Weekend Slumber Party in San Fran

After graduating high school, my friend Sharon went off to college in Philadelphia. When college graduation came, I naively thought that she would then be able to join me in the lovely state of Utah (not that she really wanted to). Sadly, she got an awesome job and relocated to San Francisco. Not so sadly, for a while her job sent her on business trips to Utah where I would get to see her for brief weekends. Unfortunately, her work no longer sends her back anymore but this gave me a good excuse to finally visit her! 

So the morning of Friday, June 10th, I hitched an early 6:30 am ride to the airport so that I would be there and  ready for my 8:35 flight. For the first time, my flight was delayed...but only an hour so no biggie. I promptly started a new book, Ender's Game. Although behind, my flight landed without any glitches in the San Francisco airport where I claimed my hot pink luggage and waited for Sharon to come get me. 

Once leaving the airport, Sharon showed me a little of her neighborhood and took me back to her place to drop off my stuff and freshen up. Then, in true Stacie and Sharon fashion, we went out on a lunch date. Sharon had picked a breakfast/brunch restaurant called  Mama's for us to try. We got two dishes and shared. It was very tasty, minus the mayonnaise (which was not mentioned on the menu) on the Monte Cristo sandwich. Warning: much of this vacation consisted of food. Sharon and I share a love of food and trying new  dishes.

Monte Cristo with homemade raspberry jam

Scrambled Florentine and some SF sourdough

After brunch, we went to Union Square for some shopping and to ride a trolley car. Sadly, the line for the trolley cars was really long and so we didn't have time to ride it - or the patience to wait. We decided instead to just shop around and try out the mall. 

At least I saw one up close and personal

Display of It's a Small World children wearing Nordstrom clothing.  It was cute

Later we went home and relaxed a bit. I met Sharon's roommate Eugi, and then the 3 of us went out to Japan town and had ramen. Mmm. This was real ramen people, not the dehydrated and over salted taste of what is top ramen. After dinner we went back to the apartment, watched a movie, met a new person, played "Girl Talk Jenga" and stayed up talking til 3:30 am. 

We all slept in late the next day. In the afternoon we went to a place with yummy Italian pizza. Then off to drive across the Golden Gate Bridge and take some pics. Too bad it was super cloudy and chilly. 

Next to 100% Sweet Cafe - this cute little Asian restaurant full of funky Asian desserts and holiday decor that never seemed to come down, no matter what time of year it was. Also where Eugi ordered a hot chocolate (because it was cold outside, remember) and was asked if he wanted his hot chocolate cold or hot. Uh? 

Red Bean Icee and  a bowl of Mango Gigi.
I wish there was a place like this in Utah! I'm already craving a Red Bean Icee.

That night we played Scene It, went out to see the new X-men movie, ( I'd give it a B-, nothing spectacular but it was entertainment) and then ended up at IHOP at 1 am. Yay for the international passport breakfast!

The next day we slept in again, like we should be doing on a slumber party weekend. We then walked to the Haight Ashbury street fair. I'd say this was one of the highlights of my trip. It was neat to see all the different vendors and creative stuff around. I bought some canvas paintings which I love. I also got to try an arepa with  black beans and plantains and a side of yucca fries. 

Some random people dressed up at the street fair

Look how packed!

The paintings I bought for a great price
Amanda Miller

After the street fair, we walked around the embarcadero and enjoyed the scenery. I also had my first celebrity spotting. whoo! 

that's Rob Lowe

Bay Bridge

We had some Indian Pizza that night for dinner and rounded off my trip at Butter for karaoke night. And no, I did not sing, but they certainly did...

The rest of Sunday night was spent talking in Sharon's room until we both fell asleep. Monday morning was time for me to go home :( Sharon took me to the airport on her way to work. I arrived at 9:40 for my 11:40 flight. I mention the time because my flight was delayed yet again on my way home. And not just once, but 4 times! I finally boarded the plane at 2:50. You remember how I started that book at the airport 3 days earlier? Well by the time I actually got home on Monday, I had all but about 40 pages read. Now I know why there are so many book/magazine stores in the airport.

So that sums up my lovely weekend in San Francisco. I had so much fun visiting Sharon and meeting her friends. It was great being driven around all weekend, seeing sights, and eating awesome food. Thanks Sharon and Eugi for entertaining me and letting me stay at your place!

Visit to Washington

So if you've been reading my blog since last year, you'll know that for spring break 2010 we had made plans to go to Washington. It was sort of last minute, and we were planning on it being low cost. Unfortunately, about a week before we were supposed to go, we ran into unexpected travel costs and had to cancel. We ended up  here for a few days instead. Anyway, because of our last minute choice not to go, we had to cancel our airline tickets. Turns out because they were ordered online with a promotion, a refund was not an option but we received a credit that had to be used by March 1st 2011. Thus, our February trip to Washington.

