A Seattle Dose of Sun-Kissed Rain Flavored Happiness part I
Wednesday:
Worked in the morning and managed to get off early to go home and pack for my trip (I am TERRIBLE at putting things off until the last minute, but hey, I make painstakingly detailed lists, so at least I knew EXACTLY what I was bringing)
For those of you who care (no one), this is what I bring on a 6 day trip:
-Contact lens solution, Contact lens case
-Mini hairbrush, compact toothbrush, mini toothpaste, dental floss, mandarin orange cologne body spray, hair clip and 1 hair band
-mini shampoo, conditioner, body lotion, body wash, all packed in the airline required quart sized ziploc bag
-quarters for the bus
-chapstick, lip gloss, eyeliner, eyeshadow,
-jewelry in a little origami box: 1 blue swirled glass ring. 2 art necklaces made by my friend whose art I was going to see on display in a sex toy shop. Favorite silver fish necklace. Tiny origami crane earrings. Slants guitar pick earrings.
-Spare eyeglasses, in case I lose my contacts
-Netbook, power cord, flash drive
-Camera, extra batteries
-Sketchbook,numerous pens and pencils
-1 reading book (Kim Harrison's Pale Demon)
-Pajamas, 4 tops, 1 pair of shorts, undergarments and socks
-vitamins
-car charger (don't have a regular cell phone charger), cell phone
-mp3 player, headphones
Managed to fit all this in one messenger bag and a 1 foot by 2 foot sports bag. SUCCESS.
Dropped Chloe off at my parents house so she could play with their cat while I was gone (I get worried she gets lonely), and was dropped off at the airport by my parents, who worried endlessly that I wouldn't have enough time to get through security.
...
Printed off my boarding pass at the desk, and recieved a friendly pat-down by security guards who chatted with me about George Washington, Orchids, and Glee. I guess I forgot to take that carefully ziplocked bag of liquids out of my carry on, and put it in a seperate bin. Oops. Still, they were nice, and one of the guys complimented me on my hair.
Then proceeded to sit in the airport playing Cake Mania on my netbook, snacking and blowing futilely on my hot-as-hell chai. For an hour and a half. Pfft. Oh mom. Silly, silly mom.
I love flying. I love that moment when you're looking out the little portal window, and your stomach lifts at the same moment that the wheels do, instants after you're pressing flat back against your seat as the airplane takes on a whole new meaning to what you thought was speed. I love that moment when you know you're up in the air, ascending through the thick clouds like gray spun cotton candy, staring down at the toy cars crawling along the ground and wishing you could just spot one person, leaving a buidling or walking along the road so you can go... omg they're all so small. WE'RE all so small. Wow. Didn't see any ant-people unfortunately. Oh well.
What I don't love about flying, is the headache I get while trying to read. When I was a little girl, I used to be able to read endlessly on car trips to wherever. Now, I get a splitting headached if I even try to read for 10 minutes. It sucks. So I listened to music, and snuck looks into my book, hoping that just reading 3 sentences at a time would stave off the impending headache. No such luck. Also, I've been having a little trouble with my right hand (drawing, writing hand). Probably the carpal tunnel I had in high school coming home to roost. It's been tingling and going numb if I don't use it properly (haven't pinpointed EXACTLY what I do wrong, but it takes about a half an hour of stretching and flexing to make it go away)
My seat mate seemed to be getting restless as I kept shifting to accomadate my hand, stuffing my arm behind my back, resting my forearm on the seat in front of me, resting my wrist on the top of my head, etc. At one point I had my tingling right hand resting on my left shoulder, arm bent across my chest. I kind of felt him staring at me, probably wondering what the hell was going on. So I turned to him and gave him a shit-eating grin. A grin that stretches all the way across your face, and says, It's a nice day here in that place that exists between Neverland and Narnia, would you like a cup of tea made of fairy farts and unicorn sneezes? I might just have a spot of it left?
Hahaha, he turned around and faced front the rest of the flight.
It was a super short flight, just an hour and 45 minutes, although it felt a lot shorter. When I got off the plane with both my bags (hooray for not having to check luggage!), it was misting. MISTING!!!!! <3 <3 <3 <3 Can I just say, I love the rain?!?! It was a fine mist, spritzing my face as I walked from the plane to the covered walkway area, and so refreshing. The air was wet and light, not dry and heavy like Boise felt when I left it, and I felt my heart lighten. Back in the pacific northwest, back in Washington, back in the airport I first landed when I arrived in the US as a baby. It always feels like home, Seattle.
I met up with Gary, who looked extremely fetching in his low heeled black biker boots, green and black checkered scarf wrapped loosely and jauntily around his neck, and a cute little black low brimmed hat. So cute! He had a welcome-to-Seattle-this-chai-was-too-hot-for-me-to-drink-so-you-can-drink-it-now tea, which I cautiously juggled from hand to hand as we fast walked to the bus stop, until it was cool enough to drink. What is it with airport coffeeshops that they make their drinks so scalding?
We rode the bus to the Commons Mall, where we mourned the death of a closing Borders bookstore (80-90% off entire stock), drifting among the barrent shelves and making little hurt noises in the backs of our throats. The bookshelves were thoroughly picked through, although 2 of those big blonde bookshelves sold for $99! I was trying to puzzle my way through how to get them back to Boise and manhandle them into my already stuffed apartment, when Stasia and her husband Nick showed up to drive us to dinner.
Sidenote: I knew Stasia and Gary both from my time at the University of Idaho. Gary was the first truly close gay friend I made, we knew each other from our English studies, and we have a lot in common as far as literature, comic books, movies, and politics go. But we have vastly different approaches to life. Gary's apartment is very bare of material goods. Sure he has a wii, but he doesn't have half a dozen gaming stations, or more than 1 tv, or much furniture or decorations. He wants to go to Thailand to teach english because he wants to do good, he wants to make a difference, and give up worldly goods. I want to get a fabulous job doing art or writing, have an awesome house with lots of nice things, eat fine food every day, and never want for anything. Despite our different mindsets, we're close friends, and I adore him. Stasia was in the fine art department with me, and is an amazing self published, successful illustrator and fine artist. I am in awe of her, plus she's warm, generous, kind, funny, and sweet. We have a lot in common too. She and Gary get along like peas and carrots, although they didn't know each other too well before I came on this trip.
At this point we were in Federal Way, which is south of Seattle. We went to a korean BBQ resturant called Kokiri. About $60 to feed all 4 of us, and oh my how we were fed! Little bows of different kinds of kimchi, some spicy, some not. Some known, some unknown. I'm proud to say I tried every single one, and surprisingly liked all of them! I always thought I didn't like Kimchi, but maybe it's because I wasn't eating it right! There was a little grill in the middle of the table, and the waitress came by and lit it, then brought out a GIANT PILE OF DELICIOUS MEAT OMG. I've never seen so much marinated meat piled high in enticing heaps before! She showed us how to slap them onto the grill, then wandered off and left us to our own devices. I'll admit, if I drank, this would be the perfect place to have a bottle of soju or beer, and just eat my way through delicious meat and wonderful conversation. As it was, I had a complete blast. Catching up with Stasia and Gary, and eating strip after strip of meat... it was so wonderful. Relaxing.
Once we had completely stuffed ourselves (they wouldn't let us take any of the left over meat home, so we had to eat it all there. Odd, but... oh well. MEAT. DELICIOUS MEAT. Who am I to complain???), Stasia and Nick gave Gary and I a lift back to his apartment just a ways down the road. Gary and I collapsed on his sofa, and stayed up until a little past midnight just talking, watching random netflix stuff (an episode of Hetalia here, an episode of Drawn Together there) and gushing about inconsequential things. I was falling asleep, trying to decide whether or not to get up early in the morning to catch the bus up to Stasia's place in Bellevue (about an hours bus ride), have brunch with her and see her apartment and little studio working space where all the magic happens, then catch the bus back hurriedly to downtown Seattle in order to have lunch with Gary's new boyfriend who I haven't met yet. I was still on Boise time so it was after 1am when we finally decided to raincheck on the visit to Stasia's place. I fell asleep on the couch under Gary's soft, precious vietnamese faux fur blanket. I love those things. I dreampt of sun soaked raindrops, falling fat and golden from the sky, splashing onto my upturned face and warming me through to my toes.
