Seattle @ MindSay 
[ Seattle Slideshow | Browse Tags ]
seahawks
maybe i'm just missing travel
A few months ago, in the middle of the hot Texas summer I was really missing Vancouver, a gorgeous place that I've only visited once, but one of those places I could see myself living in if I won the lottery.
Now for some reason, I'm really missing Seattle and Bainbridge Island where a good friend lived -- until she moved to frakking Alaska last June. Unless I had some sort of business in Seattle, it's not likely I'll be going back there, but maybe one day. Maybe one day if I find me a man and we go traveling. There's a fantastic restaurant in the Public Market called Steelhead Diner. Went there both trips up there and each time we got an awesome table that gave a wonderful view of the Market and Puget Sound beyond. The little island my friend lived on for a while was very picturesque. To live there and work in Seattle as she did would be a pain but as a visitor it was so cool to take the ferry back and forth from the city to this quaint place. Despite the rain, the trip to Forks and La Push was very cool, too. With New Moon coming out, it'll be interesting to see if I recognize anything, but I don't think they really filmed there. (I think they filmed in British Columbia.)
Now for some reason, I'm really missing Seattle and Bainbridge Island where a good friend lived -- until she moved to frakking Alaska last June. Unless I had some sort of business in Seattle, it's not likely I'll be going back there, but maybe one day. Maybe one day if I find me a man and we go traveling. There's a fantastic restaurant in the Public Market called Steelhead Diner. Went there both trips up there and each time we got an awesome table that gave a wonderful view of the Market and Puget Sound beyond. The little island my friend lived on for a while was very picturesque. To live there and work in Seattle as she did would be a pain but as a visitor it was so cool to take the ferry back and forth from the city to this quaint place. Despite the rain, the trip to Forks and La Push was very cool, too. With New Moon coming out, it'll be interesting to see if I recognize anything, but I don't think they really filmed there. (I think they filmed in British Columbia.)
I was also thinking it's been a couple of years since I went to Chicago. Really liked it, too. That was for work and I got to run around on my own a bit, and with my 1st gay husband (who was my Vancouver companion) a bit. It was winter both times and cold as frak and it was really only downtown I got to explore but it was pretty in a totally different way. (Somehow, I didn't take too many pics. Guess I was inside most of the time for the cold and my nighttime touring with J wasn't conducive to picture-taking.)
I really got around in '07 and '08. It's been seven months that I went to Seattle and La Push but I guess I could really use a trip. It sounds stupid since it's not like I've been working 12 hours a day since that time, but all the stress and worry add up. It would be nice to get away somewhere. Too bad that ain't gonna happen anytime soon. Just reminiscing, I guess.
I really got around in '07 and '08. It's been seven months that I went to Seattle and La Push but I guess I could really use a trip. It sounds stupid since it's not like I've been working 12 hours a day since that time, but all the stress and worry add up. It would be nice to get away somewhere. Too bad that ain't gonna happen anytime soon. Just reminiscing, I guess.
Life in a Northern town part II
Friday started with a Death Trek to the Fremont neighborhood. And when I say "Death Trek" I don't mean we wandered across an endless desert in 120+ degree heat or faced a blizzard in the Arctic wearing nothing but a smile. We did, however, walk down some severely steep hills whereupon it probably would have been more comfortable to walk sideways or even backwards. We're talking steep here, folks.
We did make it out alive, however, and walked down towards the Fremont Bridge in time to see it raise to let a sailboat underneath. Beyond the bridge was the unique, creative, off-beat neighborhood of Fremont...
Fremont is also home to the infamous Fremont Troll. According to the Wikipedia page, "The [Troll] was the winner of a competition sponsored by the Fremont Arts Council in 1990, in part with the goal of rehabilitating the area under the bridge which was becoming a dumping ground and haven for drug dealers. The Troll was sculpted by four local artists..." He was also featured in the movie "10 Things I Hate About You," which I totally do not remember and now need to watch that movie again to see for myself.
(I nearly sprained my ankle climbing up on his arm, too. Just thought you'd like to know.)
