Weekend Roundup

Friday during the day, I put my nose to the grindstone and got my work inbox from over 260 emails to under 30. I felt like confetti should have rained from the sky. Alas, it did not. 

Friday after work my friend Gina and I went to a Paint & Sip at a local art shop that is located in the same space as our new bookstore. Gina accidentally drank the paint water and I accidentally painted my water bottle, but we made it out alive.

Now, neither of us are artists. We are lovely human beings and we have a lot of strengths, including being great humans to a dog and a cat, holding big girl jobs, and paying taxes. But I will send out a delightful prize (to be determined) to the first person who correctly identifies who or what exactly we painted here in the comments. 

Yes, I hope everyone notices that I'm wearing LAYERS and REAL SHOES because that is the bullshit that is living in Wisconsin. The next weekend I'm home I'm going to have to put away my summer dresses and bring out my stupid cold weather wardrobe. 

Moving on. Saturday my husband went to visit a sick friend who lives in Madison. While he did that, I went to Sephora and World Market. I don't remember the last time I meandered around a store without a specific mission - maybe when Joann's was going out of business? Well, here's what I do. I look at an item, come up with a price for what I would pay for it in my mind, and then when the price tag says anywhere from twice to five times that price, I immediately laugh at myself for thinking this is 2002 and leave the store without buying anything.

The popcorn advent calendar was $45. Forty-five American dollars, yo. No, thank you. 

Then we went to Costco, but the less said about that the better.  I wish it were closer so we could go on a non-Saturday. (We can't go on Sunday because the pharmacy isn't open on Sunday.)

Sunday I packed my bags and Dr. BB drove me to the airport. Now I'm in Philadelphia, which is a real city, yo. I guess in my mind all the cities in Pennsylvania are like Pittsburgh, which more of a large town. ANYWAY. I managed to get myself from the airport to the hotel on the train and didn't make a single wrong turn getting to my hotel. Then I went out to dinner and meandered around for a bit before heading back to the hotel because, friends, fall HAS not hit Philly yet and I was dressed for 60s and rainy (what it was when I left Madison) and it was almost 80 here. I was sweating like a stadium beer is what I'm saying. 

Mural on the train station exit. 

Not a bad view from my hotel room. 

Public art!

I'm pretty sure my camera lens was messed up. Will try again for a crisper photo tomorrow night. 

Just a quick reminder that you should vote for the next CBBC book if you have not done so already. Just fill out this Google form. At first, there was such a runaway winner that I ordered one of the books from the bookstore, but it's a really tight race now. The scores are 39, 40, and 41, which is SHOCKINGLY close. The form will close on Thursday or whenever I get around to looking at the results when I get back into town. 

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Okay, who or what did Gina and I paint? There is a great prize at stake here. Have you ever been to Philly? Why wasn't I aware of the fact that it's a real city? 

It's Been TEN YEARS

TJC and I last went to a Garth Brooks concert in 2016. That's TEN YEARS AGO. It both does feel like ten years ago and like it was not. What even is time?

Here's a rundown on my weekend. I worked on Friday and left from the parking lot to head to Indianapolis. Note: I have never in my life seen "Debris on the road" pop up on my GPS until I got to Indiana. Items I saw on the road include a tarp, a bucket, a piece of lumber, and unidentified object I will assume was a box of nails, and a cushion from a couch or something. Bizarre. And sort of scary. Anyway, I roll into the hotel, greet TJC, do ten minutes of yoga, and go to bed. 

Now, here's what you need to know about the dynamic duo of NGS and TJC. Neither one of had done a damn bit of research about what we were going to do that weekend except get tickets and book a hotel. For those of you who plan trips, this is probably unfathomable. On Saturday morning I googled "what's happening in Indianapolis this weekend?" and you'll never believe it, but the State Fair was happening! Woot! There were BABY PIGS. I mean, it's definitely a distant third in state fairs I've been to, but I'll take what I can get. 

All fair photos taken by TJC because I accidentally left my phone in the car. 

None of  you are going to be surprised that I am an anxious person who made TJC leave the hotel at 5pm for an 8pm concert, are you? We figured out parking, almost hit some dude in a crosswalk (MY BAD!), and ate sushi before we got to the venue, purchased tshirts, and sat down with half an hour to spare. Here's what you need to know about TJC, though. She didn't complain about any of it. She didn't mind that we were there early. She didn't mind that I wanted to get the merch right away. She is the perfect concertgoing partner. 

