Tuesday, December 25, 2007
White Christmas
Snow started to fall around noon today. Then rain. Then more snow. Small flakes. My first white Christmas. Very exciting. I played with the dog and watched movies all day. Merry Christmas!
Thursday, December 6, 2007
first snow!
When I was busy shopping my savings away at the UCU annual show, it snowed! This was my first snow day in Seattle. Actually, my first snow day ever! Yes, it's true I was born in Chicago. But I don't remember anything, let alone snow days, since I only lived there until I was about three years old.
My housemates asked me if I was excited and stuck out my tongue to taste the snow. No, I didn't do that. Maybe I'll try it next time. I was excited to get out my camera and started snapping away at the white powder falling from the sky onto trees and buildings and cars lining the streets. I took a couple of pictures outside of the Seattle Center, across the street from Teatro Zinzanni. Took a couple more as I was walking back to the monorail heading back downtown. Managed to squeezed in a couple of more shots at the Westlake Center. Then finally had to put the camera away since it wasn't meant for that kind of weather.
When I came home, it was already dark out. Too bad. I wanted a picture of our house covered in snow. My housemate took some of the house and Maggie, our dog, earlier in the day. It came out nice. I also came home to a nine-foot Christmas tree. My job was to decorate it. I think we need more ornaments. Or maybe candy canes. I decorated the tree as the snow keep on falling. Alas, it all melted away on Sunday and we were left with a heavy rain storm instead.
My housemates asked me if I was excited and stuck out my tongue to taste the snow. No, I didn't do that. Maybe I'll try it next time. I was excited to get out my camera and started snapping away at the white powder falling from the sky onto trees and buildings and cars lining the streets. I took a couple of pictures outside of the Seattle Center, across the street from Teatro Zinzanni. Took a couple more as I was walking back to the monorail heading back downtown. Managed to squeezed in a couple of more shots at the Westlake Center. Then finally had to put the camera away since it wasn't meant for that kind of weather.
When I came home, it was already dark out. Too bad. I wanted a picture of our house covered in snow. My housemate took some of the house and Maggie, our dog, earlier in the day. It came out nice. I also came home to a nine-foot Christmas tree. My job was to decorate it. I think we need more ornaments. Or maybe candy canes. I decorated the tree as the snow keep on falling. Alas, it all melted away on Sunday and we were left with a heavy rain storm instead.
crafts galore
I went to the Urban Craft Uprising annual show on Saturday. UCU is in it's third year showcasing products from indie crafters near and far. I haven't been paying attention to the dates of the show much because I was never in the area. Now that I live in Seattle, how could I miss it!
I got up quite early for a Saturday morning and made it to the Seattle Center around 10:30am. The doors open at 11am. I wanted to try and be the first one hundred people so I could get a swag bags. Fat chance! By the time I got there I was about the two hundredth person in line. Oh well, better set the alarm clock next year.
There were over a hundred vendors inside the exhibition hall. UCU made a map of all the vendors to hand out to the enthusiastic shoppers. Myself included. Very helpful. You can also go on the UCU website before the show to see a list of vendors and their booth location. Also, there were hourly raffles and a fashion show.
No I did not take any pictures of the show. I was too busy browsing and buying. Don't worry, I managed to get out of there without spending a lot of money. I did came out with a bag full of business cards though. I'll be listing links to some of my favorite vendors on my other blog, favorites.feltlikeit.com. Look for the "ucu" tag/categories!
I got up quite early for a Saturday morning and made it to the Seattle Center around 10:30am. The doors open at 11am. I wanted to try and be the first one hundred people so I could get a swag bags. Fat chance! By the time I got there I was about the two hundredth person in line. Oh well, better set the alarm clock next year.
There were over a hundred vendors inside the exhibition hall. UCU made a map of all the vendors to hand out to the enthusiastic shoppers. Myself included. Very helpful. You can also go on the UCU website before the show to see a list of vendors and their booth location. Also, there were hourly raffles and a fashion show.
No I did not take any pictures of the show. I was too busy browsing and buying. Don't worry, I managed to get out of there without spending a lot of money. I did came out with a bag full of business cards though. I'll be listing links to some of my favorite vendors on my other blog, favorites.feltlikeit.com. Look for the "ucu" tag/categories!
