We did the Puyallup!!

When I was a wee little squirt, I remember having an absolute blast at the Evergreen State Fair in Monroe.  Rides, animals, more rides, games, food, crafts, etc.  Admittedly, I haven't been to any type of Fair in over a decade, so you can imagine how pumped I was at the thought of going to the Puyallup Fair -- for the first time ever!!  Yeah, I've lived 34 years in this great state and have never been to the Puyallup Fair.  Mostly because I try to stay north of the King County line at all costs.  Unless, of course, it involves booze!! 

Puyallup Effin' Fair peeps!! Woot!!

Casey, Kim, and I set a date to do the Puyallup about a month ago, so I had a full month to charge myself up about how awesome it was going to be.  Forgetting that I'm not between the ages of 6 and 16.  And I don't need to buy a tractor, fireplace, or hot tub.  So by the morning of our Puyallup Fair departure date, Kim and I were busting at the seams with excitement!!  I think Casey is just humoring us in that photo.  I'd show you the other photo they took while I was in the bathroom before we left Seattle, but it involves a bare butt --

Photo courtesy of the internet

It was kind of like the Coppertone girl, but with Casey playing the part of the little girl, and Spuzz playing the part of the small dog tugging on the bathing suit bottoms.  But my picture does not include Spuzz or bathing trunks.  Anyway, we were *really* *freakin'* *excited* to get our Fair on!!  I was mostly looking forward to seeing all the animals -- pigs, horses, dogs, animals from around the world -- I had visions of it being a Noah's Ark of sorts.  Like an episode of National Geographic.  Complete with Morgan Freeman narrating the entire day in my head.  If Mr. Freeman is unavailable, I'd settle for Oprah.  Or Anderson Cooper.  

It seemed like it took us FOREVER to get there -- seriously, is Puyallup like 2 hours away? Well, it isn't 2 hours away, but when you've been chomping at the bit to chomp down on a corn dog, anything more than 5 miles seems like an eternity.  We arrived and were inside the Fair at like 10:30am.  It was at this time that we decided to have breakfast.  Kim went for a scone, and Casey and I went for a delicious corn dog -- or "Krusty Pup" as they are called in P. Fair speak.  And then, bellies full, we were off to explore the fair!!

Wee wee wee all the way home

We spent most of our time in the animal barns, the craft pavillion, and working up a nice sweat out in the overcast 80 degree muggy NW weather.  We checked out the dog barn first, and saw many teenage girls wearing power suits and getting ready to show their dogs in the Fair dog show.  I didn't get any good shots of the dogs.  So off we went to the pig barn!!  Who doesn't love a piglet?  And if one piglet is good, a pile of piglets is better!!  And a pile of sleeping piglets is best!! 

BLT's anyone?

Then piglets grow up and look like this.  Holy smokes, pigs get large!!  This little lady was tipping the scales at like 400 pounds.  Too many trips to the fried butter stand.  Unfortunately, there weren't too many pigs out for people to look at, they were supposedly moving animals around in the barns, so they were low on pigs.  So we checked out some of the other animals.  Photo montage!!!



Nice ass





Cute lil' pig butt

After we saw all the animals we headed over to the craft pavillion to check out the sewing and photography exhibits.  Kim and I have caught the sewing bug since starting our beginning sewing class, so we were excited to see the sewing machines and check out some of the sewing projects.  At this point in the Fair experience, I hit a serious Fair wall.  It was muggy as hell outside, and I was beginning to realize that I don't really like the Fair.  I kinda want to become a vegetarian.  And I'm tired of looking at people.  More photo montage!!!

By this time it was only like 1pm.  We were such Fair amateurs -- 2 hours in and we already want to call it a day.  But not before clogging our arteries with fried food!! 

I had heard about deep fried oreos, so of course I had to try them.  Kim decided to go for the funnel cake, while Casey took the safe route with a plate of yakisoba with sketchy fair poultry.  I think we all regretted our decisions about 30 minutes later.  Ugh. 

The deep fried oreos were pretty much exactly like I imagined -- gooey Oreo drizzled with chocolate and feelings of shame.  I ate two of the three then decided if I wanted to leave the fair with any self esteem intact I'd throw the third one in the trash.  Still felt pretty gross as I was hunting down a bathroom to wash off my chocolate coated fingers.  Ugh.  After I found a restroom to clean up, we headed back to Seattle.  I crashed in the back of the car -- napping all the way home.

So yep, we did the Puyallup.  I'm good now.           

Friday I'm In Love.....