Here's the song list, if you care. Does anyone care? Probably just me in another ten years. 

There was a video about his tribute to Queen in his Ireland concert. That was a fun way to start while they were waiting for folks who were running late to come in.

"The Old Stuff"
"Rodeo"
"Two of a Kind, Working on a Full House"
"Beaches of Cheyenne"
"Two Pina Coladas" - I was surprised by this one. I thought it was a deep cut, but everyone around me seemed to know it. 
THEN!!! He played the opening verse and a chorus to "Lonesome Dove." !!!!!!
"The River" - blah
Some Bob Seger song - "Turn the Page," I think? I didn't know it and was bummed because what a waste of Garth Brooks time, right?
"Thunder Rolls"
"Unanswered Prayers" - 17,000 singing a song that was released 36 years ago. Amazing, really.
"If Tomorrow Never Comes"
"That Summer"
He gave away a guitar to some lady in the audience.
"Callin' Baton Rouge"
"Fever"
The backup singer sang "Shout"
"Shameless"
"Blame It All On My Roots" - Electric.
Some dude had a Randy Travis sign, so he sang a Travis medley of "Digging Up Bones," "I Told You So," and "Three Wooden Crosses."
"She's Every Woman"
"Papa Loved Mama"
"Much Too Young to Feel this Damned Old"
"Standing Outside the Fire"

I was a bit bummed that there was no "We Shall Be Free," which seems like such an important song right now, but he played "Lonesome Dove," so how can I complain?

The next morning we went to Newfields, which is a legitimately amazing art museum and garden. It's 100% worth the price of admission. 

Best hat, piece I'd most like in my house, and cutest creature. 

And that was it. Super fun! I can't wait to do it again. Hopefully it won't take ten years this time. 

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What's the last big concert you went to? Do you have a favorite concert attending friend? Have you been to Indianapolis? 

Happy Birthday to Elisabeth!

In the early 1990s, there was a popular children's show in America called Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? (entire episodes available on YouTube - is this legal? who knows?) and the a cappella group Rockapella provided the most amazing soundtrack. I was not really in the age group for Carmen Sandiego in the early 1990s, but even now, I'll sometimes start singing the theme song. 

So, when Elisabeth and her family started doing their gap year traveling across Europe, it shouldn't come to anyone's surprise that I regularly found myself singing that song to myself with alternate lyrics.

Today is Elisabeth's birthday. Where is she? What exciting adventure is she on? WHO KNOWS?

Elisabeth is our fearless Nova Scotian blogger (see her Top Twenty (er - Twenty Four) Favourite Things to See/Do in Nova Scotia post from my 20th Anniversary series if you haven't ever seen some of her gorgeous photos). She's the mother of two and she and her family are on an EPIC ADVENTURE. 

If you have not been to Elisabeth's blog, she's known for posts about her Top/Bottom Fives, Frugality, and inspiring Happy Things Friday posts. She's honest, but keeps it light and upbeat even as THERE'S YET ANOTHER SNOW DAY. 

Everyone head over to her blog and wish her a happy, happy day!

Happy Birthday to Nance!!

Today is Nance's birthday! Let's all head over there and wish her a happy, happy birthday. 

Nance is from the same area where my Bestest Friend is from, used to teach English in high school, and one of my favorite things on the internet is her comment section. In a recent post, we went from a comment in which I was complaining about signs targeted at dog owners to discussing the ambiguities of the English language. Where else can you get such value in 2026? Only at the Department. 

Available at Bike Parts on Etsy.

Because of Nance's influence, I try to bring up Moby-Dick once a month or so. Notice how Moby Dick isn't hyphenated in the above graphic? THEY DON'T KNOW THE RULE ABOUT THE HYPHEN. Nance knows.

Everyone go wish Nance a happy birthday! She's had a rough year and I just know this next year is going to be amazing. 

Let's Catch Up

Normally I'd do a Five for Friday post tomorrow, but I'm going to finish up CBWC tomorrow, so let's go ahead and do my regular Friday post now.  I'm rebelling against my own non-existent editorial calendar.

In what is becoming a regular warning on these posts, this starts light and fluffy and then ends with tough stuff. If you don't want to be bummed out, skip number five. 

