A Delicious Idea...

Last night my traveling companion Tanya, my childhood friend Rachel, my sister Courtney, and myself headed to the boonies of San Francisco known to some as the Outer Sunset to dine at a small corner cafe called Outerlands.


The journey and subsequent wait (1 hour!) were totally worth it. The food was delicious and the ambiance even tastier (to the eyes, ears, and nose!) I'm not a food critic and will not pretend to be one in this post. If any of my Bay Area friends are reading this, though, run (do not walk) to Outerlands and order the delicata squash.

While we were eating I kept thinking about how rarely I ever eat anywhere "special" in Seattle. Now, I'm not saying the weekly Pho date that I take myself and my book of the moment on isn't special...



Pho Viet Ahn and I have a good thing going on. When I say "special" I mainly mean that I haven't been to the restaurant so many times that I don't need to see the menu to know what I'm going to eat.

So today, after an afternoon on Alcatraz Island, I decided I would start having a few more "special" meals in Seattle. (A quick aside: How many times can I write "special" in this entry? Special. Special. Special.) The deal I made with myself is that every pay day (so 2 times a month) I will choose an eatery that I've never been to and go there. If nobody else wants to go with me I will go by myself.

Pay day is tomorrow and so I decided that Tuesday I will take myself on my first "special" dining experience. My first choice was to go to Nettletown in Eastlake. Click on the link to Nettletown. I dare you. Oh yeah, that's right, it's closed! Oh the humanity!! It took me awhile to recover but it did happen and so instead of Nettletown I decided I will dine at The Walrus and the Carpenter in Ballard. Foodies flock there to taste their Oysters and so I, along with a good friend, shall put on my best foodie face and have a very "special" dinner!

Return flight is beginning the descent now. Hope everyone's weekend was splendid and sunny (mine was! mine was! mine was!)!

The Update You've Been Anxiously Waiting For...

You didn't know you were waiting for an update from me did you? Man oh man, life is full full of surprises!

Before I unveil the update you didn't know you were dying to hear, let's first have a dance party, shall we?! I am currently working away at Caffe Vita in Upper Fremont and participating in my own PDP (private dance party) but I want to extend an invitation to a virtual dance party for us to share in! Below is the tune to which we shall jig. Press play and proceed to cut a rug...

Oooooeeee. Now that that's out of our system let's get down to the business at hand. The business of updating. Drumroll please...

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I officially finished my task of "taking charge".

What was once a disaster zone...
Has been transformed into this oasis of respite, romance, and reading...

Since completing this task of epic proportions I have read not 1 but 2 entire books and am half way through a 3rd! I know what you're thinking (because I'm thinking it too), "Girl you've come a long way since last week at this time." Thanks for noticing!

Before going off to enjoy some respite, dream of romance, and do some reading in my newly oasis-afied room I think I should update you on another topic... I have recovered (more or less) from the emotional beating that is reading Blue Nights. If you like Joan Didion I highly recommend it and if you want to read a book that will increase your awareness of the inevitability of aging and some of the heartbreaking issues that go with then I also highly recommend it. What I don't recommend is reading it right before bed. I needed to watch 2 episodes of Parks and Recreation followed by Up All Night before my mind would let me sleep.

With that I shall abruptly sign off with a "that's all she wrote"...
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That's all she wrote.

Got the Blues?

Currently wearing a blue sweater, kicking my feet around in blue Chuck Taylors, while reading

and listening to

No part of this convergence was planned but it does beg the question...

Am I blue?

An update to the original post (10:44pm): I just finished Blue Nights in one sitting. If I wasn't blue when I started reading it I definitely am now.

I've Been Out Walking...

Aaaahh 3 day weekend.

My big plan for day 1 of 3 consecutive days off was to get up at my leisure, walk to a coffee shop with a new book in tow, drink some coffee, do some reading, hit the gym, then head home and finally finish "taking charge" and getting my life organized. All was well until the gym hitting. I decided to forgo the eliptical in favor of a colorful fall walk. A two hour, colorful, fall walk. A two hour, colorful walk that halfway through I was wondering if I would ever make it home.

The jaunt started off innocently enough. I decided to walk part of the loop that I use to run. (I will touch more upon my current "out of shapeness"in an entry that will be entitled "Of Mice and Mono (and Occasionally Men)" but until then just know that while last year at this time I was training for my second full marathon I currently can barely run even 2 miles.) But I digress. While walking the familiar streets I thought to myself, "Self, isn't it great to be experiencing the sights and sounds of Queen Anne without the sweating and panting that go along with running?" I must admit that Queen Anne in the fall is beautiful... at least when it's dry (foreshadow alert!).
After some time with the familiar my feet got ansty and started taking me down streets I had never been. Soon I stumbled upon the Queen Anne Greenbelt. I had never been there and so explore I had to!

Not knowing anything about the Greenbelt I really had no idea of where it would go... or where it wouldn't go. I kept trudging along, humming a little too myself, until I realized that perhaps I wasn't alone. After running into an only slightly creepy seemingly homeless man I started wondering if I should call someone and let them know where I was in case a police report had to be filed later. At that point I started thinking I should get out of the Greenbelt as fast as possible. Unfortunately my feet can only go so fast and it seemed that every time I thought I was getting close to a main I found more wooded abyss.
Since you are reading this I hope you have assumed that I did in fact find a way not only out of the Queen Anne Greenbelt but also back to the safety of my Wifi equipped apartment. The journey from the Greenbelt exit to my dwelling, however, was not simple. Once out I found that that the blustery fall day had changed. It had become a blustery, rainy, fall day. For twenty minutes I braved the mildly uncomfortable conditions until I finally found solace in a yet another coffee shop where I could once again read where I could gain strength before climbing up the hill and back to safety of my home.
Once I was home I was "le tired" and so neither "taking charge" nor organizing my life were accomplished.

The End

Monday Funday

Mondays are pretty "a-okay" by me. It's not because I am a freak who prefers working to weekending. It's because on Monday I do not have to go into the office. Instead I wake up, laze about for a bit, and then head over to the West Seattle Senior Center. I hang out. Help seniors find resources. Drink coffee. Eat cookies. Catch up on some work and then head home. Of course come Tuesday when I do have to go into the office I am singing a completely different tune.

But for now it's still Monday and here is a list (a bulleted list!) of things that are making this Monday particularly "a-okay":

• I visited a friend's blog and have become inspired to make reading a much higher priority. Luckily last Thursday I popped into Queen Anne Books and had them order this gem that is set for me to pick up today! Next in my queue (and on the other end of the literary mood spectrum) is this!


• I was so inspired by aforementioned friend's blog that I sent him a text message requesting his company at a watering hole of his choice this evening. He accepted.
  


• Today's the day I finally finish organizing my closet. At least that's the plan and since it's only Monday I can always remind myself "If you don't get to it today you still have the entire week to do it!".


• Pho will be consumed in approximately 36 minutes.
  


• I'm going to see Deer Tick at the Tractor Tavern tonight. In case you're wondering, Deer Tick is a band. And don't be thrown by the name; Gentleman Friend turned me onto them and they're awesome. Super awesome!
  


• Because of Seattle's Seattle-y weather I can wear my new Hunters and go hunting for puddles!

Yeah, I know. Pretty spectacular as far as cold, rainy, early November Mondays go.

Here are a few Deer Tick tunes to properly introduce you to said awesomeness and sign off on this post with: