The Seattle Piers

A couple of weeks ago Robb and I had a rare Saturday off together and, of course, we headed to Seattle for the day. This time the destination was the Seattle Aquarium and the tourist areas along the piers. It was another beautiful sunny Seattle summer day and the crowds were thick. We started out with lunch at Pike Place Market and tried the sandwiches at Sisters European Snacks. Not bad sandwiches, but we have other food destinations we like more at Pike Place.

After lunch we walked down to the Aquarium. Overall it was a nice aquarium. I'm not sure if it was worth $15/person (I think I would've liked it more if it was $10/person), but it was still nice. It's a really interesting aquarium because it's built on one of the piers on Puget Sound. The focus of the aquarium is water life in Puget Sound and also tropical fish from the Pacific Ocean. There was a fairly large "tide pool" section that allowed for people to touch sea creatures such as starfish, anemones, lobsters, etc.. Our favorite display were the harbor seals. We watched a little video about the Aquarium's conservation and research efforts. It was really interesting to learn that there is an underwater lab right next to the Aquarium, which means it's right under Seattle. Also we learned that there are sharks in Puget Sound; we saw some in this section of the Aquarium that actually is "wild." The aquarium has this basement area with a window-dome to see the Puget Sound fish, sharks, starfish, and wolf eels.

After the Seattle Aquarium, we decided to walk along the waterfront and visit some of the tourist shops. But our real purpose was to find Ye Olde Curiousity Shop; Robb has been itching to visit this museum/store for months. The Shop has interesting collections of weird stuff: American mummies, freaky stuffed animals, pictures shows, etc. Robb was in heaven. He loves that kind of stuff. I can take it or leave it. Even though I was doing a very good job of masking my boredom and frustrations with the crowds, Robb didn't make us stay too long. I imagine he'll go back by himself sometime to look at everything in greater detail. I would highly recommend checking out his blog to see his opinion of Ye Olde Curiousity Shop, plus his blog postings tend to be a lot funnier than mine if you're in the mood for a laugh! http://norwesterly.blogspot.com/

After that, we made our way back to the car and headed back to Federal Way for dinner. We ate at a Pan-Asian restaurant we've been wanting to try, Indochine. We were very impressed with our food and the cocktails! Now we have a new favorite local Asian restuarant. I love good local restaurants. And what a good way to end another awesome Seattle day!

Single-Family Dwelling Unit

Wasn't it just the other day that my apartment smelled like cardboard and I was stressing out about getting everything packed in time? Well, we're moving again, but this time instead of moving 3000 miles, our destination is only 1.5 miles away. At the end of August we're moving into a house! (Nope, not buying, just renting.) We're beyond thrilled to get away from the noise that comes with apartment living and have plenty of space to feel like grown-ups.

House specifics:

• 3 bedrooms
• 1 bathroom
• Kitchen with lots of storage
• Living room with gas fireplace
• Huge family room that was converted from a garage
• Gigantic yard (with a landlord who mows it for us!)
• Fantastic and safe neighborhood
• Only 0.3 miles to Robb's work

This time, because the move is less than 2 miles away, we'll be renting a truck and doing it ourselves. Robb has started collecting boxes and bringing them home from work We're also hoping that we have a week or two before we move the big stuff over, to start taking a few carloads over each evening so the day of moving stress will be lessened. We're hoping this is our last move for awhile. The plan is, no more moving until we can buy a house of our own in a 4-5 years.

Katherine and Robb in Washington - Year 1 Review

It was exactly one year ago on August 5th that I arrived in Washington, without one iota of personal knowledge about the Northwest, but with unyielding hope and faith that this would become my family's permanent home. And lucky for us, living in the Northwest has been just about everything we dreamed it would be. After traveling and living all over the world, I have found home and I can't imagine living anywhere else.

This year has had its share of challenges and moments of doubt. We spent thousands of dollars moving across the country and living for months without jobs. The job search was much harder and longer than we ever imagined it would be; and although we are happy to finally be employed, Robb still isn't in the field he'd like to be at and the money I'm making is far below what someone of my experience and education might deserve. But we are both working full-time, paying bills, and even managing to pay down some debt and save a little. And while we don't have the perfect jobs, we live in a place that ensures the hours spent together outside of the office are filled with variety and happiness.