I took this last night, friends, on our after work walk. It's cold and rainy AGAIN. Fuck spring. But look how terrified of the camera Hannah is. LOLOLOL. 

1) The last time I got a piercing was roughly fifteen years ago. I had a navel piercing when I broke my leg in 2011 and I had to take it for BULLSHIT surgery reasons and then when my leg healed, I redid the piercing. The hygiene instructions back then were something like "use antibacterial soap and turn the piercing regularly and if something hurts, you can try soaking it in a warm salt water bath." I don't want to scare anyone, but the number of infections I had with this routine was greater than one.

This time around? My instructions were: squirt it with this salt water rinse after you wash your face in the morning and the evening. Don't touch it. Change your pillowcase frequently. AND THAT IS IT. The warnings about antibacterial soap usage are hysterical.  And damned if this isn't the most comfortable healing process I've ever had for a piercing. I'm only a couple weeks in, but it's going well.

2) Remember when I said I was helping my nephew with his ACT? We were focused on only one section (English) and his subscore went from a 22 to a 27. I mean. Who's awesome? I am awesome.  And he did such a great job. I'm proud of him. 

3) My husband has recently invested in an electric kettle at work which means I am regularly getting fresh tea at work! Woot woot!

Have I talked about this before? I don't ever make my own tea. It's exclusively the domain of my husband. I enjoy the tea, but I'm too lazy to do all the things. If he's out of town, I'm drinking water and getting coffee from Dunkin', you know? But he's making me tea at home AND work? I am living the life. 

4) Podcasts. I have two recommendations for shows for you. 

In Adults in the Room, a Seattle reporter goes back to a story about sexual harassment and abuse at her high school that she reported on back on the '90s as a student reporter, but still has lingering questions about. If you have ever wondered if there was more to the story about something that happened when you were in high school, this is the show for you. Also, it's super disturbing. 

My high school question: Was BB really sleeping with the high school librarian when we were in high school? I suspect she was because they lived together once she graduated. Why? He was gross and she was beautiful. Also, she was really nice to me and I hate that she was taken advantage of. 

The Atlanta-Journal Constitution has a great podcast history, but I was worried about it since Bill Rankin retired that it might not have as much support. I was relieved when I listened to Who Blew Up the Guidestones?, a podcast about a bombing at a controversial roadside attraction. 

(Kandiss Taylor is a Georgia politician who features in this story. I normally do not comment on people's voices. I do not understand what vocal fry is, nor do I care if people have it. I listen to The Chicks on a regular basis, can get behind whatever it is that Bob Dylan is doing, and have a mean Tom Waits impression. But I am SO ANNOYED by this woman's voice. Whenever they interviewed her, I mostly wanted them to do the thing where they summarize the interview instead of making me listen to her.) 

This podcast is sort of fun. I mean, it's fun if you sort of ignore the part about domestic terrorism. And, really, you should because the granite stones were terrible and deserved to be blown up. But maybe not under the cover of night. 

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Radical subject change

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5) I met Rob when my friend was first diagnosed with cancer. He and his wife would alternate flying back and forth from California to help my friend through chemo, through surgery, through radiation. I was chatting with Rob once while we watched my friend play with this dog in the backyard. I mentioned that it must be so hard to be away from his home, his wife, and his life while he was in Wisconsin. He said, "this is important and this isn't going to last forever."

Those words have really gotten me through a lot of hard days in the last year year and a half. 

Two days ago my friend was in a car accident and Rob was with him. Rob died in that accident. 

We are rallying around my friend. 

But life isn't fair. Life is hard. Life is harder for some people than it is for others. 

It is a cliche to say, but it's true. Things can change in an instant. So hug your loved ones. Don't sweat the small shit. Let your dog roll in the grass. Play another game of Uno instead of vacuuming the floors. 

Here's to Rob. Your work is done and you did good. 

A Couple of Days in Chicago

 As you know, I spent a couple of days with Bestest Friend in Chicago. 

We ate food. 

We drank beverages that we paid way too much for.

We went to a museum.

But, I think we can all agree that the most important thing I did was get my nose pierced. I've wanted to do it for years, but there's no time like the present, right?

We spent a lot of time on the bus. Fortunately the weather during the day was perfect. It was not so perfect at night, but who cares? We were tucked away in our Air BnB. 

