Pittsburgh

Keri and I road tripped to Pittsburgh for the weekend to visit my cousin Anita. We arrived late Friday night so we just spend some time chatting and eating concord grapes (YUM!) before retiring for the evening. I woke up Saturday morning and was hanging out with Anita's cat Fred when what appeared to be Fred's purr began to freak me out. (It was REALLY LOUD) I became convinced Fred was having a problem, but Anita was still asleep. What to do? Fred began using my foot as a scratching post, and I was increasingly convinced that Fred was trying to tell me something about what was happening to him. Call it an early morning brain fart - I know it sounds crazy now, but it seemed totally rational at the time. I got him to follow me into the kitchen and I pushed his water bowl toward him. Eventually he stopped the racket, and my blood pressure decreased a bit. He later made the noise again, and luckily Anita was awake, and assured me that no, that thing that sounded like a sputtering motor was actually Fred's normal purr. I was then able to relax!













Fred





We headed to the quiet storm, a coffee shop, cafe, and music venue for some yummy tofu paninis and I had a vegan lemon ginger milk shake. We then did a bit of shopping (Anita bought me a scarf and I bought her a necklace) at 10,000 villages and Casablanca, and then headed to Penn's colony, an outdoor festival/fair where local artists/craftspeople sell their wares while dressed in Dutch colonial gear. We then checked out the Point Park (on the river) before getting wine to take to a BYOB ethiopian restaurant, where Anita's boyfriend as well as her co-worker/friend joined us.

The Park













Anita and Keri at the park


















At dinner (I'm wearing the new scarf, and Anita's wearing the new necklace!)











Before going to bed, we watched "Pink Floyd in Pompeii" which was CRAZY and amazing. The next morning, Anita took us to a vegan/vegetarian place called Zenith on the South Side. It is also an antique store. This place had an incredible brunch. I had banana french toast, and lots of vegan cakes and pie and essentially had to be rolled out of the place. We decided a brief walk was in order before getting in the car to drive back to New Jersey, or otherwise we'd have had to stop for coffee 10 times. We walked around the South Side, admiring the attractive architecture, before setting off for New Jersey.

Seattle

Seattle over labor day weekend was non-stop fun. Teej and I both arrived in Seattle Friday afternoon (Teej from LA and I from New Jersey) within 20 minutes of each other and immediately jumped in our friend Dave's car. We headed home, our other friend Naceem arrived (Naceem and Dave are lovebirds), and we feasted on vegan burgers before heading off to a park on the Sound for a little walk and sight-seeing. We then headed to gasworks, where we could see the twinkling city lights and boats on the water.









We saw a ferry coming in on our walk


The next stop was Dilettantes, which I discovered on my first trip to Seattle last May, for some delicious premium hot chocolate and browsed a nearby record store before retiring for the evening. We awoke Saturday morning and made waffles in Dave's vintage waffle iron with fresh berries and crazy syrups - including marionberry, and other delicious options.









the waffles




We then went to nearby Cafe Fiore, which Dave and Naceem had been raving about, and tasted what the fuss was all about - delicious, smooth organic coffee. Sufficiently caffeinated, we were off to Bumbershoot, which was a concert that was happening all weekend long (it happens every Labor Day) and enjoyed hearing Mavis Staples, comedian Mike Birbiglia (who we saw perform for the first time in New York 2 years ago - he is HILARIOUS if you ever have the chance to see him), and Trey Anastasio. We also went up to the top of the Space Needle.

Sunday morning we made the obligatory pilgrimage to Mighty-O donuts, a donut shop that is totally vegan and AWESOME! (Another place I had discovered in Seattle last May). We then answered the inner rock stars trying to get out at the Experience Music Project, a totally interactive music museum where you can learn to play and experiment on real musical instruments, learn to mix, record vocals, and also check out an amazing Bob Dylan exhibit (limited time only - if you are a fan, get thee to Seattle - you won't be disappointed!). They also have a special stage where you and your friends can pretend you are rock stars (fake crowd, costumes, and everything!) and sing/play instruments. Teej, Dave, Naceem and I loved it so much we did it twice! We now have posters and DVDs (and concert tickets) proving that our two short-lived bands really did exist and most definitely ROCKED! Ask me the next time I see you to play you the DVD of our rousing renditions of "Wild Thing" and "I love Rock n'Roll" After our sold-out, give-it-all-ya-got performance, we were understandably famished, so we ate yummy Thai food at Golden Singha, a nearby restaurant, and then headed to the Eliott Bay Bookstore - a HUGE bookstore you could get lost in for hours. We then drifted into a place called the New Orleans, where there was a full jazz band (at least 15 people) playing awesome music. We danced a bit, ate jambalaya, and had some strong spirits including "Swampwater."After filling ourselves generously with food and drink, we had the great idea of taking a late night tour of the University of Washington campus, where we met some just-graduated students who gave us a campus tour, and before heading back home we ran into a family of raccoons creeping across the campus. Teej tried totake a picture of one of them, and the picture looks like a cartoon -- it is pitch black, except for two eyes reflecting the flash. On Monday morning we relived our 15 minutes of fame by watching our two DVDs before heading to breakfast at the Blue Star. Teej and I shared a delicious tofu scramble. We visited the Fremont Troll., and then headed to Pike's Place market.





The troll, Anna, and Teej







At Pike's, I saw the most gorgeous bunches of flowers available that I have EVER seen - for $12-15 you could get an ENORMOUS assortment. I laughed when remembering this a week later, while walking around New York City and seeing that for the same $15, I could get like 3 flowers and some springs of filler. We then visited an awesome collectively-owned bookstore called Left Bank Books, and grabbed a quick drink/snack at Rock Bottom before Teej and I had to head to the airport. It was an AMAZING weekend - thanks Naceem and Dave!