What We've Been Up To...

Well, we flew to Washington...which unfortunately turned into an experiment on blog abandonment. Instead of blogging, I've done a lot of the following:

A) Eating. Pretty sure I'm going to be a few pounds heavier upon my return to MA. There's just so much good food! Teriyaki restaurants, pizza places, burger joints, fro yo...you name it, and we've eaten it and enjoyed every last darn bite.

B) Shopping. We waited to get Christmas gifts for the family members out here until we arrived since we didn't want to haul it all in our suitcases, and since there are many family members, we've been in more malls than you can count.

C) Exploring. Washington is the coolest, I tell you. Do you want to see water? Ok...look out the back door. Mountains? Yep...look out the same door. We decided that view wasn't quite enough, so we went on a drive through a mountain pass on a day when there wasn't a massive snowstorm, and it was well worth it. 

D) Beer-tasting. Ok...this is admittedly not me. But I appreciate it in spirit. Does that count? One day I hope I grow to like it, but not this trip. 

E) Coffee-shopping. There are SO MANY COFFEE SHOPS(!) out here! Why is this not a thing in Boston? They're comforting and friendly and they have tasty things. Who wouldn't like that type of thing?

I started laughing after the second picture...

F) Crafting. Sorta. We painted pottery, because the town we're in had a place that coupled pottery painting with a coffee shop. Brilliant.

G) STAR WARS.

So far...that's it. Considering we still have three days though, I'm sure there will be more to come!

Traveling Solo

I used to dread going on business trips by myself. It meant that I needed to talk for an entire work day and then either sit alone at a restaurant ("Party of one? Come this way!") or grab food from the grocery store and eat it back at the hotel. Actually, come to think of it, those things haven't changed at all. But lately I've come to appreciate the fact that business tripping by myself means that I have the evenings (after catching up on work) to do whatever the heck sounds like fun without worrying about whether someone else might find it entertaining. 

On this particular trip, that meant wandering around downtown Seattle while ignoring all hunger pangs and the urge to find a restroom in favor of taking pictures. 

It was a beautiful night; who needs food when you can wander? I mean...eventually, I did...but I was glad no one else was around because I didn't eat until 9:30 pm. And I got my dinner at Target in the form of microwaveable chicken tiki masala. Super high class over here...

In addition, without Chaz around to tell me to go to sleep at a normal hour, I typically stay up until I feel like I don't have anything else I could possibly do. That usually means that I binge watch TV shows (ahem...Parenthood, I'm looking at you...) until I can't keep my eyes open.  

Given the fact that I have zero bedtime self control, I wind up heading home with a significant sleep deficit. And then I feel old, because in college, I did that on the daily for a full semester - went to bed at midnight, woke up at 6:30. And I was fine! Now if I try to do that for more than one to two days, I can barely function. 

So I guess I'll never learn, because here I sit at 11:47pm blogging instead of sleeping despite the fact that I need to be up at 6:00 tomorrow. But hey...at least you got to see what Seattle looks like when it's not raining, right? 

The Seahawks Conversion

An age and a half ago, I wrote a post about traveling for work. It wasn't even on this blog. In re-reading it now, I think it sounds pretentious. My apologies. 

All that was an intro to say that I'm currently sitting on a plane en route to Washington for another business trip. I lucked out on this trip: I got through security in five minutes or less; I had enough time to grab a chai latte before hopping on the plane; I have a window seat with an empty middle seat next to me (extra space: win!); it's a direct flight; and I'm surrounded by Seahawks fans. 

Proof!

Though I've lived in New England for 302 out of my 310 months of life, it's time to make a confession: I've become a dedicated Seahawks fan myself. Sorry, Pats. I guess you're my backup team, if there can be such a thing. But rest assured: if the Super Bowl comes down to Seattle vs. New England, I place my loyalties solidly on the West Coast, and I FEEL NO SHAME. Here's how my conversion went down.

Stage 1: Start dating someone who likes football. 

If you grow up in a family that cares nothing for sports, chances are that football is going to be your least favorite. Baseball is understandable - you hit the ball, run around the bases, and try not to get caught by the other team. Basketball, though tedious, is comprehensible - you bounce the ball, you pass it to your teammates, you toss it in the basket. Hockey is intelligible - you hit the puck with a stick, you aren't allowed to hit people with the stick, and you knock the puck into the net. 

Football, on the other hand, is unfathomable unless you know what's going on. The players line up in a bizarre formation until someone yells. Play goes on for about five seconds, teams try to murder each other (basically), and then everything stops for longer than it started. Sometimes the ball gets kicked to the other side of the field. Sometimes someone runs it to the end zone. Occasionally, it gets kicked through the goal post. WHO MADE UP THESE RULES?

However, if your spousal prospect is into football, you're going to be much more likely to watch it than you would if you were on your own. Such was the case for me, anyway. And over the course of a season or two, you will inevitably start to catch on to the rules of the world's most nonsensical sport. Especially if someone is explaining it to you. In addition, I'm inclined to root for his team, because true love.

Stage 2: Who doesn't like rooting for the underdogs?

Historically, the Seahawks were not the greatest of teams. They lost badly most of the time...until they didn't anymore. Suddenly, watching them was extraordinarily akin to watching history in the making. If you count football victories as the essence of history, of course. At this point, you could have accurately called me a fair-weather fan. 

Stage 3: Discover good character in unexpected places.

Russell Wilson is the greatest. 

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Stage 4: Live-blog the Super Bowl.

Chaz had to go to Abu Dhabi on the same weekend as the Super Bowl last year, and it was the first time in forever that the Seahawks had made it past the playoffs and had a good chance at winning. As a result, I suddenly became fiercely devoted on his behalf to the idea of them winning, and I was therefore abnormally excited when they succeeded. Plus, I blogged the entire thing Twitter(ish)-style so he could get the highlights. 

Stage 5: Absolute devotion comes naturally.

Between a now-husband from Seattle, several Seattle-area clients, and friendly Seahawks fans, I'm officially a convert. Every time I'm in the city, I'm tempted to buy another Seahawks shirt and it requires actual effort to restrain myself. #embarrassing. If there's a game on - which is rare, considering networks around here just show the East Coast teams - you'll likely find us on our couch, each wearing Hawks paraphernalia, possibly enrobed in an Accipitriformes-themed blanket, vainly hunting for blue and green-colored mixed drink directions on our phones during commercial breaks, and cheering loudly when Richard Sherman makes some ridiculous play. There's no turning back now.

Here's an entirely unrelated, blurry, odd picture of us. Just because.