Worked in the morning and managed to get off early to go home and pack for my trip (I am TERRIBLE at putting things off until the last minute, but hey, I make painstakingly detailed lists, so at least I knew EXACTLY what I was bringing)
For those of you who care (no one), this is what I bring on a 6 day trip:
-Contact lens solution, Contact lens case
-Mini hairbrush, compact toothbrush, mini toothpaste, dental floss, mandarin orange cologne body spray, hair clip and 1 hair band
-mini shampoo, conditioner, body lotion, body wash, all packed in the airline required quart sized ziploc bag
-quarters for the bus
-chapstick, lip gloss, eyeliner, eyeshadow,
-jewelry in a little origami box: 1 blue swirled glass ring. 2 art necklaces made by my friend whose art I was going to see on display in a sex toy shop. Favorite silver fish necklace. Tiny origami crane earrings. Slants guitar pick earrings.
-Spare eyeglasses, in case I lose my contacts
-Netbook, power cord, flash drive
-Camera, extra batteries
-Sketchbook,numerous pens and pencils
-1 reading book (Kim Harrison's Pale Demon)
-Pajamas, 4 tops, 1 pair of shorts, undergarments and socks
-vitamins
-car charger (don't have a regular cell phone charger), cell phone
-mp3 player, headphones
Managed to fit all this in one messenger bag and a 1 foot by 2 foot sports bag. SUCCESS.
Dropped Chloe off at my parents house so she could play with their cat while I was gone (I get worried she gets lonely), and was dropped off at the airport by my parents, who worried endlessly that I wouldn't have enough time to get through security.
...
Printed off my boarding pass at the desk, and recieved a friendly pat-down by security guards who chatted with me about George Washington, Orchids, and Glee. I guess I forgot to take that carefully ziplocked bag of liquids out of my carry on, and put it in a seperate bin. Oops. Still, they were nice, and one of the guys complimented me on my hair.
Then proceeded to sit in the airport playing Cake Mania on my netbook, snacking and blowing futilely on my hot-as-hell chai. For an hour and a half. Pfft. Oh mom. Silly, silly mom.
I love flying. I love that moment when you're looking out the little portal window, and your stomach lifts at the same moment that the wheels do, instants after you're pressing flat back against your seat as the airplane takes on a whole new meaning to what you thought was speed. I love that moment when you know you're up in the air, ascending through the thick clouds like gray spun cotton candy, staring down at the toy cars crawling along the ground and wishing you could just spot one person, leaving a buidling or walking along the road so you can go... omg they're all so small. WE'RE all so small. Wow. Didn't see any ant-people unfortunately. Oh well.
What I don't love about flying, is the headache I get while trying to read. When I was a little girl, I used to be able to read endlessly on car trips to wherever. Now, I get a splitting headached if I even try to read for 10 minutes. It sucks. So I listened to music, and snuck looks into my book, hoping that just reading 3 sentences at a time would stave off the impending headache. No such luck. Also, I've been having a little trouble with my right hand (drawing, writing hand). Probably the carpal tunnel I had in high school coming home to roost. It's been tingling and going numb if I don't use it properly (haven't pinpointed EXACTLY what I do wrong, but it takes about a half an hour of stretching and flexing to make it go away)
My seat mate seemed to be getting restless as I kept shifting to accomadate my hand, stuffing my arm behind my back, resting my forearm on the seat in front of me, resting my wrist on the top of my head, etc. At one point I had my tingling right hand resting on my left shoulder, arm bent across my chest. I kind of felt him staring at me, probably wondering what the hell was going on. So I turned to him and gave him a shit-eating grin. A grin that stretches all the way across your face, and says, It's a nice day here in that place that exists between Neverland and Narnia, would you like a cup of tea made of fairy farts and unicorn sneezes? I might just have a spot of it left?
Hahaha, he turned around and faced front the rest of the flight.
