Seattle nom noms!!

Reason for being MIA: Seattle Weekend Trip with the girls to celebrate Sammie's 22nd!

We set out early Saturday morning with a jam-packed two-day itinerary. Even though Seattle is only 3 hours away from Vancouver, I really haven't made many trips there. I woke up before my alarm went off (6:25am) and puttered around trying to pass time before my ride came.

We had breakfast planned for 10:30am ... that's practically my lunch time! I wasn't particularly hungry for breakfast, but ate out of jitteryness/unrest. SWUD fail.



However, this ended up being a good decision because we didn't arrive at our 'breakfast' destination until noon. Harris Avenue Cafe in Bellingham.



An apparently popular destination for locals and tourists alike. We had to wait for 20 minutes before we were seated. Sammie (birthday girl) and Hambie.



Wendy, Cindy, and Nom nom face.



The other girls opted for breakfast choices like scrambles, french toast, oatmeal, and waffles, but seeing as I already had breakfast, I wanted a sandwich! I ordered on of their 'hot sandwiches' which included grilled chicken breast and pesto spread. It came with a side order of chipotle black bean soup.

I was pretty shocked when it came ... I didn't know 'hot sandwich' meant burger ... wasn't too happy about it.



So I sandwich-fied it by cutting it in half! Look at that ooey-gooey cheese. I ate this half and all of the soup.



After stopping at Seattle premium outlets and spending far too much money, we decided since no one was hungry for our planned lunch (Carl's Jr) that we would skip it and go straight to Pike Market instead. I've never been here before, but by the time we arrived a lot of the shops were closing.



We still managed to see some pretty cool sights though. Like this giant gummi bear made out of gummi bears.



We wandered around for too long though because we were almost late for dinner! We pushed back our dinner reservations to 8 and made it in the nick of time. The Purple Cafe Wine and Bar is a very popular spot on Saturday nights ... good thing we made a reservation because the wait was 2.5 hours long...



Check out this massive selection of wines! Heaven ...



We started with a trio of appies that the waitress recommended. From top left, a garlic and hummus spread, medjool dates stuffed with goat cheese, and duck pate. The duck pate was AMAZING but the others were mediocre at best.



But my Lobster mac and cheese more than made up for it. A bowl of cheesy goodness with GIANT and plentiful bites of lobster meat. I passed this around the table and it was unanimously voted the best dish of the night (and possibly the entire trip).



The birthday girl got a red velvet cupcake at the end of her meal!



Which we helped demolish within seconds.



An enjoyable experience for sure!



Nighttime shenanigans ensued.



And before we knew it, it was Sunday and time to check out of the Sheraton Seattle!



We vetoed our Cheesecake Factory plans for more time at Pike Place. Wendy suggested we go for clam chowder, and oooooh, what an idea!! A bowl of hot creamy clam chowder served in a soft sourdough bowl with oyster crackers on the side.



Dip the 'bread' hole in the soup.



You can also rip off the top of the bowl!



No bread shall be wasted.



Playing with food is so much fun.



After brunch we explored other parts of pike market!



Good thing the chowder was filling ... cause there were A LOT of delicious looking pastries.



'Highly Sociable' cats too. Not sure how they are different from normal cats, but they sure were cute stacked on top of each other.



And the very first Starbucks!!



Watching cheese being made in a big vat.



After many touristy activities, we went shopping! Cindy played mommy and watched our stuff.



And then it was lunch time ... I was still full from breakfast, so opted for something sweet instead. We went to Jollibee's, a Filipino fast food chain. I ordered a Halo-halo (??) which was shaved ice with mixed beans and jelly at the bottom and a scoop of ice cream!



The weirdest dish - Wendy's! That's pig's blood, served over rice. I tried it, and really really liked it.



After more shopping, we made our way back up towards Bellingham and stopped at Bellevue to shop at Trader Joe's (my heaven ....) and have dinner at a Taiwanese Cafe called Facing East. Sammie, Cindy and I decided to share a couple of dishes since none of us were that hungry. Started with a Taiwanese pork bun, which was marinated pork strips with a sweet relish in a soft doughy bun.



Squid pottage. None of us knew what pottage was but it was just rice noodles in soup with squid balls.



Also some sticky cake. I don't even know what was in this but it wasn't that great.



This had to be the least memorable spot of all our stops, but every meal tastes fantastic when it's shared amongst friends. By the time we drove back up to Vancouver, we were full of food, but stuffed to the brim with incredible memories of the times shared.



In my opinion, the best way to OM NOM NOM!




Regular programming resumes tomorrow!