Showing posts with label Seattle. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Seattle. Show all posts

Sunday, February 11, 2007

Tim's B-day (and a Sunday in Seattle)

Hey, gang. Sorry I haven't up-dated the blog with new pictures in a more timely fashion. This week was kinda crazy. The event that garnered the most attention was Tim's birthday! Yes, Thursday was Tim's birthday. Woo hoo! Tim's a quiet guy, so we celebrated in a quiet way - homemade pizza, his requested birthday fruitcake (complete with candles), & episodes of Dr. Who - and he said it was perfect. We continued the celebration on Saturday night when the gang came over for shepherd's pie & games. The game of choice? Tim's own creation. For years he has been working on this board game called Empire. George and Derek have road-tested an old version of this game, but it's even better now. Tim tweaked the rules a bit and made some truly fabulous game pieces (I'll have to take pictures next time he gets it all out). Well, the game was a big hit with this geeky crowd. It takes a long time to play (after 3 hours it still wasn't over), but they ate it up & want to play again soon. So yay! Good times!

Now we are enjoying a quiet Sunday. Don't you love those? It's sunny and happy outside & we're cozily sitting around in our sweaters, playing about on our computers. Tim is working on yet another game. And I am watching cooking shows while updating my blog. Such a perfectly happy day.

Another perfectly happy Sunday from my memory occured 2 weeks ago when I was in Seattle with George & Derek. For brunch, we went to a diner (can't recall the name) where I ordered the cheddar pancakes. Yep, you read that right. Derek had the bacon pancakes, which sounds even more amazing! George had something with fruit on top so that she could pretend that she was eating something healthy, but Derek and I were under no delusions. We even had sausage on the side. "Heart attack on a plate? Why, that sounds delightful! Bring it on out!" We needed to walk off this amazing meal and luckily for us, Seattle's new sculpture park was nearby.

Have I mentioned that it was GORGEOUS the whole time I was in Seattle? Not a drop of rain. Most days looked exactly like this - sunny with beautiful views of the water & mountains. Marvelous.

Our next stop was the glass museum in Tacoma. Well, honestly, our next stop was the apartment where we sat around & said, "Whaddayawannado?"
"I dunno. WhaddaYOUwannado?"
"I dunno. WhaddaYOUwannado?"
Repeat for a couple hours until Derek suggested we go to the glass museum. It is a really cool looking museum. If you get the chance, you really need to check it out.

The problem, sadly, was that we got there kinda late (we got stuck at a railroad crossing for aaaaages) & the museum was about to close, so we decided to keep our 10 bucks. But the good news is that they had a lot of Chihuly pieces on exhibit outside. Yes, Chihuly! OUTSIDE! We got to see them for free! How cool is that?! All the pieces were located on a pedestrian bridge that goes over the highway & connects the glass museum to the rest of the Tacoma arts district. I thought it was super cool.

That last picture is from the tunnel-like feature that Chihuly does so often. It's about 50 feet long and above your head are all of these piles of twisted, brilliant glass. Most pieces look like strange sea creatures, but there's the occasional cherub thrown in just to keep things sureal.


Next stop: Chinatown! Which I LOOOOOOOVED. My new goal is to live in a city that has an asian quarter. Something about all those signs I can't read makes me pretty happy. Plus, there's good food and all the Kawaii you can buy! We stopped at a Chinese bakery & had dessert first. "Please do not squeeze the bread too hard. Thank you." :)

We drove past a chinese grocery store & we just HAD to stop in. And this was no little corner shop in a strip mall. It was a full sized grocery store! I confess to spending a lot of money on adorable San-X stationary goods here. I also got quite a kick out of the food on offer. There was a whole aisle dedicated to ramen! And the cookie aisle was even better.


We polished off the night with some Ethiopian food. A new culinary experience for me (and another ethnic food to add to our list for the week). It was certainly different, but I really enjoyed it. A lovely way to end a lovely day.

Tuesday, February 06, 2007

Who needs a photobooth when you have Derek?

Additional photos from Saturday, Jan. 27th. This time Derek is at the helm!

Monday, February 05, 2007

Seattle - Day 3

Wake up, Dizzy! It's Saturday!!


George is off of work! And she doesn't have to work again until after I go back to NC! Isn't that great, Bubba?


George's co-worker, Linda, was kind enough to drive us around & show us some of the sights of Seattle. Our first stop was an old cemetery with some gorgeous views. This was also the burial place of Bruce and Brandon Lee. Definitely the lovliest cemetery I've ever seen.


Next to the cemetery is Volunteer Park. The park is home to an asian art museum, a conservatory, and a big old water tower. There are some great views up in that water tower. Just check out Mt Rainier & the Space Needle!



Next we went shopping and just enjoyed the sunshine - of which there was plenty! And we could have consumed a socially-responsible crouton, but we had crepes instead.


That night we dressed up & went out. The burlesque show we wanted to see was sold out, so we ended up seeing this strange drag queen/interpretive dance/ burlesque-esque show. We knew we were witnessing something special when a man in a g-string started painting his torso with blue paint. While we were out, we found The Gum Wall. It's a wall. Covered in used gum. Disgusting and fascinating at the same time.

Saturday, February 03, 2007

Seattle Pics, Part 1

Some of the harsher edges of my jet lag have smoothed out, so it's time to post some piccies from Seattle! Wee!!!

So I arrived in Seattle at about 11am Pacific Time on Thursday, January 25th. Within about an hour of picking me up, Derek had already taken me to Pikes Place Market. And that is where I took my fist pic of the trip.
That's right. It's a giant squid. It was hanging near the store that sells nothing but wind-up toys (That's it! Just wind-up toys!). I believe it was at this moment that I realized that this trip would truly kick ass. And boy was I ever right! I must admit that the first day was kinda overwhelming. So much to do and see! I was also feeling a bit self-conscious about taking photos. But here's what I got. Enjoy!


This is the fish stand where they hurl fish through the air to amuse the tourists.










"AARRHHRR! I'm a monk fish!" Another sign says "We deliver to downtown hotels!" Are they implying that one should purchase a raw fish as a souvenir?















Elvis is working as a fortune teller in a magic shop in Seattle. Who knew!


















The Giant Shoe Museum. Note that museum itself isn't giant; just the shoes.



After george got out of work, I was taken to Ikea - my very first trip to the famous store. I think I was too overcome with shock and joy (and exhaustion) to take pics while we were there. It's like a multi-hour Disney World ride dedicated to furniture. Amazing.


Food ethnicities consumed on my first day:
Indian (at the buffet around the corner from george's job)
Swedish (at Ikea!)