Lions and Tigers and Otters, oh my!

This weekend, Grayson and I went to the Woodland Park Zoo, and then downtown to Pike Market.

In the morning, we went and sold some books and had breakfast, and then ... we submitted our applications for our passports! Grayson and I are planning a trip to Europe next summer, and hopefully to Canada in February for Grayson's birthday (to which you need a passport now). Behold: here are the photos you will see on tv when Grayson and I have committed some weird murder high on Dutch pot:


After that, we made pilgrimage to the Woodland Park Zoo, which is in an area of town called Phinney or Phinney Ridge, right next to Greenlake (a big ol' lake in the middle of town). This is only a couple of miles from where Grayson and I live. The zoo was MASSIVE, and it had a price tag to match. There were tons of animals, including gross bats. There were NO bunnies in the farmyard :( Here are some aminulz they did have:

A lion('s butt)

Hungry, hungry Hippos!

This otter was a total show-off, all swimmin' super fast and whatnot.

Tigey!!! (Grayson's favorite. He was taking a bath most of the time).

We also saw African wild dogs, wolves, and a million other aminulz. Even wilder than the animals were all the children...banging on the glass at the lion, running into me and touching me and trying to push against me to get me to move so they can see an animal that is hiding from them in the first place. One kid was screaming and crying in a stroller, though he was clearly of age to walk (why can't parents make their kids walk and just sit and take a break every once in a while?) just whined without saying anything and pointed in the direction he wanted to be pushed. And the parents DID IT. Holy crap! Then there was one kid that was crying, and his dad was a metalhead about Grayson's age, and he says to the kid: "What do you want?" (Kid) "Whiiine," (Dad) "What the f***?!" Yeah, wow, nothing like a trip to the zoo to realize that I am just fine with not having children. EVER.

After the zoo, we went downtown, which I don't get to do that often. We mostly went through Pike market, trolling through book shops I hadn't been to since before we moved here, and then to that cool poster shop. Grayson and I took a rest at the waterfront, gazing out at Bainbridge Island. (I think that's what it is).
Stay tuned next week when we possibly, maybe go to Alki beach. Though we will probably only to Ballard to get my camera repaired.

A weekend in pictures...

In despair and sadness at the convalescence of my camera, here is our weekend in photos:

Friday night: Bellevue-We checked out the upscale suburb to the East, which is mainly shops, new skyscrapers and McMansions.

Also, Chihuly waterfalls indoors:


and, a LEGO store!!!
The art museum also apparently commissioned a huge shopping bag for the art displayed outside by their entrance. And the closest bookstore to their huge shopping district was quarantined two blocks away. I do not think I like this town a whole lot.

On Saturday, we walked through the Washington Park Arboretum:
Beware, the dark forest:
And then I got super-excited because there were a lot of lily pads around, which I have always liked. And then there were beautiful white lotuses growing from some. Grayson got down and reached his hand into the buggy, murky deep to retrieve for me a single white enchanted lotus. Because I am not a fan of receiving gifts that require effort just to watch them die, I do not usually like getting flowers, but because they were so pretty, Grayson stole for me what would be the first flower he has ever given me from the State of Washington!


After that, we went to the Museum of History and Industry (MOHAI), which is a Washington History Museum which just happened to be about to close their GEORGE EASTMAN HOUSE EXHIBIT!!!

I saw-in the FLESH-some of my favorite photographs ever:

Imogen Cunningham's '2 Callas,'
a Steichen print I can't find digitally, and Ansel Adam's 'Clearing Winter Storm,'
they also had Dorothea Lange's 'Migrant Mother'
After that I went to a book club in Capitol Hill and Grayson and I wandered around Cal Anderson Park, which has cool fountains and black metallers playing fetch with their dogs on a sunny summer day.

Gasworks Park and Ballard

Grayson and I went to Gasworks Park on Saturday, a park that once was a plant that converted coal into gas, and was bought by the city in the '70s and converted into a park...where all the rusty, industrial bits of the plant are surrounded by Lake Union, vegetation, and people with kites.


It's a fun place, with plenty to take pictures of: the downtown skyline with the Space Needle, the hills and bridges of Seattle around the lake, wild berries:

and thistles:


...until one's camera breaks. My camera decided to not only NOT connect fully with my lens over and over again, but to make nice plastic crunches whenever I tried to fix the problem. So all was lost, and I got off a whole four pictures or so before it decided to be a big ol' broken lame-o. Now I get to take it into the shop. Maybe while I'm there I'll get a new lens...

After that, the sunny day started raining, and Grayson went home to study and I went to Queen Anne for a meetup group. The rain kept pouring until just as I got to the University District it stopped raining, as the sun was setting. Grayson and I met for pizza, which after only one meal and a day full of walking, two slices ended up not being enough for me, but Grayson insisted that we find a treat in Ballard, one of the last few neighborhoods to explore on our list. So we made our way to Ballard, where Archie McPhee's was closed and it was mostly boring and lame, and I felt grumpy and sad that the trip was for nothing. And then...


...we found a Trophy Cupcakes, a happy little cupcake shop. It was a perfect treat, and super fun to boot. They had chalk-drawings of bunnies, and delicious cupcakes of many flavors, and delicious Stumptown (local roaster) coffee. My lame trip to Ballard was justified! They even made a pretty design in our lattes:


All in all, a great find. Grayson had a MoFro cupcake (chocolate cake with mocha frosting), and I had a Coconut cupcake (chocolate cake with coconut shavings frosting). I also got a LEGALIZE FROSTITUTION t-shirt. Because this is an issue I support strongly. More frosting, regulated safely by the government.

