. bellingham/seattle spring break getaway .

Mom, Melissa, and I got away for a few days at the beginning of our Spring Break week. We headed up to Bellingham on Saturday to visit Melissa’s college roommate, Jennifer Zaremba. She showed us a great time around Bellingham, shopping, great food, and seeing the sights. She and Melissa wanted to take these pictures with the Bellingham sign!

She hosted us in her cute house looking over the water. Thanks Jenn!

On our way back toward Seattle, we detoured through Marysville to see the flowers in bloom. The tulip fields weren’t in bloom yet, but we got to see some striking daffodil fields. We all said for not even liking daffodils, it was beautiful!

We stopped to shop a little bit at the Seattle Premium Outlets and then found our hotel where we’d stay for the rest of our time in Seattle.

On Monday, we did some shopping around our hotel: Ulta and Nordstrom Rack. We’d spied a Blue C Sushi the night before and were excited to try out conveyor belt sushi!

I’m not a fancy sushi connoisseur, but this wasn’t the best sushi I’ve ever had. It was a fun experience to just pick out what we wanted off the conveyor belt. Fun concept.

Each color plate was a different price…

And, our favorite: California Roll.

From there, we went to our favorite little stamp store in Greenlake – A Muse. It’s a must stop whenever we have the chance. Then we went on a little Seattle tourist adventure. Melissa wanted to see the Fremont troll, so we put the address into our iPhone map and went on our way (thank goodness for the iPhone maps – we used the heck out of it!).

This troll was crazy huge! It’s holding a Volkswagen Bug in it’s hand!

Melissa got to check an item off her bucket list!

The next stop on our tourist adventure was Gasworks Park…

Melissa wanted to take her picture jumping in Gasworks park! Check!

It was raining and kinda foggy looking at the Seattle skyline!

Our next destination was a quilt shop in Ballard that I’d found online. On our way there, we passed a group of statues that we’d seen last year on the Ride the Ducks tour. Melissa got a picture with them (of course! ).

The quilt shop: The Quilting Loft: was a successful find! It was a cute shop with lots of current fabric lines, patterns, kits, and samples. It was a little overwhelming! I got a fat quarter bundle and a pattern. I would definitely like to go back there next time we’re in town!

And bonus – there was a cute boutique right next door, so Melissa was happy too! (and pretty happy about her first Starbucks birthday cake pop!)

We went to see “Black Swan” that night at a $3 theater….and wasted our $3. I can appreciate the acting and see why Natalie Portman won the Oscar for Best Actress, but the movie as a whole was not our style at all. Way to pick them, Mom!

Tuesday morning, we a little earlier start and headed straight for Pike Place Market.

First stop: the Flagship Starbucks, of course!

We walked through the Market, found a delicious doughnut, and found the golden pig:

I showed Mom & Melissa where the Gum Wall was and left our mark!

So gross, but so intriguing!

We headed straight for the flagship Nordstrom from there. Melissa and I had been planning to buy TOMS shoes there and it was a great day to buy them! TOMS was sponsoring a day of no shoes in honor of those that don’t have shoes. There was a walk around Nordstrom that was just finishing up while Mom & Melissa were trying theirs on.

Melissa found some black sparkly ones and Mom got gray.

We went downstairs to the men’s section so I could get mine (embarrassing!) – I got gray and red. I couldn’t decide!!

We went to lunch at the Nordstrom Café and had delicious salads. We’d never eaten there, but had heard how good it was…and it was great! We shopped around Nordstrom and each left with some fun finds!

We headed to U Village from there to stop at Sephora, Anthropologie, Victoria’s Secret, Brighton, and H & M.

Melissa stopped for a photo op with her new black and white houndstooth wellies.

We got pedicures that evening – so nice after shopping all day! – and picked up pizza to take back to our hotel. Perfect ending to a great day!

The next morning, we loaded up and headed to the UW Medical Center for Mom’s appointments. She had a CT scan and then met with her surgeon, Dr. Mokadam, for him to explain the results of the scan. Two years after her emergency surgery, everything still looks great! We are grateful that her doctors take such great care of her and stay on top of everything.

We began our trek home – a little later than we’d expected because we had to wait for Dr. Mokadam to get out of the OR. Melissa had wanted to go to The Cheesecake Factory in Bellevue, but I didn’t want to get home so late….well, jokes on me because we were stopped on Snoqualmie Pass for over 2 hours for avalanche control. We could’ve definitely had lunch in that time! Even after waiting all that time, it was slow going the rest of the way. Bummer!

Look how much snow there was! We drove through rain, sleet, snow, and sun…yuck!

Next year, I totally want to go somewhere with warmer weather – no rain, NO SNOW!