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If you've been to Chicago, what's your favorite thing to do there? If you've never been, what would you like to see or do there? 

Let's Celebrate!

Friends, things are dark literally and figuratively. The news is horrific, the temperature hasn't been warm enough for me to go outside for walks longer than ten minutes in a week, and we took down the Christmas tree, which has been a bigger blow than I thought it would. I can't even tell you what's happening in health news for my loved ones. So let's do something about something.

Rachel recently wrote an honest post about a handful of things that are not going well in her world. I fixated on how she has a complicated relationship with birthdays. I do, too! Mine is not the same complicated relationship as hers, though. I LOVE celebrating people's birthdays. I bring treats to work on my co-workers' birthdays. I celebrate my husband all day long. Part of this is because I LOVE finding and giving the perfect gifts. I also just want everybody to know how much they mean to me and it's easy to do on birthdays.

But my own birthday is regularly sort of forgotten. I *should* tell my husband what I want on my birthday and ask for him to make it happen. But, as I said in Rachel's comments, I don't think I should have to tell him and then he does nothing and then I'm sad. Oh, well. I suspect none of that is going to change. 

What can I change? 

How I celebrate YOU. 

Do you want me to celebrate your birthday? I can do it in so many ways! I can do a whole shoutout here on my blog. I can quietly email or text you that I am thinking of you. I can send you SNAIL MAIL (if I'm being honest, I mostly want to send you snail mail). If you live within an hour drive of wherever I am on your birthday, we could go to lunch! I could color you a picture of a cat wearing a hat. I can do more than one of these things! Maybe you want something else? Tell me. 

I have created a Google Form to ask you for your birthday and how you want to be celebrated. Fill it out and I'll put your birthday in my planner and you'll get the celebration you deserve! Even if your birthday is on a Tuesday, you can still be treated like the royalty we know you are. 

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Do you have a complicated relationship with birthdays? Do you love a birthday party?

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Edited to add: My birthday is August 16. It's the same day as Madonna and James Cameron, so I consider it a win. 

Five for Friday, Edition #36: 2026 Has Not Been Awesome

I hit publish on my whole "2026 is all about fun" post and it was like I had challenged a very wrathful god. So what I'm going to do here is start with lighthearted bad stuff, pair it with something I'm grateful for, and that will warm you up for what's going to happen at the end of the post. That way, if you don't want to be depressed as fuck (and who wants to on a Friday?), you can bail early.

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Thing #1: I have been saying the word neologism wrong all my life.

Grateful thing #1: I recently learned how to say neologism correctly. Just kidding, I still say it incorrectly, but note that I know it's wrong.

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Thing #2: Our town recently switched garbage providers. So there was a thing where for a time we had bins for the old place and the new place and they told us to leave our old bins on the curb after the last pickup, which I assumed meant they'd be picked up soon after the last pickup. Well, our last pickup for recycling was December 18 and it was well into the new year before the bin was picked up. 

Now, maybe I could have let this go, but here's the deal. We can't leave our bins on the curb because the curb is sloped. That means we have to put it in the street. For more than three weeks DURING WINTER everyone had these stupid bins out on the street and plows were knocking them over and they were being blown from one end of the street to the next. I got increasingly shrill about this. 

Grateful thing #2: The bins have been removed. 

For weeks!!! Also, the city was supposed to pick up leaves. In November. Ahem.

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Thing #3: During lunch at work, I can only do two of the following things: yoga, eat, go for a walk. That's it. It's hard for me to figure out how to best allocate my time. Since I have to eat or the consequences may include passing out, it really means I choose between doing yoga/stretching or going for a walk. Oh, well. It's on me that I created yearly goals that are in conflict with one another.

Grateful thing #3: I have flexibility to do those three things during lunch.

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Thing #4: I'm worried about Hannah. She's refusing to jump into the car, she has a wart/mole/bump thing that is growing quickly, and tonight I pet her on her hind and she whimpered and tucked tail. I am going to call the vet to see if I can get her an appointment next week. 

Grateful thing #4: We can afford treatment for her if it's something bad. 

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Thing #5: Humphrey's person's cancer came back. He's starting chemo again. He had to have a discussion about where Humphrey will go if...well, you know what if.

