Oh, I'm Just A Girl...

I had a recent visit from my friend, Tricia, who was up from San Francisco. And, here's proof that a visit with JRitchie in the northwest does not always mean a mandatory Bataan death march up one of the many hills that are in her neighborhood, nor a lung-busting cycling trip....not even a hint of going into the cold water for an excursion on some man-powered water vessel to look for marine mammals out in the wild as opposed to the safety of marine-parks where you can gaze at the 'monsters' from the other side of the glass while chowin' on a soft pretzel chased down with an ice cold diet coke.

My dear urban friends, I am still quite capable of having fun in the city, getting giddy (almost light-headed) trying on a bunch of senseless (and painful, but HOT) shoes while imagining all the cute outfits I could wear out with them, play for what seems like hours at the MAC counter trying on the new eye colors and lipstick then obsessing about #212 Sephora eyeliner that I MUST HAVE to go with my new MAC dual color pack. And, finally, hunting down the perfect accessories (hat & scarf) to go with the huggable, newly purchased gray sweater (that also matches my new eye colors perfectly). Oh wait, I forgot about trying all those clothes at Zara (I now dub Bi-zarra...what chaos!) and then walking out with nothing (haha) and leaving a wake of discarded, partially rolled-up clothes that will be carefully folded and put away by the staff only to have to have it thrown willy-nilly by the next potential (or not, like me) customer.

Oh, and food..and wine! Let's see....first, Tricia and I stuffed ourselves at Ipanema in downtown Seattle - a Brazilian rodizio. For all you carnivores, you must visit a rodizio. It's a meat-fest. Rotisseried meat in every which way or form....from top sirlion to sausages to chicken drumettes and bacon-wrapped something or other (by then, I was waaaay past the food coma stage and ready to stretch out in our comfy booth for an afternoon siesta). In San Francisco, there's Espetus, and in Palo Alto there's Pampas. With a flip of a disc (green means 'go' and red means 'stop'), you can pace your meat-fest. There's also a great salad bar (yummy beet salad, and all the asparagus I could stuff), and the sides bar where you can load up on the potatoes, rice, or beans. After that, we waddled up to Pike Place Market....one thing for sure, the meat-fest killed my craving for the mini-donuts I usually buy and for other stupid little snacks (or non-food purchases) that I tend to make when I go there. But, I did go home with a couple of splendid bouquets of fresh cut flowers.

On a brief overnight trip to Vancouver, Tricia and I went to Earls after walking around the city. There, we noshed on little plates of food while throwing back a bottle (OK, 2) of wine...which was then followed by several nightcaps each of Baileys on the rocks. (Ouch, that bill!). Just a wee hangover the next day and mud on my boots (the infamous next-morning quote "how did that get there").

So, there....you can take the girl out of the city, but I guess the city will always be a wee part of this girl. Tricia, I had a blast (as I always do) but I am still recovering from your visit (LOL). I can't wait to see the rest of my Bay Area friends soon. However, on my visit, I will need to pace myself and head out to the coast for some peace of mind, or up Mt. Tam for a few lung-busting hikes just to cleanse my system before toxicating it again later on in the night when you all come out of your natural-light deprived cubicles, or filtered-aired offices for a few hours of laughter, woots, and good fun. My joints will thank you all for the break, but my lungs, and muscles will make me pay, that's for sure.