Monday, November 26, 2007
Thanksgiving weekend
Oh four-day weekend. Loved it. Didn't do much. Ate a bunch of junk food, watched lots of TV, played with the dog. Very relaxing. That was Thursday and Friday. For Saturday, met up with Nan. We went shopping, cooked food, ate lots of food, worked on her wedding stuff, and ate some more. On Sunday I did some work on the computer. Downloaded and upgraded a couple of programs. I also uploaded the pictures of when Tracy was visiting in early November. So check out the Seattle album when you're free.
Friday, September 28, 2007
Fremont Oktoberfest
Went to the Fremont Oktoberfest on Saturday with Steve, Nan, Andrew, and Greg. Let's see, we started the festivities with food because none of us ate lunch. I think it was on purpose. At least for me anyway. I had bratwurst with grilled onions and sauerkraut. Then the five of us shared an order of curly fries. The guy was drilling the potatoes! And check out the size of one order of curly fries. Five of us and we couldn't finished it. Very sad. Then again the part we didn't get to had so much oil in it that it didn't taste so great anymore. Other food on sale that day: corn dog, burgers, crepes, grilled corn, samosa, shishkaberries, elephant ear. Didn't make it to the shishkaberries. Yumm, a row strawberries dipped in chocolate on a stick. How did I passed that up?
After getting our stomach ready for the alcohol, we got in line to retrieve our 3 oz(?)souvenir mug and tokens. Steve got our tickets ahead of time. Here is the set up, the beer garden is a separate section for those 21 and over. You still have to pay even if you're not going to drink. Less then the your alcohol counter part of course and you get two tickets for the root beer garden which is on the other side, and outside, of the beer garden. For those who are drinking, each token represents one tasting in your miniature mug. At first glance, the size of the mug didn't impress me much. After we began the tasting however, that little thing was just about the perfect size I needed for my four tokens! And yes you can buy more tokens as you go.
Here is the list of what I tried:
- Mothership Wit - loved it! Nice and light. My favorite.
- Arrogant Bastard Ale - oh the joy of being able to go up and order this heavier, more bitter brew with the nice, older gentleman who was serving us.
- Pumpkin Patch Ale - it's of the season so had to try it.
- Pear Cider - another light one with a little sweetness.
I like lighter beer so the first and the fourth were my favorite of the day. My friends like darker and more bitter brew so the others were their favorite. I took a sip of Kona Pipeline Porter from a friend's mug. I liked that one also. Nice coffee flavor. Yes I'm still talking about beer.
After the four tastings, we came back out to the food area since we were now ready for the elephant ear. It's suppose to be a local dish of fried dough. To our disappointment, the vendor was packing up! No elephant ear then. Will have to wait for the next festival. Across the street from the festival was Theo Chocolate. It's an organic chocolate factory...with lots of samples! Andrew, Steve, and I were in heaven! Little chunks of Chai tea, vanilla, Ghana, Venezuela, coffee, and nib brittle to sample. I think we each did double sampling on a couple of the flavors. Andrew dropped a not so subtle hint about the ones he wanted for his birthday, which is coming up apparently in a couple of days. Oh, Andrew and Nan also tasted the chocolate sugar body scrub. That's a little too adventurous for me even if all the ingredients were edible.
After lounging around on the couch at the chocolate factory, we headed over to Roxy's Diner for happy hour per Andrew's suggestion. Yes happy hour on a Saturday! All appetizers half off. The Reuben spring roll was the specialty. It made the list of Seattle's Best for 2006. Don't remember what category. Also on the order, fried vegetables and hummus plate. Alexis is now sitting in for Greg since he left earlier during the tasting. The spring rolls were really interesting, in a good way. Minus of course the oil dripping down our hands during each bite.
Back to the beer garden. But before we made out return, we took a side trip back to Theo. It was to let Alexis have a go at the samples since she met up with us at the cafe. Who am I kidding, we all wanted to go back for some more samples. Ok, now back to the beer garden. I didn't buy anymore tokens but did took a couple of sips from other people's mug just to taste. Can't remember which ones I tried. Too many names to remember. Apparently the Fremont Oktoberfest is one of the bigger ones in the country!
An entire day of beer and fried food and chocolate. I hope I'm still able to fit into my bridesmaid dress for Susan's wedding!
After getting our stomach ready for the alcohol, we got in line to retrieve our 3 oz(?)souvenir mug and tokens. Steve got our tickets ahead of time. Here is the set up, the beer garden is a separate section for those 21 and over. You still have to pay even if you're not going to drink. Less then the your alcohol counter part of course and you get two tickets for the root beer garden which is on the other side, and outside, of the beer garden. For those who are drinking, each token represents one tasting in your miniature mug. At first glance, the size of the mug didn't impress me much. After we began the tasting however, that little thing was just about the perfect size I needed for my four tokens! And yes you can buy more tokens as you go.