It was a super short flight, just an hour and 45 minutes, although it felt a lot shorter. When I got off the plane with both my bags (hooray for not having to check luggage!), it was misting. MISTING!!!!! <3 <3 <3 <3 Can I just say, I love the rain?!?! It was a fine mist, spritzing my face as I walked from the plane to the covered walkway area, and so refreshing. The air was wet and light, not dry and heavy like Boise felt when I left it, and I felt my heart lighten. Back in the pacific northwest, back in Washington, back in the airport I first landed when I arrived in the US as a baby. It always feels like home, Seattle.
I met up with Gary, who looked extremely fetching in his low heeled black biker boots, green and black checkered scarf wrapped loosely and jauntily around his neck, and a cute little black low brimmed hat. So cute! He had a welcome-to-Seattle-this-chai-was-too-hot-for-me-to-drink-so-you-can-drink-it-now tea, which I cautiously juggled from hand to hand as we fast walked to the bus stop, until it was cool enough to drink. What is it with airport coffeeshops that they make their drinks so scalding?
We rode the bus to the Commons Mall, where we mourned the death of a closing Borders bookstore (80-90% off entire stock), drifting among the barrent shelves and making little hurt noises in the backs of our throats. The bookshelves were thoroughly picked through, although 2 of those big blonde bookshelves sold for $99! I was trying to puzzle my way through how to get them back to Boise and manhandle them into my already stuffed apartment, when Stasia and her husband Nick showed up to drive us to dinner.
Sidenote: I knew Stasia and Gary both from my time at the University of Idaho. Gary was the first truly close gay friend I made, we knew each other from our English studies, and we have a lot in common as far as literature, comic books, movies, and politics go. But we have vastly different approaches to life. Gary's apartment is very bare of material goods. Sure he has a wii, but he doesn't have half a dozen gaming stations, or more than 1 tv, or much furniture or decorations. He wants to go to Thailand to teach english because he wants to do good, he wants to make a difference, and give up worldly goods. I want to get a fabulous job doing art or writing, have an awesome house with lots of nice things, eat fine food every day, and never want for anything. Despite our different mindsets, we're close friends, and I adore him. Stasia was in the fine art department with me, and is an amazing self published, successful illustrator and fine artist. I am in awe of her, plus she's warm, generous, kind, funny, and sweet. We have a lot in common too. She and Gary get along like peas and carrots, although they didn't know each other too well before I came on this trip.
At this point we were in Federal Way, which is south of Seattle. We went to a korean BBQ resturant called Kokiri. About $60 to feed all 4 of us, and oh my how we were fed! Little bows of different kinds of kimchi, some spicy, some not. Some known, some unknown. I'm proud to say I tried every single one, and surprisingly liked all of them! I always thought I didn't like Kimchi, but maybe it's because I wasn't eating it right! There was a little grill in the middle of the table, and the waitress came by and lit it, then brought out a GIANT PILE OF DELICIOUS MEAT OMG. I've never seen so much marinated meat piled high in enticing heaps before! She showed us how to slap them onto the grill, then wandered off and left us to our own devices. I'll admit, if I drank, this would be the perfect place to have a bottle of soju or beer, and just eat my way through delicious meat and wonderful conversation. As it was, I had a complete blast. Catching up with Stasia and Gary, and eating strip after strip of meat... it was so wonderful. Relaxing.
Once we had completely stuffed ourselves (they wouldn't let us take any of the left over meat home, so we had to eat it all there. Odd, but... oh well. MEAT. DELICIOUS MEAT. Who am I to complain???), Stasia and Nick gave Gary and I a lift back to his apartment just a ways down the road. Gary and I collapsed on his sofa, and stayed up until a little past midnight just talking, watching random netflix stuff (an episode of Hetalia here, an episode of Drawn Together there) and gushing about inconsequential things. I was falling asleep, trying to decide whether or not to get up early in the morning to catch the bus up to Stasia's place in Bellevue (about an hours bus ride), have brunch with her and see her apartment and little studio working space where all the magic happens, then catch the bus back hurriedly to downtown Seattle in order to have lunch with Gary's new boyfriend who I haven't met yet. I was still on Boise time so it was after 1am when we finally decided to raincheck on the visit to Stasia's place. I fell asleep on the couch under Gary's soft, precious vietnamese faux fur blanket. I love those things. I dreampt of sun soaked raindrops, falling fat and golden from the sky, splashing onto my upturned face and warming me through to my toes.