This past weekend was jam packed full of fun!!  A couple weeks ago Jon and Ash had told me they were going to try and hit up two, yes! two!, shows in one weekend.  Can you believe that?  That hasn't happened since we were spry kids fresh out of Western.  Now I'm lucky if I squeeze a show in once a month.  Anywho, they said two shows, and I said sign me up!  Small problem.  When we actually got around to buying tickets, we found out that both shows had already sold out!!  As Mike Mabie would say -- crap in a crap basket!!  Jon and Ash weren't phased by the sold out status -- their idea?  Let's stalk the shows, wear them down until they finally let us in or call the cops.  So that is what happened.* (*Parts of this blog post will be embellished for entertainment purposes*)

Friday night I met up with J & A at the Crocodile bar for some drinks and dinner.  Wow, the Croc has been totally revamped since it reopened.  #1 difference?  The restroom didn't look like 1. the bathroom from Trainspotting and 2. like you would get Hep C from looking at the toilet seat.  By the time I got there, J & A had already started the liquor train -- exhibit A:

They look like they are having fun, no? So I got on board for a spin with a little gin and tonic action.  So delicious as you can tell from my empty glass.  Don't worry, I had another one waiting in the wings. 

So, still no tickets to the show.  How to remedy this ticketless situation?  Slide tackle the box office guy?  Probably not.  We nominated Jon to check out the ticket potential at the box office when it opened.  No luck.  Box office guy was giving Jon NO LOVE!!  After a few more drinks and some more laughs we nominated Ash to feel out the ticket sitch.  The response?  Maybe, come back in 15 minutes.  Okay, okay, this is starting to look more positive.  Apparently the box office guy is a fan of girls, this is a good sign, we can work this angle a bit.  Croc love trio shot!!!

Woot!!  Woot!!  And yes, I'm still loving the ShakeIt app.  Have you tried the food at the Croc?  Best $6.50 pizza I've ever had, and my shirt got a few grease marks to prove it (later to be removed by OxyClean, love that stuff).  After our snacks Ash decided to go back to the box office and test her luck with the dude behind the glass.  And this is what happened:

Oh yeah!!  Score!!  3 tickets to the sold out show!!  We were pretty excited.  There was a lot of high fivin' and cheers-ing going on at this point.  Who were we going to see?  The Pains of Being Pure At Heart.  J & A had heard of them before, but I was new to their sound.  Here's a taste:


The Croc has a new upstairs bar / hang out area that we checked out once the show started.  I almost peed a little whilst walking up the stairs -- so many totally awesome show posters!!!  Check it out!!

Did I tell you I'm getting two more Pearl Jam posters framed at HangFire?!?  Yup, so totally stoked to get them back in a few weeks.  I'll post pics fo' shizzle.  I'd love for my house to be jam packed full of sweet show art and I'm working towards that goal.  Slowly.  After we found our little spot for the show, we proceeded to enjoy the show and people watch.  I managed to find a super fan who gravitated towards me for some reason.  How do I manage to attract the strangest people?  Anyway, this guy appeared to be of the frat douche persuasion (no offense to any former frat douches out there) -- he was trying to find me a spot up against the railing by pushing other people that already had railing spots out of the way.  Awesome.  Let's make other people cranky.  I somehow managed to remove myself from that future trainwreck of a situation, but DFD (drunk frat douche) kept coming over and whispering in my ear who he thought the band sounded like.  I think the final decision was My Bloody Valentine.  Granted, he wasn't completely off base.  The band did seem like a mish mash of many different sounds.  They totally ripped off some of Modern Love by Bowie and Just Like Heaven by The Cure.  And the lead singer's voice was too soft.  He sounded like Shy Ronnie.  Long story short -- we had a super fun night!!!!

So what happened Saturday night?  J & A came over to check out the three posters I had framed from a few months ago -- Jon is also a collector of all things rock show related, so I think he wanted to check them out for possible future framing options.  The show we wanted to check out was down in Ballard, at The Tractor, also sold out.  We ended up hanging out at my place for a few hours -- drinks and Nic & Heather ended up joining us.  And we did a little FaceTime action with Corbett and Jessie -- technology is crazy.  Crazy awesome.  It felt like we were hanging out with them even though they are 1,000 miles away.

We decided to ditch the show stalking idea and just head down to Ballard for some dinner / drinks.  Have you been to La Isla?  So delicious!!  Check it out if you haven't been -- Puerto Rican pulled pork lasagna is my favorite!  I had a cocktail called Surfing Rincon: white and coconut rum with banana liqueur and pineapple juice.  Totally refreshing.

It was a great weekend!!  My goal is to make more of my weekends that jam packed full of awesomeness.  Because you know what?!?  We are on this earth for such a short period of time in the grand scheme of things.  Gotta take advantage of every minute we have.

Newest postcard acquisition:

Ahhhhhh..... Gus Gus.......     

Ringing in the New Year!!

What a better way to end 2010 than celebrating with some of my best friends?!?  Jon and Ashley hosted their 2nd Annual New Year's Eve Party this year in their awesome new digs in the Queen Anne 'hood.  We did miss some special peeps due to that nasty cold that was/is going around.  Although it was a smaller group than last year, we didn't miss a beat!
 
