vacation to the northwest

Ryan and I love the northwest. The temperature is perfect right now. Not too hot ...around 70.
We just got back yesterday from a week in Washington. We spent a few days in Ocean Shores, Washington and a few days in Seattle.

Ocean Shores was beautiful but there was nothing to really do and no where good to eat. We spent our days walking the beach looking for seashells and sand dollars. This is the first pic we took of us our first night on the beach...it was very breezy.

We saw lots of wild life in Ocean shores. Here is a pic of pelicans we saw looking for fish on the beach and the next pic is of deer on the road. We had to be super careful driving through this town...there were deer everywhere.
Our time in Ocean Shores was very very relaxing and we spent lots of time in the pool and the hot tub. We stayed at our timeshare resort right on the beach. Here is a pic of me walking out to the beach from our resort.














On the drive to Ocean Shores from Seattle we drove through Olympia which is the capital of Washington and also the home of two really cool record labels....Kill Rock Stars and K records. So Ry and I stopped in Olympia to try to find cool cd shops but we found nothing. Downtown Olympia kind of reminded us of Provo/Orem, Utah. How sad is that.

One cool thing I found out about Olympia is that there is a road named Sleater-Kinney...where I think one of my favorite all girls band "Sleater Kinney" took their name from. Too bad Sleater Kinney toured as the opening band for Pearl Jam a few years back. It kind of ruined Sleater Kinney for me for a while.







We also drove through Aberdeen the birth place of Kurt Cobain. The entrance to the town has a sign with a tribute to Cobain.








In Seattle, we did lots of shopping and lots of walking. We also stayed at our timeshare condo which use to be a historic downtown hotel named the Camlin. First thing we did when we got to town....we had to go to the best Coffee house in Seattle...Espresso Vivice. OMG...those are the best latte's in the world. We had to go to our favorite restaurant in Seattle twice...a little cuban restaurant called Paseo which is located in Fremont. I had the best Cuban sandwich in my life there. If I lived in Seattle, we would go there at least once a week.

Our first night in Seattle we met up with my Beautiful artist friend Lisa and I got to finally see her goth warehouse loft. It was amazing. We met Lisa two years ago back stage at the Vancouver, BC and Seattle, WA Einturzende Neubauten concerts. Lisa and I tell people that we bonded because we got to met Blixa Blargeld those two nights together.Then Lisa took us to an excellent little restaurant called Bleu located in Capital Hill.

While at Bleu, Ryan saw an old acquaintance from ten years ago who he acted in a movie with. His name is Shane and it is a crazy small world to see people from your past on a street in Seattle randomly.

The next day Ryan and I got up bright and early and we rode on a Harbor Cruise. I know it is dorky but I love seeing the skyline of Seattle and being on a boat. The water was very calm that morning and so it was an enjoyable ride. Here is a pic of me and ryan on the boat:














We also got to walk through the Washington Park Arboretum and the Japanese Garden. We spent a few hours at the gardens and it was so beautiful and peaceful. I got to feed the Koi in the pond and some really annoying ducks. I love how green Washington is. Here are two pics of me and ryan in the Japanese garden:


















Later that night I got to see to my college buddy Christian. She is still one of the nicest people I know. We went to some outdoor mall with her by the U (to get some of my shopping errands out of the way) and then we took her to the Cuban restaurant Paseo. She was so impressed that visitors were taking her to a hip and delicious restaurant. I can't believe I forgot to take a pic of Christian. I thought I would see her again but her busy work schedule did not permit it. I'm just glad that we got to hang out with her that night till super late...we ended up chatting for a few hours in our condo living room.

While in Seattle I had to hit the Lush Store in Bellevue and Sephora because I'm a makeup and fragrance fan. We stopped by and visited an old co worker of mine who now works for Wells in Bellevue. That was fun to see a familiar face in Washington.

Our last night in Seattle we got to met some beautiful wonderful people. We had dinner with Lisa and her new HOT motorcycle bf named Shannon. We went to Meskel Ethiopian restaurant and I got to have my Honey Wine. Poor Shannon had to go through Diana's "get to know you 20 questions" and nothing is off limits. Let's just say that he passed with flying colors. Believe it or not but Shannon has some Utah Mormon background....that was super crazy. And for some weird reason I feel that I bonded with him a little more because of that.














After dinner we stopped by Lisa's loft to pick up her friend Cait. That girl is amazing. She knew about great music and had great style plus she is also a painter and her stuff blows me away...very talented. Check out her art at www.caitwillis.com
Ryan and I hosted a little party at our condo with Lisa and our new friends. Here is a pic of me and Cait.


















Here is a pic of me and Lisa BEFORE the Club. Oh yeah we decided to go to a goth club that night...it was called the Mercury.














Here is a pic of Lisa and Cait doing funny stuff.












Here is a pic of the two boys that night...all dressed in black.















Here is a pic of Lisa, Shannon, Cait and I walking to the club.


















Here is a pic of Ryan sitting at my lap at the club.


















I also got to met Shannon's sister Marisa. Another talented artist...check out her stuff at http://marisacole.com. We also bonded ...she went to Ricks back in the late 80's. I swear Ryan and I made friends for life that night. Here is a pic of me and Marisa.
















Here is a pic of me and Lisa AFTER the club. Thank you Lisa for being such a great friend and taking us out in Seattle and introducing us to these amazing people.














Our last day in Seattle, before our flight Ryan and I went to Pike's market to get fish for my mom and sis. Wow those halibut steaks were so good on the grill. We also rushed to Fremont to eat at Paseo...and to go cd shopping at Sonic Boom. By accident I got to see the troll under the Fremont Bridge. I didn't get out of the car because we had a flight to catch but I noticed that the crowd next to the Troll were there for some kind of acting thing. And let's just say that it looked dorky.

SEATTLE is a fun place to visit. We have lots of dear friends there. And everytime we go we get mistaken as locals...how cool is that.