...in which I am disappointed.

Wow, this is a really boring week for crime. My apologies. I would have stirred up some trouble if I had known.This is really more of a Mischief Monday than a Misdemeanor Monday.

• Montana State University ROTC recruits were training in Lindley Park around 6:30 a.m., causing concern for a caller who saw a bunch of people "dressed in army outfits ducking into the park." 
• A caller reported a male driver swerving all over North 19th Avenue around 2:30 p.m. likely because he was "reading a paperback novel" while driving. This would not be a problem if he had been reading a hardcover. 
• A man was warned around 4 a.m. about his loud singing as he was walking to his vehicle in a parking lot on East Main Street. We hate joviality here in Bozeman.

There were also quite a few reports of drivers flipping off other drivers. It was reported at least 4 times in the last week. God forbid anything serious ever happen in Bozeman. I'm not sure the police would know what to do.

...in which I am incoherent.

5 hours skiing. 10 mile trail run.

Can't. Complete. Sentences.

Tired.

Happy.

...in which I am humbled.

Do you ever find yourself complaining about how horrible life is and then realize that really you're just suffering from a case of First World Problems? I sure do. For example, yesterday I was getting all cranky about how it's -8 million degrees and I haven't run in two days and work is cold and I've overspent my budget to replace this jacket and how the governor of Wisconsin is a moron.

Then I went on a date with a guy who told me about the time he fell 20 feet while rock climbing in Costa Rica. The hospital gave him a shot and put a cast on his swollen broken ankle. By the time he got back to the United States a week later, he had a staph infection from the dirty needle, almost had his foot amputated, slipped into a coma for 3 days, and then spent 40 more in the hospital recuperating after which he learned that he was lucky to be alive.

Touche, sir. You win. I will now shut my face and be thankful that it's Friday.

...in which I learn a valuable lesson about drinking.

Just to be clear, I am not a wild and crazy drinker. Two beers is enough to make me loopy. I think they call that a low tolerance for alcohol. To be honest, I could probably somehow manage to get drunk off two O'Douls. After having several delicious java porters the other night, I have learned three valuable lessons about drinking.

1. Do not try and toast almonds when tipsy. They will burn because you will forget about them and your whole apartment will smell.

2. Do not text message your crazy-sauce ex-boyfriend. He will not text you back and you will feel inexplicably bad, even though he's a total nut job and you're better off without him.

3. Sewing, however, is a good tipsy activity. Check it out, I made two pillowcases when I got home!

Ok, I actually made one and a half. Then my machine jammed and I could not think rationally enough to unjam it. So I went to bed.

I think I need lessons on how to be a proper 25 year old. Seriously, who goes out and then decides that sewing is a good night time activity? Whatever, I have two new pillowcases.

...in which I turn serious for a moment.

Now, I don't much expect to bring up this topic again out here in the cyberspace world, partially because it's very personal and partially because I'd rather this blog have a lighter tone to it, but I think that it's important to note that it is National Eating Disorders Awareness week from February 20-26. The theme is "It's time to talk about it." Which doesn't mean that I'm going to sit here and offer you profound, deep thoughts. It doesn't mean that I'm going to go into all the gory details of my life. In fact, I'm not even going to give you a synopsis of my story. If you want to talk about it, feel free to contact me in private.

All that I wanted to say today is that it's important to recognize and address the things that we struggle with in life. If we don't share our problems with our friends and family, or if we don't offer our support to those we care about, then we're doing a real disservice to ourselves and others. There are lots of things in life that are truly scary. Dark alleys. The Mafia. Crickets. Sharks. But mental issues are only scary if we let ourselves be afraid of them and sweep them under the rug.

I am in recovery from several eating disorders and it's a struggle every single day. I own it.

source

...in which I take on a challenge.

Apparently there's some sort of facebook thing going around where you post a different photo each day for 30 days, adhering to a specific theme for each day. It is known by the creative name of "30 Days of Photographs Challenge." I love a good challenge. I'm totally going to win. My 30 days will be better than your 30 days.

I'm not competitive, I swear.

I'm going to do this over the span of 30 weeks because I don't have time to dig for a new photo every day. And I think that would bore the approximately 5 faithful readers that I have.

Here are the themes. Each time it says 'day', I really mean 'week.' I copied and pasted the list and didn't want to go through and change each word.
Day one: a photo of you.
Day two: a photo of yourself at least a year ago.
Day three: a photo that makes you happy.
Day four: a photo of a place you'd like to visit.
Day five: a photo that makes you laugh.
Day six: a photo of someone you love.
Day seven: a photo of something you stand for.
Day eight: a photo of something you enjoy doing.
Day nine: a photo of yourself when you were a baby.
Day ten: any photo you like for any reason.
Day eleven: a photo of a night you loved.
Day twelve: a photo of when you were happy.
Day thirteen: a photo of one of your favorite movies.
Day fourteen: a photo of your best friend (s).
Day fifteen: a photo of you and a family member.
Day sixteen: a photo from your childhood.
Day seventeen: a photo from a trip you'll never forget.
Day eighteen: a photo of your town.
Day nineteen: a photo of your favorite thing from school.
Day twenty: a photo of something you ate today.
Day twenty-one: a photo of somebody you find attractive.
Day twenty-two: a photo that you associate a good memory with.
Day twenty-three: a photo of something you want to do someday.
Day twenty-four: a photo of what you want to be when you grow up.
Day twenty-five: a photo that inspires you.
Day twenty-six: a photo of your favorite subject in school.
Day twenty-seven: a photo of something you are looking forward to.
Day twenty-eight: a photo of something/somebody that made your day.
Day twenty-nine: a photo of your favorite person from history.
Day thirty: a photo you find beautiful

Week 1: A Photo of Me

Alternately titled "Why I don't have a boyfriend."

...in which I celebrate crime beats and birthdays.

Here we go, another round-up of the best of the Bozeman police reports. Get ready for another Misdemeanor Monday!

• A large, brown, shaggy dog was running westbound on South 13th Avenue around 9 a.m. dragging a chain. An animal control officer was unable to find the pooch.
• A woman was awakened around 12:30 a.m. when someone opened the door to her Donna Avenue home. She did not find anyone in the house but found that someone had driven a vehicle into it. There was no damage to the home and the suspect had left the scene. If there is no damage, how do you know someone drove a car into it? And seriously, someone opening a door woke you up but you didn't wake up when someone hit your house with a car?
• A renter called to report that their landlord was harassing them about the amount of dog feces in their yard. According to the rental agreement, the feces was to be cleaned up every day. The renter said they were going to flood the yard with hot water to ensure all the droppings were removed.
• A caller reported that her neighbor on Jackrabbit Lane was on his porch in his pajamas staring at her with binoculars at 12:30 p.m. He kept repeating "how does it feel to get it back by stripping my liberty and my peace?" 
• An intoxicated woman urinated and fell backward into the snow. When you gotta go, you gotta go...
• A man was reportedly throwing "meat and money" out of his apartment and scaring the other tenants. Free meat and free money? Why didn't anyone tell me about this? I would have been there with a bucket.
• A man said someone stole his shoes. I can only hope the situation looked like this:

Also, today is my little brother's birthday! Holy cow, that kid is 12 years old.  I can't even believe it. He's basically awesome. No, for real, check out his awesome-ness:

He's going to outgrow me soon.
For 12 years I've gotten to be taller than
someone in the family. No longer.

And he loves underwear. Look how pumped he is! Those are
solid family values right there.

He's one of the best soccer players I know. Not to
be confused with a playa. He's too young for that.

He's a sharp dresser and a good dancer. So someday he
probably will be a playa. Watch out, ladies.

Please ignore my 18 chins. See, told you
he was a good dancer. 

"Ah, Lisa, I'm not too sure about you. Are you sure we're
related?"

Oh yeah, we're totally related.

Happy birthday, Tyler! Sending lots of love your way and miss you tons!

Also, I haven't gotten you a card yet. This will have to do for now. 

...in which I have a wardrobe malfunction.

Because apparently having one running mishap wasn't enough this week, let's just add insult to injury. Dear karma, I'm not sure what I did to you, but I will sacrifice cute animals if you will just make life slightly easier for the next week.

Once upon a time, I won a sweet Nike Drifit running jacket in a raffle at the end of a god-awful race. I've had that jacket for years. It's one of my favorite things to run in. I wanted to go for a trail run after work a few days ago. It was cold out, so I took my trusty jacket. And discovered as I was leaving at 4:30 that the zipper no longer worked. What's a gal to do? Going home first was too far out of my way and let's face it, I would have lost my motivation by the time I got there. So, I worked with what I had to make a temporary fix. Oh yes, those are safety pins. White trash running!