The evening started with making drinks & catching up......your basic New Year's Eve socializing.  Jon and Ashley prepared some awesome pulled porked tacos -- delicious!  I started out the evening with what Lauer describes as a "poor man's margarita"...aka...tequila and Squirt.  Good start to the evening.  After that I enjoyed some of The Foil's prepared Cosmo's... loved these, but my head did not love them the next day :(  Check out the picture above....my drink matches my glasses.

The Saalborns and The Atwoods took off around 10ish.  The Yahtzee and Dance Party USA commenced shortly thereafter.  Interestingly enough, I have never played Yahtzee.  I managed to pick the game up fairly quickly, I mean, it's a game of throwing dice for shit's sake, it is pretty much entirely up to luck.  I guess there is a bit of strategy involved, but it isn't going to win anyone any money in Vegas.  Before Yahtzee, we managed to get some "family" photos.....

Jon & Ashley with Doolin & Marley (aka....The Kitties)

      

Nic & Heather

Jon & Nic with Doolin ( looking very heterosexual life partners in this shot)

Jon, me, & Nic (it would appear that I am really as short as I think I am)

Let the Yahtzee-ing commence!

The guys are really in to the Dickel lately.  I'm not sure if that is because of the name, or it is actually decent whisky.  Maybe both.    

Both Ashley and I managed to get a Yahtzee!  I was pretty stoked.  As you can tell by my photo......

After Yahtzee we watched a very anti-climactic countdown to 2011 on one of the major Seattle news stations.  Probably King 5.  Anyway, the Space Needle looked like it was on fire.

We didn't need fireworks to have a blast though!!  

The rest of the night was somewhat of a blur.......

Some "Ultra Snuggles" happened......

As did some High 5'in to some douche-bag-ness......

Some Rock 'n' Rollin'........

and some booty shakin'....... (courtesy of Pandora.....not sure what we were listening too, but think Bell Biv Devoe)

It was a super fun New Year's Eve!!!  One that will, for sure, go down as one of my favorites of all time!!!

Cheers to a fun, friend-filled 2011!!! 

"When Blogs Collide" or "There's A Whole Lotta Fishnet Up In This Bitch"

Kaijsa came in to town a few weeks ago, and luckily we managed to get together for drinks and debauchery. Kaijsa is an old friend of mine from The 'Ville, or Murderville for all you peeps in the know. We worked at my cousin's pharmacy together for a number of years, and have shared quite a few crazy stories. Some of my favorite memories involve hanging out at Hilton Pharmacy with Kaijsa and Melanie. Iced mochas, boy watching, small town America, you get the idea. Even though we are now considered grown ups, we still manage to have ridiculous amounts of fun when we get together. This visit included.
I met up with Kaijsa and her friend at King's Hardware in Ballard. One of my favorite watering holes. They have a peanut butter and bacon burger, 'nuf said. Granted, I've never had that burger, but it is an option. I like options. We probably annoyed Kaijsa's friend with all our stories of The 'Ville, and all the craziness involving people from our upbringing. We even managed to remember to story of the woman that came in to use the bathroom at the pharmacy and shat everywhere besides in the actual toilet. You don't forget stuff like that, you really don't. Apparently the women was shop lifting at Lamonts across the street and had such an adrenaline rush from the 5 finger discount experience that she couldn't control her bowels. Enter the Hilton Pharmacy customer bathroom. Thank god I wasn't the one who had to clean that craptastic mess up. I'm holding back a gag as I write this. Ugh.

King's Hardware burger.....yummmm...... With a pint of Manny's on the side. It was a good day.

After King's Hardware, we journeyed to Brouwer's in Fremont, another favorite. They have a huge selection of Belgian Ales. The bartenders are hot and know one exact shit ton of information regarding beer. Too bad I've never really liked Belgian Ales, too sweet. No, thank you.

Enter The Baranof. Little did we know that karaoke night at The 'Nof was going to be so incredibly entertaining. We met a busty brunette from Yelm that apparently travels all the way to The 'Nof for their kick ass karaoke night. She was wearing a white tub top dress and sang Mambo Number 5. The best part about it? Her 2&1/2 pack a day habit for the last 30 years has made her voice.....let's call it....'unique'.....

Here's a shot of me in the Ladies Room at The 'Nof. There isn't much to hide in the bathroom here. When you're hovering above the toilet you can see the person in the stall next to you in the mirror above the sinks. It really brings a feeling of intimacy to the whole human waste experience.

One of the best parts about The 'Nof is the signage at the bar. Warning: Bitch Bites (so true, that bartender lady is crusty, and she makes STIFF drinks. She's like the drink nazi, don't mess with her). And my absolute favorite sign: BEWARE, Poker Players and Loose Women. Noted. While sitting in the bar, one of Kaijsa and Patrick's friends commented: There's a whole lotta fishnet up in this bitch. And he didn't mean stockings. So true. There is, indeed, a lot of fishnet up in that bitch.

It was a fabulous visit with Kaijsa! I feel pretty lucky to have been able to fit in to her busy trip home. Next time, we'll hit up Laramie!! Mel, you in?