Following the encounter with the Troll, Lib, Mike, and I ventured further into the Ballard neighborhood of Seattle in search of lunch. My appetite had been momentarily quieted earlier in the day thanks to a stop at the Theo chocolate factory and their lovely samples of sugary confections. (I highly recommend the Chai Tea chocolate bar from the 3400 Phinney line.) Though by the afternoon hunger reared its ugly head once again. The lunch establishment of choice was Lombardi's, where I had THE. BEST. caprese sandwich EVER. I mean, fresh tomatoes, melt-in-your-mouth mozzarella, and peppery arugula layered in between a soft, toasted ciabatta bun. HEEEEAVEN.
Growling tummies yet again satisfied, it was on to the Hiram M. Chittenden Locks. What are the Hiram M. Chittenden Locks, you wonder? Glad you asked...
(In case you can't read that, it says, "The locks control the elevation of the lakes behind the Hiram M. Chittenden Locks. This allows vessels to move back and forth from one water elevation to another. Notice how the water level of Puget Sound is lower than Salmon Bay. Freshwater of Salmon Bay meets the saltwater of Puget Sound at the locks. Depending on tides, there can be a 6- to 26-foot difference between fresh- and saltwater. We raise and lower water levels in the locks as needed to allow vessels to lock through."
Salmon Bay to the left, Puget Sound to the right... Biiiig difference in water levels.
The boats and ships are lining up in the lock...
The water level lowering was taking a while as everyone filed in, so the three of us headed down to the salmon ladders where the fish traverse up the ladders from the saltwater Puget Sound to the freshwater Salmon Bay to lay their eggs and then die.
Sorry buddy...
By the time we tired of the fishies the water levels in the lock had severely gone down and the vessels were able to go on their way to the Sound.
Fun, huh?
Now that we were thoroughly educated in the ways of locks we headed out to Green Lake Park for a leisurely stroll. The weather was absolutely gorgeous so all Seattle-ites (Satellites?) were out in full force - new moms jogging with their babies strapped into four-wheel-drive strollers, friends walking their dogs, kids on roller skates and bicycles, couples lounging on the lake shore, etc. I took a cell phone picture of a duck waddling across the walkway towards her buddies and sent it to Michelle, completely forgetting that it was around 9:30 p.m. EDT. Oops. Sorry Chel! Hope I didn't make you jealous with the bright sunny skies in the photo background. :)
By this time I was approaching 20,000 steps for the day and my feet were on fire. We trudged across the street to a Starbucks for drinks and then hopped on the bus back to Queen Anne.
This was the night that I found the trend I'm hoping to start in the local WC bars... board games in the bar. I don't think this would take off in places like Barnaby's or Kildare's, but Ryan's and Jake's would probably be good candidates. The Nabob was a typical low-key neighborhood bar where folks came to relax, bring their dogs (I saw an AmBull puppy and some sort of foofy dog), play some Scrabble or UNO, and munch on good bar food. Divine. Plus the place has a cool name... it's fun to say. "Nabob." :)
And thus endeth the third night.
Life in a Northern town.
I've been home from vacation for 2.5 days now and am still trying to acclimate my inner clock back to eastern time. The cats haven't been helping matters, waking me up at 4:30 a.m. when my body still thinks it's 1:30 a.m. Hopefully the sluggishness will wear off soon!
Though the lingering jet lag is a small price to pay for 4.5 glorious days in Seattle. Those claims of 24x7x365 rain couldn't be less true... or at least for August anyway. Bright blue and sunny skies were present for the duration of our stay and the weather hovered anywhere from the low- to high-70s.
Wednesday started off at the unGodly hour of 4:30 a.m. in Philadelphia. No one should have to be awake and functioning that early, especially when expected to drag a carry-on suitcase through dark streets and into an eerily-quiet train terminal, all while wearing flip-flops (might not seem too much to ask for a normal person, but I have a condition that prevents me from walking without stubbing my toe and/or tripping at least 50 times in as many minutes). The train ride to the airport and the flight to Houston were generally uneventful, and before we knew it Lib and I had arrived in the great state of Texas and were munching on delicious blueberry scones and sipping cafe mochas from an airport ice cream eatery. Two hours later the boarding call sounded for our flight to Seattle... it was all I could do to not jump up and down in excitement (though I may have bounced on the balls of my feet a couple of times).