One word to describe Lisa? Class.

Can you fix a zipper? I don't know how to do so. This jacket might be history. Then I came home and went to check my mail. I walked into this scene in the laundry room, which I suppose is white trash of a different sort:

I don't even know what's happening here. This seems like a waste of trash bags. And why on top of the washers? I am so confused. It's been 2 days since this and I'm still pondering it. Because I don't have better things to do with my life. Obviously.

...in which I become a backcountry skier.

First off, I would like to note that I did not set off any avalanches, so I consider the day a success. I did, however, fall twice. But I was not buried in snow, so I maintain that the day was successful.

It really was an awesome day. No new snow, but we still found some fresh powder on a few runs and up on the ridge. I went with A, her boyfriend J, and their friend R. A stole one of her friend's transceivers so that I could have my first real backcountry ski experience. If you're at the ski area, you can't go into the backcountry if you don't have a transceiver. Apparently they want to be able to find you if you get buried. Which I'm down with, I would like to be found if I find myself in an avalanche situation. Unfortunately, transceivers are absurdly expensive, so I don't have one of my own yet. But we borrowed and so up I went!

Of course, I had no clue how to use the transceiver, nor do I have a shovel or a probe. So really, if anyone got caught up and swept away, I'd basically be useless in the recovery efforts. But the whole concept of transceivers is cool. Using them is kind of like playing hide & seek, or that hot/cold game. Except there's an element of danger involved. And by danger, I mean the threat of death. Moving on...

Hiking into the backcountry requires about a 15-20 minute hike straight up the area above the highest lift, which gets you to an area known as the Ridge. This is how the Ridge looks in the summer:

This is the view from the top in winter:

See that cloud? Bozeman is somewhere under there...

I live in the best place ever. Ever. 

Me & A!

We did two Ridge hikes in addition to the regular skiing. So basically, today was awesome. Then I came home and ate a huge food bowl of beef and veggie stir fry. Mmmm...

Now I have to write a paper. 8-10 pages. By tomorrow. Regarding the historical representation of Native Americans in museums. Oh joy...

...in which I give you flowers.

Have a wonderful Thursday!

Photo courtesy of my dad & stepmom

...in which I am attacked by a puddle.

It was vicious. It came out of nowhere. I don't even know how it happened, except suddenly I was face down in icy, mucky water.

All I wanted to do was run a quick and easy 4 miles. That's all. Is that too much to ask? I guess so. Instead, I got 1.3 miles, muddy pants, leaves in my hair, and a scraped up palm. I think I'm suffering from PTSD. All I remember is some mud and some ice and a shriek and the horrible, horrible feeling of freeeeeezing water soaking into my tights.

Running fail.

I'm dirty and my mirror is dirty.
No comments about my man calves, please.

This is how I usually feel while running.

This is how I feel after falling in a puddle while running.
What? My shirt is kind of see through? Yeah, that's what
happens when you fall on your face in a puddle.

Possibly the best part is that I managed to do all this while running on one of the busiest roads in Bozeman at rush hour. Thank you, thank you, I'll be here all week.

...in which I am indirectly audited.

Technically, my health savings account provider is getting audited. But I have to provide all the paperwork for the requested transactions. I should get paid for this.

Look, IRS, I've had approximately 8,540 medical visits, procedures, and purchases in the last 8 months. Asking me to find an itemized bill for an $8 expenditure seems absurd.

Tell you what, I'll buy you a 12 pack and we'll call it even. Deal? Good. Everyone wins.

...in which the criminals come out.

It's been getting warmer here in Bozeman, which I think makes all the crazies come out. It's that time of year: cabin fever time! Let's see what Misconduct Monday has brought us...

• A man called 911 several times around 4:30 a.m. from South Hedges Hall saying he had ordered a pizza and it was never delivered. The man was cited for being a minor in possession of alcohol after he was found to be "heavily intoxicated." Look, when you've got 4 a.m. munchies, a missing pizza is definitely an emergency.
• Officers responding to a report of a person sitting on a picnic table not moving and covered with snow on North Seventh Avenue around 5 a.m. found only a pile of clothes.
• A caller from a Big Sky resort said they have been having "an issue with a female streaker." It was me! Good thing I'm super fast and they didn't catch me.

Lookit me go!