We had such a wonderful time exploring new sights and experiencing old familiar favorites…and with great company, who could ask for more?!

...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.

[ around and about in Seattle ]

Our 4 days in Seattle...what a wonderful Spring Break getaway! It was just right - the right amount of time to be gone, the right distance, the right things to do & see. Here's a play by play...

On Tuesday, we got to Seattle fairly quickly, stopping in Royal City for lunch and Ellensburg for Starbucks. I taught my Mom to use the map feature on my phone and we found our way to one of our favorite stamp stores in Green Lake: Amuse. We found some cute stamps and paper - had fun looking around. We'd gone to their store a few years ago when we were in town for the CK Convention, but they'd moved locations and so it was fun to see their new home.

We meandered around and found our way to U Village. I *heart* U Village. :) There is so much to see there and many of my favorite stores are located there.

Example #1: Anthropologie. My roommate in college, Andrea, introduced me to this wonderful oasis of kitsch-ware. They have beautiful clothes, furniture, housewares, linens, jewelry, dishes, kitchenware, etc. etc. It's a little, no, a lot, expensive, so I didn't buy anything. I just love being in the presence of all those wonderful things!

Example #2: Sephora. I'd been trying to talk Mom into trying Bare Escentuals for a few weeks and told her when we got to Sephora, I'd make her try it. She did, we both bought a few items, and got our Sephora fix.

This is Mom leaving our favorite restaurant at U Village. It's a delicious Thai place that I also learned from Andrea. I had Pad Thai with Tofu (yes, tofu - it's good in this dish!) and Prawns. YUM! Mom had Kung Pao Chicken and we both enjoyed some Passion Iced Tea.

It's always raining at U Village and so they have these great bright yellow umbrellas that are outside every store - you just grab one on your way out and leave it at the door on your way in. There always seems to be one available for anyone who needs it! Doesn't she look natural?!

I didn't get any pictures, but we also went to Crate & Barrel and Miller-Pollard. :)

Example #3: Storables. This is for you, Jess. U Village doesn't have "The Container Store," but they do have Storables. I thought I was organized until I went here and saw all the things I could organize things in. WOW! I didn't buy anything here either - too many choices.

Seriously, do you want colored baskets? What size?

Or clear or white baskets? What size?!

We didn't go to Mrs. Cook's, but I like the name! :)

After our rainy, but fun afternoon at U Village, we found a hotel at South Center, watched Dancing with the Stars, and crashed. We had a big day ahead!

Wednesday:

We stopped by our neighborhood Starbucks:

A familiar sight:

and got to IKEA around 9:40am. Do you see what time it opens?!

We waited in the parking lot until it opened and then spent three - THREE - glorious hours strolling IKEA. Mom surprised me with a belated birthday gift on our way into IKEA - a gift card! YES! It was awesome! :) She felt bad that she'd forgotten to give it to me on my birthday - but I told her this was even better. So exciting!

We were exhausted after all that shopping, so we enjoyed lunch at The Cheesecake Factory. We shared a chicken and avacado club sandwhich and a salad. We had to save room for cheesecake, of course! I had a Kahlua cheesecake and Mom tried the Snickers. We ate half and saved half for a bedtime snack. (Doesn't this make you drool? I could've stared at that case all afternoon!)

Then, we went to our other favorite stamp store: Impress. There are four locations around Seattle, but this is their original store (read: biggest and best) and we could spend hours there. Besides all the great stamps, the examples are awesome. We found some cute things, of course! :)

We stopped a few other stores (including JoAnn's...I got a Cuttlebug and I got the pattern for that green fabric quilt kit, Jess), then met my cousin Kevin at BJ's for drinks when he got off work. He moved to the Seattle area about a year ago (2? I don't remember...) and works for the Seattle Thunderbirds as a marketing...person. He sells season tickets, advertising, etc. It was great to see him and hang out. We used to be really close, but have grown apart in the last few years. I miss him and his friendship a lot.

The next morning, we went to the Seattle Thunderbirds arena - Showare Center - and Kevin gave us a tour. They just moved into this arena in January, it's brand new. His office is in the arena too. It's a really nice arena and I could see that it would be fun to see a hockey game there!

The new arena is in Kent and Kevin suggested we go to Kent Station for some shopping, so we drove around and decided on lunch instead.

I'd heard of Panera Bread but had never seen one in real life. We decided to try it and are sure glad we did!! It was amazing!

...even if they did misunderstand our names...

Introducing Marvi...and Toni. :)

Mom's Roast Beef sandwhich and my Chicken Panini.

We decided to find some fabric stores that I'd searched for online. We went to one called The Calico Cat in Auburn. They had some beatiful quilts on display, I found a pattern for a 4th of July Table Runner and this cute Christmas countdown:

I don't remember the brand, but - Amy - I thought of you! It's so adorable!

