Seattle is gone cuz I ate it.

I took off to Seattle last weekend with the BBQ Lord for a little relaxin’ before his life gets super hectic (he’s opening a restaurant this month…) and pretty much all we did was eat and drink.  So it was a tremendously successful trip.

One noticeable thing about my relaxation abilities; I have basically no anxiety now, I am stress-free a lot of the time and I am enjoying it a lot.  Really a lot.  When I go away or make a plan wherein the purpose is to actually relax, it seems like a bit of a silly mission, but what I found is that rather than it taking a huge amount of time to just decompress and leave the office and whatever else behind, I was able to slip into it much more quickly.  I still need relaxation, but it’s a hell of a lot closer than it used to be.  Does that make sense?

So, I documented the weekend.  The BBQ Lord indulged my need to record our antics, but I had to promise not to publish him or the name of the restaurant we went to for breakfast on Sunday (we don’t want it to get to popular), so if you are dying to know, give me your email and I will consider sharing it.

We arrived in Seattle around 4pm and headed to the Pike Street Fish Fry (photos were posted on Facebook) for an afternoon snack. Then we hit QFC:

My big purchase at QFC - favourite wine and the yummiest cider EVAR (Crispin)

This is only HALF of the massive beer aisle. The BBQ Lord is a cicerone, so we spent a lot of time here.

Oh, AMERICA. This is not food. It may be cheap and easy, but it is not real food. Stop. Please.

After that, we found our hotel (thanks for the deal, Sarah!) – it was lovely.  We camped out there for several hours and watched food porn on the food network…we debated dinner plans and researched all sorts of places before deciding we were still too full of fish n’ chips and that we would venture out around 11 or so.  We made our way to Dick’s.  Ahhh.  Dick’s.

Me, outside Dick's. Note the pouring rain...this was an adventure (I had dove into my wine and so we walked)

The *cheap* menu. We got 3 burgers, 2 milkshakes and fries for $14. Right on budget!

If you have ever watched Louis CK with me and seen his bit about a "bag o' dicks" I am here to tell you this is what it looks like. Not baguettes in a bag, not chicken parts, but a paper bag full of burgers.

Ok, seriously. CHERRY BLOSSOMS. Seattle has spring, and I am jealous.

Lobster and asparagus omelette at Secret Breakfast Place. Other diners thought I was having a seizure I was making so much noise about this.

Biscuit. Gravy. Heart attack of yum.

The BBQ Lord's Breakfast Burrito. Also crazy delicious.

After some walking about the Market and so on, we landed at Top Pot Doughnuts. The. Best.

Mmmmmm. A dozen (less a couple) for the road...

Double fisted!

Aaaand that was all my belleh could handle.  I cannot tell you enough about my growing love of Top Pot.  Tim Horton’s is nothing to me now (except the occasional coffee)(I have become a doughnut snob).

We had ambitiously planned to hit Serious Pie before leaving town, but just couldn’t do it.  Must leave something for next time…

My buddy was very happy to have me home at the end of the day:

It was a relaxing culinary success.

Wednesday Woes II

I love Diary of a Modern Matriarch.  She posted this today at her Primal site, so I jumped right on the complainy bandwagon and well, here we are.  Life is good, blah, blah, blah…and it goes against all my Pollyanna training from my childhood, but I feel like bitching it out.  I refuse to look at the bright side, I refuse to put my chin up.  I am just going to enjoy the suckitude.

• my hips HURT.  My long run on the weekend left my left hip very sore, and now the right is joining in on the fun.  I am just trying to get through to the race before completely falling apart.
• A friend of mine is dating someone that he thinks I “hate” – and that couldn’t be farther from the truth.  I like to see him in the company of people he enjoys and I LOVE to see him happy and the few times I’ve met her, I’ve found her to be wicked-smart, articulate and positively lovely – they’re great together – I don’t waste my time hating anyone because it’s a big fat waste of my time, I just don’t like that it’s affected our friendship in unexpected ways.  He seems to have changed and taken his friendship away since meeting her, and that’s my issue with it.  Doesn’t he know there can be room for everyone?
• Our Dog Nanny has left us, which means I spend lunchtime bolting home to let the cross-legged dog out for a pee.  It also means he is way less socialized lately.  Looking for a new one is making me want to drink.
• It isn’t Friday yet.
• I am not likely to go on a vacation with Man until February of next year.  He is going away in November (on a trip I likely wouldn’t enjoy) and while I know he needs a sunny holiday,  I’m going to miss him like crazy (we’ve never spent more than a week apart in 14 years!) and I wish there had been a little more intention to his vacation planning.  It’s water under the bridge, but it still sucks.
• Tyler Clementi’s story makes me sick.  So does bullying.  I wish he didn’t have to jump from a bridge for us all to realize what needs to be done.
• It looks my last living Gramma has a big tumor in her brain and that she might not be around much longer.
• There are giant spiders in my basement.  Seriously.  I deal with them, but I scream the whole time.

Ok, so maybe I didn’t have that many woes.  In true Me fashion, I will now flip it, even though I didn’t want to do so:

• it is so sunny out that I have trouble dressing in the morning; I bundle up for the morning, but my noon, I’m gleefully ipping off my clothes and opening the sun roof on my car….weeeee!
• I get to go away with Man this weekend to Kelowna for the race.
• Race will be over in 4 sleeps.  Holy crap.
• Man is able to peek in on the dog today, so I can have lunch the way I like it; seated at my desk working
• I ran the fastest 5K in a long time last night. 
• I’m having dinner with a dear friend tonight and I can’t wait to see her
• We have a big exciting month to look forward to: dinners in, dinners out, weekend guests, hot tub soaks, cozy fall stuff.
• I am sure I’ll be getting a PB at the race this weekend, by more than ever before.
• It’s flannel pj season again!
• I’m writing again and it feels good
• I sourced out the perfect furniture for my home office, and it’s even affordable!
• I start my 30 day yoga challenge tomorrow…wee!

What about you? What’s going wrong and right for you?

Ready

Well, we’re off, soon, to Cuba, and I can honestly say I have never been more ready and more prepared for a vacation.

I finished up work on Friday with a flurry of craziness and instructions, slightly pissed to have wasted about half the day putting out a fire I didn’t want to (since when does lack of planning on a customer’s part constitute an emergency on mine??).  I scheduled a (much needed) bikini wax for the end of the day, so I was forced to clear out at a decent time and proclaim myself ON HOLIDAYS.  Ahhh.

Now, a full 24 hours before we’ll have to drag ourselves from sleep to be at the airport, I am actually set.  95% of what needs to be packed is, and all I have to worry about is the last minute stuff I will have to use in the morning before packing.  It’s a beautiful thing.

I have spent the day getting to this point: up early to go and get a very-overdue oil change, drop in for a fake tan to ensure I don’t burn on my first day there, get a pedicure while enjoying the first gingerbread latte of the season, taking care of cleaning, powering through laundry (as the pets move from the piles they are sleeping in allowing me to throw them into the machine), getting into vacationy mode.  

It’s a good day.