It's amazing how quickly a year passes and although we tend to fill our days off with exploring Seattle or getting outside, we still have so much we want to do. There are neighborhoods in Seattle we haven't even gotten close to yet. We really should take some time to visit downtown Tacoma. We have tons more hiking to get to and we need to visit Mount St. Helens. Robb still hasn't seen the Pacific Ocean and I'm on a mission to visit Oregon to see the Columbia River Gorge, Haystack Rock, and Crater Lake. We want to visit a little Bavarian town called Leavenworth to partake in authentic German food that I miss so much, visit the beautiful San Juan Islands to see orcas, and head to the border so I can cross Canada off of my countries-to-visit list. And I haven't forgotten that we need to head inland and explore Idaho, Montana, Utah, etc. Thankfully, since this is now our home, I suppose we have all the time in the world to experience it all.

Every day that I see Mt. Rainier on my drive to work, I am reminded of why we moved across the country. Who knew that risking so much could reap such great rewards?

Eating My Way Through Spokane

In July I headed to Spokane again for work. The last time I was in Spokane there was snow on the ground. This time it was all brown and 90 degrees. The nice thing about this heat though, as opposed to Florida heat, is that it was a dry heat. So even though it was hotter than I've gotten used to, it wasn't an uncomfortable heat. The first day there our meetings ended early, so after checking into the hotel I walked downtown and did a little shopping. I also headed to the Davenport Hotel again to have a drink with my boss, D.

I had gotten recommendations from local Spokane co-workers about where to go to dinner, and we chose to eat at Clinkerdaggers, an amazing and pricey restaurant overlooking the Spokane River rapids. I really enjoyed steelhead fish, smothered in a hazelnut butter. My first experience with steelhead (a type of salmon), and I look forward to trying it again soon. Then D insisted on ordering me the "fried cream" which he had tried years ago. This turned out to be the most amazing creme brule that I've ever tried. D had only two bites and couldn't eat anymore on account of his diabetes; so, of course, I had to do my part and eat the rest of it.

The next day, before we headed to work, we made a point to stop at Frank's Diner. This little diner was created out of an old train car. It was really neat. In the 1800s, when it was still a train car, it was the private car for the president of the railroad. The train car actually became a diner in Seattle in the 1920s (I think), and it moved to Spokane in the 1990s. It's been consistently voted as one of the best diners in Spokane for several years. And yes, my eggs benedict were pretty darn good.
I'm really looking forward to the day where I can go to Spokane and spend a little bit more time there. It's a really neat place to visit (I don't think I could live there, but visiting is nice), and I'd like to do some touristy things with Robb. Maybe, now that I'm a runner, I'll head over there for the Bloomsday 12K run held every May. So I'm sure that you'll see more posts about Spokane in the future.

Seafair 8K

Tonight I ran an 8K (that's 4.97 miles to you)! This is a very big accomplishment for me and I'm super excited that I finished. You see, I was the girl that only did one season of soccer in high school because I hated the running involved. I was the ballet girl who hated any type of exercise that didn't include pas de chats or arabesques. In the past two years I've had some fleeting experiences with running. I ran a 5K in 2006. I did a sprint triathlon, which included a 2 mile run, in 2007. But since that triathlon, my exercise has been some intermittent 1-2 mile runs every few weeks and hiking in the summer. Running was a chore that I tried to endure, but wasn't able to maintain.

In February I went to the doctor and I got back on a scale for the first time in months. And in March I turned 25. Both of these events affected me. I decided it was time for me to lose some weight, and I know the best way to do that is through running. But more importantly, I thought about being in my mid-20s and not being in shape. I felt like the longer I waited to get into shape, the harder it would be. So I decided to start running. Instead of just running to run, I decided I would probably end up pushing myself more if I had a goal, so I picked the Seafair 8K (more than a 5K and not as intimidating as a 10K). I started out at being able to run about 1.5 miles. And I gradually added 1/4 of a mile every week or so.

I've run about 3-4 times a week now for months. And a funny thing has happened. Instead of forcing myself to run, now I look forward to it. It's a stress reliever. And it has made me more energetic. I used to be very tired through-out the days even though I got plenty of sleep, but now my evening runs energize me and I feel more alert during the days and can stay up a little later. And instead of feeling like I'm trying to become a runner, now I feel like I AM a RUNNER! My SHORT runs during the week are at least 3 miles. I go running in the cold and the rain and the heat. I've lost 10 pounds since February and I feel incredible.

