excited for stuff

we are back from seattle, and it is of course, bittersweet.  it's good to be home, and be back with our kitties, but i think we'd both rather live over there. the drive over wasn't bad (wink lance), however when we arrived at the Quality Inn and Suites, we were kind of alarmed by the stench of old garlic permeating our room, which btw, wasn't the room we'd originally booked because that room wasn't yet ready for us.  for $72 a night with free parking though, we looked past the garlic etc, and reminded ourselves we weren't going to be in the room much anyway.  

after changing and making a rough itinerary, we set out for downtown....first stop:  Zeeks Pizza.  this place was good, but not as good as i remember it being...it seems to have become a tourist spot.  next was Caffe Bella.  it was here that i had my first pumpkin spice latte of 2010.  we then happened to walk past a Top Pot where we decided it was in our best interest to split a glazed old fashioned doughnut. having ingested enough sugar to last each of us a week, we excitedly made our way into some shops.  Anthropologie was first.  ahhhhhhhh.  lance has never been in one of these heavenly wonders, and was, thankfully, just as mesmerized as i was.

i wish i would've taken more pictures but it's sorta awkward to do so inside of shops... it is just so dang inspiring.  i go there more for the experience of walking through the store than for the actual clothes.  i did buy this cute pair of sunglasses for $24 though, and i love them :)

 urban outfitters is right next door to anthro, so that was super convenient :)  we made some good purchases there. after shopping for a wee 4-5 hours, we were good and hungry.  i convinced lance that we should head over to Fremont and see what was going on over there.  it was late, so our dining options were limited; we settled on Jai Thai...not my first choice, but it was open late and seemed to be pretty busy.  i ordered what i always order at thai restaurants: green curry.  the food was actually near perfect, save for the quality of the rice, which was awful.  after dinner, we walked to a nearby bar...i can't remember what it was called, but it's right next to "sinners and saints".  it was an interesting spot...we watched a guy at the bar drink for about two hours while his poor dog had to just sit on the barstool next to him and let random drunks pet and harass him...maybe i'm projecting, but it just seemed sad for the dog.  i think the guy just wants to get female attention and uses the dog.  anyways, after a beer and a shot there, we were both ready to head back the the Garlicky Inn and Suites.  night night.

  next day, we got up, forced down some hotel coffee and checked out.  the hotel was nice enough to let us leave our car there all day, despite the fact we were no longer guests.  we walked all the way through downtown, til it seemed there was nowhere else to walk.  we found a DWR!!!!! 

 

i was so excited, since i've never actually seen one, and have spent countless hours parusing the website.  it was hard to go in and not leave with something, but there's just no way we could afford that stuff right now...plus i had big plans for IKEA.  for lunch we went to Salumi, on the recommendation of my dear friend Kelly.  we waited in line for about half an hour, but we figured, a place in the middle of basically nowhere with a line out the door must be worth it.  it was.  the place is basically just an italian deli, with community seating in back.  we loved it to pieces. 

after lunch, we walked some more, considered gelato, but were just too full, and eventually made our way to the u-district.  with only an hour to spend there, i chose to spend half of it at buffalo exchange and half of it at another urban outfitters :)  there was something i really wanted from urban, but i didn't buy it...i am deeply regretting it.  here it is:

for $39.99, it now seems rational, but when it was on my head, i couldn't stop laughing.  it is seriously sexy and it's gonna snow mountains here, so if anyone wants to get it for me, feel free :)

after an hour in the u-district, realizing it was 7:00 and we still wanted to go to IKEA before driving back to Spokane (we didn't get in until about 3 am), we fueled up and hit the road again.  with just under an hour and a half to spend at IKEA, it was a tense start.  i could easily spend 3-5 hours there...but we hustled our bustle and got a few "necessities".

new office chairs:

 

a new teapot:

a new duvet cover:

...and a filing cabinet:

it was a successful trip in more ways than one.  

but it's good to be home.