Aaaaand we're back.

Everyone asked me what I miss, if anything, about the North East. I don't think I really knew what it was until I went back:

1. Bagels. And not just because my company very kindly and generously provides free bagels every friday (and free, as I always like to say, is good). Out here, big, doughy bagels are very hard to come by. You know the kind, ones that are so enormous, they could feed a family of four, but if you really wanted to, you could squish them into a ball that fits into a single fist? Yeah, we don't have those here.

2. Radio. Yes, they do have radio stations here, but not the kind I'm used to. They don't have talk radio, or even decent news radio stations. Forget about morning shows - I honestly cannot understand why those don't exist here. I guess that is what coffee is for? But the music stations are truly subpar. I mean, I have yet to find a SINGLE station that plays Bonjovi. And that is just wrong.

3. Sushi. Now this might come as a total surprise, considering that the PNW is a seafood heaven, but I have to say that NYC has Seattle totally beat on sushi. So far anyways. It isn't that it is BAD here, I was just expecting that the "mid ranged priced" sushi joint in Seattle to beat what NYC had on the whole, just on principle. So if you come out here hoping to have the most amazing raw fish ever, stick to the oysters.

To my family, special thanks for putting me up, feeding me and lending me cars over the past two weeks. I miss you too.

Here beginith the Holiday Hiatus.

I leave for NJ today for two weeks of East Coast fun. Ergo, there will be no further posts on this blog until after Christmas. When I return to the West Coast, I immediately be thrown into "host" mode for two weeks as I entertain friends. We will be doing touristy stuff together, so I assure you that the posts will return with a vengance.

Hope everybody has a fabulous holiday season.

Yesterday I embarked on an adventure. I had heard that there was a river about 2 hours from the city where I could see bald eagles feeding on salmon in December/January. When I woke up to brilliant clear skies for the first time in over a week, I grabbed my camera and GPS and took off.

I knew the road i was aiming for, but didn't really know what to expect, or really what i would see. I just wanted to find me some eagles to watch. The drive turned out to be stunning. Occasionally, I'd see an eagle flying above me as I drove along the river. I decided to follow one, and wound up here:



And farther down the road....



Then I saw some snow capped mountains in the distance and tried to get as close to those as possible. I've never seen those purple mountains mentioned in "america the beautiful" until yesterday:

They say that you learn something new every day. Yesterday, I learned enough for almost a whole week:

1. Nothing good can come from walking under a ladder. I am not a superstitious person generally, so when I saw the ladder leaning across the sidewalk in front of me, I naturally walked under it, which resulted in me immediately smacking my right leg right into a metal pipe sticking outside a building. Lesson learned.

2. Stephen the Master of Pain is not invincible. Apparently he had worked his legs out the day before yesterday and he was walking around like an old man. He couldn't even hand me my weights, which he normally does. When we walked up the hill together after our session, to allow him to keep up with me, I had to practically crawl and he still had to beg me to slow down. I hate to admit it, but I did derive some satisfaction from this.

3. If I ever have a son and he gets a tattoo that covers his entire chest, I'll kill him. Even if that tattoo is of a beautiful angel.

4. In Seattle, I have reached "siren" status. Yesterday, while walking in my 'hood, I nearly caused a traffic accident. Not because I darted in front of cars... no... because a guy in a pickup truck INSISTED on stopping for me even though he had the greenlight on a major street in rush hour. I know you are dying to know what I was wearing when I literally stopped traffic... in Seattle.... so here we go:
Gap Jean Skirt (length: to the knee, at least 2 sizes too big)
White Puffy Jacket (bought at Costco)
Black Knee High Nine West Boots (to cover the purple egg on my right leg)

Now granted, I was listening to Honky Tonk Woman by the Stones, so maybe there was a subconscious saunter, but seriously folks... I know that if I had worn that outfit in NYC, I'm pretty sure the fashion police would have run me over.

When you hear the term, "Laser Opera," what exactly comes to mind?

1. A bunch of opera singers playing laser tag?
2. Puccini meets Pink Floyd's "The Wall?"
3. Laser eye surgery while listening to Wagner?

Honestly, considering that this event took place in something called the "Laser Dome," I kinda was hoping it was option #1, but it turned out to be more like #2. Somebody needs to put light sabers into an opera SOMEWHERE already.

The concept was to put a laser lights show to some famous arias. The audience lay on the floor (armed with popcorn and wine) looking up at the dome while laser artists (bet you didn't know they existed) made interpretive laser pieces to the music on the fly. The art ranged from soothing, to hypnotic, to something that could be the precusor to brainwashing (no, the opera is never over when the fat lady sings...). I'm not going to lie, at some points, i thought i was getting motion sickness. Never thought that was possible while listening to opera, but hey, you learn something new everyday.

As many of you have probably heard, western WA has been totally socked over the past few days with very heavy rains. The city itself has been wet, but since almost all of it is on some sort of hill, we've not had to deal with flooding. Mostly just rivers running down the streets because the catch basins are full of leaves - but nothing too bad.

About 10am today, the sun started to peak out - that was when I saw my first rainbow of the day. At 2pm, after a final downpour, I saw my second, in a different location, but it was a double. I don't think i've ever seen three rainbows in the span of 4 hours. Must be a sign. Not sure what kind of sign, but it has to mean something. Either that or I'm gonna start having a serious craving for Lucky Charms.

Since I've been hitting the gym with increasing regularity, I have been wondering when exactly did jumping rope become an exhausting activity?? Growing up, I have found memories of skipping around my parents' driveway while singing some silly "miss mary mack" tune.. and doing this for what seemed like forever. Now, if Stephen, the master of pain, asks me to jump rope for two minutes straight, I'm not only completely spent, but I can't even get more thant 10 jumps together without stepping on the rope or something else equally klutzy. So when, exactly, did I lose this ability??

Tonight I went to a ski conditioning class... and you know you are in ski territory when a class like that is totally packed. I rarely go to the gym in the evening because I often have social plans, but I'm beginning to think I might have to change that up once a week. The beautiful people clearly come out after work.

But back to skiing... still haven't gone yet, but hope to this weekend if the snow hasn't been rained away. This weekend it even snowed in the city - and quite a bit, but now it is 60 degrees and pelting with rain. Such a tease.