Things I Like

The Pike Place Market

The blog's been a bit dead lately because I've spent the past week in my hometown of Seattle, Washington. I had to come up for an orthodontist appointment to see if I had to get braces again, but aw yeah, I just got a sweet new retainer! So, since the weather up here has been absolutely phenomenal, I have spent nearly every day walking around playing tourist. One of the best places to play tourist in Seattle is the good old Pike Place Market, and I will let you in on a little insider info: get there on a weekday morning at about 9:30-10:00 am, when they are just opening and the rest of the throngs of tourists haven't arrived yet. Also interesting to note: it is called the 'Pike Place Market', not the 'Pike Street Market' or any other variation thereof. Pike Place. Another piece of insider info: yes, the first Starbucks Coffee is in the market. Look at it. Take it in. Walk inside. Ooh, fancy. But guess what, there is another Starbucks across the street with a fraction of the line for the same so-so coffee. Or hey, you could go to a different local coffee shop in the market and probably get better coffee. (Awesome local/northwestern area coffee shops, not in the market, but in Seattle include: Fuel, Stumptown, Espresso Vivace)

Places to absolutely check out in the Market:

Pike Place Fish Market: The Flying Fish Guys. They throw fish around. They have a great time doing it. The fish is probably really good too. The Daily Dozen Doughnut Company. This donut place is near the newspaper stand. Holy. Moly. I love these donuts. You get them hot and fresh in a little paper bag that the grease leaks through and they are so good. The Magic Shop. It's pretty rad. Nearby is a wall o curiosities, including a giant shoe you can view for a few quarters. Fancy. There are also tons of awesome restaraunts, food stands, jewelry stands, flowers, local crafts - pretty much everything you can imagine. Also, check out Post Alley, and the Gum Wall, which is pretty disgusting but strangely cool. And can we talk about how Pike Place is apparently haunted and I never knew about it?! My friend told me while we were having coffee that they have ghost tours of the market, so I looked it up. Apparently Princess Angeline, daughter of Chief Seattle, walks around, as well as a ton of others. I'm currently reading through this old article from the Seattle Times: Ghost Stories Haunt Pike Place Market. Uh, totally cool.

Well that's all from me for now. I'm back on the plane to San Francisco later today! See you all later. Xoxo.

Exploration + Things I Like

So my wintwin Kelsey is back in California, and yesterday we (I'm looking for a word but I can't find it - is recommenced a word?) met up again for our weekly Win Twin Tuesday, wherein she makes delicious food and I take photos but mostly just eat it all. Then we went on an adventure down to the canyon near my house: I am personally a big fan of getting good and muddy when traipsing through a foresty area, especially when one has big boots, and one manages to not fall on one's behind. I was not disappointed. It was a good walk, and hopefully there shall be more in the future!

Also, here's some Things I Like:

This Week

I'm sick with a gnarly headcold - hopefully the medicine will kick in and I'll be able to do some art (or clean my room which desperately needs it) but until then, I'm sitting in bed and sipping coffee and dayquil. All I've got in terms of an update are a few pics from the week, so enjoy: It's finally raining in San Francisco! The best way to spend a day off is home in bed listening to rain pour outside, in my opinion. Hope everyone's doing well, and have a good weekend! xo.

New Digs!

Well everyone, it took me about two days total, but check out the new layout! Ooh aah, right? I've even got PAGES up there (which I haven't put any real content on yet, hahaha). It took me AGES to figure out how to get a background image behind them, holy moley, but I can say I learned a few new things about CSS today. Still a few things to fix, but I think I like this layout a lot.

One of my New Year's Resolutions was to take a photo every day, and so far, so good, but I dunno, I think I had better go on an adventure or two sometime soon because taking photos around the house is pretty boring. Although I did get to start my new year in Seattle, so I have a bit of a variety, photo-wise.

Paris, Part Four - Versailles

What I am still lacking in new artistic content I am trying to make up for in sheer prettiness, and what better way to do that than photos of Versailles? Yes, for years and years 'Go To Versailles' has been on my Things-to-do-before-I-die list, and this summer, I was able to put a big fat check next to it. Done. And when I say done, do I mean it. We were there promptly 30 minutes before it opened and stayed for hours, and I don't think I sat down longer than the 10 minutes I took to eat a sandwich. We walked from the Chateau to nearly the end of the gardens and back, and still didn't see everything! I want to go back already!

For those unfamiliar, "The court of Versailles was the centre of political power in France from 1682, when Louis XIV moved from Paris, until the royal family was forced to return to the capital in October 1789 after the beginning of the French Revolution. Versailles is therefore famous not only as a building, but as a symbol of the system of absolute monarchy of the Ancien Régime." (Thanks, Wikipedia!)