Here is the list of what I tried:
- Mothership Wit - loved it! Nice and light. My favorite.
- Arrogant Bastard Ale - oh the joy of being able to go up and order this heavier, more bitter brew with the nice, older gentleman who was serving us.
- Pumpkin Patch Ale - it's of the season so had to try it.
- Pear Cider - another light one with a little sweetness.
I like lighter beer so the first and the fourth were my favorite of the day. My friends like darker and more bitter brew so the others were their favorite. I took a sip of Kona Pipeline Porter from a friend's mug. I liked that one also. Nice coffee flavor. Yes I'm still talking about beer.
After the four tastings, we came back out to the food area since we were now ready for the elephant ear. It's suppose to be a local dish of fried dough. To our disappointment, the vendor was packing up! No elephant ear then. Will have to wait for the next festival. Across the street from the festival was Theo Chocolate. It's an organic chocolate factory...with lots of samples! Andrew, Steve, and I were in heaven! Little chunks of Chai tea, vanilla, Ghana, Venezuela, coffee, and nib brittle to sample. I think we each did double sampling on a couple of the flavors. Andrew dropped a not so subtle hint about the ones he wanted for his birthday, which is coming up apparently in a couple of days. Oh, Andrew and Nan also tasted the chocolate sugar body scrub. That's a little too adventurous for me even if all the ingredients were edible.
After lounging around on the couch at the chocolate factory, we headed over to Roxy's Diner for happy hour per Andrew's suggestion. Yes happy hour on a Saturday! All appetizers half off. The Reuben spring roll was the specialty. It made the list of Seattle's Best for 2006. Don't remember what category. Also on the order, fried vegetables and hummus plate. Alexis is now sitting in for Greg since he left earlier during the tasting. The spring rolls were really interesting, in a good way. Minus of course the oil dripping down our hands during each bite.
Back to the beer garden. But before we made out return, we took a side trip back to Theo. It was to let Alexis have a go at the samples since she met up with us at the cafe. Who am I kidding, we all wanted to go back for some more samples. Ok, now back to the beer garden. I didn't buy anymore tokens but did took a couple of sips from other people's mug just to taste. Can't remember which ones I tried. Too many names to remember. Apparently the Fremont Oktoberfest is one of the bigger ones in the country!
An entire day of beer and fried food and chocolate. I hope I'm still able to fit into my bridesmaid dress for Susan's wedding!
Monday, September 3, 2007
Hello Seattle!
After spending August apartment hunting on craigslist, I finally found a September sublease in downtown Seattle. My flight landed on a sunny Thursday. Nan picked me up from the airport and we went to a late lunch in Wallingford. Majority of the restaurants were closed but that might have been because it was after the usually lunch hours on a weekday. We ended up at a Japanese place because, well, it was open.
She dropped me off at my September home, a twelfth floor 2 bedroom apartment with a view of downtown. I met my new roommate who was sick and stayed home from work. Didn't do much the rest of the day except went to the store downstairs to buy food. Actually, didn't do much on Friday either. Went to the downtown library, an amazing structure with glass and steel exterior, to pick up bus map book. Walk around downtown a little bit and came back to the apartment.
On Saturday, went to Nan's and Steve's apartment to have lunch and went for a walk around Green Lake. We decided to rent a pedal boat. It was $12 for an hour. After putting on our life vests, we got to pedaling. We were aiming for duck island but wasn't sure if were going to make it because, after 10 minutes, we were already tired! We came pretty close to the island and then turned around to go back to the dock. The ride back was a lot easier because the current was going with us. Needless to say we did not last the full hour. We went and got green tea lemonade at Starbucks (insert Seattle joke here), and headed home. On the drive back to drop me off, we stopped at REI to pick up some pack towels for them and Trader Joe's to pick up grocery for both our places.
Sunday and today, I watched TV, listened to music, and cruised craigslist for shared housing and employment. I'll be doing that pretty much everyday until I find a place to live and land a new job. But I did went out for a drink tonight with my roommate's friends at Joey's in South Lake Union. Very nice place on the water. We sat outside. The weather is similar to Santa Barbara right now.
So that's my first couple of days in my new city. And my first holiday. Hope everyone had a great Labor Day weekend.
