Fremont Mobile Food Rodeo

Today was the food truck rodeo in Fremont! It was really nice weather, thankfully. The best thing I had was the coconut shrimp wood-fired pizza. It was not too coconutty and the sauce was so delicious with the juicy shrimp. LOVED IT.

We also had a few other dishes that were alright. Nothing amazing though unfortunately.

Saw a dog with a mo'!

And a really cool mural I've never even noticed before!

Cinco-de-mayo - New Places, New Faces

Cin-co, cin-co-de-may-yo! That's the really annoying jingle that Matt has been singing for the past few days, and it is actually to the tune of the Flintstones theme song. It's so ridiculous, and I can't get it out of my head. Anyway, in the morning I went to Munich Evolution to check out the awesome stuff that they have. Brad gave me a tour and I got to chat with the owner Matt - really cool guys. The most interesting thing that I saw was probably the Z1 with the roll down doors. Roll down what?? Yeah, ROLL DOWN DOORS!

And then probably the most valuable item I saw in there... the '53 Bentley? Easily.

Finally, the most fun thing there has got to be the racing simulator! I got to drive a GT3 on the track, and practice paddle shifting - it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Even though I've never driven a race car, it felt really realistic and everything was super sensitive. Pretty freakin' cool.

Later in the day, I met up with Theresa and some boys in Woodinville for a distillery tour/tasting at Soft Tail. We tried grappa, which I really liked a lot, and some vodka which I didn't like at all. The distillery was probably five employees and it really felt intimate because it's such a small operation. We wandered over to the Patit tasting room next door and tasted some honey wines. Apparently the two businesses are very familiar with each other, and it's so pleasant to see a tight-knit community! I don't think you'd get that in Napa, anywhere. The last stop of our Woodinville adventures was Red Hook, where we did the tasting/tour. I thought the tour was pretty boring and by about halfway through the session I was done drinking. It was well worth the $1 though, and I had good company. I met new people today! And it was exciting.

Later, the guys came over to hang out as per usual. We had plenty of good laughs and interesting conversation, and I'm so glad I stayed home with them instead of going out and partying too hard. I'm sure I'll thank myself in the morning! I wouldn't have spent my CDM any other way.

First Mariner's Game

After work today, I came straight home to meet up with Matt, JR, and David. We went to the Mariner's game! Now... I'm definitely not a baseball fan. Even putting it that way is an understatement. I don't like baseball at all, but I was SO CURIOUS to see this amazing Safeco Field with the closable roof! And of course Seattle would need a roof like that, since the city is so well known for rain. We got free choo choo trains!! :)

So Safeco Field is totally gorgeous. It seems a bit smaller than AT&T Park where I've seen the Giants play, but it is also less crowded. I guess because the Mariners have no fans, HAHA. It's okay though, I had an excellent time hanging out with the guys - just drinking beers and taking it all in. I learned today that you can ask for extra garlic on your garlic fries. I still have the garlic breath to prove it!

I almost bought a t-shirt, and I even considered buying a jersey - they're so good looking! I just can't justify though, for a sport that I don't really like and a team I don't feel anything for. Instead I bought beads. Beads! Just like the ones I bought at the Seahawks home opener last season! These, of course, are baseballs instead of footballs though. Interestingly enough, all of Seattle's sports teams seem to have the same colors.

I think collecting cool beads is my new souveniery thing. I also kept the sombrero beads from the Yelp event last week. They're so cute! I can't say that I'm becoming a fan of baseball, or that I like the Mariners. I do, however, enjoy great company and will probably attend more games with the guys this season. We actually never even went to our ticket seats, we just hung out in the beer garden! Good times indeed. I'm actually pretty excited for football season to start. I had the time of my life at last year's home opener and I can't wait to see the Seahawks play again - and as you probably guessed, it's not the team but the awesome company!

Yelp Eliting!