Now, this was my very first time flying to the west coast; first time flying anywhere west of Dallas, really. Needless to say my camera's lens was permanently plastered to the plane window, much to the amusement of my seatmates Margie and Jim from Beaumont, Texas. Margie and Jim were visiting their daughter, Lisa, who has lived in Seattle for the past 15 years. They make the trek to the Northwest at least twice a year and always enjoy their time hiking and camping among the mountains. Though this time they were embarking on an Alaskan cruise midway through their stay. Oh, and they were very happy to hear I would be spending time in Queen Anne, as it was one of the nicer neighborhoods and close to the Seattle "hub." And I say all of this without a hint of sarcasm; Margie and Jim truly were a pleasure to sit with and made the almost-four hour flight that much more bearable. They also helped me identify several landmarks such as...
The Colorado River and Salt Lake
And Mount Rainier
Thanks Margie and Jim!
After landing and having a little snafu with our pick-up location (who knew arrivals had to be picked up at street level?), Mike had whisked us away in the Honda Element zipcar towards downtown Seattle. Lib and I clicked away on our cameras the entire time. Poor Mike didn't know what was in for him.
The inaugural eating establishment was the 5 Spot in Queen Anne. The restaurant frequentlly changes its menu to revolve around certain themes; this time it was centered on Puerto Rican fare. I had a "Top of the Hill Tostada," followed by tempura bananas with coconut ice cream. *slurp*
After dinner the three of us walked through some quiet neighborhoods in Queen Anne (with Libby and I "oooh-ing" and "awww-ing" over the multitude of cute homes) on the way to a great lookout point at Kerry Park.
We then walked to another lookout point for more views of the Olympic mountain range, Elliot Bay, and the marina.
And one of these...
Thus endeth the first day.
On Thursday, Lib and I were on our own to explore the city while Mike worked to bring home the bacon. Our first stop: The Space Needle!
A semi-shaky elevator took us up to the observation deck, 520 feet above ground level. And that's where I was able to see this:
Once we were back on solid ground we navigated ourselves down the city's steep hills to the Pike Place Market.
This is the infamous Pike Place Fish Market, home of the salmon toss. A customer would order a select cut of fish, one fishmonger would shout it to the counter, the rest of the guys would shout the order back, and then a fish would come sailing out of nowhere. I was able to witness a salmon toss, but sadly did not get my camera out in time.
Following the visit to the Market, next on our list of "OMG plaster a tourist bumper sticker on my forehead" things to do was to partake in the Seattle Underground tour in historic Pioneer Square. Here we "roam[ed] the subterranean passages that once were the main roadways and first-floor storefronts of old downtown Seattle." It was a pretty interesting tour... we learned about how sections of the city were built on sawdust, the history of the "crapper" (toilet) in Seattle, and how, after the Great Fire, the entire city was raised by 20+ feet.
Mike hooked up with us later that afternoon after the tour and we headed back to the Market because somehow Libby and I had missed seeing the original Starbucks location.
The three of us meandered down to the piers afterwards to take in the sunset glistening off of the water and making the mountain ranges glow.
Argosy Cruises offered an hour-long trip around Elliot Bay for $10.75. The marketing ploy worked.
The shipyards contained these gigantic cranes that looked like giraffes. So that's what I called them.
Once back on dry land it was off to the Market for another stroll and then up to Steelhead Diner for dinner. I had (half of) an awesome pulled pork sandwich that was as big as my head. We were seated right at the bar looking into the kitchen, so were able to see the staff prepare each customer's meal. It was like something straight out of "Top Chef," and I found myself trying to figure out the kitchen hierarchy by listening for "Yes, Chef" and "Yes, sir"... pretty fun! Service was a bit slow, however, and we didn't leave until around 10:00, after having been there since 7:30. No idea how I managed to get ready for bed once back at the apartment.
