Leyla comes to visit!

A few weeks ago i got to play hostess to my lovely friend Leyla when she spent the better part of a week visiting Seattle! Although Seattle winter's are typically chilly and rainy, we lucked out and had absolutely amazing weather while she was in town. Even though it was still in the upper 30s, it was sunny almost everyday, except the last day when there was more fog than i had ever seen in my entire life.

The first day she was here, after meeting Jon on his lunch break at this nice little pizza place, we headed down to pike place market which I'd recommend visiting on a weekday because there are not as many people around so you can browse much more easily and talk to the vendors. There are also many layers to the market, so make sure you go downstairs:

Leyla in front the "Public Market" sign

Vibrant fruit and veggies, but remember: "pleeza no squeeza"

We also visited the original starbucks! A must do if you are down by the market. If you happen to catch it at a time where the line is not out the door, run as fast as you can because its rare that you wont have to wait at least 15 minutes:

On day two, we made our way down to the International District to check out the japanese bookstore and market that I previously visited with my friend Michelle back in November. while we were down that way, we visited hing hay park.

and of course, we had to have pictures by the china town gate:

we rushed to take the light rail to make it to the seattle underground tour to learn about the history of Seattle and (fun fact alert) the current streets are actually two stories high. 

View from under the sidewalk 

We headed down to the Seattle waterfront for lunch with a fabulous view of Elliot Bay and the seattle great wheel (a recent addition to the waterfront) which we took a ride on after lunch:

and of course, I had to take her to the iconic gum wall.  

We finished the evening with a walk down by the amazon campus and to lake union.

(side note: we had a little trouble with our cameras and didnt get a picture of the two of us :( but its still a great memory).

On the last day of her visit, we headed up to capitol hill which is know for its night life and eccentric shops and people. We, however, went during the day and hit up dick's drive-in, a Seattle staple. The fog was insane that morning. I wish i had a picture of it (but silly me) didn't take one. After a quick stop in at the art supply store to warm up, we headed down to seattle center to check out the emp museum which is amazing for not only music lovers but also sci-fi lovers as well. They currently have an amazing Jimi Gendrix exhibit. We spent hours there. 

Of course, we had to have a picture with the space needle! 

To end the visit, we had dinner with Jon, David, Rebecca and Pavneet.

:)

But did i mention the food? I really should have.

And since its Thursday, here is a picture of Leyla & I from 2010: 

Hooray for long standing friendships!

xo

oh la la glassblowing

recently, thanks to livingsocial, i got the chance to go glassblowing at the seattle glassblowing studio. it's a bit expensive usually but with the deal, husband and i both got to go for $40 instead of $170 (also thanks to our friends david and rebecca and livingsocials buy three get one free policy). it was a really fun experience and i definitely recommend it if you ever get the chance! with the class we took we got to make our own ornament or seafloat. we chose seafloats so we can enjoy them all year long.

the process is very guided. they give you a lengthy (but necessary) safety talk. but you get to chose your colors and take part in each step. like coloring the glass and holding it in the furnace which burns at nearly 2000°F.

you also get to actually blow the glass. your breath gets trapped in the glass forever! which is really cool if you think about it. my sunglasses are for safety and not fashion - as cool as they make me seem. 

the outside layer of the glass hardens almost instantly, but the glass actually takes about 48 hours to completely cool. it goes in this cooling cabinet called an annealer which slowly lowers the temperature and allows the glass to cool slowly so that the glass doesn't crack.

and finally, the finished products! mine is all the way on the right and husband's is the second to the right. apparently we went with a fire and ice theme. which somehow suits us.

you can read a little bit about the history of glassblowing here and how the pacific northwest plays into that.

Happy (Belated) Holidays

I hope your holidays with friends and family were filled with smiles and wonderful memories. 

We spent 10 days visiting our families on the east coast:

As per annual tradition, my best friend Katie, my sister Robin, Katie's sister Marianne, and Jon had our gingerbread making contest. And as per usual, it got a little messy. 

Although, I think our house-making skills have come a long way in the past few years. 

My friend Michelle gave me a brilliant present - a polaroid camera! Thanks, Michelle! 

Some of the best pictures from our trip were captured on polaroid film.

 We had a lovely dinner at a Japanese restaurant with our friend Beatrix.

We spent some time in Pennsylvania visiting Kristin.

We celebrated my Mom's birthday by going out to dinner with the whole family.

And we went to lunch with my former bosses, both of whom I miss so much! 

We enjoyed a lovely evening in the company of two close friends, Michelle and Chardon.

We got to spend NYE with my birthday twin Gina and her boyfriend Zach!

Happy 2013! 

Sharing the Love

One of my favorite things about living in Seattle is being able to go to the market and get flowers for our apartment. The stands are now selling dried flowers which means they will last for an extremely long time and still look incredibly beautiful.

Happy 12/12/12!

Wintertime in Seattle

Seattle in the winter hasn't been too traumatizing yet. Mostly in the upper 30s - lower 40s with sun and rain pretty much everyday. The weather can change at the drop of a hat so it's best just to wear a rain jacket and hope for the best.

Lately things have been slowing down. I'm finished all of my Christmas shopping and all of our presents are wrapped under the tree! And Christmas is still 20 days away. I'm choosing to take this as a win and not that I'm going to miss out on any last minute deals.

I've recently decided that Pike's Place Market at Christmastime is one of my favorite places in the world. It's so festive. There are lights everywhere (just like the rest of the city) and they even pieces of fruit lit up near the entrance.

We also at this place called Lowell's Restaurant inside the market. And it was amazing. Even the vegetarian sandwich. So if you are ever in the city and want to eat at the market with an amazing view, this is the place.

Holiday Festivities

Just some highlights from the past week:

An absolutely gorgeous day on Lake Union. 

Usually when we head that way, it pours rain. 

But the sky looked nice so we decided to risk it. I'm glad we did. 

Walking around and enjoying all of Seattle's lights and holiday decorations. Including a 

Charlie Brown-esque tree. 

Some fun pictures from Chihuly Garden and Glass. Really a spectacular thing to see. 

Maybe we will try to visit all of his exhibits around the world.

Bucket list, anyone?

I'll leave you with this picture of the Space Needle.