Also, Hobbes got his first bath:

Do not feel bad for him: as you may know, kitties usually give themselves baths and do not usually need help from humans, but not when a kitty commits the unspeakable evil that Hobbes committed. Then, you get help from humans. He didn't seem to hate it, though. Freak.

Next week, I swear, we are going to go to the Arboretum. I will definitely want a working camera, though.

Weekend of Gustatatious Delights

Because last week's post was short, here is a picture to compensate. Instead of showing you the palatial view of Seattle from atop Queen Anne, here is Grayson getting bunny ears from the Space Needle:


With SeaFair going on this weekend, from Thursday until today the Blue Angels have been screaming through the sky above Seattle. It has sounded like a thunderstorm rolling right by. Grayson and I elected not to go (not really our thing), but apparently it's a big air and sea festival. This is the same festival that diverted us via a parade last weekend.


Saturday we spent trolling around to restaurants. We went to Mae's Phinney Ridge Cafe for breakfast, and Dick's for lunch (finally!). Dick's was an experience: they only accept cash, you can not special order ANYTHING on the menu, and they have four burgers to choose from, fries, condiments in a little cup on the side and soda. You can also get ice cream treats. That is it! But, it was a good little burger and the fries were really good.

Today we went to a philosophy lecture in Capitol Hill, and went to some book shops before heading home. My tummy is still over full from awesome Aladdin's falafel. This weekend has been one for food, apparently. Tonight I do laundry, and we shop for food for the week. And I get to try and plan a trip to Bainbridge Island in September (with my mommy!) Still to come on the Seattle To-See list: Waterfront stuff, parks, zoos and museums. I also have been putting off the Arboretum for a couple of weeks, so that is probably what we'll shoot for next weekend.

And here I shall leave you with another picture one could only find in Seattle:


...standing in the sun?

Social butterfly weekend

This weekend was all about being a social butterfly. Saturday I went to a meetup group, then met an old friend for lunch and a movie, Grayson and I investigated Queen Anne, and then got stuck in and around the SeaFair hubbub. Today we went to brunch with said friend, then I took a big, long journey to the northernmost parts of the county. I saw an Albertson's! Then I attended a book club meeting. Now we're trying to plan the week's meals. We'll see how it goes.

Finally a Seattleite

Because the criterion for citizenship could only be:



a liberry card!!! I have already gotten two insanely long books I will never read!

Also, I have my almost-official Washington State ID card. The real one comes in the mail in two weeks.

Variously:

We investigated Fremont this week. Here is the obligatory picture of the Fremont Troll:



He is apparently not a fan of German cars. He does not, however, mind every child in Seattle putting their entire fists into his nostrils. Grayson refused a photo-op with his head in a nostril. :(

We saw crazy stuff at the Fremont Sunday Market, and I almost bought an astoundingly beautiful orchid with SIX BLOOMS!!! I would have killed it though, most assuredly. It was too beautiful. We bought too many books this weekend. But, I have joined a few clubs to meet people, and now have three books to read for reading groups in the next few weeks. Exciting times. Grayson and I went to a Hawaiian/Tiki restaurant in Wallingford for one such meeting. It was pretty cool inside, but none of my cruddy cell phone pictures turned out.

While walking to said restaurant, I found my dream home. It was grey with white trim, an adorable craftsman with a tidy lawn, an attic and the house numbers were in Futura. It was adorable. I took a picture, but it may be creepy to post on the internet.

In other random news, Grayson has taken to cooking. He's getting quite good. We are having steak tonight!

Beverage Edition

In the Seattle sphere this week...I am still a temp, kitty got sick, and the weather has been sunny and clear all week. WHAT THE HELL, SEATTLE?

I discovered my new favorite hangout, this place called Remedy Teas in Capitol Hill (where I work). It is really cute and modern inside, and specializes in all kinds of exotic, awesome teas. They even have a nutella sandwich on the menu. They have hundreds of kinds of teas that they brew for you by the cup or pot, or you can take the leaves home. Super-awesome-o. I've actually seen a couple of tea shops that I want to hit up, but perhaps more-so when it is warmer.

I tried a taro bubble tea, finally. Taro was the single flavor on the menu at all the bubble tea shops that I had never heard of. Before I blew $5 on something I might hate, I looked it up on Wikipedia...it was thoroughly unhelpful. It sounded like a plant-y, leafy green, but there was no help on the taste front. I even asked the guy at the shop and he was at a loss for words. I decided to take the plunge and I really loved it...it's purple! It tasted (to me) somewhere between a really faint almost grape taste and strawberry milk. It was AWESOME. New favorite flavor. Though I have to try them all, so it may be a while until I get that kind again. The menus are HUGE, there are too many flavors to pick.

In other weird drink news, I've found two things in the local convenience store that are pretty exotic. Canada Dry apparently makes a sparkling green tea ginger ale, which tastes exactly like it sounds: half green tea, half ginger ale. I haven't seen it anywhere else yet. You can also buy Pocky at the CONVENIENCE STORE!! How cool is that? Even in flavors I didn't know it came: I got coconut pocky and Brazilian pudding pocky (which tastes like carmel-ly, custard-y flan). These are just the flavors at the convenience store! Super happy-making. And for the other exotic drink available at convenience stores is "Ramune," which is Japanese, comes in a little glass bottle, and basically tastes like an Italian soda. Except that it is somewhat complex to open, but it pops this little marble in a convenient hold that makes a fun rattle while you drink! Woohoo!

Yesterday we went to Tivoli, the Scandinavian Festival at the Nordic Heritage Museum. Among other quaint goings-ons, there were SWORDS and LEGOS! Observe:



That's the Midgard serpent, getting what's coming to him.

Today we were pretty boring. We saw Wall-E, it was pretty cute. Next weekend, we're going to the Center of the Universe, Fremont!