She dropped me off at my September home, a twelfth floor 2 bedroom apartment with a view of downtown. I met my new roommate who was sick and stayed home from work. Didn't do much the rest of the day except went to the store downstairs to buy food. Actually, didn't do much on Friday either. Went to the downtown library, an amazing structure with glass and steel exterior, to pick up bus map book. Walk around downtown a little bit and came back to the apartment.
On Saturday, went to Nan's and Steve's apartment to have lunch and went for a walk around Green Lake. We decided to rent a pedal boat. It was $12 for an hour. After putting on our life vests, we got to pedaling. We were aiming for duck island but wasn't sure if were going to make it because, after 10 minutes, we were already tired! We came pretty close to the island and then turned around to go back to the dock. The ride back was a lot easier because the current was going with us. Needless to say we did not last the full hour. We went and got green tea lemonade at Starbucks (insert Seattle joke here), and headed home. On the drive back to drop me off, we stopped at REI to pick up some pack towels for them and Trader Joe's to pick up grocery for both our places.
Sunday and today, I watched TV, listened to music, and cruised craigslist for shared housing and employment. I'll be doing that pretty much everyday until I find a place to live and land a new job. But I did went out for a drink tonight with my roommate's friends at Joey's in South Lake Union. Very nice place on the water. We sat outside. The weather is similar to Santa Barbara right now.
So that's my first couple of days in my new city. And my first holiday. Hope everyone had a great Labor Day weekend.
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
We survived!
Briana, Annie, David, and I survived our one month trip through Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam. My three friends left last week. I'm getting ready to pack up and catch my flight back to the US tomorrow. Pictures and stories to follow. I missed having internet at home.
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Boeing 777
I love the new Boeing 777! I flew on EVA airling from LA to Taipei to Bangkok on the new 777 on both leg of my flight. The Economy section is divided into 3-3-3 as in grouping of 3 seats for the window, middle, and window. It has a little bit more room on the aisle and definitely more leg room. That means a full leg stretch for me and partial stretch for the taller people. I had my own individual monitor, which I took full advantage of my watching 2 movies since I couldn't sleep much. Bejeweled 2 also came in handy. So did John Mayer and the Beatles.
As for EVA, I don't have any complaints. Good service, nice (real) blanket, and a pair of disposable slippers in every seat (for the long flight at least). The longer the flight the more amenities and service.
As for EVA, I don't have any complaints. Good service, nice (real) blanket, and a pair of disposable slippers in every seat (for the long flight at least). The longer the flight the more amenities and service.
Tuesday, June 5, 2007
packing, unpacking, packing
Ok, so I've packed up and moved out of Santa Barbara. I'm now unemployed and getting ready to go to Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam. Had to unpack half of my stuff, couldn't fine where most things have disappeared to, and now packed again for the trip.
Hopefully I'll get to do some posts while on the road. In the mean time, you can keep yourself busy by looking at my Flikr: www.flickr.com/photos/travelingbee22
Hopefully I'll get to do some posts while on the road. In the mean time, you can keep yourself busy by looking at my Flikr: www.flickr.com/photos/travelingbee22
Thursday, May 24, 2007
packing and moving
New Orleans stories will have to wait a little longer. I've been busy packing because, after alomost a decade in beautiful Santa Barbara, I'm moving! More details to come.
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Prince Conti Hotel
Got to the Prince Conti Hotel just before 2am. I was so tired and ready to just go to bed. I was also trying to force myself to get used to the time difference. I went from Pacific time to Daylight Saving time to Central time.
An interesting thing happened when I walked through the front door though. There was a policewoman arresting a female guest. The front desk clerk later told me that the guest left her son, who looked to be about 10 years old, alone in the room while her and her fiance went out. The son was taking a nap and started crying out for his mother when he woke up to find the room empty. The clerk tried calling her cell phone several times but no one answer. The hotel had to call the police.
After all the excitement, I went up to my room and settled down. I'm glad I picked this hotel. Great location, nice staff, comfortable room. The hotel let me checked out at noon instead of 11am and kept my bags for me until around 6:30pm. The bag storage was definitely a bonus for me because I wasn't heading over to the volunteer site until Monday night. Surprisingly not all hotels offer this service. Many will only let you leave the bags for no more then an hour. I would definitely stay at the Prince Conti Hotel again.
