Freckled. Girl. Talk...

oh where oh where does a girl begin to tell the story? destination Seattle. the next city over. to me, its like a larger version of Portland but more like San Fran with its hilly terrain. our three day stint in Seattle started out on a liquid not so free friday morning. i had my mind set on buying a cord for only $4.99 before living the city limits so i could be one with my and Jen's iPods! subura stationwagons are now equipped with an AUX feature. i call this the modern day convenience! on the road again. it felt SO good to be behind the wheel again. eventhough i've been getting around withOUT a car for the past year and a half, it never ceases to amaze me how much i love being behind the wheel when renting one. yet, another true modern day convenience. |not too worry, i will not conform and will always remain a non-car owner|. 3 hours later have passed. the same parking spot as before! eureka, time to hit up the Sity! upon check in, i asked to see the person that shall remain nameless because i wanted to inform him that no baby seals will need to be clubbed since i remembered to bring my hilton travel passport with me this time! a little bummed that he was not going to indulge us with his presense, i was ever so grateful to not only have a room on the top floor with views of the Puget Sound but also given access to the executive lounge. so far so good, right Jen! after dropping our luggage in the room, it was immediate that we needed to find Food. and right away! why is it that we always are super famished upon arriving at our final destination. we headed out to the pier and Ivars it was for lunch. after that, we walked everywhere, in and out of boutiques, trying on clothes, and enjoying the city life. a good many hours passed by and we were ready to head out on the town. but before getting back to the hotel, Jen and I were on a quest to find Barney's and its special contents inside: the Perfume. its a good thing we scoured the city for it because we would have never found the first spot where our night began, vessel, a very hip and trendy bar/restaurant. we chatted with the owner of the bar who happened to have a degree in architecture and i think we chatted for far too long because once we were ready to order we were told the kitchen was closed. what! who does that or at least doesn't warn you first. from our last visit to Seattle, we knew already what the next best thing was and that was wild ginger. with our tummies full, we tried to get into triple door but there was a private party -- that meant no entry for us. so we cabbed it to Capitol Hill where we bumped into Marcus and Demetrio at barca. an hour later, we met Andrew and David who invited us to a Pepe Le Peu House Party. our evening ends here, well at least here on this blog. Day 2. Saturday. we slept in. i mean till like 11ish. we drove over to the Dahlia bakery. maintenant! maintenant! i want me some more of that goodness from Dahlia. oh, how i miss it so. we ordered to-go and drove towards the 'ferries' signs. a little misdirected, we instinctively found our way back to the pier and getting onto a Ferry is like clockwork. you drive up to a booth, pay $11.75 and then proceed in line bumper to bumper. i must have motion sickness because i wasn't feeling so good once we took off. or maybe that was from the night before... just kidding. um, yeah... so the Ferry took us to Bainbridge Island. an almost too good to be true community where everything, the trees, flowers, etc. seemed to be placed so perfectly. i saw a sign -- plant sale -- and thought to check it out. Jen loves nursuries, gardening, etc... but the place where they were having the plant sale was at someone's home. we walked up to it, nothing... we walked around it, nothing... we took in their views, now that was something! we drove as far as poulso and decided to turn around. we were itching for the city since it seems to be what i (we) like the most. and this trip wasn't about being one with nature, it was about being one with the city as so eloquently described by robert frost:

the city is all right
to live in one
is to be civilized,
stay up and read
or sing and dance
all night and
see sunrise by
waiting up instead
of getting up

while in line waiting for our ride back to Seattle, i think both of us had a serious tired spell because i flaked out and left the back of the subura open: mindaswell have just posted a sign, please, take all our valuables...nothing was 'stolen' |got to love honest washintonians| but i must make a mental note to myself, anytime i ever rent a subura make sure to always close the hatchback. we had impeccably beautiful weather to and from the island. back in Seattle, we walked around some more, doesn't surprise you, does it? stepping into maison luxe we met Lars! you have to be careful nowadays what doors you walk into because after leaving maison luxe we became larsified. other cool stores were diva dollz, moda mx xpress, nuva moda (amazing clothes and Jen bought her a pair of yellow pumps), endless knot and tulip. and the more you walk around, the more you see such as this guy talking on a payphone where in his other ear was a quarter. a quarter! that night, our find for dinner was serendipitious (sp?). we did our homework, we had list after list of restaurants, we even asked the locals where to go and because i failed to write down the addresses of the two restaurants we thought to check out, Jen pulls out the Seattle Visitors Guide in the hotel lobby and turns to the Belltown section where we agree to tavolata. I THINK this is the best kept Secret in Seattle. communal dining is the way to go! after dinner, we stepped outside into the rain and ran across the street entering the world of the viceroy. this is where we met Floyd or was it Loyd. our last destination for the night was triple door. they make the best drinks in the universe. jen had a mango mohito and i had something that was out of this world yummy! okay, the night ends here. Day 3. we knew it was our last day. we packed up, checked out, swiped a few goodies from the Executive Lounge, got a little sidetracked from how some people don't even notice that you even exist: basically, we had to ride the elevator up twice because no one held the door for us with luggage in hand but then after some good laughs, we took off in search of breakfast. le panier. another very french bakery, i think my mouth was in Heaven or either I was in Heaven! this bakery is located right in the heart of pike market and the perfect spot to people watch. we walked for another good couple of hours, stopping at several boutiques, checking out pioneer square, old town and spending time in the Fremont District it was decided, it was TIME to head back home to Portland. the rental car did not need to be returned until this morning, so Jen drove me home with a lot of pots and soil and i pretty much repotted my herbs, unpacked and crashed hard. this was definately one weekend to remember. and Jen, i can pretty much sum it up with

i'm all set...