My Seattle Getaway

Even though my trip didn't start off on exactly the right foot (I forgot both my camera AND straightener at home) it ended up being absolutely lovely, wonderful and yet bittersweet.......all at the same time.  Bittersweet that I was leaving my darling little girl at home when her Aunt Amy would have loved to smother her with tons of kisses and hugs......but at the same time so full of excitement and comfort in being with one of my oldest and dearest friends.

Amy and I first met in the middle of 6th grade when her father retired from the Army and settled her family in my corner of the world when he took a civilian job at the local helicopter plant.  I believe that our friendship was most certainly God sent.  For as anal retentive, uptight and controlled as I tend to be, Amy is free spirited, light hearted and spontaneous.  I've known her for so long that I actually forget sometimes that we're not REALLY blood relatives.  There is such comfort in her friendship.  In certain conversations and stories, there is so much unsaid but not unnoticed.  She doesn't have to tell me how she reacted to a situation - I already know.

I wish I had words to truly express how much she and her friendship means to me.  She is my Ya Ya Sister and if something were ever to happen to me.......she would be the woman I choose to be Natalie's mother.

Okay.  Full confession.  I've had a glass of wine, I'm listening to Adele, I'm missing my bestie and now I'm crying.

Sigh.

*Sniff*

Okay.  On with the trip.

I relished in having ample time on the flights to read, drink coffee and listen to my iPod.  I not only finished Sarah's Key (dark, historical, but highly enjoyable and powerful) but started AND finished The Great Gatsby as well (it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it was in high school).  I also bought and started reading Warrior Girls which delves into the topic of girls in sports since the passing of Title IX as well as the accompanying outrageous amount of knee (and other) injuries that plague many elite level female athletes.  Sociology, feminism AND sports?  This book is RIGHT up my alley.

I met some interesting people on all four of my flights: Bobby the ASU college student from Maryland returning home from a trip to Kansas to visit his girlfriend, an older lady whose name I cannot remember but whose husband died five years ago and she has spent these years traveling the world with a good friend, and Michael the Marine fresh out of boot camp who was surprising his pregnant girlfriend at home with a ring and a deployment to Afghanistan.

But the most interesting person that I met?  Former Dallas Maverick, Steve motha effin Nash.  This picture was taken in the Phoenix airport on July 10th as he was presumably departing for Los Angeles where he signed a contract to play for the Lakers.  "Bobby" and I were walking out of the Phoenix airport, him to his ride and me to another terminal for my flight to Seattle when he caught me and said "do you know who you just walked by?"  By this time we were outside in the oppressive Phoenix sun so as I searched desperately for my sunglasses in my purse, I shook my head in response.  "Steve Nash.  I know you follow basketball.  Steve effing Nash!"  Now Bobby was practically hyperventilating and vibrating all at the same time.  I peeked my head back through the airport entrance and sure enough, there he was, hugging his wife (girlfriend?) good-bye.  Bobby and I stared at each other.  "What do we do?  We've got to go get a picture!" I kind of yelled at him excitedly.  "Can we do that?" Bobby answered.....still shaking.  "When else are you going to run into Steve Nash?  Seriously!  I'm from DALLAS!  My husband is going to be SO jealous!  Come on!" That's all it took and Bobby was following me back into the airport.  I ran after Steve calling out "Mr. Nash!  Mr. Nash!"  He turned around with an "oh shit, they found me" look on his face, but I put on my best excited but apologetic smile and stuck out my hand.  The first words out of my mouth?  Not the greatest - it was one of those Dirty Dancing "I carried a watermelon" moments.  "Hi, I'm from Dallas.  We love you.  My husband's family named their dog after you."  Face palm.  Yikes.  Not my smoothest moment, but I had adopted Bobby's nervous shaking for my own and I hadn't really thought my plan out past calling his name and getting a picture.  The picture on my iPhone that Bobby took is a little blurry because he was shaking so bad and I'm sure the one that I took was pretty similar.  And as we walked away, Bobby and I did the requisite fist bump of accomplishment and quickly got on our phones to call our important people to completely brag about our experience in the Phoenix airport.  Steve Nash ended up being very personable despite the fact that he looked a little exhausted.  He wasn't as tall as I expected (only a few inches above my six foot frame) and he looked very thin.......and old.

Upon arrival in Seattle, I met up with Amy and her three (almost four) year old son Jake in the airport and we set off for some adventures around the city.  We visited the famous Pike's Public Market which was amazing but also totally crowded and overwhelming for me.  There was so much to look at and take in!  Amy ended up buying some fresh raspberries for cupcakes she was making later in the week and I purchased two gorgeous professional black and white photographs of the city.  
Oh.  And our first stop of course was the first ever Starbucks.  Yum.

I had only two requests from Amy as to our itinerary in Washington, one being pedicures and the other a viewing of Magic Mike.  I'm not even ashamed to admit that I thoroughly enjoyed the movie - although I think the best part was the four little old ladies in front of us who were incredibly invested in the plot line, characters and the abs of Matthew McConaughey.


Here's Amy getting her toes done!

The weather was remarkably wonderful while I was there.  We only had one day of rain and the rest of the week was warm in the low 70s which is pretty rare for Washington state, particularly Whidbey Island where Amy lives.  For most of the week we tooled around town in Amy's super cute "Cinderella blue" Volkswagen Beetle convertible while we listened to Mumford & Sons, Madonna and a little bit of Texas country.

I love this girl.  

A very high (and apparently famous) bridge that stretches from the mainland of Washington state to Amy's island.  Amy's husband Michael tried to get me way out in the middle of the bridge for a picture with the mountain behind us but I could hardly do it.  I walked timidly out there, smiled so incredibly fake and turned on my heel and marched back to safety.  I don't mind heights where I'm protected from falling (tall buildings, airplanes, etc.). but I didn't like the fact that the only thing protecting me from plummeting to an untimely death was a single metal rail that barely grazed my hip.  One swift gust of wind and I was positive that my tall frame would be pushed over the railing and I would be a goner.
I've always been known to have a pretty active imagination.  

A view of the land from the side of the bridge where my feet were firmly planted on solid ground.  Although Amy's little town is pretty far away from the comforts of home (namely, Target) if you're going to be stranded out in the middle of nowhere living on a Naval base, at least there is some pretty scenery to look at.

On Friday night before I was put on a shuttle back to Seattle and the airport, Amy and I headed to the nearest mall (40 minutes away) for an early showing of Magic Mike.  I'm not even ashamed to admit that I really enjoyed it.  And not just because of the eye candy - Channing Tatum is pretty hilarious and a great dancer.  We had wonderful time giggling, eating popcorn and listening to movie commentary coming from the four old ladies in front of us.  On the way home we started to get hungry so we picked up a real classy dinner for ourselves - pizza and a six pack of Mike's Hard Pink Lemonade.  Just like when we were in high school.
All in all it was a great week away visiting my dearest friend but never in my life have I had such a hard time getting adjusted back home!  Finally......a full WEEK after I returned home, do I feel put together, on top of things and in control.  Luckily it's just in time for the week from hell - volleyball camp, Craig's big NCAA basketball tournament, a knee surgery and a trip to Austin this weekend.  Yikes.