Sleepless in Seattle

I had such an amazing time this past weekend in Seattle. I went to see some of my friends that moved there for work. It's humbling to be surrounded by my bright, ambitious friends pursuing their dreams in all different places. Visiting new places is always exciting for me.... it gives more perspective on how similar and how different people just are. There are many times I found myself saying X, Y, or Z in Seattle is just like X, Y, Z in Minneapolis or Texas. Then you find unique things to Seattle like the interesting weather, the intention behind the freemont troll (to discourage drug trades), and slack lining. We're all so much alike yet so different.

The weather in early March ranges from 40s to 50s. People definitely take advantage of great weather in Seattle. That's one thing we take for granted in the South - nice, sunny weather. One day it was dreadful and drizzly, and the next it will do a 180 and become gorgeous and sunny. The city becomes alive as the sun peaks over the mountains. It's a beautiful city. I love how green the city is from the compost stations to reusing alcohol bottles as water pitchers. My favorite place that we went to was Pike Place Market. There was food galore, fresh produce, seafood, flowers, and artists selling their crafts. The smells of Pike Place were intoxicating. One moment I was floating in smells of baked bread then fresh brewed coffee, and then flowers.

Pike Place Market

One of the original Starbucks is here... the line was super long!

Fresh produce

Delicious Clam Chowder... I don't even like clams!

Mini bites of heaven :)

Fresh Seafood!

Hanging out in Seattle

My cupcake army at Cupcake Royal in Bellevue

Heart shaped foam - a whole latte love!

The hammer man... one of the things to see in Seattle

Me and Tim in front of the Space Needle 

Hans, Me, and Alan

Me in front of the city 

Alan and I at Alki Beach

Me and Tanya at Green Lake Park

This was super cool! Tanya had a bracelet with the map of Paris Transit on it - she loves Paris. A guy that was slack lining with the group at the park was an exchange student from France. He was able to point out where he lived on Tanya's bracelet!

Trying out slack lining.... crazy north westerners! I couldn't stand without holding Tanya's hand

Nightlife

Got a quick taste of the Seattle night life. We went to a bar called Ballroom in Freemont. It was so much fun! I have to say, people in Seattle are unusually attractive. The crowd at Ballroom is diverse, there wasn't a predominant group there. They played a mix of hip hop, hip hop/trance, and some pop.

Alan, Me, and Alex 

Tim, Me, and Hans with our long island ice teas

Me and Tim! - Our friendship is quite unique. Whenever people ask how we know each other it's a really long story and filled with the right timing! Tim was in HK judging a case competition that he won in the previous year while I was studying abroad there. Tim happened to know my room mate Ebe from the case competition. Upon returning to the U.S., Tim was in between graduating and starting his job at P&G. In his time off he traveled extensively and came to Miami with my friends and I for Spring Break! We then saw each other again in Minneapolis. Tim would visit every so often because his girlfriend Hilary moved back to Minneapolis (her home town) after graduating from their alma mater. Since Vancouver (where Tim actually lives) is 2.5 hours away from Seattle, he made a quick weekend trip down to continue our international friendship. We have yet to see each other in our actual hometowns (Vancouver and Houston).