Grateful thing #5: We can wrap Humphrey's person in care and compassion and help him through this. We can walk the dog, shovel the sidewalk, teach his classes, and make him food. So much gratitude that we have the resources and health to do this.

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What are you grateful for today?

Five for Friday, Edition #35

Five Hard Things

1. I recruited a friend to be my co-worker. Did I ever tell this story? I had a friend in book club who was looking for a job and I told her to apply to my office and she did and now her office is across the hall from mine. She's sick. And things are not going well for her. On Wednesday she was admitted to the ICU and I feel like it was stuff with my mom all over again. Anyway, she's probably going to be fine, right?

2. I used to listen to a podcast called Let's Go To Court. It was two women who had been friends since they were in elementary school discussing true crime cases. But the podcast ended and so did the friendship. One of the hosts has a new podcast with her husband called An Old Timey Podcast and at the end of an episode they discussed how hard it was to lose that friendship. She said that in many ways ending that friendship was harder than if she had ended her marriage and I think that's right. When you get divorced, people around you rally around. When a friendship ends, no one really knows. Anyway, I've been thinking about this because I recently took someone off my holiday card list because I hadn't heard from them in a long time and it was clear they have broken up with me, but I don't know why. 

3. Yesterday when I walked Hannah in the morning, it was rainy and about 44 degrees (about 7 degrees Celsius). Not ideal, but it was fine. By the time I left work, it was 34 degrees and the temperatures were falling fast. By the time I walked her before bed, it was 19 degrees (about -7 Celsius). A winter weather advisory was issued for something called flash freeze, which is not a term I was familiar with, but some jackass on Reddit wrote "this is completely normal for living in the Midwest" and I'm over here going ???? in my brain. How have I ever never heard this term before?

4. Grades were posted Wednesday, so yesterday I spent the day following up with my students of concern to see how things were going. Most of the news was good and I was able to say congratulations and I'm proud of you. But the students who didn't do well. Ugh. I hate having those conversations. 

5. I'm reading a book that has a lot of buzz and has been well-reviewed and I just don't like it. How long do I have to keep reading it? 

Five Fun Things

1. Tonight we're going to the holiday light show at the local botanical garden with our friends. We do this every year and I'm excited about taking a little bit of fun time.

2. Sunday is the Winter Solstice! We have friends who have a Solstice Party every year where we go to their backyard and hang out around a campfire. It is a lovely time to see people we don't always see regularly and to remind myself that the days are going to get longer.

3. In January, I have blocked out days for me and Bestest Friend to hang out together. We haven't exactly planned what we're going to do yet, but it's on the calendar.

4.Speaking of Bestest Friend, I sent her a holiday card with some of my high school senior photos in it and she put those photos on the fridge. This made me laugh.

5. Did you all know Christmas is next week? And New Year's the week after? I'm super excited for time off and to get to hang out with my in-laws on Christmas Day.

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Are you familiar with flash freeze? Did you take anyone off the holiday card list this year? What holiday celebration are you most looking forward to in the next couple of weeks?

September Week Three Photo Roundup

Monday, September 15
My friend is in town visiting and we had fun going to a bunch of small Wisconsin towns going to bakeries, bookstores, and thrift shops. I don't usually go into bookstores, so it was fun to wander around!

Tuesday, September 16

We met up with Sarah for brunch in Madison and then, on her advice, went to the State Capitol where we climbed all the stairs to get to the observation level where you can walk around the whole building several floors up. It was fun, but terrifying. Then we walked up and down State Street and I finished our exciting agenda with a trip to Costco. 

Wednesday, September 17

Lunch at a local spot. I'm a bit creeped out by the empty birdcages. That's all. 

Thursday, September 18

I was doing a fun photo shoot with Hannah when a woman walked by. I nodded and kept my arms around Hannah. 

"Can I pet her?"

"Oh, sorry, she's not nice to strangers." 

The lady kept coming at us. I tensed. Hannah growled. The lady put her hand out. Hannah barked. "Please, she's just uncomfortable around new people." 

"I like dogs."

"I'm sorry, she's..." Hannah is squirming in my arms. I'm holding her tight. Hannah's growling and her hackles are up. 

The lady shook her head and walked away.

I warned her. I told her Hannah wasn't nice and if she'd listened and just kept walking, Hannah would have ignored her. Is this my fault? Should I do something different? 

