White Christmas in Seattle.

My good friend, Lana, has been visiting me for the last week from Colorado. She is an awesome girl, and it was nice to have her here over the holiday. It was fun to see someone from back home.

Wednesday I picked her up from the airport and we headed over to the Alderwood Mall to meet up with Chris (boyfriend Chris) and Meredith (one of my good friends out here) at Claim Jumper. We got some beers, some burgers and had a really good time. From there Lana and I went home and got settled in.

Thursday (while everyone was at work) Lana and I parked at boyfriend's house, walked to the transit center, and rode down to Pike Market in downtown Seattle. We had a really nice time tooling around and taking in some of the city. Lana loved the markets--there are a lot of fresh produce and pasta stands in Pike. She bought a ristra (spelling?) and I got a pair of olive green hobo gloves. That night we met up with Chris Alley and boyfriend-Chris at the climbing gym and Lana had her first-ever climbing experience. She was a rockstar--scaling up some tough climbs for someone who had never been before (now she's hooked). I also had a good night--I think I am finally starting to get better.

I also climbed with this little girl that is on the vertical world youth team and she was pretty awesome. Her name is Kyssandra and we see her every week so it was cool to hang out with her a little (she is 11, has not yet hit puberty, and an AWESOME climber. She can climb almost everything at VW).

After climbing we went to the Flying Pig (fondly referred to as just 'the Pig') and had beer and happy hour appetizers (which is our thursday night ritual). It was pretty great--Chris Alley and Lana hit it off and everyone was having a great time. It was really cool that my friends out here got along so well with Lana.

Friday, Chris left for St.Louis so Lana and I drove him to the airport (sadness) and then on to IKEA!!! We had a great time there--I got new sheets (dark plum-colored ones) for my thought-it-was-a-queen-turns-out-its-a-full bed, and a bedside lamp. Looks really nice and is so much better than the glaring lights that are on the ceiling fan in my room. We then met up with Chris Alley, parked cars at boyfriend's, and bussed downtown to go to the SAM (Seattle Art Museum). I feel that Denver has really spoiled me--the SAM was small--only two levels--and not very diverse or well organized. It still was fun.

After the SAM, the three of us headed to the Pike Place Brewery for chow and drinks. It was great. Chris invited us over to the lake house to hang out so that we could avoid the Bucky (who left saturday morning for Bend), an offer we jumped to take. So, we had beers, a fire, and a movie and Chralley's, crashed there, then headed home in the morning.

Saturday morning Lana and I were lazy, mostly we tooled around the house--wound up hanging out with Chris again later in the day.

Sunday I took Lana up to Mukilteo where we played on the beach, tooled around, and then had lunch and drinks at the Diamond Knot.

Monday we went to Wallingford to Trophy Cupcake and had cupcakes and coffee, followed by a trip to Gasworks park, then around the U-District a little. Then we drove down to the Seattle Center and walked around--saw the EMP (experience music project) and the Space Needle. Then we skidaddled up to Marysville for some family-fun at Annette and Adam's house. They made a delicious steak and shrimp dinner and then we had a Christmas exchange game. Lana and I made out like bandits in the game, taking home $25 in starbucks, and a little coffee/espresso kit. Rawk!

We slept in tuesday, had an awesome Canadian breakfast (bread layered with canadian bacon, cheddar cheese, egg, and crushed crackers all baked in the oven--DELICIOUS!) and then went to see a movie. We saw Juno--which is about a 16 year old who gets pregnant and the process she goes through with her boyfriend, her parents, and the adoptive parents she picked out. It was actually pretty good :) we spent the rest of the day trading music and not much else.

Today we walked around Pioneer Square before I had to take her to the airport.

Sad day. It was SUCH a fun vacation--nice and relaxing. I am glad that Lana didn't want to pack in a ton of stuff. We both enjoyed just getting to hang out again and it wasn't high stress at all.

Unfortunately, I have to go back to my job tomorrow. Very sad day.

I miss Chris a lot--we spend so much time together and we have gotten so close. It is sucky not having him around for so long. He comes back in two days--but, everyone is still out of town so climbing tomorrow won't be as much fun. I miss him SO MUCH.

Among other things I miss: Christmas with the family. Although it actually did snow for a little here on Christmas, it just wasn't the same as in Colorado and definitely wasn't the same without Mom and Dad. It is strange not having seen my parents since August. This is the longest I have ever gone without seeing them--it is pretty sucky.

I also miss the friends back in Colorado. Nate sent me this awesome hat he made and some CDs of cartoons he copied for me; and Anders called to invite me to game night. HAHA. Its not the same without these awesome kids!