I had found a few other quilt stores in the area, so we set off on a mission to find them. Long story short, we drove around FOREVER, in the rain, only to find one no longer there, and another, the address led us to a house - in a neighborhood - that was vacant. It became pretty funny, even though it really wasn't.

We decided just to drive around, check out downtown Burien, which I'd remembered as being pretty cute, but we didn't really see anything. We ended up driving along this road that had homes that looked out over the Puget Sound...can't you imagine living here?

It was like out of a movie or a book. So cute!

We decided to return to reality: Target.

Not that we really needed anything, but hey - it's always done us good!

Ok - now my favorite story. We went to Nordstrom at South Center. Mom decided to buy Bare Escentuals, but wanted to do it at Nordstrom to use her card (smart, right?!). I love Nordstrom, so we looked at all the cute shoes, fun spring clothes, jewelry, purses, oh my.

(P.S. I cannot stress how hard it was raining. I think I heard on the news that it rained an entire inch yesterday!)

So, as we're preparing to run out into the rain to our car, I'm trying to get my keys out of my purse (which I think has put a kink in my shoulder!), and I glance over at the ladies coming into Nordstrom. I do a double take. I kid you not, I swear it was Sarah Palin and her daughter Willow. I am not kidding. She had the suit, the hair, the glasses. I didn't want to make a scene and do a triple take, but I should have. Once we got outside, I told Mom, "That lady looked like Sarah Palin" and she said she had thought so too! Now that I've thought about it for an entire day, I am more sure (or I've talked myself into it) that it was her. Why didn't I stop and check? I would've never seen them (or the random lady) again. What did I have to lose?!

We braved the rain to go have some appetizers and drinks at a favorite restaurant, Claim Jumper. We enjoyed yummy Mojitos and a "dirty" Root Beer Float with Calamari and Cheesy Potatocakes. The atmosphere at Claim Jumper is so cozy; perfect for a raining evening.

We went back to our hotel to watch the Series Finale of ER. I was a little sad, I have to admit. I feel like I grew up with ER and now it's over. I loved seeing Drs. Weaver, Carter, Lewis, Corday, and Benton. My friends... I think I need to Netflix ER from the very beginning.

Friday, we got up and headed to Seattle to Pike's Place Market.

I think we were "had" at the Parking Lot. It advertises $14, but when I went to pay, I could only use a debit/credit, and it was $16.53...FOR TWO HOURS! Oh well, it was jut enough time.

One of my favorite sights in Seattle.

These two accumulated quite a crowd - but they were worth it. They were really good!

Fresh fruits and veggies...aren't the colors beautiful?

$17.99?! What kind of shrimp are these?!

I loved looking and smelling the fresh flowers - daffodils, tulips, mixed bouquets. So pretty.

Jessica Fife suggested we try this Russian restaraunt. They had great stuffed pastries. They were as good as she described, but a little messy to eat while walking and gawking.

Well well well...look what we found. The flagship Starbucks. The very first one. It was like a mothership calling us home. Mecca. The Holy Grail.

Call it what you want...it was fun to be in the presence. It got Mom & I thinking and talking about how this one little non-descript coffee shop launched a worldwide phenomenon. Really...how did that happen?

We watched the famous fish throwers for a while. This guy was chasing some tweens around with this fish...funny!

After Thursday's fiasco looking for a quilt shop, I had given up, even though I'd written down the name and address of one on Pike St. As we were looking around the market and in the shops below the market, we stumbled upon this:

Of course, I bought a cute Amy Butler quilt kit. (Jessica, I think this brings it to 11 projects...)

There was a pub in the basement of the market and they had these trays around the ceiling...check that one out!

We decided we'd better get on the road since we'd been hearing the pass was pretty bad the last couple of days. We passed this familiar landmark on our way to I-5.

How could we not stop in North Bend to peek at what they have?

(I got Samson a new Spring collar - it's teal! - and it was 50% off!)

Here's what the pass looked like. Notice it's bare and dry!!! I was so relieved. I was really nervous since all the news talked about was getting cars of out ditches and the max speed was 25mph. I was so so so happy.

We did have to stop for about 45 minutes while they did Avalanche Control. We turned off the car and rolled down the windows to enjoy the mountain fresh air. Once we got going again, we saw a few snowmen along the side of the road!!

Our list of "to-do's". I think we pretty much crossed everything off, except for going to dinner at "The Melting Pot" in Bellevue. Oh well, we got to enjoy so many fun things - do and see so many fun things - it was a great break. But I am glad to be home and that we still get to enjoy Saturday and Sunday at home!

Now, we get to unpack and play with our new toys!!! I hope everyone else has had such a great Spring Break!