Ending on a high note.

 Saturday Renee, Megan and I met up in the morning to start a ladies day of shopping while their repsective men drank. I mean, we drank, too, but it was in between stops to help the Seattle area economy. We had a great lunch at Palomino – I recommend the spicy ginger mohito – followed by a couple of hours wandering and chatting.

 The five of us grilled and ate dinner outside – the weather was perfect for it. Then J stopped by for a beer and the we hit up 13 coins, where a great jazz band was playing in the Night Owl lounge.

 I can’t put into words how wonderful this trip has been. I know I have an exciting adventure ahead of me in London, and I am so nervous and thrilled about it. But it’s also really nice to feel good about deciding to come back to Seattle when it’s done. I’ve been trying to come home for a couple of years, but it just hasn’t been quite right. Soon, it will be.

Wednesday was a bit of a challenge. Reagan and I managed to have a LOT of fun, but there was a bit of break – I lost my bank card, so that was about an hour of making sure it was lost and not stolen, that I still had money in my checking account. and that I could cancel the card without it screwing other stuff up. After we sorted that out, we got back to having fun. Despite the “oh no” moment, it was a very relaxing day.

I rode a motorcycle.

 Tuesday was, as the theme seems to be, excellent. Started with an early morning hanging out with the baby, then a run around Green lake – which, by the way, always surprises me with how big it actually is.

 My friend Jason and I then met for cocoa. Literally met. Well, we’d allegedly met in college, although I don’t recall (reflects poorly on me, not him!). Anyway, after a few months of emails we were finally in the same city at the same time, and of course had to meet up to debrief on his recent half-marathon experience.

 I headed back up north and met up with J. He has a motorcycle and said he’d give me a ride. Assuming I didn’t freak out at first. I’ve always thought they were a bad idea. But now? Dude. So fun. We went down through the city and out to Alki. It was a sunny, lovely day, and being a weekday it wasn’t packed. The ride out and back was great, as was the hour or so we got to spend just hanging out enjoying the view.

 Then, I headed way north (to Bothell, which my friend has now said seems to be a euphemism for really anything between north Seattle and Canada) to meet up with Reagan and Lon for a relaxing evening. Seriously – it was great. We went out for dinner, then watched “Extras.” I’d seen the Orlando Bloom one and had forgotten how funny he is in it. Still makes me cringe though.

 Usually by now I’m on a plane back to NYC (likely a red-eye). It’s so nice to be able to just enjoy my time here with my friends and not be racing around. The days are full but not frenzied. I haven’t looked at a school book since Sunday morning, but that’s okay. Plenty of time for that when I get back to NYC…

This morning I was running on about three hours sleep. I headed up to Phinney Ridge for a day with the Jamie, Jesse and Mike, and we packed it full. We got gyros at Mr. Gyro – really excellent food. I also saw the Space Supply Store – we have a Super Hero Supply Store in Brooklyn, and both are actually writing workshops put on by Dave Eggers. I didn’t know that – love learning something new every day.