Lewiston, Idaho needs more B&Bs or a maybe a boutique hotel.

My best friend from high school's little sister is getting married this summer, near the town in Idaho that I moved out of when I headed for Seattle. I've decided that I'll take a few extra days off of work and make it a mini-vacation roadtrip, during which I thought I'd find a cute place to stay for the time that I am there.

me:http://www.kayak.com/r/ZEEDZWNyH

wow. you like my hotel options?

GAG

Dubs: oh yucko.

no b&B?

me: I've found ONE

still perusing

jeezus

oh my shit

this place

everything is so GENERIC

Dubs: yuck. i say go econo lodge

it has about the worst fucking name for a chain of motels that i ever did hear in my life.

weirder and worse than King Oscar Motels.

me: those are strange

I want NICE!

fancy!

dammit

http://www.italiannainn.com/

there is still a site up for a B&B that stopped in '08

http://local.yahoo.com/ID/Lewiston/Travel+Lodging/Hotels+Lodging/Bed+Breakfasts okay, this looks more promising

Dubs: Ew god

motels are the worst

me: frack

if i can't get boutique, i want THE NICEST PLACE THEY'VE GOT

http://premieralpacas.com/

alpacas!!!!!

Dubs: YES

alpacas!

me: i could stay there!

Dubs: the italian place looks cute, too

Aha, and the alpaca folks are from Seattle

they will like you

It looks cute. Nice pool, too

me: i think the old Italian lady might hate me

Dubs: uh oh

why's that?

me: IDK

just my intuition

Dubs: hahaha

my god, her intro is ATROSH

me: Which one?

http://churchyardinn.com/

i wish I could open the Cliff House page

Dubs: the italian lady. read the fuckin top paragraph on the main page

me: hahahahahahahahahaha

Dubs: yeah

pretty bad

but she looks like a sweet old lady to me

http://www.italiannainn.com/images/photos/anna_vineyard_full.jpg

me: true

I'm leaning towards alpacas thoguh

tho 19 miles is FAR in ID

Dubs: Yeah that's true

me: this is hilars tho

I'm so fucking Seattle now

"WHAT? NO BOUTIQUES?"

Dubs: Hahaha

seriously

THERE HAS TO BE A QUAINT SHOP

I don't want fuckin' chain motels

GLARGH

me: DOES THIS PLACE HAVE A SPA??

Dubs: No asians = no nail salons, sorry

me: hahahahhahahaha

Dubs: so solly

It's official - I'm in love...

...with Bikram yoga and road trips.

The heat, the sweat, the sense of accomplishment when you have conquered another of the 26 poses...The challenge is so rewarding. It's also the perfect rainy season replacement for running.

I purchased another Groupon (gawd I love these discount sites/emails) for a 10 class punch card at Bikram Yoga Burien after I took a few weeks off when I ran out of classes from Bikram Yoga in West Seattle. Burien is pretty close to me so it's definitely more appealing than the deals I've seen for other places on the Eastside and in North Seattle - I don't want to have to shower at the studio and I can't imagine more than a 15 minute drive covered in drying sweat. The studio isn't as nice, but my instructor (Gary Smith) was super easy on the eyes and I plan to get back to going at least twice a week until I either find another deal nearby or save up the dough to buy a membership at one of the studios.

In other news, in nine days we are embarking on another trip down to Portland. Dubs has the day off so she will definitely be riding down with the Sailor and I and this time we've decided to book a room at the Ace Hotel instead of the Jupiter (though there is nothing wrong with the Jupiter.) I'm making a point on this trip to hit up the stripclubs and hook up with my cousins Mack & Ben who live in Vancouver and we'll also be meeting up with the Sailor's old navy buddy again.

It looks like this will probably be my last trip this year since my pregnant coworker is ready to pop at the end of December and I'm running a bit low on PTO, so we're gonna make it a good one.

13 days.

It's been a pretty busy 13 days since I last posted here, kiddos.

After watching the Pacquiao/Marquez fight (something I thought I may never do, let alone enjoy) Sailor convinced me to go out dancing with our ex-coworker, his lovely wife and their friends that we had joined for the boxing match. Well, I shook my ass and he enjoyed his lemon drop.

I've recently given up most hard liquor and Sailor likes girly drinks, so trips to the bar are always amusing when I order a beer and he orders some kind of frou frou beverage - the man loves a mimosa.

The trip to Portland was fucking fantastic (though really freakin' cold.)

*The Jupiter was lovely. They have chalkboard paint on all the doors and after I spent a few minutes adding some of my personal "art"

Sailor added his own:

*HUMP! was great, if not better, for the second time and meeting up beforehand with my local friends Rylee and Adam was icing on the cake.

*I dropped my entire purse into a puddle during a "Chinese Fire Drill" and I am still wondering what dissolved into a pink powder in one of the pockets.

*We went to Voodoo Doughnuts Too and Fire on the Mountain TWICE (thanks to DP's old navy buddy Seth for introducing me to this WING HEAVEN.)

*We walked a lot and trekked our way through SE Portland and downtown; on our way back across the Burnside bridge I noticed a sign for a Dirt Nasty show that evening and proceeded to spend 5 minutes telling Sailor who he was before realizing he had been walking 10 feet in front of us the entire time.

