I'm writing my capstone grant proposal for school, which means a highly chaotic few months. One day, I'm going for a six mile hike with my friends at noon and grocery shopping on a Tuesday. The next, I'm writing manically until midnight and lamenting about being kicked out of the program. It seemed like the perfect time to take advantage of my flexible schedule and get out to Seattle to visit all of our friends. 

Evan and I flew in late, so we wound up at a hotel near the airport. It was a wacky experience, as this wombo combo Thai restaurant might convey.

Our room also had a six-person bathtub with jets, but 1AM did not seem the time to test them out. We woke up in the morning to rain, clouds, and grey. We were back. 

That morning, I took the ferry out to Bainbridge to visit Maddy, who is living at IslandWood! I got the whole tour (her cat Percy, the cemetery, a really big walk that she takes visiting students, licorice fern, her cute little cabin). We talked about allll the drama and her upcoming trip to Alaska. It's crazy that her time there has gone so fast. I was really excited to meet her school friends who seem like a rad crew and I hope are taking great care of Maddy in our stead. It was great to wander, see her excitement about mosses and fungi, and to connect again. I miss my Mads!

After we made it through some emesis in the car ride to the ferry (light editing here out of respect for my dear friend), Maddy dropped me off at Evan's old house in Greenwood. We all freaked out in excitement and kept interrupting each other, trying to ask questions about what had changed and what we'd all been through over the last eight months. That night, we hosted a bird-themed party with a disco ball dance floor in the basement and basically all of Jaimi's friends in Seattle.

I've gotta say, the funniest part to me was seeing people sneak onto the third floor, where Evan and I used to share a bedroom. We partied HARD and made it to bed around 3AM. The next morning, we dragged ourselves to Beth's (a proper greasy spoon) to recover and then walked around Greenlake. 

I also managed to catch up with my work best friend, Caroline. I think about her all of the time, having seen her during some of the grad school milestones that I'm living through now. We kept walking for longer and longer, not wanting to stop talking. I miss her sage advice, her ability to just get what I'm going through, and all the silly times we've had. It definitely wasn't enough time, but I was so excited to hear about how her life in Seattle has been going.

Then, sending my thanks to Seattle public transportation, I rushed up to Phinney Ridge to see Jess at her new job as a manager at a super posh interior design firm. We all giggled while we sat on the really nice really expensive couches and tried not to distract Jess, but probably failed. I headed home with her after we closed up the shop and got to walk through her adorable garden. I can't wait to head back in the summer to see her plants really take off. We then walked to Allie's apartment and all made dinner together. This was the heart of my Seattle life-- cooking with my friends, making ourselves drinks, laughing while someone told a story, staying over too late-- and it was so comforting to be back. Compared to Evan's crew, my friends have started dispersing more. People have gotten serious with their partners, found new housing in different neighborhoods, changed jobs and been promoted, and made new friends. But coming together still feels like family and I'm grateful for our commitment to each other. 

The next morning, Tom & Mel, Jaimi, Evan & I headed out to Vantage to go climbing like the old days. We woke up early-ish and I threw a fit until I took a nap in the back of Tom's Honda. We got all over those rocks and sent some really fun routes. Vantage was one of the first places I climbed outside, so I may be a little biased, but I love this style of climbing. Everything is so pointy, dramatic, and covered in lichen.

I ended up in boy car on the way back:

We celebrated our sends with burgers and the new Game of Thrones show, Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. Everyone agreed that the main character Dunk is the spitting image of Tom and shares his man-out-of-time energy.

Evan and I galavanted around Seattle the next morning, trying all of the expensive restaurants downtown that we never made it to while we lived in the city. We took the water taxi to West Seattle and then met up with my cousins, Rachel and Seth and their kids, before catching our flight. It's wild how quickly Benji and Desi are growing up; we could actually have a conversation! 

There were so many people that we didn't get enough time to see and we'll have to make it back soon!