Hi from Seattle
I think it’s time to write about where I am and how I’m doing.
I’m in Seattle, and I’m doing quite well.
OK, more than that: It’s my third day here in Seattle, Washington, and everything is just pure excitement. Here are a few things I’ve learned/experienced in the past few days:
1. Recycling is not just hipster cool – it’s the law!
You have to recycle here. Every restaurant/coffee house and our apartment has bins for trash, compost, and recyclables. So basically we have three trash bins in our kitchen; what a pain! But it’s kind of cool. Unlike some places in Indiana where the recyclables end up in the trash anyway (cough-IWU-cough), this city takes its recycling seriously!
Also, there are no plastic bags here. Starting July 1, the city outlawed plastic bags in stores. If you want to pay 5 or 10 cents for a paper bag, you may. You also get a discount for bringing your own bags! Cha-ching!
2. Everything is pricier here.
I kind of expected this, but it’s been a little frustrating now that I’m really living it. Meijer spoiled me. I got used to buying cheap produce, cheap dairy, and cheap everything. It sucks when you’re basically starting from scratch too. Nate and I bought the most important ingredients — olive oil and peppercorns — and hope those will keep us happy enough. Who needs fancy spices anyway? Not us!
We are acting a bit like poor people these days, which is perfectly fine. I told Mom and Russ a while back that I’ve had it pretty easy my whole life — it’s time for some challenges. I’m trying to embrace that, but seriously, I’m craving some $7 cheese.
Speaking of food. There’s a grocery store 0.2 miles from our apartment called QFC, and Kroger owns it. I gasp with glee when I saw Kroger brand foods. Like a bit of home with us. Except even Kroger brand food costs more out here.
3. You can walk basically anywhere.
Technically I could have (or should have) taken the bus to the Magnolia farmers’ market today — but I didn’t. My shins hurt like hell, but it really was a lovely walk.
Malena's Tacos in Queen Anne (we split fish and carne asada tacos -- amazing).
Like I mentioned before, the grocery store is super close to our apartment. (It’s in Interbay, across from the Starbucks I’m in right now.) There are plenty of things here and across the interbay into Magnolia (like Thai food!). In our neighborhood, Queen Anne, you have to walk a ways to get to anything — but it’s worth it. We found a lovely bakery called Macrina and a fantastic hole-in-the-wall taco place across the street from it. From there, it’s only a bit farther to other restaurants and boutiques.
4. Crows suck; flowers are beautiful.
OK, crows like to hang around the West Queen Anne area, apparently. Maybe it’s all the plants — I don’t know. But anyway, there are plenty of beautiful plants wherever you walk in Queen Anne. There’s so much LIFE here, as I’ve pointed out to Nate several times. I’m sure it has something to do with the mild temperatures (70s this week!) and the rain (which we have yet to experience).
5. It’s not that hard living with a dude — so far, anyway.
Nate made me dinner last night! That's linguine with jumbo shrimp, orange bell pepper, and snow peas in a sundried tomato alfredo.
I think I got lucky. Nate can be a bit of a bachelor when it comes to cleanliness, but he’s been pretty great to live with. He at least tries to respect my let’s-try-to-keep-things-clean rules, and he’s awfully helpful. He does the dishes, makes me dinner (!!!), surprises me with things (breakfast yesterday morning), and is otherwise a delight to be with.
It’s helped, I think, that we’ve had plenty of alone time. He has spent a few hours a day out on his own — today, looking for jobs and other days just exploring. Right now he’s guitar-ing while I’m here working and blogging.
In the next few days I hope to write about the neighborhoods of Seattle, which are really interesting to me. Each has its own personality; I love it!
July 7, 2012