Seattle

My husband and I just took a trip to the great city of Seattle at the beginning of April, and we had a marvelous time (as per usual). I went before him to take an exam for Interior Design certification (NCIDQ). It was a tough test, but I am glad I finally took it. I don't find out for 14 weeks total if I passed any or all of the sections, which is stressful... but at least I am done studying for now.

Day Two (night before last test)
My friend Erin (who is proud to call Seattle her hometown) and her boyfriend, picked me up from my hotel and they took me to Georgetown (a new development in the industrial part of town). In Georgetown we peeked in a few shops and had dinner at Smarty Pants, which is a great place for sandwiches and local brews.

Day Three (after testing)
I was picked up by my husband and his cousin from the Hilton. We then met more family for dinner at Taste of India... a fabulous Indian Restaurant. Where we had the most gigantic Nahn bread we had ever seen. After dinner we went to the University of Washington to see the Cherry Tree's in bloom, and scope out some of its beautiful architecture.

Day Four
We headed to the market (Pikes Public Market), and had breakfast at Lowell's which had a fabulous view of the city. Since the weather was so perfect and sunny.

After breakfast we headed to Discovery Park and hiked all the way to the beach, where we had a excellent view of Mt. Rainer. We then hiked back to the car and toured an open house... a brand new home in Seattle... I was curious of course.

We then headed to the Locks which was packed with people since it was such a sunny day. Though there were no fish to look at. On our way back we stopped by the Flea Market and Festival down in Fremont. I found many new items that could be used for various crafts such as tabaco cards.

Later we went to dinner at Quinn's which is in the Capitol Hill District, there we ate Bone Marrow and Escargot, a nice salad, and Venison sausage (spicy) with a huckleberry sauce, along with a few beers from various parts of the world... very delicious, great design, and atmosphere.

On our back to the car, we stopped at Elysian Brewery where I had a sampler of their standard beers. It was one of the best set-ups for a Brewery/Restaurant we had seen, included local art and a laid back atmosphere.

Day Five

Our morning started at University Village to do some shopping, and of course we had some Starbucks while on our way (isn't there one every mile in seattle?). There where three stores in the shopping center!

After shopping we headed down to Kingfish Cafe (one of seattle's treasures) for some food. Ryan had the fried chicken salad (with sweet potatoes) while I had the Gumbo and fresh cornbread.

Then visited the Seattle Public Library, one of the newer buildings of Modern Architecture in the City. Has a great concept of the ramped levels of bookshelves down to each floor.

Back to the market area, stopping at Nordstrom Rack for some good finds. Bought a couple of t-shirts from a graphic artist at the market who made some fantastic silkscreen prints.

Then back to the house for some fresh (since we are from Idaho) clams and bbq shrimp... was delicious!

Day Six

Fly Home... Can't wait to come back again!