So today was the race I've been working towards for so long. My goal was to finish the race, run the entire time, and stay under an 11 minute mile. I was super excited about this run. Seafair is a month-long celebration with several different events. The race immediately precedes a downtown parade, so we were promised crowds of thousands to cheer us on. The run starts on a viaduct with beautiful views of Puget Sound. It's really interesting to run on the viaduct because it's normally a street only available for car traffic and it's a major highway. After running up that for awhile I made it to the tunnel which was probably about half a mile long. That was pretty neat to run through a tunnel. I realized that my first two miles were pretty slow, so I tried to pick up the pace a little bit. It was really neat to start running through downtown Seattle. And the last two miles were incredible. The streets were lined with people and children cheering us on and waiting for the parade. Kids were lined up on the sides of the streets with their arms stretched out to receive high-fives from the runners. The crowds' encouragement and knowing that I was almost done spurred me on and I ran pretty fast the last two miles. It was a really nice run, a few long gradual inclines, but no real hills to worry about.

I crossed the finish line with all of my goals met. I ran the entire time (passed many walkers) and finished the race in 54.20. That's an average 10.55 mile. And I felt great, I probably could've gone quite a bit farther. So my next big goal is to run a 10K. I'm going to Florida for Thanksgiving, and my Dad and I are going to run the Turkey Trot 10K together. I can't wait to finish a 10K with my Dad.

Bite of Seattle

We recently went to the Bite of Seattle, an annual food festival situated around Seattle Center. Last year while I was still living in Florida, Robb had already made it to Seattle and visited the Bite of Seattle. He's been very excited to take me the Bite of Seattle this year. There's been a lot of criticism of the Bite in years past. Originally the Bite of Seattle was created to increase the visibility of local restaurants. However, there were a few chains at this festival and several booths with your typical carnival food, rather than high-end restaurant sampling. And, instead of "bites", food vendors sell practically whole meals for like $7.00. This doesn't allow for a lot of taste-testing because of wallet issues and stomach-filling issues. Because of past criticism though, this year's festival did provide a few smaller "bites." (Which were very good!) Our favorite foods this year included a corn chowder with prawns, yellow chicken curry, and spanakopita. I don't know if you've picked up on the fact that Robb and I live to eat and try new foods, but we do and this was the perfect event for us!

Alki Beach

So last weekend Robb and I finally made it to Alki Beach, yet another area in Seattle we hadn't visited yet. We actually ended up there because I needed to attend a summer picnic for the political organization I'm a part of. The picnic was okay, a little dull, but I enjoyed talking to a few people and just being outside on very hot day (I'd guess mid-80s. Robb and I both got sunburned.) Robb, who's not a big political fan, was a real trooper in joining me and a bunch of dorky politicos. After the picnic, we walked along the beach to check it out. Most of it was rocky and the tide makes the waves juts up against the beach wall. However, there were a couple of spots that had more sand-like substance in them (still nothing like Florida sand.) It was also neat to see this pillar/monument claiming that it was at Alki Beach where the founders of Seattle landed. So we saw the official birthplace of Seattle. And just over the bend, you could see the Space Needle sticking out. I think the Space Needle is really interesting; it seems that every neighborhood offers a completely different view of the Needle. When you're right downtown, it seems fairly small and unimpressive compared to the skyscrapers. But in other locations it looks tall and majestic. I just think it's fascinating. It might be interesting to do a photo montage one day of all the different views of the Space Needle. (And I suppose I need to pay the exorbitant amount of money they're asking to one day visit the top.)

After walking along the beach, we headed to a different part of the Alki Beach neighborhood to walk around another street-fair. Seattle is big on the street fairs in the summer. I think it's awesome that there's so much going on, and in different neighborhoods each weekend. This fair was significantly smaller than the last one. But it still was really nice and we were able to see the Alki area from a different view. (Oh, and checkout the cool flowers we saw.)

Panera

By the way, did I mention that I no longer work Saturdays at Panera? Last month I gave my notice. I just got tired of working 6 days a week. I realized I'd been doing it almost non-stop for six months. And I missed Robb. Because our schedules are so goofy anyways, it would bum me out if the only day he had off was a Saturday and I had to go to silly Panera. And I have lots of things I want to do in the summer. I want to feel free to go hiking and go to festivals and be outside. So I decided to quit. And they accepted. But then they convinced me to only take an 'extended absence.' This way, I can easily come back if I want to. So maybe in the fall or when I get bored of having every weekend free, I'll go back once or twice a month to make a little extra dough. Haha. Dough, both literally and figuratively. I'm hilarious.

Me in my 'uniform', standing in front of the pastries and delicious breads that I would set up and display so beautifully every morning.

