Seattle

Friends,

I had a very spontaneous trip to Seattle,

arriving on the eve of my birthday.

 

My friend Jennifer is from Seattle

and had a solo

trip planned for herself.

 

I crashed her party for one,

and became the guest of honor.

 

 

Jennifer used to be a flight attendant,

so she knows all the tricks for traveling in style.

 

And also how many dings you can hear on a plane before its time to freak out.

 

We flew separately, because...

 

This was not planned.

I am a vacation crasher.

I had no idea my job would allow time off,

before it was earned. 

 

But upon request, Boss says,

he will never say no to requested time off. 

 

I can have all the time that I need

and want for my life.

 

And I assured him,

I would be available.

 

I would close a deal from the top of a mountain,

because I am all in to my job.

 

He said, he already knew that.

 

He trusts me.

 

He values me.

I will continue to do well at work,

when I am well at life.

 

So vacationing I will go!

 

  

I sat in the middle seat on the plane,

because I was flying Southwest

and didn't bother to check in.

 

 I nearly missed my flight because I was having such an adventure

just being in an airport alone,

but nevermind that, 

because I happened to get

The. Best. Seat. in the house.

 

Next to this little gem, Bailey and her mom.

 

They were flying to meet Daddy,

who is in the military.

 

Many folks moan and groan,

about sitting by a baby on a plane.

 

Not me. 

I was THRILLED.

 

I held her the entire flight,

and she never made a peep,

besides happy babbles and giggles.

 

Bailey just gave silent smiles,

with her bright eyes,

when she wasn't napping on me.

 

I gave her mom my phone and suggested

she start taking selfies of herself,

so I could share her amazing hair,

with Lily.

 

I want Lily to just go BIG with her natural hair.

And she slicks it down into a ponytail every day.

 

This Mama was having fun,

I look over and she's now taken off her glasses,

lifting the phone higher,

as she models to herself.

 

What fun!

I carried Bailey all the way to baggage claim,

as I kept asking Mom, if this was ok,

I did have 2 mini vodkas in Bloody Mary mix

(mini liquor bottles, Jennifer's great tip!).

 

It was all ok with Bailey, her mom, and me.

 

I landed in my hotel, by 11 pm, as expected.

 

I had it all planned out,

I would get to the hotel and rent the movie,

"Wild", while I waited for Jennifer to appear.

 

I would arrive at 11 pm

and Jennifer would arrive at 1 am

(my birthday morning!).

 

"Wild" was a book we both read,

 and a movie we planned to see together.

 

Jennifer had already seen it,

so once I finished the movie,

we could talk about it when she arrived.

 

As we also chatted about our own

little "Wild"

soul finding,

 adventure together.

 

When the movie ended,

Jennifer knocked on my door.

 

We stayed up far too late,

just giggling that we were on the West Coast together.

 

We then infused the room and ourselves,

with lavender essential oils,

to relax and lull our excited souls to sleep.

 

Our morning started with coffee,

and she handed me,

my first birthday card of the year.

 

We were ready to start our day.

We got in the car and Tom Petty was blasting,

and there was a rainbow!

We parked the car and

got out to taste some west coast air!

 

A most perfect welcome into my 39th birthday.

We were jumping, running, laughing.

 

Just ecstatic to have arrived

and start our vacation together.

Next stop,

Mexican for breakfast.

And on to Pike's Place Market.

It was my third trip to Seattle,

and Pikes Place.

 

Which made the trip even better.

 

There was nothing urgent or must see

about this trip.

It was more just going back to my favorite places,

and enjoying them again.

 

The cheese factory is my favorite.
 

The factory is right in the store.
 

My Grandpa Lensmire owned a cheese factory,

and was a cheesemaker,

and it reminds me of my childhood,

just to be there.

 

Also, you can't get those fresh curds in Chicago's western suburbs.

I put them in my backpack and enjoyed the salty, squeaky bites all afternoon.

The weather forecast showed...rain.

 

And there was none.

 

It wasn't even overcast.

The sun shined down on us all day.

 

From there we headed to our next hotel

and quickly got ready for our evening.

 

We met Jennifer's childhood friends

at their establishment.

 

It was this wonderfully haunted building,

that made me feel

 like I was in the board game Clue.

 

Real ghost stories,

and an awesome folk band.

 

I loved Jennifer's people,

and enjoyed the music and the scene.

 

I enjoyed being more of an observer,

than the center of attention,

for maybe the first time ever,

on my birthday.

Oh and did I mention,

the upstairs tattoo parlor?

 

I got my one and only tattoo

on my 21st birthday.

 

I was a bit tempted...

so I sat in the chair and pretended.

But I was feeling bold enough,

in my floral headband,

I didn't really need more ink.

 

I met the darling 3 year old daughter of the owners, who had a daycare room and nanny upstairs.

 

They introduced me by saying,

"this is Jennifer's friend Heather,

and its her birthday."

 

The 3 year old girl responded with

"and she's a Princess!!!"

 

This was likely one of my

greatest compliment of all times.

 

I think I will be bold enough,

 to wear that flower crown again,

and start curtsying upon introductions.

 

We tucked in as early as possible,

knowing we had more exciting things

to see the next day.

 

The most exciting things,

like Jennifer's hometown,

the house she grew up in,

and a glimpse into her life before we met.

 

Her Dad was the mayor of her small town,

which means we got to trespass all over the place.

 

We landed right in her old backyard.

 

She grew up with this river in her backyard,

it was so clear you could drink it.

 

With a view of the mountains.

 

 Just as I was "stealing" a piece of driftwood,

the new owner came out.

 

I admitted I was both trespassing and stealing.

 

Jennifer introduced herself.

 

He offered us coffee.

 

We declined, but asked him to take our picture.

 

Funny.

Then we went straight to the winery.

It was Jennifer's first time here,

and my second.

We were preregistered for a March Madness

tasting event.

It rained the rest of the day,

and we were annoyed with the staff,

for attempting to tell us how and when and in what order to be enjoying our wine.

 

Our humor got us through.

On our last day,

we had coffee.



And thrift shopping.

 

And my favorite lunch.

Another friend of Jennifer's joined us,

and we rolled right into cocktails and snacks,

in the basement café of our hotel.

 

Just like I dreamed we would.

A dirty martini

and almonds roasted in duck fat

on a rainy afternoon.

 

It was dreamy.

 

It was one of those vacations,

that you don't need a vacation from.

 

A perfectly wonderful, relaxing,

and healing retreat.

 

Which gave me the time and space

and friendship connection

to gladly return to my real life blessings.

 

Including dishes and laundry and bedtimes

and all those things I needed a break from.

 

39 might be my best year yet!