*We didn't end up going to the strip club, but did end up capturing some pretty entertaining moments from our trip on his Super 8 camera app.

Before we even got home we were talking about another joint weekend excursion - this time we're thinking Vancouver, BC early in December...Still, I have a feeling I may be back to Portland for the weekend sometime very very soon.

womp womp

Another fantastic weekend, but sadly I got so wrapped up in pet-sitting and HUMP! 7 I completely blew my "post everyday" goal for the month. Oops.

HUMP! was amazing (recap here with SPOILERS;) so incredibly good that when we met up afterward I immediately convinced Sailor that he should go see it with me while we're in Portland. And I got the "I got HUMPED" tshirt. Had to.

This weekend I also fell in love. Every time I went over to take care of my friend's kitties, sweet little (5 pounds!) thing Honky would jump into my lap after she got done eating and purr her little heart out until I had to leave. I'm completely smitten. Today my be my last day taking care of her, but a little piece of Honky will always be in my heart.

Watch out, Portland.

In less than 3 weeks, my longtime friend Sailor and I will be descending upon the famed Jupiter Hotel for an extended weekend and what is sure to be plenty of debauchery. I've been needing a mini vacation (and definitely owe some friends a visit,) he wanted a chance to catch up with an old Navy buddy in Oregon and my bff Dubs is always looking for a ride south to see her dude so we actually managed to coordinate an upcoming trip to lovely Portland. I'm really not sure I could have better roadtrip partners.

I'm freakin' thrilled to be going to the land of Stumptown Coffee, Voodoo Doughnut, and strip clubs with booze and no "4 foot rule" (I'm coming for you, Union Jacks.)

St. Vincent & sand = NO FAIL

My raw "pasta" dinner was mostly successful, I suppose, though it wasn't quite enough and we ended up at Proletariat Pizza picking up half of their amazing Ham & Egg pie (my second visit that week AND the same exact pizza...lordy.) It was seriously indulgent enough to work in perfect harmony with the cheesecake and chocolate cake Sailor brought for dessert from Bakery Noveau (I have to say he's got pretty good taste.)

As I julienned the big pile of veggies we chatted, made plans for a joint roadtrip and he introduced me to the charming music of St. Vincent (he definitely has a knack for being able to suggest the perfect tunes for his friends.) After dinner and a bottle of wine to wash it down we headed to Alki in the middle of the night and proceeded to enjoy the bottle of port DP had stashed in his car while running around on the beach in the cold like a couple of foolish teenagers. If you haven't peed in the Puget Sound before then you're most assuredly missing out. When I awoke Sunday afternoon to my pile of sandy clothes and salt-crusted shoes, I couldn't help but grin and giggle. I have a feeling that by the time he goes back to LA I'm going to have half a dozen more stories of our antics and possibly half a functioning liver.

"Oh look, more sand!" - Sailor

Trip to Spokanistan?

One of my FAVORITEST BANDS EVER, Barcelona, is playing an all-ages show in Spokompton in a few weeks and I am seriously considering going.

I've never seen them live which is mind-boggling since they are a freakin' Seattle band, but they play here so INfrequently I don't have many options. The only concert date they've had locally since I discovered the Absolutes album just happened to be on the evening that we flew to SF for Bear's show, and the next one is actually only a performance at a Symphony Guild event.

The cool part would be that I've got family in that area that could meet up with me, including 2 college-age cousins who I don't get to visit with nearly enough AND it would be a fun first time roadtrip with Bear. We could probably stay with my lovely school-teacher Aunt, but I'm concerned we might overwhelm the bf with family stuff so I've been scoping out hotels for Friday night.

Still, it's quite the trek. On the other hand, I have no idea when they'll play a full show in Seattle again and it's NOT OKAY that I haven't seen them live.

How far would you go to see one of your favorite bands play?

Officially Embracing Fall 2010®

I am thoroughly convinced and resolute, folks - I don't care if it was sunny and beautiful for a while this weekend, because it was surely followed up with clouds and sprinkles. This is Fall in Seattle.

I spent most of my weekend on the Island and by Sunday morning (ok, let's be real - I woke up at noon) the sound of rain falling from the balcony above the window in Bear's bedroom had become a very familiar noise. I did my usual social media and email catch up via blackberry from the warm comfort of the blankets next to my sleepy boyfriend. Perusing through my daily influx of discount offers from Groupon, LivingSocial, Tippr and the like I found THE PERFECT DEAL for getting into the spirit of Fall (see? I'm so ready I'm even capitalizing it these days.)

For a surprisingly small amount of money, the bf and I have earned access to The Farm at Swan's Trail and it's huge 12-acre corn maze ("it contains over 250 actual roads and 400 places and towns marked by signs...There are 4-1/2 actual miles of highways and country roads within the maze,") putting course, cow train, hay maze, and petting zoo. Oh, and I can't forget to mention the WAGON RIDES and PUMPKIN PATCH, right?

You might think it strange for a grown woman to be so excited over all this and equally cruel to intend to drag my unassuming bf along, but I've got it under good authority that fun can and usually is had by all; the yelp reviews are pretty assuring too.

Whatever, it's all part of the Officially Embracing Fall 2010® campaign. The Official Search For Rainboots continues this evening, followed by a huge helping of homemade spaghetti and garlic bread. Maybe even some hot tea. While wearing a sweater. Yeahhhh.