Fremont Fair

The Fremont Fair is one of the premier street fairs in Seattle. It's a celebration of the summer solstice and has a goal of raising money for and awareness of the low-income people that live in the area. The Fair kicks off on a Saturday with a parade. Robb and I couldn't get to the Fair until Sunday, but the parade is supposed to be pretty darn spectacular. And, the fair is also preceded by body-painted, naked bicyclers. That's just something I've got to see next year. Fortunately, this year we did manage to pass the booth run by the nudists, who were nude. In the middle of the Seattle on a very crowded day, filled with fair-goers. Well a couple of them had these fake leafs covering their lower portion, front-ends (very Adam and Eve-esque). But then again, some of them didn't.

So on June 22nd, we decided to take the bus to Seattle. Parking in Fremont is limited even on a non-event day and we didn't want to search and pay for parking. Unfortunately, taking the bus requires lots of time, especially with buses that are very late and very crowded. So the ride there and back literally took four hours out of our day. Oh well, gotta make a sacrifice for the environment and our wallets.

In addition to the three different stages with a variety of musical acts, there were also dozens of street performers, spaced out every block or so. There was a 12 year old kid playing his violin, a couple of teenagers in a drum and guitar combo, and some ragtime bands (complete with drums, horns, bass, dancers, awesome singers, and a washboard!) There were tons of booths for all types of crafts, from candles, to hippie clothes, to hand-made journals, to items made entirely of silverware (earrings, hair clips, funny masks, wind chimes, etc.) There was a very odd car show at the Fremont Fair too. Cars that were shaped and decorated in the strangest way were displayed. And of course, great fair food was ample. We ended up trying two awesome things. We ate the biggest hunk of fresh-made french fries I've ever seen. We saw the people actually make two whole potatoes into strings by using a power drill, and then frying those fries right in front of us. We also had this weird Polish-type thing: boiled potatoes, covered with sausage, and then a dill pesto sauce. Yum.

It was a beautiful day and perfect street-fair weather. It was one of the largest and best street fairs I've seen since living in Texas and attending Austin fairs. Definitely something I'll be returning to, and next year I definitely need to check out the naked, painted bicyclists!

Memorial Day - Ballard and Fremont

So this is the last of my posts about my Mom visiting for Memorial Day Weekend. Even though we had two whirlwind days in Western Washington, there were no breaks for us. As soon as we drove the two hours back to Federal Way on Sunday, we picked up Robb and immediately headed for dinner in Seattle. My Mom recently decided to become a vegetarian, and Robb did some research to find the best vegetarian restaurant in Seattle. Cafe Flora was incredible. There was an adorable indoor garden where most diners were seated. If it had been any other day, we probably would have waited for a table in that section, but because we were tired, we decided just to eat in the main restaurant. We started with the quesadilla verde: Roasted yams, pumpkin seed-cilantro-scallion spread and Pepper Jack cheese in corn tortillas with salsa verde and lime crème fraîche. Deliciousness. Everything continued to be delicious, from the Caesar salad, to my Oaxaca tacos, to Robb's portobella wellington, to Mom's polenta concoction. We even tried desserts that were not the highlight of our evening, but not bad either. This is definitely the place to take vegetarians and even meat-lovers for something a little different and decadent.

On Monday Mom and I headed to Seattle. I wanted to show her some of my favorite neighborhoods: Ballard and Fremont. We went to the Locks in Ballard, walked around the semi-desolate main drag (because of Memorial Day, a lot of places were closed), and had lunch in La Isla on NW Market Street. This Puerto Rican restaurant was really wonderful. Mom had a plantains variety plate and I tried the pork empanadas. In addition to the main dishes being wonderful, the rice side-dish was incredible too. Sometimes it's hard to find good rice side-dishes. After our successful lunch, we headed to Fremont so I could show Mom some of my favorite stores, as well as the Fremont Troll. We headed home, with a slight detour to the flagship REI store. Visiting REI is always a requirement, even if we can't afford to buy from there often. We ordered in pizza that evening from our favorite Federal Way pizza place, Mom and Pop's, and called it a night so that we could get up early the next day for Mom's flight.

It was an exhausting long-weekend. But so worth the sleep deprivation I felt the rest of the week! I already miss my Mommy again!

Hiram M. Chittenden Locks: boats waiting to get into Puget Sound from Lake Union.

The Before: Boats waiting for the water to rise so they can head into Puget Sound. Depending on how busy the locks are that day, they could be waiting for hours in this cramped space!

The After: The picture is taken from the exact same place (notice the yellow line). The water has been added and now the boaters are preparing to go into Puget Sound. It's quite complicated to get going because of all the connections. Big boats are on the outside, and are tied to the docks, while smaller boats are in the middle and tie to the bigger boats.