and vegetable shortening.

A few months ago the super market we lived above had Crisco in the American section. I bought 2 of the tubs. Then, this last Friday a friend of ours let me know she had spotted baking powder at a high end grocer Gransjean.

This morning, 10 of these bad boys popped out of my oven: