Concerts. Twice is Nice!

Remember a little note I wrote back in July at the bottom of a post? It went like this: "I swear I haven't been listening to [Katy Perry's] music non-stop since then or trying to convince Jason to get pit tickets to see her live again while we're on vacation so we can be THIS CLOSE to her..."

Well, I'll admit that I've listened to nothing other than Katy Perry in the car since the show in June. And that includes the entire drive from Seattle to Los Angeles. And no, Jason's not sick of her yet either.

 I have to fess up to something else as well:

I convinced him. 

It wasn't hard to do. 

Clearly he likes her music if he's not sick of it yet.

Not to mention he thinks she's a knockout.

(Who doesn't?)

We got tickets to see her while we were in Seattle. We were in the pit, right in front, and it was totally worth it. It was so much fun being right there up in the action rather than watching her when she's as big as an ant like last time. She's my first true pop love and I'm having fun with it. It kind of makes me feel like I'm in middle school again.

We saw Guster live again too when we got back home. We saw them with Jack's Mannequin who were okay (once upon a time we liked Something Corporate and it's the same singer), but we won't see them again because we didn't think they were that great and I wasn't digging the music anymore. I guess I've outgrown it. Guster, on the other hand, is one of those bands that is even better live than they are on albums. In fact, I really only listen to their one live album. I'd love it if they would release another!

And the venue? Wolf Trap. I love seeing shows there because it's so beautiful and it just so happens that the first time I saw Guster in 2004 it was there (along with Ben Folds and Rufus Wainwright - now THAT was an incredible show).

Seattle, Part 2: Friends and "Fam"

It took me a week and a half (thanks to Mother Nature's one-two punch to the East Coast), but here is part two of our Seattle trip!

We went to Seattle because one of my very best childhood friends, Maitha, got married (more on the beautiful wedding later)! It was so cool to have a group of our middle and high school friends all together again after moving different places (well, okay, I didn't move away... but most of the rest of them have). The wedding was held in the groom's hometown so we got to meet a bunch of Andreas' friends and a lot of his family as well. We spent an entire week in Seattle and when we left we felt like we had a new family and some great new great friends. We all had so much fun together that it was hard to say goodbye!

Part three, the beautiful wedding, is coming!

Seattle, Part 1: The Touristy Bits

First thing's first: Seattle was COLD. It was our first time in Seattle and while we expected rain and gray skies we didn't expect it to be so cold in mid-July! Secretly, we loved it (we can't wait for fall/winter). And we can't complain because it was hot as heck in DC while we were gone.

Our trip started with an overbooked motel nightmare, but luckily it was all uphill from there. The next morning we started fresh (possibly with bags under our eyes) and picked up our swanky Chevy Aveo (we missed our Subaru so. freaking. much. on this trip) before making our way to my dad's suggestion of Top Pot Doughnuts. Since I got my sweet tooth and my belly fat genes from my father, we of course made a stop there and got four doughnuts to share. Let me tell you: four doughnuts at Dunkin' does not equal four doughnuts at Top Pop. We didn't even get close to finishing them, but they were hands down the best doughnuts either of us had ever eaten.

Then we were off to the ferry to get over to Bainbridge Island to see the bride and groom, Maitha and Andreas! The ferry gave us great views of the Seattle skyline.

From then on, there was never a dull moment. We were always on the move. On the ferry to Seattle for errands, food, bars, fun. Riding the monorail, seeing the Space Needle, meeting up with old high school friends, hitting the Pike Place Market, walking around the city. And finally, back on Bainbridge for wedding festivities. Here are the semi-touristy stops we made along the way...

Pretty sunset along the harbor

Riding the monorail to get to a food festival (that's the bride looking crazy in the back)

Pike Place Market

Mr. Needle

The original Starbucks and a delicious sandwich joint called Salumi

The locks

Back to the market to get some crab and goodies for the road on our way out of town

And that's all she wrote for touristy bits of Seattle we saw.

Two more posts to come from Seattle:

hanging out with friends and the lovely wedding.
...but of course that's still only the beginning of our trip!