Seattle: Day One

Today, we were on a mission: find Cee a wedding band.

After a breakfast of pastry, fruit and fresh orange juice in the dining room at the Gaslight Inn we took an easy- if not short- through Capitol Hill and down Pine Street to downtown Seattle. Macy's was hosting a Le Vian trunkshow, and the company was supposed to bring in a specific ring for us... either it no longer exists or never did. All I know is that when the custom-making figures started to add up, my eyes glazed over and we left quickly. I'm not a dream-wedding type of girl, so not having a specific wedding band isn't going to change my life either way. I do love beautiful jewelry, but the idea of a five-figure pricetag was terrifying... I would so much rather take a gorgeous- and long- honeymoon.

To comfort myself after this small failure, I had lunch at Noodle Zone in Westlake Centre. The fettucini with peanut sauce was exactly as I remembered- the perfect combination of peanut and coconut flavours, generously topped with peanuts and served in an unreasonably large portion. Ah, edible happiness...

Post-carb fest, we walked back up Capitol Hill- making a quick stop at Walgreen's for Mexican Coke (the kind that still comes in a glass bottle, without preservatives.)- and gathered up our bags. The ones we had packed full of old clothes to sell at Buffalo Exchange.

I have never had a less-than-stellar experience selling clothes at Buffalo Exchange, and today was no exception; my haul earned 85$. Or it would have, had I not opted to take 121$ in store credit. I made my first ever purchase at Buffalo Exchange this afternoon. I thought it was just going to be a beige houndstooth-print silk shirt, bargain priced for 15,50$... And then. Oh, and then.

Just as I was about to take my payout, Ian spotted a pair of virutally unworn brown Frye boots poking out of a bin of not-yet-shelved shoes. Miraculously, they were exactly my size. And selling for 75$, a mere quarter of their retail price. Since I had 121$ in store credit, I walked away with both the boots and the silk top- and 21$ cash.

Do not miss Buffalo Exchange when you're in Seattle. I cannot stress that enough.

To celebrate my good fortune- and because we like to eat- we had dinner at Pam's Kitchen, a Trinidadian-Caribbean restaurant on the University of Washington campus. I saw Pam's Kitchen on the Food Network's Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives last month and immediately knew I had to try it. The rotis that have earned this small restaurant its reputation- there are two varieties, the fluffy paratha and thinner, spicier dahlpuri- are wonderful, but hardly the only draw. I'm not sure I have ever had a better potato-and-chickpea curry dish than I ate for dinner tonight. Homemade ginger beer was also unique and intriguing, although a bit too sweet for my taste.

The highlight of the day, though, was, without a doubt, a wildlife sighting at the University Village mall. Two ducks decided to take an afternoon stroll and stopped for a drink outside a gourmet food store.They were tame, adorable and extremely photogenic.

Tomorrow we're heading to Pike Place Market... be sure to check back for updates!

Bisous,

Cee