...around and about in Seattle...

On this Spring Break trip to Seattle, I wanted to do something that we hadn't done before - along with some of our regular favorites! We managed to fulfill both wishes!

We started on Saturday by meeting Jessica & Amy in Kennewick for the Tri-Cities Quilt Show. They went last year and I've been so excited to go this year. It did not disappoint. It was overwhelming to see the 300+ quilts on display PLUS shop! AND - I got to hold sweet Colton for part of the time!

We left the girls (and Colton) and headed for Seattle. We stopped in North Bend so that Melissa could get a new purse! She picked out a pretty cute one that is totally "her"!!

We went to Bell Square....did a little shopping (Hello Nordstrom...love it!) and had a delicious dinner at The Cheesecake Factory. A few weeks ago Mom & I were introduced to the Chocolate Coconut Cream Cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory and I definitely needed to try it out again. It's sinful....it's soooo good. I didn't even get a picture of it, it was gone quickly. :)

On Sunday morning, we slept in and went to Bothell to these Country Shoppes that Karen Vanderbilt told Mom about. There was a bead shop (Garden of Beadin' - clever, eh?), a stamp shop, a quilt shop, consignment shop, etc. I found some fabric at the quilt shop to use as backing for a quilt I want to start this spring. I already have the jelly roll needed for it. It was a great quilt shop - filled...FILLED to the brim with bolts and bolts of fabric. Totally overwhelming.

We went to Alderwood Mall and met Melissa's friend Rachel and her husband and got to meet their new baby Mikayla. We shopped around a bit and then went to dinner at Claim Jumpers - yum!!! 

On Monday we went to Snohomish and shopped the quaint little downtown there before meeting Melissa's friend Erika and her Mom and brother at Starbucks. It's been a while since Melissa has seen Erika, so it was fun to catch up with her and her family. We went back to Northgate from there and did some shopping around there - Target, Pacific Fabric, DSW Shoes (Melissa found CUTE shoes there!).

The next morning we had another lazy morning - I got a lot of reading done and enjoyed the morning. We went to Melissa's favorite breakfast spot on Queen Anne Hill - The 5 Spot.

We had a great breakfast of caramel french toast - doesn't get much better than that! We drove around Queen Anne a bit - found some cute boutiques and then went over to Green Lake to A Muse - a favorite stamp shop. They're having make-and-takes everyday this week for Spring Break, so we got to do a fun make-and-take while we were there. It's the cutest shop and even though I didn't get much, I love just looking around at the sample cards to gain inspiration!

I really wanted to go back to one of the place we'd stopped at on the mission trip last summer. This was still just an idea that was beginning to materialize last June. It was awesome to get to go in, order a drink, and enjoy the chill atmosphere.

From there, we went down toward the Seattle Center and made Melissa's dreams come true. We went on RiDE THE DUCKS!! I thought it was funny that we were going on such a tourist trap in Seattle of all places because I don't feel like a tourist in Seattle. It was pretty cheesy but actually pretty fun - except for the freezing our buns off part. It was soooo cold!

We went into the water on Lake Union and saw the floating house that was on Sleepless in Seattle. The water was just a little rough - don't you think?!

We went to U Village after that and of course, had to get coffee to warm up! We met the Vissers for dinner at my favorite Thai restaurant, Zao and had a great dinner & conversation with them. Love spending time with them!

Today, we went to Virginia Mason for Melissa's neurologist appointment for her migraines (got a good report) and then headed home.

We had a super time in Seattle and got to have lots of fun experiences & catch up with friends.