Seattle -- oh love

This will have to be a work in progress post -- I only slept for two hours this morning, so I think I will start it, take a nap, and then finish it later today or tomorrow. But, I guess by the time I post it, you won't even realize that I did take a break.

-- and then I took a break --

Ok, I slept for another three hours, so I think I am ready to begin this again.

SEATTLE!

This past week I was blessed to have the opportunity to go up to Seattle with two of my good friends. We all work together, so it took a lot of effort to get all our shifts covered at the same time. It was nothing short of a miracle that we actually got to go. So, thanks to all the people I work with who made our trip possible!!

We left Monday night, around 4:30. Our excitement seemed to overshadow the driving through the night. And with only one minor missing our exit by five miles, one having to pee in the woods, two minor drink spills, and one major flood, we made it to our friend Michele's house around 5:30 am Tuesday morning. Michele ushered us to our beds, and we passed out. Sadly, despite our lack of sleep, I still woke up about two hours later -- which then woke Cortney up. We then had to wake Julie up -- that girl can surely sleep.

Day 1:
Our first day we went to one of my fav restaurants for lunch: Ballard Bros! MMmmmmMMmMM. Then we went to Pike Place. It was fun taking the girls through the market. And I got some new art, so I was definitely happy. We then met up with Cort's cousin, Erin. We all trekked up to Capitol Hill where we went shopping at Red Light - one of my fav vintage stores. After we shopped for awhile we headed out to dinner with a lot of my best friends in the entire world. I was short one best friend - TJ!!!!! - and unfortunately didn't get to see him at all while I was up there. We all went out to a great dinner at the High Life. It was fun just getting to catch up with all my friends who I hadn't seen in so long. They're such amazing women, and I wish I could just take pages from all of their books, because that would make one terrific life! We even had a great discussion about tattoos, which just got me itching for my next one. But don't fret my more conservative readers, it will still be a short while before I embark on getting any more of those. The time came to say goodbye to all of my friends, and my heart broke a little. But they all gave me their last words of school and Utah advice as we all hugged goodbye. I can't wait to move home so that we can just be friends again! None of this long distance nonsense. It was time for sleep though, that's for sure. So we headed back to Michele's to crawl into bed.

Day 2: We got up at a semi decent hour, and just chatted with Michele during the morning. We then packed up and headed into town for an underground tour. It was really interesting learning all these things about a city where I'd lived -- and apparently knew nothing about! They have ghost underground tours also, and if I wasn't such a chicken I would definitely do that. But, I am way too much of a wuss, so I'll just recommend it to all of you! (I say all of you, as if more than five people actually read this... and I'm sure three of those just gave up after my nap break.) We then headed up to the Space Needle. It was kind of fun being a tourist this trip. I hadn't done any of these things for years -- if even at all. We went to the top of the Needle and took some photos. We then went to Archie McPhee. My favorite store in the whole world, which I love because it's my cousin Lucas' favorite store too, so I'm glad we have something in common. We then jetted over to the U-District. We went to all the shops on the Ave. It was so much fun showing my friends all these stores I am madly in love with. Cortney got some cute tops, Julie bought everything in site, and I got a super cute new shirt because I pitched big enough of a fit that Cortney gave up buying it so I could have it. Hehe. I'm a jerk. It happens. THEN we went down and visited my aunt/uncle/cousins/and Gma Purple for about an hour. It was a quick trip, but I LOVED seeing them. Family means a lot to me, especially when they accept and love everything about you. They're good at doing that. We had a good visit. I hugged the snot out of my favorite Annabelle. I let Lucas be shy (next trip though, he better be ready, because we are playing chase and hide-n-go-seek just like the old days).

Day 3: We decided day three would be a beach day. But we had to kill some time so we could take Erin (Cortney's cousin, don't forget) with us, but she worked until 3. So we headed back to Capitol hill. BUT FIRST we went to the biggest Good Will known to man. We shopped and shopped and bought and bought and barely spent any money. I got cute plates that have a kitten climbing a clothes line with underwear hanging on it. They have french written on them too. I'm obsessed with French. And now I am obsessed with those plates. I also got a tea pot, I've been on the market for awhile. Then we went to the Broadway Grill, mmmmm. Then shopped. Then went and got Erin and headed down to Alki. It was such a beautiful day! We walked around West Seattle for awhile, just looking at shops. We went back to Erin's to change and get fancy. We then went to dinner at the Pink Door. IT WAS SO DELICIOUS. And we had a beautiful view of the water. And life was perfect. Of course we had our dumb, immature, ridiculous conversations the entire dinner. I'm sure our neighbors just wanted us to talk about politics or whatever adults talk about non-stop. But that's what made it the best dinner ever, we were just ourselves, eating good food, and drinking water while everyone around us got drunk. Our beds were definitely wonderful to climb into that night, but we were a little weary because we knew that we had to wake up and begin packing the next morning.

Day 4: We finally convinced Michele to spend the day with us. And we are so glad she did! We drove up to Seattle and took the Ferry from Seattle down to Bremerton. It was a fun ride, we just stood on the deck and let the wind make my hair as frizzy as possible. Cortney just kept laughing when she looked at me. "If you have frizzy hair, raise your hand!" Oh so cleaver. We drove up from Bremerton to Tacoma, where we went to Stadium High School. You would have seen it on 10 things I hate about you. It was all closed and locked, so we just walked around and took some pictures. We then headed back up to Michele's house. We packed up, cleaned up, loaded up the car, cried a little, said our goodbyes, stole both of Michele's dogs, thought about stealing her kids, and then pulled back out onto the road. But first we stopped at the local gas station and bought every single item of junk food they had. Rule number three of car trips: never be ashamed to spend $20 on food at a gas station. Finally we pulled into traffic -- rule number two of car trips: always leave between 4:30 and 7:00 pm. Makes life really enjoyable.


We drove. And we drove. I sunk into a deep depression. Corntey hated her life. Julie slept like a log. I almost peed my pants. We told Oregon it was a kind and courteous state. I never want to drink Caffein again in my life. We pulled into our homes mid morning. I crawled into bed -- only after taking the most beautiful shower ever -- and now, I am off to work!



I always come home from Seattle with some form of new found view on life. I was already having some deep thinking on the way back, and then I got into this huge "what if" conversation with a friend on the way home -- just about life in general. I think that after this trip, I have walked away with a new sense of life being too short to do things I don't like, or things I don't believe in. So, I'm making some changes. I'm being myself more. I'm not taking crap from you if I don't have to. And I'm gonna get unlazy. Sometimes I forget that I can still live an amazing life even if I don't change the world -- I can just change myself! Anyways anyways. That could all just be my lack of sleep/pep talk to get myself back to Utah talking. But I like to think it will stick for awhile. I just feel like so much of life is playing by other people's rules. Well, I'm grown now, and although I still act like a twelve year old, I can make my own educated decisions. So, I chose a fitting song of the week. And I say to all you who think I have to be someone I'm not in order to succeed in life -- I'm not gonna take it anymore! I'm not going to have any more regrets. Not because I was too scared to make the tough choice. Yes yes n deedy.




Love you, Seattle! I will be home soon!