shopping

I think we all know that I am the Thrift Store Queen. Indeed, I rule thriftiness. Today, I was making my royal progress through a GW store and there were so many people there! Geez! I can tell how crappy the economy is by how crowded thrift stores are on a regular, ol' weekday. Yeah, we all know how crappy the economy is. Man, it was crowded, though. And it seemed like wherever I was, someone else wanted to be RIGHT THERE, too! Not just near, but thisclose to me, wanting to look at the item that IN MY HAND. Very annoying.


see more dog and puppy pictures


I scored a Spring Green work blouse, a cute 'n flippy linen skirt (it might be too young. Maybe I'll post a pic), and several books, one of which is the book for next month's book club Yellow Raft on Blue Water by Michael Dorris, and The Burning Bridge (Ranger's Apprentice #2) by John Flanagan, a series I looooove! It's signed by the author! W00t! I've already got the whole series, but, what the HEY! It's signed! I got more books, too. A couple of books about Ireland, 'cause Mr. Handsome and I are thinking about going there in August.

Speaking of Mr Handsome, I also got a new-to-me bag. Don't tell him! He'll never notice!

Seattle

Today, we went to Beth's Cafe for breakfast. Yum! And such a nice place: friendly workers, excellent breakfast, great artwork. I really like it there; it seems genuine. Then we went to the Volunteer Park and Conservatory. AWESOME!!! Such a beautiful, peaceful, rejuvenating place. And FREE!!! Lunch was required at that point, so we went to the Wallingford neighborhood and ate at the Rusty Pelican, which felt more country (in a good way) than nautical. The waiter was a sweetie who helped us figure out where we might find live music.

Of course, we had to see the Troll. Which is under a bridge. And he's impressive! We cruised on to Fremont to see Lenin and then on to Phinney Ridge neighborhood for shopping and beer. 74th St Alehouse supplied the locally brewed beverage and Metropolis supplied the gifts-for-home. Kim got something and Oreo's mom got something and, of course, I got something, too!