• A caller reported seeing "hundreds" of cars sliding off Bridger Canyon Road around 10 a.m. I think this person is smoking the opium that I'm convinced is being sold around here.
• A mother called the police after finding a man trespassing in her 15-year-old daughter's room. It turned out the trespasser was a 15-year-old male friend of the daughter and she had invited him to stay.
• A man wanted police to give his tenant a "stern talking to" for breaking a window. 
• A deputy stopped a driver who had a headlight out and an expired driver's license. The deputy made him park his vehicle and gave him a ride to work. That'll teach him.
• An intoxicated woman was yelling and upset because her phone wasn't working around 12:30 a.m.
• A woman got stuck in a car wash around 9 a.m. when built-up ice caused the door to freeze shut. The ice was broken up and the door opened. Ok, it's warm sometimes. The rest of the time, welcome to the tundra. Apparently -30 temps will freeze car wash doors shut.
• A dispatcher heard two men talking and singing during a 911 call around 6 p.m. It was a misdial. There was no emergency.
• A deputy gave a "very thankful" intoxicated man who had just turned 21 a ride home after he was reportedly attempting to get a taxi on Huffine Lane around 5:30 a.m. Once again, I need more context. There are no bars on Huffine. How did this man get there in the first place? Where were his friends? 
• A fur coat was stolen from an East Main Street store sometime before Christmas. And I'm sure that reporting it 2 months later is worthwhile.

Oh, and Happy Valentine's Day!

...in which everything turns up roses.

I can't even handle how stellar this past week has been. No, seriously! I feel like my smile is going to split my face. Which would probably ruin my streak of good luck, so I'll take a smile break periodically.

Let's recap the awesomeness:
1. On Tuesday, I won a $25 gift card to a sporting goods store.
2. I took an awesome guitar lesson on Wednesday and I can almost play "The Man Who Sold the World."
3. I went out for drinks and a movie with friends on Friday. Who doesn't love a good happy hour?
4. I won a 10k race on Saturday morning. I never win races! But I won, set a new PR (46:36), and got a bunch of cool stuff, including: 2 necklaces, an hour long massage, and $25 to a super tasty pizza place.

To the winner goes the spoils. I win! I'm spoiled! Wait a second...

Necklace #2

I'm a hustla, baby. It pays to run fast. Unfortunately, it doesn't
pay real money. But gift certificates are sweet too.
This is how I look in the morning. Don't judge me.

5. In the past week I've received a care package from my mom, flowers from my dad, and a package from my stepmom. My family rocks, hands down.
6. I went on a date last night where I got to practice my new chopstick skills (or lack thereof) with helpful hints while having a great conversation. And I have a coffee date tonight with a different dude. This equates to what I'll refer to as a tremendous self-esteem boost. I mean, I know I'm awesome, but this means that other people think so too! Oh gosh, I'd better be careful, if my head gets any bigger I'm not going to be able to fit through my apartment door.
7. It is 50 degrees and sunny today.

Insert sigh of contentment here. I'm going to go do some homework and then meet a friend for lunch. Get pumped for tomorrow's police reports, there were some solid calls this past week!

...in which I am psychologically assaulted.

Have you seen "Black Swan"? If you haven't seen it yet, a word of caution: that movie will emotionally manhandle you. I spent a solid quarter of it with my hands over my face, and probably another half of it with my mouth open and my eyebrows furrowed in a silent expression of "whaaaaaat?"

If you have seen the movie, can you tell me where the support group for viewers meets? I need to work through this experience with others like me.

"I'm perfect! Except for that whole mentally unhinged thing."

...in which I run.

Wow, I never thought I'd say this, but I am so boring this week that I am just about out of things to say. No, for real, I haven't done anything besides work and run. The only thing different about running has been the absurd temperatures. Let's break this nonsense down.

Monday: 8 miles, 2 degrees, snowstorm, drifts up to my knees
Tuesday: 2.6 miles, 0 degrees, sunny
Wednesday: 7.5 miles, -2 degrees, overcast

Oh, all temperatures are in Fahrenheit. I don't deal with that Celsius nonsense. Stupid metric system.

Monday and Wednesday were not so bad. Let me tell you a little story about Tuesday and what happens when you make poor clothing decisions. I was so excited to run on Tuesday. The sun was shining, it was cold but there was no wind, the sidewalks had all been shoveled after Monday's snowstorm, the angels were singing... but I ruined it all. I wore only 1 pair of gloves. Usually I expect to be a little cold for the first mile. Not so on Tuesday. By half a mile my hands hurt. By a mile I couldn't feel them anymore. Now, I like my hands. They let me do enjoyable things, like feed my face. So I turned around and went home. And sat on my apartment steps for a couple minutes until my hands got warm enough to use a key.