An interesting thing happened when I walked through the front door though. There was a policewoman arresting a female guest. The front desk clerk later told me that the guest left her son, who looked to be about 10 years old, alone in the room while her and her fiance went out. The son was taking a nap and started crying out for his mother when he woke up to find the room empty. The clerk tried calling her cell phone several times but no one answer. The hotel had to call the police.
After all the excitement, I went up to my room and settled down. I'm glad I picked this hotel. Great location, nice staff, comfortable room. The hotel let me checked out at noon instead of 11am and kept my bags for me until around 6:30pm. The bag storage was definitely a bonus for me because I wasn't heading over to the volunteer site until Monday night. Surprisingly not all hotels offer this service. Many will only let you leave the bags for no more then an hour. I would definitely stay at the Prince Conti Hotel again.
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
SBA > LAX > MSY
I booked a vacation package through United. I ended up arriving a day earlier then the rest of my group so I needed a room for the first night. The vacation package was flexible enough to let me choose how many nights of hotel I wanted, instead of for the entire trip. So that worked out really well.
SBA
My flight was leaving Sunday afternoon. I got there a little early so I went up to the Overlook Cafe to get something to eat. It was a nice little cafe with a view of the airport and UCSB. You can see the runway off to one side and Storke Tower off to the other. My sandwhich was good but I did have to keep going down the menu list since the kitchen ran out of a couple items. I finished off my meal with a shot of Lemon-Lime Airborne.
I went to the gate to go through security check and waited for the plane. And yes I did remember the 3-1-1 rule. On the plane, I had window seat. It was such a nice day out. Flying during the day has it's perks. On a nice day you would get to enjoy a great view from above. I got to enjoy the beautiful clear sky, the California coast line, and the Channel Islands.
LAX
Got in from Santa Barbara on time. I had about an one and a half hour layover so I just read. When I boarded the plane, the captain told us we would be about 40 minutes late due to high wind. It was definitely a bummer since the originally scheduled arrival in New Orleans was midnight!
MSY
Got in to New Orleans around 12:45am. There was no shuttle because the flight was late so the shuttle operators left and would not be back for another hour or so. After getting our luggages, everyone who wanted to take the shuttle had to go with the taxi or else wait until the operators came back. It was definitely scary taking the taxi by myself in the middle of the night. But I made it into the city just fine.
SBA
My flight was leaving Sunday afternoon. I got there a little early so I went up to the Overlook Cafe to get something to eat. It was a nice little cafe with a view of the airport and UCSB. You can see the runway off to one side and Storke Tower off to the other. My sandwhich was good but I did have to keep going down the menu list since the kitchen ran out of a couple items. I finished off my meal with a shot of Lemon-Lime Airborne.
I went to the gate to go through security check and waited for the plane. And yes I did remember the 3-1-1 rule. On the plane, I had window seat. It was such a nice day out. Flying during the day has it's perks. On a nice day you would get to enjoy a great view from above. I got to enjoy the beautiful clear sky, the California coast line, and the Channel Islands.
LAX
Got in from Santa Barbara on time. I had about an one and a half hour layover so I just read. When I boarded the plane, the captain told us we would be about 40 minutes late due to high wind. It was definitely a bummer since the originally scheduled arrival in New Orleans was midnight!
MSY
Got in to New Orleans around 12:45am. There was no shuttle because the flight was late so the shuttle operators left and would not be back for another hour or so. After getting our luggages, everyone who wanted to take the shuttle had to go with the taxi or else wait until the operators came back. It was definitely scary taking the taxi by myself in the middle of the night. But I made it into the city just fine.
Monday, April 9, 2007
Volunteering in New Orleans
I was in New Orleans March 12 thru March 17 to volunteer with Common Ground Collective. I went with Gulf Coast Recovers, a group that my friend Jen is a member of. I had planned to travel to the Gulf Coast last year but did not make it due to schedule conflict with work. But when Jen email me the dates for this year's trip, I was really excited because I knew the timing would work.
Jen had sent out an email telling everyone about her plan to return to New Orleans and invited all of us along on her Spring Break trip (she's in grad school). After all the email replies back and forth, it was down to the six of us: me, Jen, Shakinah, Tammy, Ben, and Adam. We would all fly in to New Orleans separately, from California and New York, and meet up there.
Jen had sent out an email telling everyone about her plan to return to New Orleans and invited all of us along on her Spring Break trip (she's in grad school). After all the email replies back and forth, it was down to the six of us: me, Jen, Shakinah, Tammy, Ben, and Adam. We would all fly in to New Orleans separately, from California and New York, and meet up there.
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