Now we're back at Sis's nest, in her tower, playing with blogs.

~~~~~

(updated months later, to include more pics -Aug 24)

One of my favorite places we went was the Volunteer Park and Conservatory (mentioned briefly above). It has extensive grounds with beautiful trees, which we climbed on; a tower, which we climbed; and water features, which we walked around. It's also got an Asian Museum. We didn't go in (I was exhausted and hungry), but I did climb on the camels!

Sissie and I outside the Conservatory


















Mr Handsome and Sissie inside the conservatory. A sign said "Please do not touch the bell" which is SO disappointing!




Being under this tree was like being in a big building's atrium! Sis and Mr Handsome look tiny!

















Looks ominous, doesn't it?



















The top of the tower has lots of windows - it would actually make a GREAT pub!







Can you see the heron that "Vanna-Sis" is showing? It was as still as stone until some koi curled up to its roost. Then - SNAP! But, no lunch for the bird; the fish were too fast!



I liked the camel!



Later, we went with Sissie's roomie, Russkie, to a pub down the street from their house.



It's a Soccer-and-Scottish themed place, called St. Andrew's. From the outside, it looked kind of "snuggy" but inside, it's just a sports bar. Slightly disappointing, but good beer.





Then, we walked to Green Lake. I, of course, bummed a smoke from Russkie.














Dusk at the lake. Pretty!














Oooops! Russkie got frisky and almost dunked Sis!


I especially like how Mr Handsome is just standing there. "Hope you can swim, Sis-In-Law!"

Tucson

I had such a great time with Bro and Sis and the Spymaster! I brought cool weather and rainstorms with me. They'd had 105F weather the day before, but when I arrived, it was 70, partly cloudy, and occasional rainstorms! No lightning, though. Anyway, it was lots and lots of fun and I hope we can get together, all of us, including Mr Handsome, soon. Bro can't make it to Seattle.

My first day there, we didn't do a lot, we just had dinner at BD's (something or another) restaurant. Good pizza! And kinda looked around a bit. I was tired, so we didn't go do anything big. The next day, we had our FREE breakfast at Sis and Spymaster's hotel and went to the Pima Air and Space Museum, which was very interesting! I could've stayed there a lot longer! There are lots of planes to look at, up close and personal, both inside and out.

When we were wandering around the outside, it started POURING rain, so we hid under an F-15 (I think it was an F-15, I dunno, really, Spymaster would know. All I know is it was dry under there)!

The Super Guppy looks like a cartoon plane, such an enormous body and such stubby little wings! How did this sucker ever fly? Mr Handsome says NASA has a newer version. All I know is, this one looks like something Mr Incredible would fly! I shouldn't call it cute, I guess, but it was cute! Awwwww!



The grounds also have a Space museum. It was this weekend that the University of Arizona landed their Mars vehicle. Very exciting! They had a small exhibit about that and lots of other stuff in there. I was pretty tired by then, but I still enjoyed it and wished Mr Handsome was there; he would've really enjoyed the Air and Space Museums!

There was a museum dedicated to the 390th Bomber group. I don't have any pictures, but it is a very nicely done museum and memorial space. Lots of fascinating stories to listen to and pictures to look at and artifacts; I wanted to stay longer in there!

We went to a restaurant called Chuy's after that for lunch and walked around 4th Street; lots of quirky shops and stuff. Fun to walk around! We just went back to the hotel after that and watched a movie, took a nap, I sat in the hot tub until I got splashed out by some rotten kids. Actually, they were nice kids, but had no manners. Neither did their parents. grrrrr.... Anyhoo, it was fine, just mildly annoying. Spymaster and Sis went out on the town, while Bro and I hung out at the hotel for movies!



The next day, the 24th, we had our free breakfast again (hee hee!) and went to the Arizona-Sonoma Desert Museum. This was the place I REALLY wanted to go to, to see the Aviary and the Hummingbirds! It's a very large facility and we saw EVERYTHING! There was also a "Live and (kind of) on the Loose" show, where a couple of naturalists taught us all about a gila monster and a rattlesnake. It was nice to get out of the sun and see these creatures! The man was very insistent about people controlling their children, which I applaud!!! Awesome! So often, people just let their spawn run wild and loose in public settings. It's so annoying!

My favorite part of the Desert Museum was probably the "Desert Loop" which is a half-mile trail through a natural desert setting. We got to see a coyote and javelinas. And lots of cacti! Sis wanted to see cacti in their homeland, so this was a good opportunity for both of us. I got to see the birds and she got to see the cactus! Bro got to see a coyote and Spymaster got to take a nap during the critter show! It all worked out great!

Afterwards, we considered going to "Old Tucson Studios," thinking it was the original settlement or something like that, but it looked super-duper ticky-tacky tourist-trappy. So, instead, we went back to 4th St, to a Mexican restaurant, I can't remember the name! It was named after a revolutionary... had a cute interior, not cutesy, but genuine, like people other than tourists go there, y'know? Good food, good to rest. I was bushed. As was Bro. It was a long day in hot sunshine. I've got tons of pics. So we all went back to the hotel again, napped, read and watched movies. Mostly, everyone napped. I read. YAY! Reading! My favorite thing!



That night, we went to see the Red Elvises at Plush nightclub. It's a band the Spymaster really enjoys and plays on his DJing gigs. They're a fun band, along the lines of the B-52's and have a VERY dedicated fan base! Sis and Spymaster even did a little dancing! Sadly, Bro and I were truly drained, really exhausted, so we weren't much fun to be with. Poor Spymaster! We left early. He was a good sport about it, though.

Let's see, the next day, the 25th, Sis and Spymaster had to leave, but we had time to check out "A Mountain." It was named by University of Arizona students in 1915. At first, I thought they named it A, as in ABC, which showed a marked lack of imagination, I thought. Then, much later, I realized it was in honor of Arizona! Duh!

So, we climbed to the top, checked out the view, and then Bro and I climbed down the A, painted on the mountain face. Two days later, I can still feel the effort in my muscles. It was STEEP! And I am FLABBY!

I'm really tired still, just got home last night around midnight, but had such a good time. We leave for Seattle the day after tomorrow! I look forward to meeting Mr Handsome's sister's baby daughter and taking him to Beth's Cafe and Duck Island Brew House. Sis is going to take us on a "food tour" of Seattle, too! I'm just excited to be traveling again!

Traveling

I leave tomorrow morning for Tucson to visit my FAVE Bro. Or at least his house. And I definitely get to see Sissie-pooh and The Squid Master! YAY! I'm bringing the camera, both batteries AND the charger! And I'm proud I even thought to bring the charger. Very not techie. Me. I will miss Mr Handsome and the Kitties, though. I'll only be gone for five days, then back for two, then Mr Handsome and I go off to Seattle to visit our respective sisters! YAY!

I thought packing would take, like, five minutes; I'll only be gone for five days for heaven's sake! But, no. It took over three HOURS. I got stuck on toiletries. "How much hair gel will I need????" I rarely use hair gel, so, this was just - pointless! But it's done now, waiting at the bottom of the steps! I hope I can sleep tonight!