I don't know. I beat myself up about having a reactive dog. But she's so sweet to us and she's so happy with her little pack. She doesn't need other people and we live in a small enough town that I can avoid having her interact with others. I feel like I am at fault whenever people have these interactions with us.

We live by a pre-school and the little kids frequently ask me if they can pet her and I say "thank you for asking, but she's not nice to children" and they have ALWAYS backed off. It's always the adults I worry about. 

My precious Hannah. 

Friday, September 19

My friend and colleague has had some bad medical news. She's optimistic and cheery and filled with hope. After lunch today I had to leave my office because I just couldn't focus anymore so I stopped by her office and asked if she wanted to go for a walk. We walked the perimeter of the campus and stopped by a little flower garden. She's going to be okay. She has to be okay. I am very much on edge about this right now.

My Googling leads me to believe this is Early Amethyst Japanese Beautyberry. 

Saturday, September 20

Just me and my best kitty. If you want to know, that tail is simply the most luxurious thing in the whole house. 

Sunday, September 21

It was Hannah's worst day - bath day! She was mortified and embarrassed and grumpy. Now the whole house smells like wet dog, but for the next day or two you won't have grime on your hands after you touch her, so that's a win for the humans.

Bonus photo for extra pathos.

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You have until Wednesday to cast your vote for the CBBC book. Here's the link to the Google form if you haven't already voted. Things do look like they've settled into a winner, but it can go in any direction with a few votes from any side. 

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When were you last in a bookstore? Climbed a really tall building? 

The Parting Gift

I left you all on a bit of a cliffhanger about what I was going to get Blanche's mom since she's abandoning us for greener pastures. Was I even going to get a gift? I think you all knew I was going to get a gift, right? It's what I do.

Well, I got her a nice bag with our town's name on it. Seriously, friends, it's a nice bag. 

Then I filled it with my favorite road trip snacks.

Then I got Blanche some presents, too.

And then I gave it to her. I didn't even cry. Not once.

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Do you find it challenging to meet friends as an adult? 

A Long Weekend in Seattle

Bestest Friend and I spent a long weekend in Seattle - we met up at the airport on Friday morning and she left on Monday morning (I spent the whole of Monday at the airport, but pretend that never happened). 

I'm going to condense this because is there anything more boring than somebody else's trip, but here's what we did if you're interested in the TL;DR version. I'll go into all the details below.

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Friday
Seattle Aquarium - Okay. Maybe I wouldn't normally pay that price for what it is, but it was fine. 
Public Market - This place is so much fun. Very crowded, so be prepared for that. 

Saturday
Underground Tour - Eh. Bestest Friend and I are bad at guided tours. LOL. Maybe it was our fault more than the fault of the tour. 
Seattle Center - What a beautiful area to wander around. 
Permanent jewelry - So much fun. 

Sunday
Whale watching tour - Really fun!
Fremont Market - Very impressive!
Gas Works Park - Beautiful!

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Accommodations

We stayed with our friend Jason. Jason went to Bowling Green with us and if you can stay with Jason, I would recommend it 10/10. His condo is beautiful, he gave us explicit instructions on transit, and he gave us a list of things to do every day. He had Perrier for me every morning. He has a million board games and owns more scarves than I do. He is the perfect host.

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Getting Around

Transit in Seattle is amazing. We took light rail from downtown and then busses everywhere we went. Google maps has amazing instructions, so we didn't even need a separate app. We bought an Orca card ($3) at the light rail station and then put $20 on it to get through the weekend. $30 would have been even better!

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What We Did

We met at baggage claim! It took forever to get bags. I wore a mask most of the time when I was in the airport or on a plane because it was so crowded. 

Seattle Aquarium - $54.95

There's an octopus! And sea lions! And giant manta rays. This was fine. I thought it was kind of expensive, though, for what it was. And it was very crowded. As someone who is still currently of the "we're in a middle of a pandemic" mindset, this was a challenge. I am not sure I'd highly recommend it, but if you're into marine biology, it's fun. 

Pike Place Market - This is the place where they throw the fish, you know? It's a warren of hundreds of restaurants, shops, buskers, and entertainment. We just kept ending up here and finding new places to eat and shop and admire. It's right on the water and only a couple of blocks from the bus stops downtown and I was so glad we spent as much time here as we did. 

