Got Fish?

Read on, this will make sense in a bit

Ahoy!

I finally feel like I'm coming back to life after an extremely fun-filled, even if sleep deprived, weekend.

I guess I got a little something in me, b/c I decided I wanted to take a trip up to Seattle. I checked various sites on Wed. night but couldn't find anything promising, and just when I'd given up, accepting that it just didn't look like it was going to happen, I found a steel of a deal- too good to pass up- on Thurs., so I headed home after work to do dinner with my Dad (Mom spent the entire week w/ Jed and Holly helping them out in their first week with Gavin). Well, before dinner I had to get a replacement gas cap. Oh yeah, and before I even got home, I had to change the flat tire that I found upon leaving the office. Man, was that a bit disappointing. It felt like 100 friggin degrees outside, and here I was in my rayon dress and pink gladiator sandals, bike tire b/t legs, fingers all greased up, trying to get the outer shell of the tire off- which I am happy to report- I did! I'm not sure exactly what the problem was. I took the whole tire apart, used my handy dandy pocket rocket pump (get your minds out of the gutter, that's really what it's called!) to fill it back up and check for holes. I didn't see or feel any and began to think that maybe the heat had something to do w/ my deflated tube. So, I put the same one back together and planned to head home; I made it, but lost air along the way, so I'm thinking I've got a slow leak. From there, my Dad and I headed to a belated B-day dinner for me after getting a replacement gas cap (I lost mine after attempting, and failing, to fill up on Wed. evening- doh!). Dinner was yummy; we went to a new Italian place in Newark, and it was nice to just hang out and chat.

Friday was one of the busiest days in a long time at work, and before I knew it, it was 4:30 PM and time for me to head out. I had some time to kill since my flight wasn't until 8:50 PM, so I headed to Stanford to walk around before heading to the airport. BTW, I don't know how many of you have flown w/ Virgin, but it's quite the experience. I felt like I was in a disco, not on a plane. Once again, I timed the boarding just right, so there was no waiting in line for me. The planes are new and pretty roomy w/ leather seats, purple and red lighting, and monitors that you can watch movies/TV, listen to music ect. on. Me, I crashed even before the plane took off and had to be woken up by the flight attendant after landing.

Jesse was there on time to meet and greet me, and it was so good to see her. Thanks cherie, for the late night airport p/u!! We headed to her place for some quality catching up over a bottle or Rose (really? was that really supposed to be Rose?!) that she'd brought back from Angers. Well, it tasted more like a cold, light port- not quite what we were looking for. We're not sure what that was all about, but perhaps it was due to the fact that it was from 2003... so down the drain it went. I'm pretty sure that I was asleep before my head even hit the pillow.

Sat. we were up fairly early, but it felt like we'd slept in forever. By noon we were on our way, boat in tow, to Lake Sammamish. I don't think either of us were prepared for the task that lay ahead- - - launching the boat. I do have to give Jesse major credit for even attempting to do this, and thankfully, there were no incidents. It just took us a looooooooong time. I think we saw about 10+ other people get their boats in/out of the water in the time it took us. In all fairness, though, we did it TWICE. Yep. The first time, we forgot to plug the hole at the back and it started to fill (at a surprisingly rapid rate) with water! So, we had to take it back out, let it drain, plug it, and start all over. Once that was done she tells me, "Ok, so you'll just drive the boat to the middle of the lake, and I'll call you once I take the truck to my grandma's". Uuum, what? I wasn't quite sure what I'd signed up for, but I was pretty sure it didn't entail totaling her family's awesome Charlie's Angles inspired boat- which is exactly what I feared might happen if I were left in charge, captain of this vessel, unsupervised. Much to my surprise, I successfully navigated my way across the lake and right up to the dock where Jesse and Robin were waiting (so I may have done this at 5 mph, but it was a success nevertheless).

So the day was pretty much spent, out on the boat, cruising around, taking in the breathtaking scenery, sipping on tall cans of Modelo Especial, eating chips and salsa, and taking dips in the un-freezing lake. The weather was perfect, and I don't know what more we could have asked for.

By 7, I was at Andrea's eating her famous yummy salad, sipping on my favorite drink ever- the Dirty Shirly (thank you Liesl), and getting ready for a night of debauchery and dancing. We kicked off at Amber in Belltown http://www.amberseattle.com/ (and even had an A-Rod sighting). I got to see Jesse again since she was there as well celebrating a friend's birthday. A drink or two later & we were on our way to shake our thangs.

So the thing about this club, Belltown Billiards, is that I guess it has a bit of a reputation among the locals. Being from out of town, I wouldn't really know, except that it gets bashed on quite a bit, being called the 'meat market' etc. and people kind of laughed at me when I told them that's where we were going. All I know is that I've been there 3 times and had a blast on each occasion! Good DJ, booze, and good company- how can you go wrong with that? Any place that brings back dance moves such as the running man is alright with me (thank you BD for the repeat performance, I'd heard so much about it!!).

We were out until about 4 AM and Andrea had me up at 9:30- yes as in 9:30 AM. Parents! They just don't know how to sleep the morning away. Headed out to do a little bit of shopping but most of the stores weren't even open (and we're talking by 10 AM here people). That would definitely be a factor to consider before moving there- that and the fact that you can't get hard alcohol after 8 PM. Weird. Where are their priorities? Anyways... it's such a beautiful city, surrounded by water and greenery. I'm not sure where the 2nd mall was that Andrea took me to, but it was so charming and cute- outdoors, cute new/modern buildings, and beautifully landscaped.

I guess I've been extremely lucky with the weather on the trips that I've take to "rainy WA", not that I'm complaining, but I don't know if I've experienced the true Seattle. So, Sunday afternoon another friend that I'd met on my first trip, came to play tourist w/ me since Andrea has failed miserably in this task (haha just kidding you know I love you and you've taken me to the most important places- clubs and malls). Still, I really wanted to see the infamous (flying) Fish Market on Pike Street, go to the 1st Starbucks etc... so we headed there to enjoy a leisurely Sunday afternoon. I can't believe that they have this market daily. Spectacular bouquets of flowers were almost aromatic enough to cancel out the fish smell, scrumptious-looking cheeses, local fresh fruits were some of the treats you could find. It made me miss hitting up the market on Saturdays in France. BD- how can you not take advantage of this?!

BD had the forethought to bring along some clubs (which is funny b/c I had a brief moment where I though about packing my putter), but as it turned out we didn't make it to the range. A shame too cuz I would have liked the opportunity to practice. Another time. As it turned out, we went to this neat little tapas bar in Belltown and had- surprise- tapas and drinks w/ Andrea. She's the 20 question queen and I'm always amazed at the stuff that you'll learn about someone once she gets to working on them (o;

So now it's back to another week. I babysat for Oliver and Max on Mon. night. They are just so cute, so I enjoy whatever time I spend with them. Liesl and I plan to take the horses out for another ride on Wed. and hopefully I'll get my tire situation squared away so that I can ride in to work on Thurs.

I'm spent from all the typing. Over and out and lots of hugs to you all!