Trip to Seattle and other fairly interesting tales

So, we just got back from Seattle. Aside from being a tiring ordeal where my brother drove me crazy more often than not and my family couldn't have fun even if you ran them down with clown cars, it was satisfying enough. My opinion of the city is very high; so far the only downside really has been that downtown was a nightmare, and the highways (as in all cities), tended to be crowded. It's amazing how 8 months in a relatively nowhere town will make you forget about rush hour traffic. :P Oh, and the hotel was horrible, but I'll get to that.

We stayed in Tukwila, and down the street from us was an amazing mall that my husband and I instantly fell in love with. It had three levels and damn near every store you could think of. We spent every last cent we had there, lol. Oddly enough, every place we ate at that wasn't fast food was ridiculously good; we went to Cheesecake Factory and I ate so much I actually had stomach cramps, then we went to this little fish bar near the Seattle Aquarium (which was a disappointingly kid-oriented and kid-filled disaster) and the food there was really good. Then we went to Olive Garden and THAT was really good too. Even the mall fare was better than average. Even the ZOO FOOD was awesome! I ate at this little faux-Chinese place and had the best damned orange chicken I've ever had. Speaking of which, the zoo was pretty cool. :) The actual enclosures weren't as good as the San Diego zoo, but it was almost as big and had less uphill.

Now, the hotel was the Courtyard Marriott and it's the worst place I've ever stayed at. They charged you for the "complimentary" bottles of water they put out (though the actual charge is in small print on the neck of the bottle), a single Drumstick brand ice cream cone was $3.50 (!!!!!), there were no vending machines, the bed and pillows were hard as rocks, the internet was crappy, and they charged for the safe at the front desk since they claim no liability for whatever valuables are lost or stolen in their hotel rooms. The rooms didn't come with a "do not disturb" sign so that the maids wouldn't come in and rummage through our stuff so we had to call up to the front desk to get one. I haven't unpacked yet so I don't know if we are missing anything but the general important electronics are still here.

In Bellevue there is the best Whole Foods I've ever been to. They had live ethnic music, an incredible section devoted just to freshly-made food, and the general cool Whole-foodsiness that I miss so much being here in Richland. It was very green there, too, trees everywhere.

It had such a great energy, and the demographic was really wide. In the mall especially there weren't just a few small families walking here and there in a sea of one specific race, but a literal equal mixture of most of the major ethnicities seen here in America. I hope one day the hubby and I can move close to Seattle. I loved it there and can't wait to go back to see the things we didn't get to see.

So, now on to things that happened before the trip.

The hubby sliced his hand about a week ago and had to go to the emergency room. He's getting his stitches out tomorrow and we were worried for a while that he wouldn't be able to use it, but he's got full strength and full feeling back in it so thank God for THAT.

He's leaving the mechanic profession and has gotten another job already, annnnnd I got a job as a photographer for the Picture People in the local mall. :D Not only that but I've gotten a few good deals as a freelancer lately and have actually been making money (finally) on my photography and retouching. I'm speaking with a local boutique owner/clothing designer about doing some long-term photography for her, so we'll see how that goes.

I'm excited about all the opportunities we've been getting lately! I think things are finally starting to turn around.

Also; for those of you who have known me for a long time, I'm not an easy person to deal with. I have wide emotional swings, I don't deal well with stress and I tend to explode when I can't stands no more. This trip would have been an absolute horror if not for this sublingual liquid B-complex that the hubby insisted we get before we left. And let me tell you, it does WORK. So if you have stress problems or emotional problems, seriously consider adding a B-complex into your supplement regimen if your multivitamin doesn't contain enough.

I also made these cool little vials that I wear around my neck; one has essential oils and herbs, and the other has semi-precious stones, both to help with positive energy and luck. Seems to be working so far. :)