Based on this unfortunate experience (and because once Wynn said she wanted cold weather layering tips), I present to you: How to Layer for Running when You Should Really Just Stay Inside and Drink Hot Chocolate.

Here's what I wear when the temps are below 10 degrees.

Brooks Utopia Thermal Pant

AKA the best pant ever invented.

Mountain Hardwear Microchill Fleece

Mine is blue. I don't think they produce them anymore. Suckas. But any lightweight fleece should work.

Manzanella Sprint Glove Liners

Learn from the above story and put another pair of gloves over these! I layer with a pair of fleece gloves.

Columbia Trail Microtab Socks

 

No special reason other than they're the thickest pair I own.

Fleece lined hat

Normally I wear a wicking hat with goofy reflective squares because I think getting hit by a car would suck. But when it's really cold I wear a normal hat with a fleece band around the inside. Similar to this one. But red.

Under Armour ColdGear Fitted Crew

Oh my lord. Possibly the best purchase I've ever made. Ever. I wear it running. I wear it skiing. I wear it on days that work is freezing. Sometimes the weather gets warm enough that I can give the shirt a break and wash it. The rest of the time I just try not to get too close to other people.

Brooks Launch

Last, but certainly not least, my shoes. I switched to Brooks after being a faithful Asics runner for years. I'm still kind of sad about it. I feel like a traitor. Just call me Benedict Arnold. But I wanted to go more lightweight and neutral in the sole and Asics just couldn't accommodate that.

So, to sum it all up: in less than 10 degrees, you're gonna want a couple layers up top (jacket + baselayer minimum). A warm hat. 1-2 pairs of gloves (2 if they're thin, 1 if they're warm). Awesome pants (or tights + windpants). If it's between -20 and 0, I would definitely add a pair of tights or long underwear underneath the pants, one more layer up top, and something to cover your face with. I don't have any such shield and as a result I have frozen off the lower half of my face.  If it's lower than -20, do your lungs and face a favor and drink hot chocolate indoors instead.

...in which I conduct an experiment.

I can't believe I'm going to admit this on the world wide web, but here goes.

I love carrots. Apparently way too much because eating so many of them has turned my skin a weird yellowish-orange color. Particularly on my palms and the soles of my feet. Weird, I know! Science has explained to me that I have exhausted my body's ability to store vitamin A and the excess shows up as coloring in my skin. Once I got asked by 2 different people in 24 hours, "Did you go overboard on the self-tanner?" Ummm... no... I just really like carrots. Embarrassing. And you thought you had problems. I'm turning into an Oompa Loompa over here!

 It's like lookin' in a mirror...

So the great carrot experiment. I'm not buying any more carrots for 3 months. Which is kind of a bummer because I love them and because they're a cheap way to get in all my veggie servings for the day. But I'm tired of looking like I have jaundice or like I'm Snooki from Jersey Shore.

source

Right now, I'm somewhere around "The Full Jersey."

Well, my hands and feet are, anyway.

So, here's my starting point. Wish me luck!

Hahaha, look, I'm kind of dressed like Snooki. Coincidence or fate?

...in which I shake my head.

It's just another Misdemeanor Monday...

• A woman complained about "loud sexual screaming" coming from a neighbor. She said this is a recurring problem and was going on from midnight until about 4 a.m. Midnight to 4 a.m. on a recurring basis? Someone deserves a longevity award, not a noise violation! 
• A man informed officers that car had been egged. The caller told police that his vehicle was so dirty the eggs didn't do any damage.
• A caller reported that a male customer in a casino had no idea how he got there. The male stated that his friends must have left him in the casino overnight.
• Police were contacted after a 25-year-old man slapped a security guard at a Bozeman hotel at 1 a.m. He was arrested and released for disorderly conduct. As he was being given a ride home by police, he became disorderly and was arrested again. He was later taken to the hospital due to his level of intoxication. At 5 a.m. he was warned for being disorderly at the hospital. At 9 a.m. he was still combative and intoxicated, but the hospital was ready to release him. How much do you have to drink to be drunk for over 8 hours? Of course the hospital was ready to release him. He was combative. 
• A man fell while dancing in Big Sky at 3:40 a.m. He dislocated his kneecap. I am impressed by the intensity of his dancing. I would like to take lessons. 
• A caller had concerns and questions about her son's trust fund. The son called later with questions about his mother's call. Oh good, an example of a totally loving and functional family. 