I have been to Washington 4 times now - 3 (including this trip) that I actually remember, but this was Matt's first time. I had been telling him that I thought he would really like it there - and guess what? He really did, even more than I thought. My brother and sister-in-law were cool enough to let us stay with them for 3 of the 4 nights we were there. His two older girls were nice enough to let us sleep in their room while they slept on a bed in the living room. It was a really fun visit, with a nice balance of family time and alone time. Being my typical self, I had  researched things to do and made a list of places to see. The rest of this post is probably better explained with pictures...
you are hereby warned for picture OVERLOAD. Seriously, not joking. {all pictures courtesy of MK photography} :)

Thursday, Day 1
Volunteer Park Conservatory - This was a series of connected greenhouses in the middle of a large park. Each greenhouse had its own temperature and humidity in order to house plants specific to various climates.

Seattle Asian Art Museum - also located in Volunteer Park. I thought this would be an interesting change to the typical art museum since it was all art from Asia or done by Asian artists. Some of the art was from a long time ago and some of it was more modern. It was pretty neat.

Statue outside the museum

I wish I had a huge wall in a house to put this

Or this

Friday, Day 2

Olympic Sculpture Park - A free, outside area with walking paths throughout that led to giant sculptures

Columbia Center Tower - Instead of paying the $18 per person to go up in the Space Needle, I found a lot of travelers suggested the view from the Columbia Center Tower. With our student ID's it was only $6 for both of us to enjoy the view with no time limit. It was crazy how much of the area you could see and how different every area looked as you faced different directions. 

The tower

We did manage to get this picture of the Space Needle while walking to a Thai restaurant for lunch.

Because we drove around for about 15 minutes and still couldn't find parking, we ended up parking at the Seattle Library. It was a pretty neat library, with some cool architecture and really bright colors. It has its own unique funkiness to it. 

This was inside their elevators. Definitely a wake up in case you forgot your coffee. It was also the color of the escalators.

The windows/walls of the library

 Ferry Ride from Seattle to Bremerton - We weren't sure we were actually going to do this but after seeing the ferries come and go from our view atop the Columbia Center Tower, we thought it was something we shouldn't pass up. You can drive your car on or walk on - we drove the car on. The whole inside was pretty big. It had lots of seating, tables, booths, and even a small concessions area with simple foods and coffee. It was a neat experience, and I'm glad I didn't get sick!

After our ferry ride, we drove from Bremerton to Gig Harbor where my brother lives. Eddie and Kelly were able to get a babysitter that night so the 4 of us could go out to dinner. We ate at Tides Tavern, a pub type restaurant with views of the harbor where you have to be 21 or older to get in. It was nice not having any kids in the whole place. Their food was pretty tasty (I got a seafood platter, Mmm) but beware they are not too fond of people who don't order drinks. Sorry, no pictures of this outing :(

Saturday, Day 3

We reserved Saturday for the Toy family and whatever the girls wanted to do with us, since this was their day out of school. They chose to go to Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium. It was a smaller zoo but still interesting. I, of course, could probably spend a whole day at any zoo or aquarium... 

Matt and Leora

After the Zoo, we headed back to the house for lunch, some video games, and then Matt and I drove down by the harbor to explore and get some pictures. 

Later, we played Sing Star with the girls while my brother cooked us dinner. I'll spare you the pictures of me singing - but I did get this cute one of Matt and little Evalin. 

Too bad I didn't take pictures of the dinner, 'cause it was delicious! We ended our last night at the Toy home by watching Clash of the Titans. A visit to their house wouldn't be complete without at least one movie night.

Sunday, Day 4

We woke up early this morning to attend the Seattle Bites Food Tour in Pike's Place. The tour was neat, although pricey. We went various places through and around the market, all while learning the history and eating some samples along the way. For the price it cost, we most likely could have gone to more food vendors of our choosing, but we probably wouldn't have known where we were going anyway.

Grunge wall - decorated for Valentine's Day with reds and pinks and the saying "Make Love" across the wall.

Gum wall

After the tour, we explored Pike's Place a little more on our own and purchased a few souvenirs for home. We got a small Chinese painting from Master Calligrapher Jin Bao Shu and also a night cityscape picture by architect Patrick T. Kerr. We also walked about 6 blocks to the Historic Pioneer Square in hopes of participating in the Underground Tour. Unfortunately, we missed the last tour to leave and were unable to go. Next time though. 

Our last night we spent going to an Italian restaurant for dinner and then checking in to The Cedarbrook Lodge since it was closer to the airport than my brother's. This hotel was quite satisfactory. Not only did they have a breakfast in the morning, they had complimentary string cheese, chips, candy, water bottles, and the best part - Haagen Daz ice cream. This hotel also has awesome reviews on trip advisor.

All in all, this was a great trip. We will definitely be going back. Shout out to Eddie and Kelly for letting us stay at their house and being awesome hosts! In case you didn't get enough pictures, here's a couple more taken on the island where my brother lives.

If you've made it to this point, I admire your patience and curiosity.