Dear Buddha, please bring me a pony and a plastic rocket...

So this one time, I was in grad school and my life exploded.

But before that crap happened, I went on Spring Break.

Now, I had every intention of going to Daytona Beach to drink excessively, spend too much time on the beach without sunscreen, get food poisoning and vomit in my hair, but then I thought, "How would that be different from last year?"

In order to feed my need for novelty, I decided I must journey somewhere completely different from all of that.  I opted for charm, seafood, quirk, greenery and Asians.  Now, I know what you're all thinking and no, I did not go to Fresno.

I gathered my junk, packed a bag and headed to the Pacific Northwest to visit my brother in Seattle.

Let me tell you what, they have some things out there.  So many things, in fact, that I will need to narrow this mess down in little sections and pictures.

The food

You guys, this cupcake had bacon on it.

I knew this gelato would be good for three reasons: 1) It was recommended to me by a sassy, little sunflower 2) It came from a store called the Fainting Goat 3) You guys, it's gelato.

You know, I had been waiting for a sign...

The quirk

This is Seattle's bridge troll.  I named him Carl.  He seemed sad.

Giant mushrooms.  Don't ask why, but it works.

You guys might not know this, but this is really tall.

The childhood tribute

Sam and I grew up watching Northern Exposure.  Though it's set in Alaska (spoiler alert!), it was actually filmed right here in Roslyn, Washington.

I found Dr. Fleischman!

The people

This is a combination of neat things.  This is my brother, Sam, whom I like very much.  This is his burrito, which he liked very much.

Incidentally, I also had the distinct pleasure of meeting Christina from Too Pretty For This for a fancy lunch date of latkes and magic.  I don't have a picture of this blessed event, and sometimes I manage to convince myself that it never really happened.  But the tingly feeling I get in my pancrease when I think about it assures me that it did.

Christina is lovely and generous and quirky and most importantly, has fabulous taste in food.  She has a good beat and she's easy to dance to.  Also, as we were swapping tales and adventures, I learned she is quite handy with automechanics.  So, you know, we have that in common.

After this excursion, Seattle became a new favorite.  I navigated the bus system fairly well, the people were really friendly, there was wine and coffee on every block and when we went to the Pike Place Market, nobody tried to make me catch a dead fish (dealbreaker).

Plus, I learned the difference between a lock and a loch, which, you know, will be important when I go back for that PhD.