Galentine's Getaway :: Seattle Favorites

I took my own advice and headed up to Seattle for the long weekend, a Galentine in tow... and it was marvelous! I saw some of my favorite people – namely, my sister and brother-in-law, plus Jordyn (and her Jordan!) AND THE CATS.

Official reasons for the Seattle trip: long weekend, and to see my sister.

Unofficial reason: Her cats. Not sorry about it, not sorry at all.

Taking you along on a recap of our lovely trip, and pointing out some new-to-us favorite Seattle eats and sights. Welllllllllll.... okay, let's be honest. Mostly, it's eats.

Dan and Sarah left us Saturday morning for a Valentine's Day quick getaway of their own to Vancouver, and so Leah and I did what we do best:

Looked up the best donuts in Seattle, realized they were but a hop and a skip away, and went a'huntin for them:

We each picked out a donut to share from Top Pot Doughnuts, and then walked over to Analog Coffee to savor them over lattes. The library-esque vibe of Top Pot was so charming, I almost parked myself there and refused to leave all day. But first, coffee and all, am I right? And seeing the sights, too, I guess.

Off to a fantastic start, if I do say so myself!

Next up.

Pike Place Market, of course!

Mostly for the photo opp to prove we were even in Seattle at all, but also I've been dying to try the salmon sashimi from one particular fish vendor... two of my friends have been raving about it since they visited Seattle last year, claiming that it's the best they've ever had.

So Leah and I made the trek through Capitol Hill, downtown, Zara, you know. The necessary route. We arrived at the market right as it started raining, but didn't let that stop us from this:

How to find the sashimi (it's not labeled anywhere, so can be a bit confusing) – enter the market through the entrance under not the main Public Market entrance, but the one to the right of it. It should be relatively close to the original Starbucks store. Go in, turn to your left, and voila!

Ask the nice fellas for their freshest salmon sashimi, and they'll hook it right up for ya.

To get our Seattle looks:

*my new North Face jacket-coat hasn't left my body since it arrived at my doorstep a few weeks ago, and now I want another one. Obsessed. 

Verdict?

So fresh, buttery, and very, very much worth the wait.

And because yes sir, I do have a hollow stomach...

We went in search for more food. Ever since my last trip to Seattle, I've been wanting to try Pike Place Chowder Company. But the line for the Post Alley location across from the market always twists and turns itself into a two-hour wait, and this weekend was no different.

In desperation, I texted my sister for life advice. What. DO WE DO??? 

I don't think she's ever seen me so worried. Perhaps back when I was applying to colleges, but same difference, I'm sure. 

She told us to head to the location in the shopping mall downtown. No wait, same taste, and bonus! You'll stay dry and warm!

Sister knows best.

The piping hot chowder was bomb. Get to it, my friends!

Finding ourselves a bit overstuffed, Leah and I walked (waddled) our way back to Capitol Hill in search of some bookstores. Very Seattle, we thought. Think of the Instagrams!

Phenomenal bookstores, we did find.

Instagrams? Not so much. We were too busy sticking our noses into all sorts of good reads.

The delightful little stacks you find above are found at this tiny hole-in-the-wall used bookstore. There were thousands of old pages stuffed into a store that size of my closet, topped off with years and years of dust. While charming, it didn't provide us with too much on the purchasable books front.

Our favorite was The Elliot Bay Book Company. Quite the selection of new bestsellers and bargain hunts alike, and it's smartly situated above the cutest Oddfellows Cafe. My recommendation's to spring for a new book or two, and settle in at the cafe when it's particularly dreary outside.

By this time, we were so full. But there was a Molly Moon's around the corner from the bookstore, and we couldn't really pass that up, could we?

Of course not.

Soon, it was time for dinner with Jordyn and Jordan! They pointed us towards Ba Bar because we all know my love for slurpable noodles. And as amazing as our spread was, thanks to Jordan's expert ordering, the company was unbeatable.

Jordyn's blog is one of the most thoughtful, well-written ones out there. With every post, I'm like, here's a girl who gets it. Her friendship is one that I cherish, and I'm beyond thrilled that we've taken it to real-life-level. She and her boyfriend are hilarious, and so much fun. AND they share macarons with me (telltale sign of true friendship)!! (Here was our first meetup in SF a couple of months ago.)

Then, exhausted, Leah and I retreated to my sister's balcony with cheap wine and an unbelievable view (see the first photo of the post). And, this:

Sunday began with a trip to the Broadway farmers' market, with an  obligatory stop at Elleno's Real Greek Yogurt.

Um, exceptional.

Then, it was to a Taco Chuki's for their house tacos. I'm running out of superlatives here, but just know that these were BEYOND. The grilled pineapples, the guac, yum yum and YUM.

Finally realizing that perhaps our food intake and physical exertion were far from being balanced, Leah and I decided to spend the rest of the morning walking: around Capitol Hill, into stores and cafes, through Volunteer Park. I love how walkable Seattle is, and delighted in the quirks and charms you can only come across on your own two legs.

Like so:

The rest of the day was spent binging on the new OJ Simpson docu-series, napping, eating candy, meeting up with my sister and Dan for ridiculously amazing Malaysian food (at Kedai Makan... feels like you're in someone's living room, and the food is to die for), and hanging out with this cool cat and his brother:

Monday, so gloriously free of work, was booked up with casual shopping downtown, with a quick lunch detour to Ballard for more slurpable noodles, a peek and some more slurping going down at Taylor's Shellfish Oyster Bar (it was Leah's first time eating oysters!), catching up with my big sis, grabbing coffee at Starbucks Reserve...

... and the most incredible meal of our entire trip at Spinasse.

Going out to eat with my sister is half THE ABSOLUTE BEST and half OMFG. PAIN. because she has this tendency to order abooooout eight dishes too many. But it's the best kind of pain.

We had plate after plate of the most scrumptious food. Highlights included a pork belly beet salad (yes, *salad*), little Italian crepes, extremely tender beef cheeks, and the pasta.

Oh boy, the pasta. You can see them handmaking all the pasta over in the kitchen (it was another one of those restaurants that felt like you were over in someone's home) and the flavor was out of this world. My sister ordered one of every pasta (um, can you tell we're related) and the absolute, absoulte highlight was the tajarin. Thinner than angel's hair, and delicately soaked with a light butter and sage sauce, it's eyes-rolling-in-the-back-of-your-head unreal. Hands down the best meal in Seattle. 

Thanks to my two cool cats for hosting us (and the humans weren't so terrible either), Leah for coming with on this adventure, and you all for making it through this gluttonous post!

Next I'm learning how to take photos of something other than food. Stay tuned. I'll test it out while in LA this weekend, if I make it out of the seven hour drive alive. I'll let you know how that goes!

Do you have any favorite eats in Seattle (or, okay fine, activities)? TELL ME, because I'm already itching to book my next visit!