Behind the Scenes - Pike Place Market Renovation Tour

I fully admit I'm a bit nerdy about a few things.  An invitation to check out renovations of landmarks or cool places in general make me a little giddy.  Does anyone else see an invite to check out the innards of the Seattle Monorail or the upgrades to the Pike Place Market and start to jump around like a 5 year old getting ready to go to the candy shop?  Right.  Just me.  NERD.  :-) 

I belong to a real estate group called CREW, a women in real estate group that has monthly lunches and different committees.  A few months ago, there was a lunch presentation on all of the seismic, electrical and HVAC upgrades that the market has been going through recently.  At the end of the lunch, the speaker mentioned there would be an upcoming tour for members.....ding, ding, ding!  LOVE IT!  Couldn't wait for the tour to be announced.  Getting to go behind the scenes and check out what great things have been happening for the Market?  Yes, please.

Our tour was led by a project manager for the general contractor on the project.  We visited several areas where they had done significant work, all while the Market continued to operate as normal.  Some tenants were moved to temp locations, other work was being done in non-tenanted areas.  What they've accomplished is phenomenal, considering the shops are local, small operators who depend on the daily traffic of the Market to be successful.

A few pics from the tour:

Two of the fun light fixtures.

Checking out the HVAC equipment on the roof of the Sanitary Market.

Cute fish boy with the Wiener Mobile.

Fun new design work for the fully renovated restrooms. (The old restrooms were SCARY)

Best Birthday Gift

For my birthday last November, I was given a goat lease by my friends Emily and Trevor.  It was probably the most unique gift I've received and I LOVED it.

My official Goat Lease

The goat lease entitles you to pick a goat (out of 6), tell them when you would like your goat (I chose Emilie....fitting since I received it from Emily) milked, then 4 weeks later a box of 3 goat cheese logs arrives on your doorstep.  (or at the reception desk as in my case)

Delivery of 3 goat cheese logs

After you register your lease, you get a photo of your goat and a farm update on how your little one is frolicking through the fields on a farm in Massachusetts.  The company is called Rent Mother Nature and is a great company. They have many other leases to choose from and I can't wait to get a gift for someone.

We'll be enjoying these with some wine from the cellar (my cellar = the closet).

Snowshoe adventure - Snoqualmie Pass

Had a fun day in the snow with some of my close peeps.  We ventured up to Snoqualmie Pass to find a fun snowshoe trail.  What we ended up finding was a trail to hike in the snow.  Everyone managed to navigate the packed icy/snow fine to walk on, but I didn't want to take any chances and blow out my good knee, or fall on my bum....so I was the only one in snowshoes....well, except for the 100 yards that Christopher tried navigating with his cute froggy snowshoes.

It was a gorgeous day - clear, sunny and cold.  We ended up at a frozen lake to have a snack, then turned around and headed back to the car.  I sometimes forget that the littles aren't up to a full day yet.  Soon....hopefully soon.

Nicole, Me and Kelly - before they went searching for the boys.



Michael running out to the island on the frozen lake. 

Scott with the littlest snow bunny - a moment of freedom from the backpack.

An icy river along the way.



Fun times in Texas

We packed a lot in our few days in Austin - lots of good food, several trips to the Whole Foods mothership, a visit to Mellow Johnny's, a swim in the longest outdoor natural swimming area I've ever seen, and a stroll along South Congress to check out fun shops.

We made our first night in town out our "party" night since staying out late the night before a race is strongly discouraged. :-)  We started at a fun bar along the party strip, Dogwood. Had drinks while enjoying being outside (granted, it wasn't super warm, but warm enough to be outside having a drink....unlike frigid Seattle).

From there we went in search of the music scene and ended up listening to amazing music at The Continental Club.  We went up the stairs into what felt like someones living room.  At one end of the room there was a trio of gentlemen playing the drums, guitar and what looked like an organ.  The music was phenomenal.  I have no idea what the name of the band was, only that I felt like we were experiencing the true Austin. 

Saturday brought more adventures - race packet pick up, a trip to Mellow Johnnie's and the Whole Foods HQ.

Race pick up is always a fun morning,  the excitement of the race, wandering the aisles for "much needed" gear.  I came away with new compression socks (that I don't think have enough compression), a cool  Livestrong t-shirt and a few other random running things.

The excitement of packet pick up.

We then headed to the Whole Foods Flagship.  This place was amazing.  It was like any other Whole Foods...but ginormous.  The build your own trail mix bar was a definite draw.  Wandering around, I found this gorgeous display of apples.  YUM!

Once we had enough snacks to last the weekend, we walked to Mellow Johnny's bike shop.  I loved seeing all of the cool bikes.  Also stopped in for a little coffee treat at Juan Pelota, attached to the bike shop.

 Hi Lance!  Stopped in at your bike shop, loved it. 

I'm a lot like this bike.....a little sassy and one speed.

(One day, I'll kick my running up to 2 speeds) 

With the race behind us, Monday was a flurry of swimming at Barton Springs and vintage shopping on S. Congress. 

 I really enjoyed the un-Texas vibe of Austin, but you never forget that you are still in Texas.

 The coveted boot lifter from Uncommon Objects vintage shop. Only fitting that it's a long horn. 

It was the best souvenir and worth the extra weight in my luggage. 

I'll post the boot lifter in action soon.

So many food trucks - definitely will have to go back check more of them out.