Recovering from the weekend...

Not really as much, but it sounds good. I'm still a little tired, but that's as much from the bike riding I've been doing this week as it is from last weekend.

That said, we had a blast. I picked Bumbershoot up right after I finished work and we had a totally uneventful drive up to Seattle, which was terrific. I love when that happens. We pulled in maybe 10 minutes before NP, which was perfect. We played with Marshall's adorable chocolate lab puppy before heading out for food and beers. We went to this great neighborhood place that had a back deck, where we ordered pitcher after pitcher while eating burgers and fries. I decided it would be funny to order kamikaze shots as well, and everyone loved them.

After that, we decided to press on and keep partying. We passed this Irish pub that had a band playing. We couldn't quite tell what it was, until the bouncer offered to halve the cover charge for us. That sounded good, so we headed in and realized we were listening to a Cure cover band. Lead singer was in full makeup and hair. In a random Irish pub in Seattle. Awesome.

After several more rounds and a rather unfortunate pair of tequila shots for me and Marshall, we decided to stumble home. Which was probably a good idea as it was kind of late.

The next morning, we rallied early enough (OK, 10 am-ish) to go for a group run around Green Lake. Marshall and I ran with the puppy, while NP and Bumbershoot took off and did two laps. I was really excited to see the Green Lake Regatta, which took me back to the summer after my senior year of high school, when I rowed that regatta with the Lake Oswego Rowing Club. Ahhh, good times. What a terrible experience that I now look back on fondly!

After the run, Marshall and I took the puppy to the dog park until NP and Bumbershoot were done with their run. We headed back to the house for make breakfast and shower before we figured out what else to do with our day. As it happened, the lovely Mini-Surf came over and motivated our lazy butts to leave the house. We ended up just wandering around the neighborhood and shopping, which was fantastic. I bought two pairs of shorts, which was one of my goals for the summer, and it cost me a whopping $40. Awesome! I think almost everyone ended up buying something, and we came back to the house to see Roadie waiting for us in the courtyard. We ate a little bit to help us rally and got ready to head down for the Mariners game. The bus ride quite nearly put us all to sleep, but we managed to rally once we got to Pyramid.

I love Pyramid for several reasons--their food is totally decent, it's right next to the stadium and the beer is cheap, relatively speaking. Love it. Once we had inhaled our hot dogs and drank a beer, we all felt better and felt like heading into the game. Our seats were in the bleachers, and the guy next to Mini-Surf had apparently learned everything he knew about baseball cheers from "Ferris Bueller's Day Off." It was ridiculous, and only totally annoying for the first 45 minutes we were there.

Seriously? "Kennedy Kennedy Kennedy...Sawing Battah Battah..." Shut. Up!

After we got another beer and the guy finally stopped yelling, the game was pretty fun to watch. The M's lost, of course, but since it was NP's first game, we still had an awfully good time.

After the game, we walked off some of the beer wandering downtown and to our favorite after-game pub. After striking another deal on the cover charge, we started buying pitchers again and listening to the Afro-Cuban band playing. They were great. NP also made friends with the table next to us, which consisted of a bunch of early twentysomething soldiers up from Fort Lewis. Good times! We did our country proud drinking, dancing, and flirting with the boys. I even bought one a shot of Maker's Mark when he said he'd never had one. That was cut a little short when the bass player of the band accosted NP and insisted she call him. That obviously freaked her out, so all of the sudden we were pouring out of the pub and looking for a cab. A very nice Sikh cabbie who wanted nothing to do with five drunk girls let us pile in and head home.

Waking up was downright painful, but we recovered nicely to stagger down the street for breakfast. After that, we rallied and went shopping at the outlets north of Everett. Oh my God, they have everything: kate spade, Burberry, Michael Kors...I was so happy. Good thing I'm not a bag girl or I would have totally maxed out the credit cards at kate spade and Michael Kors. Deadly.

Fortunately, heading home was uneventful and I got to veg on the couch when I got home. Yay!

No quote--too much going on!