Guys, Gum, Girlfriends

A couple weekends ago, Kristen and I headed down to Seattle for a few days. Seattle is one of my favourite cities, especially on a sunny day. It is absolutely stunning when the sun glistens down on the water as your drive in. It's such a rich city with much to see and do.

And who doesn't love a toy shop where you can find fun hats to try on?

Or a donut store that gives you free hats to wear? It's like the lady knew we would want to wear them.


And a trip to Seattle must often be accompanied by dinner at P.F. Chang's. And they even give you a little mini dessert after, which is the perfect size.

And of course, we had to visit the gum wall again just because it's disgusting.

And it's fun to view all the unique art around the city.

I always love the flowers in Pike's Place Market. We wandered around the city, enjoyed city on the lawn watching the view, played some good rounds of racko, went to Guys & Dolls the musical (so good), had a nice swim at our hotel.


All in all it was a wonderful weekend away and good to just hang out and spend time together.


And go figure. They must have known I was coming, because they wrote my name on the gum wall before I got there.

Poppins, Pandher, PF

I have seen a few musicals that are from Disney movies and LOVED them. I had seen the Lion King and The Little Mermaid. So when Mary Poppins came to town (town being Seattle.. close enough), I got tickets and went to see a third most fantastic Disney Broadway show.


And it was incredible. Epic even. Spectacular. The sets, the special effects, the dancing, the music. Exceptional. All of it. Probably ranks as one of the most spectacular musicals I have ever seen. It was a delight. If it ever comes to Vancouver (or anywhere near where you might be), go see it-you will not be sorry! My favorite part was when Bert tap danced upside down on the ceiling.


An added bonus was going with my friend Sandy. So good to just spend the day together. Went to my favorite restaurant, PF Changs and had my favorite dish, Kung Pow Shrimp. And we walked around Seattle enjoying the day.


Some people think I am a bit musical crazed. And it's probably true. I have loved seeing so many musicals in the last few years. This year I even subscribed to two theatres in Seattle because they both had incredible seasons. Next year they are doing West Side Story, Les Miserables and Rent, to name a few... sad I will be missing it.

But when I miss the musicals, I will just skip along with a chimney sweep and sing, "chim chimery, chim chimery..."

Enjoy your Sunday!

Gum, Gross, Gals

This past weekend, I had planned for a cousin day, but was happily surprised to have a double cousin day! I showed up at Des' house only to discover, my other cousin, Joelle was there. The funny thing about this is that Joelle and Des are great friends but they aren't related, but they are both related to me. And we're good friends. That sounds confusing. Probably is. Either way, it was the perfect ingredients for a day of FUN.


You know those people that dance like crazy at the corner of the street and often they look like they're bored out of their minds? Well, in Bellingham there was a woman who looked like she absolutely loved her job and was so into it. I told Des to jump out and run to go dance with her. So she did. And she even got to hold the sign. We took pictures as we drove by. Oh what fun can be had when you just do random things people tell you to do. :)



We also stopped at Krispy Kremes on the way back. Mostly for the hats. Because they're pretty awesome. Except Joelle broke hers.




I hate gum. In fact, it's probably my biggest pet peeve. I hate seeing people chew it, hate hearing people chew or crackle it, hate smelling it on someone's breath, hate the look of it in a wrapper or thrown onto the ground. I hate everything about it. In fact, most of the time, it makes me want to throw up. So why I decided we should go see the gum wall in Seattle I have no idea. But search for it and find it we did.


In Pike Place Market, we found the wall, along with a large group of other folks. It was disgusting. Yet I stared at it in awe. It made me want to throw up, but I took pictures. Even posed in front of it. In fact, if I stare at these pictures for too long, it makes me want to throw up. But I figured I would post them for your enjoyment.


So the next time you are in Seattle, go to the main entrance of the market, go down the ramp, and turn left and voila, there it shall be. Maybe bring a piece of gum to chew and stick onto the wall. {dont' I look so excited to be there in the picture below?}


All in all a very fun day was had. Went for dinner, walked around a lot, and then enjoyed a musical all together. Lots of laughs and great conversation, which happen to be two of my favorite ingredients to add to the making of a fantastic day.

I will miss these ladies dearly. Joelle is heading to Africa and beyond for at least a year and I will be gone. But I treasure our times together and future times when we are all in the same place. I am thankful for an incredible family, that is not just family, but even more deeply bonded with friendship.

Second, Seattle, Sore

I have been growing very appreciative of traditions with good friends. And I love that I have different small groups of friends that I do regular fun things with. I am definitely going to miss that when I move away, but cherish the times together now, and the times I know we will have when I am back here visiting.


Yesterday, Amy, Carlee and I headed to Seattle for the day. Walked around a bunch,went into some different stores, ate some great food and enjoyed a movie.


Instead of memorizing the movie times, Carlee decided to take a picture of them. We saw Lincoln Lawyer which actually isn't the type of movie I would normally choose, but I really enjoyed it.


Carlee has always wanted to be a mannequin, so she figured she'd get some practice in.


Stopped at Anthropologie because it is a super fun store and there's always really fun displays everywhere. Love it even though I have never actually bought anything there. It's fun to look.





