So right now, I’m going through a mild burnout. Family stuff, lingering homesickness, general fatigue from those 28-day work stretches. Last night, Sarah’s mom passed away- she was a tremendously kind woman and it’s a big loss. I dunno. I’m not facing an immediate crisis but I’ve been feeling low and nostalgic. It made me feel a little better to go through photos from our trip to Seattle this past October. Oh man. It was so, so good to see friends and familiar places!

Archie McPhee is eternally the greatest gift shop on earth. Kristy hanging out by a bathtub of tentacles. Nate and Mike shaking giant, lobster claw hands. Dean lookin’ adorable with a giant ear (and those anatomical models)! Dean and I took a squirrel-head photostrip because TRUE LOVE.

The dinosaur garden by the Fanta office! I used to walk here a lot on lunch breaks. It’s someone’s front yard and they switch it up fairly regularly so you never know when a new figurine will pop up or the big T-Rex head will be eye-level with you in one of the hedges.

I’m so glad I got to visit the office when I did since Ted ended up moving to Arizona a couple months afterwards. Now he’s a Phoenician and I’m an Athenian but on this day- we were all part of the old basement crew. Upstairs, I ran into Jacq’s beautiful, one-eyed dog, Wanda. I miss her quiet snores.

Seeing my old co-workers and boss was GREAT and then I got to meet Simon Hanselmann in drag. I’d just read Megahex before the trip. After that, bussed downtown to meet back up with Dean and got some tourist photos of the KEXP wall.

Larry! Is any trip to Seattle complete without seeing this guy?! I really don’t think so. We hung out with him as long as he’d have us at the Georgetown store. Later, we met up with Ian and Annelie at Smarty Pants for dinner. It was our first time seeing those two since they moved back from Austin.

Mmmmm. The color and grandeur of the Pike Place Market gum wall. Dean and I had coffee and treats by the water (the Cinnamon Works snickerdoodles I’d been dreaming of!) then went to Frank’s to say ‘hello’ to Chaz. James and I (and sometimes Kristy) got our produce from Chaz almost every week ‘cuz he’s the best.

Six months in the beer paradise of Athens and I still haven’t found anything I enjoy as much as Mac and Jack’s which I enjoyed at The Five Point Cafe with Nate, Kristy, and Dave. This was around the time Tom Morello was mad about not getting a VIP room there. ‘Eggs Against the Machine’ brah. To the right: ever-changing wheatpastes on the market walls.

Nate’s still in the International District but now he’s got an even cooler apartment than he’d had before. The two of us met up with Eric and had ramen on his patio. Sooooo good! Post lunch, we went to Daiso which I didn’t realize wasn’t a nationwide chain before moving away. :( Japanese Dollar Store, how I miss you! I got a sack’s worth of kawaii and engrish goodies. Best purchase: cat mug with cat face lid to keep my tea warm.

The blood red hall at the downtown library. Still love the sci-fi Koolhaas design.

And here’s the reason we made this trip- to see Gavin and Rachel get hitched! They are a lovely couple and we are so happy for them! They were married by librarian superstar Nancy Pearl. Dave Chappelle passed through the bar and gave them their first toast. We goof-danced on the dance floor- Annelie and Mike B. killed it.

Kristy, my Halloween soulmate, put us up for the long weekend. Seattle is rapidly changing and you can see a lot of those changes from Kristy’s ‘hood (South Lake Union- ride the S.L.U.T.!) up through Capitol Hill. In the short frame of time we’d been away, more old businesses had closed while new, expensive condos had sprung up. But THANK GOD my favorite landmarks are still standing. Hope our next trip is longer than a couple days!