Big City Adventures

So, after the rude awakening with the mouse, the rest of the weekend was really lovely. I drove (slowly, it was icy) down to Boise and then flew to Seattle for a very short visit with my mom. We stayed at a hotel downtown and I got to satisfy my only four goals for Seattle: (1) I bought snowshoes (I'm sure there will be an update soon on how that turned out) at the flagship REI store; (2) I ate sushi . . . twice in two days (omg do I miss sushi); (3) I bought far too many 1930s mystery novels at Seattle's awesome bookshops and antique stores; and, most importantly, (4) I ate crumpets and drank mugs of strong tea at The Crumpet Shop . . . also twice. Because really, does Seattle mean anything other than books, crumpets, fancy sporting goods, and sushi? I mean sure, there is, allegedly, an amazing art museum, and some people rave about all the excellent coffee, and there are those glorious flower and fruit selllers in Pike Place, and there's something about a needle reaching toward space, but give me a soft and crunchy ricotta and nutella crumpet, a vat of strong tea, and a novel with an opening paragraph like this:

I had dark forebodings. I had evil premonitions. Naturally, Adam Oakman being the high type of man he was, and his visitors being his relatives, mannerly and well educated, I didn't predict anything so uncouth as murders and dead boties disappearing like the morning dew all over the place. But I had forebodings, just the same.

And that adds up to an excellent weekend in Seattle to me.

But now that I'm home, I have to try on my suits and hope that one still fits, re-pack my bag, and head back to the airport tomorrow for an even shorter trip to Chicago for my job interview. There's another winter storm warning tonight, so even though I've been home less than 24 hours, I might head down to the valley this afternoon just in case. Wish me luck. I think I'd really like to get this job. I think. Maybe.