And thus endeth the second day.
Friday, Saturday, and Sunday will follow soon (hopefully)...
Vitamin C skin care – The challenge
Vitamin C skin care – The challenge
Vitamin C is often regarded as a purl fighter or an anti - aging agent. The main objective of ‘Vitamin C skin care’, in mechanical terms, is to increase the synthesis of collagen ( a structural protein that is found in skin ). The further benefit of ‘Vitamin C skin care’ is relevant to its capability of countering emancipate radicals which generate damage to the skin.
Vitamin C skin care, however, faces a major challenge today. This is applicable to the oxidation disposition of Vitamin C skin care products. On coming in impact with any oxidising agent ( e. g. tune ), the Vitamin C in the Vitamin C skin care products, gets oxidised; thus forming the Vitamin C skin care product useless ( in truth counter - effective ). The oxidised Vitamin C imparts a sallow - brown redden to the Vitamin C skin care product. This is device that you deprivation to evaluation before buying a Vitamin C skin care product. Even after you buy a Vitamin C skin care product, you lack to larder it properly and keep checking that it’s still good to use ( i. e. it hasn’t attained a wan - brown texture ).
The manufacturers of Vitamin C skin care products posses tried to treaty with this ( oxidation ) question in multiple ways ( and research on Vitamin C skin care products is on the top of their register ). One such method of retaining effectiveness of Vitamin C sore care products for a desire spell is to have a turned concentration ( chatter 10 % ) of Vitamin C. However, this makes the Vitamin C skin care products even other expensive. The Vitamin C skin care products are already pretty inexpensive and manufacture them even additional expensive bequeath hurl the product manufacturers out of business. The additional way is to use Vitamin C derivatives ( like ascorbyl palmitate and magnesium ascorbyl phosphate ). These are not only fresh stable but besides inexpensive. Even though the derivatives based products are not as effective as the Vitamin C skin care products, their stability rail oxidation is a extraordinary desirable characteristic that makes them extremely enticing. moreover, these are admitted to be less vexing too.
language of effectiveness of Vitamin C skin care products, it’s important to mention that not everyone responds to Vitamin C treatments. So it’s not a voodoo potion in any way. If you don’t see a detectable difference in your skin, it might be because of your skin not responding to Vitamin C treatment ( and the Vitamin C skin care products might not be at defect, at all ).
As further research goes on, one can only keep our fingers crossed and wait for a complete key to the challenges faced by ‘Vitamin C skin care’ today.
Makes money online at home job
Lodging at Seattle
Vitamin C is often regarded as a purl fighter or an anti - aging agent. The main objective of ‘Vitamin C skin care’, in mechanical terms, is to increase the synthesis of collagen ( a structural protein that is found in skin ). The further benefit of ‘Vitamin C skin care’ is relevant to its capability of countering emancipate radicals which generate damage to the skin.
Vitamin C skin care, however, faces a major challenge today. This is applicable to the oxidation disposition of Vitamin C skin care products. On coming in impact with any oxidising agent ( e. g. tune ), the Vitamin C in the Vitamin C skin care products, gets oxidised; thus forming the Vitamin C skin care product useless ( in truth counter - effective ). The oxidised Vitamin C imparts a sallow - brown redden to the Vitamin C skin care product. This is device that you deprivation to evaluation before buying a Vitamin C skin care product. Even after you buy a Vitamin C skin care product, you lack to larder it properly and keep checking that it’s still good to use ( i. e. it hasn’t attained a wan - brown texture ).