On Monday, I went to my first Yelp Elite event! It was called Cinco-de-drinko (how cute is that?) and I'm glad I finally found the time/courage to attend something. I always wondered if people actually went to Yelp events, and what kind of odd personalities they'd have - some people on Yelp are extremely obnoxious with their opinions. But then again... I'm on Yelp too! We sampled Tapena wines, but it wasn't really sampling because it was unlimited! And we got some pretty decent Mexican food from Trago, which has an amazing view of Lake Union. Matt went with me, and we got a bunch of cool freebies like Yelp nail files and lip balm.

Matt and I only really talked to one other person while we were in line for food, and she was really nice. There were definitely people meeting new people there but Matt and I kept to ourselves mostly. I think next time we'll branch out and make new friends! I think I would have, had Matt not shown up. Either way I enjoyed his company. It was a great time, and I think I would be able to attend an event on my own in the future. People seem to be friendly enough and not too cliquey. I think this is a milestone in my life. I've been Elite for 3 years but I never had the motivation or courage to go to one of these Elite events because it really is kind of scary to enter an entirely foreign environment. Since I've moved, I've learned to open up and try new things! And I'm so glad for it.

Water for Elephants

In light of my recent Amazon Prime subscription, I've decided to read one book per month in order to fully utilize my lending privileges. The first book I read was the second book of the Hunger Games trilogy. As I mentioned in my previous posts, I was very happy with the Hunger Games. And so my second choice? Water for Elephants! 'Twas another fine choice indeed. I saw the commercial for the movie, and I thought -- WHAT! A MOVIE ABOUT CIRCUS PEOPLE! I was immediately intrigued. You see, I've never been to a circus. The closest thing is probably seeing the Cirque du Soliel shows in Vegas, but I'm sure that's much more upscale than what you'd see when visiting the traveling circus. And then because I'm deathly afraid of dirty people (and places), I will probably never be able to sit through a grimy road circus show. But this book was like being there. I was on the train, in the big top, and running through the lives of so many different characters within the hierarchy of circus people. There's a community, a culture, and an oddly captivating environment surrounding the characters in the novel, and the author did a fantastic job portraying them in a way that SUCKS that reader in. This weekend, I was part of a circus.

I just got back from a last minute trip to SF -- you know, HAD to see my Sharks play at least once this season! Flew in Thursday afternoon and hung out with Julian in San Mateo. Got my ramen fix at Himawari because Santa Ramen had just closed. It almost worked out better though, cuz karaaagee chickennns! :)

Had some delicious french pastries at Santana Row with Julian <3.

Then met Alex up at the Firehouse in SJ before the game to have a pre-game pre-game! The game was fun, stuffed my face with nachos and sipped my beers. I SOO MISS SHARKS GAMES! HP Pavillion feels like home. Too bad we didn't win that night, or Saturday night, and too bad the Sharks got eliminated ..

On Friday I had lunch with my parents, then hung out on the rooftop at my brother's place. It was so gorgeous! Great time catching up, I'm glad everyone is healthy and doing well. I haven't seen them for a whole four months, but the time feels shorter to me. On Friday evening, I went to Alex's for dinner. His house feels like home too! His mom made me eat a lobster claw, my first lobster claw ever. It was seriously ridiculous. I got to watch Bear and Tupac play, it was kind of gross to eat around them with the fur flying but they're still too cute.

We went to Priscilla's birthday after, and she ended up in tears!! I think they were happy tears... I hope. Anyway, I'm really glad she enjoyed her birthday, she totally deserves it! And it was very nice to see Andy and Janet and other people I haven't seen in forever. Saturday I had dim sum with my mom and brother, and I sort of just lazed around until the Sharks game started. A disappointing finish led to a dinner of leftovers - seems fitting. Saturday night was Alesso at Ruby Skye, and I actually had MUCH MORE fun than I had anticipated. The music was great, but the company was greater! Felt good to be back, and my calves are still sore from jumping around with Loan. My crack of dawn flight Sunday morning was not fun at all. When I got back though, the weather was gorgeous. Matt and I decided to make use of the rooftop with some wine! We continued the drinking at Vic's for bbq, and the night ended around a fire with smores and perfect weather.

This past weekend could not have been better. Loving life!