And aprons. They have many of them and all of them are incredibly fun and original. :) (except for the hundreds of others sold in all their stores I'm sure)

And who doesn't love playing with large magnifying glasses?

Carlee found a prom date.

And Amy and I had a debate over very important matters.

All in all a wonderful day and it didn't really rain at all when we were walking around downtown, so that was nice.

One of my favorite things of the day was how much we laughed all day long. And not just ha ha here and there, but that gut splitting laughing that makes your abs hurt the next day. And intermixed we had really encouraging conversations about more serious things which was also appreciated. All in all a perfect day. I'm looking forward to the next 'eat seattle' already. :)

Peeing, Pants, Puddle

Yes it's official. I have the bladder control of a five year old. Maybe more like a two year old. Today I had an absolutely fantastic day with friends in Seattle, for our traditional, 'Eat Seattle' and it was so much fun, with so much laughter and good conversations and so forth.

But perhaps there was a bit too much laughter and not enough peeing that happened? The photo below would be proof of that. And oh I wish that my friend had leather seats instead of upholstery...


Most people would be mortified at such a photo, or even such a story of having peed their pants in someone's vehicle at the age of 26. But let me tell you, I find it HILARIOUS. And I hope you do too. Because all I can do is keep laughing at it. So hopefully it brought you some joy as well. More photos from eat seattle coming soon!!

Cafe, Casserole, Casting

A trip to Seattle is never complete without visiting the giant troll under the bridge. You have to get permission to go over the bridge, right?


Anyone ever watched the show, "Drive-ins, Diners and Dives"? Guy Fieri is the host and he goes to these different places all across the States and does shows on them. So Brooke and I decided to check some out.


First stop: Voula's Offshore Cafe. I think our first mistake was not being entirely hungry, but it closes at 3pm, so we had to fit it in. Our second mistake was not actually ordering what Guy Fieri suggests because we didn't feel like eating breakfast.


But it was a quaint inside and the people who worked there were very friendly. You could tell that most of the clientele was local, because everybody knew everyone and they just came in to grab a big delicious breakfast and be on their merry way.


We didn't order breakfast though. We ordered tuna casserole (it was on special, don't ask me why we ordered it) and fries and a shake.


The shake was the best part. The rest: not so great. Once again, I think we ordered the wrong thing because this place specializes in breakfasts. It's kind of like ordering a hamburger at a Chinese place.. most likely it won't be that great.


But we had fun and feel like we branched out a bit. One day we will return and redeem our experience. In the meantime, if you're ever in Everett or Seattle (or any other US city), look up which restaurants are there and check them out! They are often diamonds hidden in the rough that you'd never think to eat at!


In the evening, we went to a musical called 'Rock of Ages', which is a mix of all different rock songs into a musical (kind of the same idea as Mamma Mia). It was very well done. And the casting was awesome-everyone fit their part perfectly.

And so ended our day trip to Seattle!! After the musical, we drove to a hotel in Bellingham where we stayed the night before our flight in the morning! And if you're ever flying out of Bellingham, you can get a great deal for the night and parking for up to 10 days at the Hampton Inn. Check it out.

Next stop: Palm Springs!

Seattle, Sauces, Sugar

I love when you have long-anticipated days that have been in your calendar that you can hardly wait until they come. Those days that cause you lost sleep because you're just so excited. I have these days and moments frequently, but want to share about this one day that I had been feeling agog (eagerly anticipation) about for a while now.


My friends Amy, Carlee and I met at university and really become good friends during a retreat course we took together one summer. So we have been trying to get together more and figured a day trip to Seattle would be a wonderful way to hang out and a great way to start the new year.


First stop: Krispy Kremes. We realized early in that we were pretty much going down to Seattle to walk around and go eat some good food.


Next stop: The troll under the bridge. Thankfully he let us pass through.


My view of the bridge. Delightful.


Following stop: P.F. Chang's. The best chinese food bistro. ever. They mix you your own sauce to the spicyness level you desire. Every time I go, I want to go back instantly. Probably a good thing that there isn't one in Canada.


Next we found a delightful place called the Chocolate Box which had the best hot chocolate ever. Then on to Pike's Place market and some wandering around.


We found some fun clothing to try on and got some nice modeling pictures...


Then we decided to take a break from our eating and walking and go see a movie. We saw Little Fockers which was good for some laughs. :)

This face-pure excitement.

At some point in the day, we just started taking pictures of EVERYTHING. So we found it fitting of course to take a picture when our buzzer went off at the Cheesecake Factory later on.


Carlee wanted to share her love/hate relationships with popcorn...


We really just came to the CF because of their Thai Lettuce Wraps. And were they definitely worth it.


After crossing the border after suspicious questioning, we found Amy's car with the lights on, and battery dead. Thankfully we found someone with jumper cables who was kind enough to give the car a jump. And thankfully we didn't listen to Carlee who insisted that if we just push the car down a hill, the car will start up again.


I think having a dead battery was actually the perfect ending to the day. I almost peed my pants laughing so hard.

The anticipation and excitement was worth the wonderful fellowship, great conversations, endless laughter, boisterous sing-alongs, tasty food, and chilly strolls. I am thankful for good friends and for the chance to take the day off and go adventuring together. I look forward to many more!