As I'm learning from each reading of the Bozeman police reports, there is simply not enough information given to explain these situations. For example, where was the man dancing at 3:40 a.m.? What can the police do about sexual screaming? How did that man get in the casino in the first place?

...in which I thank the powder gods.

Dearest powder gods,

Thank you for dropping 7 inches of fresh pow on Bridger Bowl. Combined with the 8 inches from yesterday, I easily found many, many untracked fields with 15 inches of powder. I don't think that my smile left my face once today.

Yours truly, appreciatively, and gratefully,
lisa

Of course, skiing all day means that I did not put in my 10 miler. It also means that now I have a mountain of cleaning and homework staring at me. Returning to real life is lame.

Speaking of school, I had a grand total of 4 snow days last week. 4! Oklahoma, you need to toughen up.

Finally, and most importantly, wishing a very happy (and slightly belated) birthday to this guy:

 This is a good look for you.

 Fact: my grandparents are the best. 

 Grandpa, I can't believe you're already 65! 

What's that? You're how old??? 

Woah... Don't worry, your secret is safe with me.

Good looks run in the family.

...in which I make my triumphant return.

I'm still alive and back in Bozeman. True to my word, I waited to come back after the temperature climbed into the double digits. Did you miss me?

No?

Jerks.

To get you up to speed, I've been in Seattle for 5 days for a work conference. I spent 3 days learning about environmental controls, how to do collection assessments, and different sources of cost-effective costume care. Are you bored to tears yet? It was exciting to me. And if you have any questions about temperature, relative humidity, dew point, or HVAC systems, I'm totally your girl.

There were of course more exciting aspects of the trip.  The first night I was there, I went to a show downtown at The Crocodile. The line-up consisted of Airwaves, Lord Huron, and Tennis. Do yourself a favor and listen to Lord Huron. They rocked my face off. And now I want to learn how to play drums with a pair of maracas.

In order to get downtown, I faced one of my greatest fears: public transportation. Having lived in podunk Michigan, Wisconsin, and Montana, I've never really had much exposure to the workings of buses or commuter trains. The directions for riding? "Signal driver one block before your stop." Not so easy to do at night when you have no idea where your stop is. But I'm a survivor and somehow, by the grace of the transit gods, got off at the correct stop. And look, my bar stamp reinforced my awesomeness:

Great job, Lisa!

I rewarded myself by eating a whole pizza.

That is not an exaggeration.

Other highlights of the trip? 

1. Used book shopping in the University District:

It's like pornography for English majors

2, Eating an entire meal with chopsticks. This is a big deal for me. Giving me chopsticks is like asking an elephant to shuffle cards. But since I was all by my lonesome and no one could judge my fumbling, I just went for it. I ate salad, soup, rice, and cod cheek with chopsticks. Did you know that fish have cheeks? Well apparently they do. And they're delicious. And slippery, I'm lucky I didn't shoot a piece out of the chopsticks across the restaurant. FYI, the actual name of the dish was "Black Cod Misoyaki," which I suppose sounds more appetizing than "Cod Cheek" but doesn't have that fun alliteration.

3. The Burke Museum. The first Thursday of every month is freebie day, so I went. You know, because I don't get enough museum exposure in my every day life. The Burke is a natural history & culture museum.

Totem poles!

More totem poles!

Giant sloth. I want one. I would ride it to work. We just

wouldn't get there very fast.

Woolly mammoth. I also want one of these.

Stupid extinction.

Here at the Burke Museum, we welcome

photography and pet dinosaurs. But please,

no food, drink, or backpacks. I like that the

food/drink is symbolized by a hamburger

and wine.

And now, 3 travel tips for your visit to Seattle.

1. Pike Place is open from 10am-6pm. Plan accordingly.

2. The Space Needle costs an arm and a leg. Or your firstborn child. Or $18. And the food isn't very good. I didn't learn this from experience, but from my driver. Yes, I had a driver to/from the airport. I was rollin' in an Escalade, hah.

3. Seattle = hipster central. If you want to fit in, God forbid you forget to pack your skinny jeans, thick framed glasses, and flannel shirt.