Seattle!!!

Table and chairs off of Craigslist? Check. Couch and armchair from IKEA? Check. Pots and pans, towels and bathmats, oven mitts and kitchen appliances from Bed Bath and Beyond? Check. First aid supplies and Kleenex from Target? Check. Wireless internet from Best Buy/Comcast? Check!!! (Hello! Now I can update more often and have shorter posts again!)

Things are slowly coming together here in Seattle. Driving up from Oregon was a bit more emotional than I had anticipated. We left behind a cloudless blue sky in Portland for total cloud cover in the state of Washington. I started crying. How had I tied myself to this for four years? But as we headed farther north the clouds burned off and the sun started to shine once again. We crested the hill and all of the Seattle skyline and waterfront spread out before us, sparkling in the light.

(First glimpse of Seattle!)

The first thing we did was to head over to my new apartment. My building manager, Phil, is probably the nicest human alive. He took us up to the apartment, showed us around, and I immediately fell in love with the place. The apartment is on the third floor, has two skylights and several big windows, and is light even on cloudy days. Then Phil invited us out to lunch with him, his wife, and his little girl at an Indian Bistro about an eight minute walk from the apartment. Lunch was both tasty and fun. Phil's whole family is wonderful!

After lunch, my mom and I headed downtown to the hotel we were staying for the first three nights (we had literally nothing worth sleeping on for the first couple of days-- not even a blanket). We stayed at a place called Inn at the Market, a cute boutique-y hotel. We got to our room and the first thing we saw was a bottle of red wine accompanied by three little cupcakes-- cinnamon, chocolate peanut butter, and red velvet-- with a note welcoming me to the city, and hoping that I enjoyed my PhD program and living in Seattle. Apparently while making the reservation, my mom had mentioned in passing that I was moving to Seattle for school, and the hotel took it on themselves to give me a warm welcome. I couldn't have been more pleased!

(Hotel cupcakes!)

From there, the last week has been a blur. I found an adorable table and chairs for $40 on Craigslist, and the guy selling them even delivered them and carried them up the stairs to my apartment. Awesome! My mom and I braved IKEA-- what a sensory overload!-- and found a cheap couch and armchair, a few cute end tables, and some bookshelves for the office. We even put the couch and chair together ourselves! The day after that we spent a fortune at Bed Bath and Beyond getting all kinds of kitchen necessities and bedroom necessities, like sheets and duvets and towels, and at some point we discovered that the nearest Target is two stories high and has a weird little "cart only" escalator. Someday I'll take a picture of this crazy contraption to show you all. We have scoured antique markets and vintage flea stores and Craigslist for other furniture items, such as desks and end tables, and a dresser, but finally ended up with some new but very reasonably priced furniture from a store just up the street called Dania. Not all of the furniture has been delivered yet, and it's not all set up, but we're getting there.

(Yay! Furniture in the apartment!)

We've also managed to have a little fun. We spent an afternoon at the Woodland Park Zoo, which I really loved (I'm now a zoo member with an annual pass!). We went over for late-night happy hour at a nearby bar and got their steak special for $6.99! We tried a terrible Mexican place, and an amazing Thai place, and last night had some of the best pizza ever from Flying Squirrel Pizza Co. Today we're going grocery shopping at Trader Joe's, so that'll probably be the end of eating out so much... except to try Pies and Pints, of course.

(Bear at the zoo!)

Plus, I had a great morning with one of the 4th year PhD students, Sarah! We met at the Whole Foods near my apartment, and walked all over Seattle-- through neighborhoods, to the University campus-- and she told me tons about the program and about the city. It was really, really wonderful. I hope we become much better friends.

So, now I'm living in the apartment, setting things up and putting things away, and somehow it became September. Maybe I should run out for a latte or a tea before trying to tackle too many things this sunny Saturday morning... :)