Summer in Seattle

As my third year of college comes to a close, I've been getting excited to spend my second summer living in Seattle. Last year, I spent a lot of time with a partner-in-crime, but I'm excited to be able to take the city alone this summer. Last weekend, I went to Alki Beach for the first time since living in Seattle. There, I saw the best view of the city I've ever seen. Having this new experience and seeing my city from a new perspective encouraged me to think about what I want to do this summer in Seattle. 

1. Take a road trip: I've taken many road trips over the years, but I haven't had the chance to do so with a group of friends. With so many wonderful places within driving distance (Portland, Vancouver BC, the Oregon Coast, etc.), I can't wait to see where I end up.
2. Get a tattoo: When I was 18, I had a plan to get a tattoo to celebrate going a year without self-harming. My parents eventually ended up telling me that I couldn't get a tattoo while I was still living under their roof, so I postponed the plan. It's been a couple years and I no longer live with my parents, so I think it's time to acknowledge the strides I've made in dealing with my chronic depression.
3. Explore the city: I can't believe it took me three years to finally get on a ferry and explore the islands outside of Seattle. I don't want to look back at my time in Seattle and feel like I didn't see enough of the city I lived in. There are lots of beautiful places within the realm of public transportation, which leaves me with no excuse to stay on my side of town.
4. Make time to do arts and crafts: I love to paint, embroider, and follow DIY tutorials. I don't have a lot of time to be creative for long periods of time during the school year, so I want to take advantage of the time I have available this summer,
5. Read for fun: I'm taking two online classes this summer, but I'll still have more time and energy to read outside of my assigned reading. 
6. Write something: During the school year, I write so much academic material that I'm not left with a lot of energy to write anything longer than a blog post. Creative writing has always been a big part of my life, and I want to be able to allow myself time to do it.
7. Find some post-grad options: I'm graduating in six months! I have a lot of ideas about what I want to do when I graduate (teaching in South America, writing in New York, etc.) but eventually I'll have to put something into action. 

Cali by Car

Last weekend, Brendan and I drove from Portland down to the Bay Area for a couple days. The drive from Portland to San Francisco is about 11 hours once traffic is considered, and that doesn't even include all the driving we did once we were in California. All in all, we spent about 30 hours in the car in the 4 days we were on the trip. I've seen the Bay Area before, but it's certainly a different experience when you experience it all from inside the car.

We went down to California to see some of our closest friends from school who all happened to be living in the Bay Area this summer. Brendan planned the trip around a soccer game the Timbers played in San Jose that Sunday. With only 4 days and seven destinations, we knew it was going to be a hectic weekend.

The first stop was to see Brendan's family at their beach house just north of San Francisco. I'm always happy to see the sea!

On Saturday, I went to go see Emily while Brendan spent some time with his family. From there, we headed to Berkeley to see Maddie. It was so nice seeing some of my best friends, even if it was just for a couple of hours. It was such an awesome experience to visit the places they'd grown up in – I think you can learn a lot about a person by seeing their hometown.

Brendan's roommates from school are in Silicon Valley this summer doing awesome internship work. We picked them up and drove around Palo Alto, where Brendan was born, to see where Brendan started his life and to check out the beautiful Stanford campus.

After spending Sunday at the soccer game in San Jose, we headed to Santa Rosa with Brendan's grandparents. We drove through San Francisco on the way there, and got to see the city (if through the window of the car).

We spent all day Monday on the road back to Portland. I didn't get back to Seattle until 11:30 PM. After having been in the car or on the bus since 7 that morning, I was positively relieved to be back home!