Seattle (and Beyond) Plans

meri 2013.11.26

First, my plans today already shot, because I planned to sleep in later than 5:30 this morning. This should have worked, as I was up much of the night with my sinus / ear unhappiness. However, my body and brain appear to have missed the memo, and so it has been an early start to the day.

But, I will not be deterred! I have plans! (This is far more information that you want about my schedule for the next couple of weeks, and is recorded here mostly so I can have a record to go back and compare what I actually manage to do against what I planned to do.)

TL;DR: My plans for the next two weeks. Including a couple of open days in Seattle, if anyone wants to grab a bite.

Tuesday (Today): International District

• Coffee: Though, I’m not sure where I’ll find some. I think there are only 7-8 coffee places in the nearest shopping center.
• Kinokuniya: One of my favorite bookstores ever. Think Borders, but Japanese. Well, ok. Think Barnes & Noble, I guess, given the whole “still in business” thing. Books, magazines, stationery.
• Uwajimaya: Never been, but it’s supposed to be a great Asian grocery with a decent Hawaiian section.
• Momo Seattle: Japanese stationery. Ahem.
• Kona Kitchen: Local kine grinds.
• So Much Yarn: What? You’re surprised?

Wednesday (Tomorrow): University District

• University Bookstore: I love campus bookstores. And this one has some really good reviews.
• Shiga’s Imports: Little neat things from Japan.
• Weaving Works: More yarn.
• Hawaii General Store: In addition to the Uwajimaya visit on Tuesday, this will be place where I’m hoping to stock up on essential dry goods that I simply can’t get on the east coast without bugging friends back home to send me care packages.
• Hawaiian Breeze Restaurant: Lunch!
• Archie McPhee: Because, really, I gotta. Or at least, I’d really like to.

Thursday: Thanksgiving Day: To the best of my knowledge, this day will be spent at home, with Jenn and Jim and a couple of their friends, watching football, eating (and knitting, undoubtedly). You know, traditional and all that.

Friday – Sunday: Unsure. The whole purpose of this visit is to visit with Jenn and Jim, and this is will be the bulk of the time that I get to spend with Jenn. I’m sure there will be much lazing and giggling and crafting going on. Though I am fairly generally opposed to Black Friday silliness, there are a couple of stores I would like to venture out to with Jenn. Other than that, I’m pretty happy if we only emerge for food and/or drink.

• Tom Bihn: Purveyor of awesome bags. One of my favorite bag companies has a retail location. It is normally only open during normal business hours, making it difficult for people with real jobs (like Jenn) to go to the retail shop. But, they’re going to be open on Friday and Saturday, so I’m hoping we can go visit.
• Northwest Art & Frame: This is supposed to be a good art store / gift shop type of place. It’s on the list for this block of days mostly because it’s not particularly close to anything, but is closest to Tom Binh.

Monday (12.02): Undecided. I may actually try to find the Fremont Troll, or some of the other things from Roadside America. Or, oooh, take the ferry! (I love water. A lot. Did I mention the liking of water?) Anyone have any suggestions, or want to get together for lunch or an early dinner? Irene? Erin? Mark?

Tuesday (12.03): Katherine is being a dear and is coming up from Vancouver just to hang out with little ol’ me! We’re going to see an exhibit on glass knitting (…. oh my), and get lunch, and do whatever else comes to mind. She’s a dear for making the trek up. I was originally going to go to Portland, but then I started to get sick, and I wasn’t sure how my spoons would be holding up after all the events, so she volunteered to head this way. Three cheers for Katherine!

Wednesday (12.04): My final day in Seattle. There will undoubtedly be packing (and swearing, as I attempt to fit all of my loot into my luggage (and the overflow duffle bag that I brought)). [1] But, I don’t have to be at the airport until 20:00 (“I just love a red-eye flight,” said no-one, ever). Thus far the day is open. There’s a decent chance that I should spend at least part of it simply re-energizing, but I am open to suggestions.

Thursday (12.05): I get into IAD at around 9AM on Thursday. I’m sure I’ll be well-rested and fully refreshed from my overnight flight. This is good, as I will be spending the day killing time in Northern Virginia, waiting for G to get off work so we can go home. I’m hoping I will be able to find a place to curl up and nap at this office. 🙂

Assuming I haven’t flat out keeled over, I will attempt to make Knit Night. However, I need to save up some energy, because…

Friday – Saturday: Jer and Shama are visiting! It feels like we haven’t seen them in forever (even though it was just a couple of months ago in Hershey for me), and Shamala has to burn some vacation, so… Yay! This does, however, mean I will miss the first day of the Hitchhiker Knit Along at Cloverhill. Sad panda. (Well, only a little sad, because Jer and Shama!)

Sunday (12.08) – ???: Recovering. I’m tired just reading all this. This is, by far, this most aggressively active schedule that I’ve set out for myself since before the heart attack. I’m sure that some things are going to have to give way. Hell, it may end up being that lots of things have to give way. But, I will happily sacrifice some of my rampant shopping plans in order to be able to spend time with Jenn and Jim on this coast, and Jer and Shama once I’m back home. It’s just hard to figure out when I’m going to run out of spoons, or how long it will take to replenish them, so it’s all kind of a guessing game.

[1] (Oh yeah, about the swearing: I need a new suitcase. The collapsible handle on my luggage broke at some point between when I turned it over to JetBlue and when it came down the luggage carousel. And dragging a 28″ suitcase around without the handle is a complete pain in the butt.)