Five for Friday

1. Seattle. The Emerald City. The Coffee Capital of the World. The Queen City. The Gateway to Alaska. The Rain City. The Jet City. The Awesome-est City. Brad and I returned yesterday morning from a great four day trip to Seattle, our first visit to the city and, really, the West Coast. We both fell in love with Seattle. Her people are fantastic, her hill's butt-busting, her coffee and salmon amazing, her history fascinating. We had such a good time, that this place that I have always wanted to visit, is definitely on our must visit again list. Oh, and of course I took 80 million pictures. So stay tuned for those - here are a few teasers from the point-and-shoot. Check out the AMAZING sunset Monday night!

2. Everyone warned us when we booked a fall trip to Seattle that it would be chilly and rainy. Chilly? Yes. Rainy? Not so much! Actually, it rained more in D.C. in the week leading up to our trip than it did the whole time we were there, which is a bit crazy. What was also crazy was the insane fog that set in on Tuesday. It didn't burn off until around 4pm, when the sun finally decided to show its face. But I can't complain about 50 degrees and no rain in the Pacific Northwest!


3. Red-eye flights always seem like a good idea when you book them. You don't waste precious touristing time traveling. It's overnight so your body naturally wants to sleep, thus making the long flight less boring. Yet, like the Redskins, it looks good on paper and is awful in real life. Our red-eye from Seattle to Detroit Wednesday night started off great. The security line was short at the airport. I was able to get us exit row seats, so we had tons of leg room. The flight left on time. The the turbulence started... and didn't stop until three hours and 45 minutes later when we landed. Brad, who is a super plane sleeper, slept through the whole flight. 99% of the other passengers also slept. I am a nervous flier and not a good plane sleeper. I did not sleep. Two lone reading lamps illuminated the cabin - mine and some guy three rows in front of us. The good part is that I had picked up a new book at the cutest travel bookshop in Bainbridge Island and was able to plow through a big chunk of that (note to self: if cancer fighting doesn't work out, I believe it is my destiny to open a travel bookshop!).


4. Prior to heading to Seattle, we joined my family in Minnesota for a few days to celebrate my great grandmother's 100th birthday. It was super fun to see everyone and to celebrate with the yummiest cake ever (you go Queen of Cakes!). Instead of staying with my grandparents, like we normally do, we stayed with my aunt and uncle and my 12, 11, and 5(-ish) year old cousins. Brad and I even survived taking them to breakfast Saturday morning all by ourselves. Maybe we won't be horrible parents after all?

5. On Tuesday, we celebrated our second wedding anniversary. It's hard to believe that we have been married for two years already; it feels like we've been married forever (in a good way!) It's hard to remember my life before we got married. The second year was definitely easier than the first, so I'm hoping that the third year will just be plain ol' fun!