seattle state of mind

we finally got back home last night after spending the past few days eating well and bundling up against the rainy and windy elements of Seattle. despite both of us battling allergies and whatnot (M actually came back sort of sick), it was a really nice trip and I'm so glad we got to go. so I'll pour a little more Tim Horton's decaf (a gift from a Canadian fan) and get down to it.

Seattle had a GREAT vibe, and I really enjoyed getting to meet a lot of cool people up there. the convention was very well run and pretty big... I think they were anticipating about 18,000 attendees. M got some fun pictures - here's one of me looking like I'm playing to a huge room of people for my own panel, but in reality they were there for the Fullmetal Alchemist cast panel, a popular show I'm in. my other panels were great, too, and really well-attended which is always nice.

my autograph line Sunday.

M took this great video footage, trying to capture the smaller line of the dude next to me and then my line. the signing was at 10a and our flight was at 1:50, so we really were on a pretty tight deadline, but there was no way I was going to let anyone wait in line for an hour to NOT get their stuff signed! that's horribly uncool. in the end, everyone was happy and we made our flight:





we stayed at the Fairmont Olympic Hotel, which was SO NICE. I believe it was the first campus of the University of Washington, and is a historical landmark.

this is just one of the rooms off of the main lobby and up a flight of curving stairs... I thought it looked like something out of Beauty and the Beast, and M quipped that you could almost see the candlestick dancing in the corner...

when you exit the hotel and turn right, there's the water.

the architecture around Seattle is really something. check out the Native American detailing on this building (which houses a Bank of America, of all things):

Audrey was our guest liason. she's 18 and was absolutely wonderful. here she is in one of her costumes...

and with M in another:

Pikes Market. ah. one of my favorite things about the trip. the sights and smells down here really are something. here's me with Rachel:

it's sort of funny how deserted it looks in this photo... this was Saturday morning, when we'd walked down to get breakfast:

where the fish fly:

breakfast at the Athenian overlooking Puget Sound:

it really is true that coffee shops abound in Seattle, but the weather totally supports this. here's a pretty mocha I had at a coffee/bookstore:

we also had delicious breakfast at the Daily Grill:

and hopped in a cab to go find Bizzarro's, a restaurant M had read about. it was fun and quirky, and the food was fresh and wonderful.

Wild Ginger had been recommended to us by the McDs, and it absolutely lived up to the praise.

so flipping good. in this photo I'm clutching the warm jasmine tea and am so glad to be sitting down - M didn't think we walked all that much, but my hips and legs had a different opinion.

since we were away from home on Easter Sunday, we found a sunrise service in West Seattle. it was great, and they even had a free breakfast at the funeral home afterward! the food was amazing, I'm not kidding.

so now we're home and ready to push through and finish up the house before the baby comes. she was movin' and groovin' the whole time, and I distinctly felt a knobby little foot jut out from my right side at one point, which made me jump. I bought this drawstring shirt at H&M... just a little post-baby something to look forward to wearing this summer/fall:



it's good to be back.

-m.y.