In the middle is Jason, our host. In all photos of me with Jason, I am closing my eyes. It's just a thing. 

There is a skywalk between the top of the Ocean Pavilion of the Aquarium and Pike's Place Market that has breathtaking views of the city. We were there when the weather was TOP NOTCH and the sky was blue and the temps were in the mid-70s with no humidity. There are NO BUGS in Seattle, so I didn't even worry about not having any bug spray on me.

Taken from on top of the Ocean Pavilion. 

Beneath the Streets Underground Tour - roughly $32 a person

So, there was a fire and original Seattle burned down. They wanted to rebuild, so they did crazy things like building on top of existing foundations. That means that in the oldest part of Seattle, there are underground tunnels that were original Seattle streets. That sounds cool, doesn't it? Unfortunately, this is tour guide dependent and our tour guide just wasn't as amazing as he could have been.

Okay, this is a cool fact. These are leftover skylights from the underground. They were clear at one time, but the sunlight has turned them purple. They're so cool and now if you see them on Seattle streets, you'll know what they are. 

She looks like she's going on a real expedition here. 

Seattle Center - This area of the city is where the Space Needle is, as well as a couple of other museums and the International Fountain. There were street vendors and a concert going on when we were there and it was fun to just hang out in the wide green spaces and see people coming together in community. We didn't go into any of the museums or anything, but it's very pretty.

Storica Studio - Ever since Stephany wrote about getting permanent jewelry with her book club, I've been wanting to do it. Bestest Friend and I had a couple of hours to kill and I sort of jokingly said we could get bracelets and she was so excited to do it! We made an appointment at Storica Studio and were there in half an hour. 

This wasn't cheap, but Nina, the lady who welded them on for us, said it should last 18-24 months. I guess we'll see! I'll obviously update you when I break it because you know I will break it. 

We took a photo with Nina. Of course we did. 

Whale watching tour - $137

We were out on a deluxe ship for four hours watching whales. There was a naturalist on board telling us where to look and about the different marine mammals. Huge thumbs up. Definitely worth the price of admission. There was a dog named Motown on board.

There are sea lions on that buoy. 

It was no one's fault but my own, but I was underdressed. It was chillier on the water and I was wearing a dress and my duster, but I was just not warm enough. I should have packed a pair of leggings, but I did not and I would have enjoyed this more if I had some leggings, but that's my fault, not theirs. 

Fremont Market 

The Sunday Market in Fremont is hundreds of vendors selling vintage, homemade, and kitsch. We had so much fun.  We got there with only about forty-five minutes to wander around and I wish we had left ourselves a bit more time. 

Gas Works Park 

I have to admit that we were pretty exhausted when it was suggested we go to Gas Works Park. But we were assured that the view was amazing and that it would be worth the effort. I was so glad we did. This park used to be the site of a gasification plant and you can see the industrial remains still. There's a big hill with glorious views.

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Eating

Just picture me doing this the whole time

We ate a lot at Pike's Place. Three standouts are The Crumpet Shop, Jack's Fish and Chips, and Mee Sum Pastry. 

Crumpets. I legit ate most of that. I think Bestest Friend ate maybe 1.5 of those crumpets.

We ate dinners at a Mexican restaurant (where we had dinner with Jason's friends - is there anything more that I like to do than bring straight Midwestern lady energy to a gay man's birthday party? I'm sparing you the photos, but I think you all know exactly what it looked like) and a Thai place that were both good, but I do not have their names. We ate seafood at a place called Chinook's the last night we were there and the seafood chowder was to die for.

Mixed reviews on Biscuit Bitch, but I did eat that biscuit like I hadn't had carbs in years, so if you're willing to wait AN HOUR for biscuits, give it a shot. The crumpet place is better, though.

I did not have bad food in Seattle. 

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There was an incident where we got to a bus stop and there were fire trucks and an ambulance. Some guy had ODed and we watched them Narcan him. He came to, refused treatment, they all left, and he ambled off. All of this happened in the eight minutes we were waiting for a bus.

There are a lot of unhoused people in Seattle, especially in the downtown area. They all seemed polite and reasonable to me, but you should know that going in. 

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Have you ever been to Seattle? What's your favorite thing to do there? If you haven't, what would you like to see there?