The manufacturers of Vitamin C skin care products posses tried to treaty with this ( oxidation ) question in multiple ways ( and research on Vitamin C skin care products is on the top of their register ). One such method of retaining effectiveness of Vitamin C sore care products for a desire spell is to have a turned concentration ( chatter 10 % ) of Vitamin C. However, this makes the Vitamin C skin care products even other expensive. The Vitamin C skin care products are already pretty inexpensive and manufacture them even additional expensive bequeath hurl the product manufacturers out of business. The additional way is to use Vitamin C derivatives ( like ascorbyl palmitate and magnesium ascorbyl phosphate ). These are not only fresh stable but besides inexpensive. Even though the derivatives based products are not as effective as the Vitamin C skin care products, their stability rail oxidation is a extraordinary desirable characteristic that makes them extremely enticing. moreover, these are admitted to be less vexing too.
language of effectiveness of Vitamin C skin care products, it’s important to mention that not everyone responds to Vitamin C treatments. So it’s not a voodoo potion in any way. If you don’t see a detectable difference in your skin, it might be because of your skin not responding to Vitamin C treatment ( and the Vitamin C skin care products might not be at defect, at all ).
As further research goes on, one can only keep our fingers crossed and wait for a complete key to the challenges faced by ‘Vitamin C skin care’ today.
Makes money online at home job
Lodging at Seattle
How to Find emancipate Debt Consolidation Services
How to Find emancipate Debt Consolidation Services
There is no such body as unshackle debt consolidation services. To the contrary, the services that overture liberate debt consolidation own inactive fees and sake rates attached to their plot in most instances. The lenders or debt services are sponsors of the exact alike humans who you owe money. Therefore, the services in most instances are paid by these creditors and are waiting to make extra money off the fellow suffering.
Debt is a vicious and fierce circle; and in most cases, persons are overcharged for products, services, and support. Many companies are out to make money, instead of helping individuals survive. I personally knew a company that charged four times the amount the product was purchased for; and this company continues to grow, leeching their customers ' surplus everyday.
Therefore, if you are in debt, don ' t touch like you are a lapse; moderately obtain up and fight for your rights. emancipate debt consolidation service could mean emancipate quotes, or else liberate top - case sessions with counselors. The services guaranteed entrust hold a charge attached, unless you dock with a company out to support individuals achieve back on lane without burying them deeper in debt.
One of the reform services for debt consolidation is United Way and its affiliates, which include a digit of Credit Unions. Anyone affiliated with the government besides cede assistance in most instances without jacking you for supplementary money. If the services are affiliated with the government, you improve credit they bequeath be towing the chain, since the government ' s privacy is at bet. Therefore, if you lack emancipate debt consolidation services, seek out the companies that affiliate themselves with the government. And if you ' d moderately go directly to the parent - the government - you can find additional information about free debt consolidation on various government websites on the Internet.
Makes money online at home
Lodging in Seattle
There is no such body as unshackle debt consolidation services. To the contrary, the services that overture liberate debt consolidation own inactive fees and sake rates attached to their plot in most instances. The lenders or debt services are sponsors of the exact alike humans who you owe money. Therefore, the services in most instances are paid by these creditors and are waiting to make extra money off the fellow suffering.
Debt is a vicious and fierce circle; and in most cases, persons are overcharged for products, services, and support. Many companies are out to make money, instead of helping individuals survive. I personally knew a company that charged four times the amount the product was purchased for; and this company continues to grow, leeching their customers ' surplus everyday.
Therefore, if you are in debt, don ' t touch like you are a lapse; moderately obtain up and fight for your rights. emancipate debt consolidation service could mean emancipate quotes, or else liberate top - case sessions with counselors. The services guaranteed entrust hold a charge attached, unless you dock with a company out to support individuals achieve back on lane without burying them deeper in debt.
One of the reform services for debt consolidation is United Way and its affiliates, which include a digit of Credit Unions. Anyone affiliated with the government besides cede assistance in most instances without jacking you for supplementary money. If the services are affiliated with the government, you improve credit they bequeath be towing the chain, since the government ' s privacy is at bet. Therefore, if you lack emancipate debt consolidation services, seek out the companies that affiliate themselves with the government. And if you ' d moderately go directly to the parent - the government - you can find additional information about free debt consolidation on various government websites on the Internet.
Makes money online at home
Lodging in Seattle
Showing 1 - 5. [ Next ]
Quick Links
Latest Comment
Re: Giving Thanks to an Unknown God. Horrific Days Ahead 1 - You have your interpretation of Jesus' teaching;...
| Terms of Service
| Privacy Policy
