seattle.

last weekend my family took our first ever family trip, to seattle. while the rest of my family flew the short flight from OAK to SEA, i trekked out there, with a connecting flight through MDW, from EWR. it was a pretty long journey for me, but since the flights and the connection went smoothly, i didn't have much to complain about. D was supposed to travel with me, but his project has been out in SF. It didn't make sense for him to fly back east to only fly all the way back west again.

we stayed in the queen anne district, where we rented a house via airbnb. it was my first airbnb experience, and luckily for me, it was a great one!! the house was so charming, with enough room in the common areas for all 6 adults to hang out. plus, it was close to downtown seattle as well as walking distance away from the main strip of queen anne, with 2 grocery stores.

on thursday when we arrived, we were lucky enough to catch the last local farmers market, where dad loaded up on 15 apples, bought 2 bottles of locally produced wine, and food from the food truck vendors for dinner. 

naan and chicken masala, chicken pesto pizza, and a loaded grilled cheese. 

since i visited seattle last year with the girls, i knew of a few places we should hit up. friday morning we didn't hesitate walking to the top pot donuts and getting a box for breakfast.

 mmm donuts...

what i loved about this trip is that we didn't exhaust ourselves by being tourists. we could have been in any city and still had just as much quality time together. but of course, some of the main attractions were a must to visit.

space needle!

we went to the seattle center and visited the space needle (actually went up top...) and the chihuly garden. walked around downtown and strolled through pike place. oh, and stopped by the fremont troll to say "hello!".

saturday was my 31st birthday, and after spending the morning touring the boeing factory in everett (which was super cool! i want to fly on a 787 now!), we rested at home before going to cascina spinasse for a family dinner! i went to that restaurant with the girls on our trip to seattle and had fond memories of the food and the atomsphere there. and after chatting with jen, felt like that was the perfect place to celebrate.

my wonderful family

we ended up ordering every single dish off the menu and enjoyed every last bite. 2 bottles of wine and some great conversations later, we were all so stuffed and satisfied, and already planning our next family trip.

finally, a family trip planned.

the last family trip i remember taking was to hawaii, back in 1-9-9-...0? before we moved to the us? i can't even remember. since then, because of Dad's travels and not living in the us, we never had another opportunity to take another family trip. sure, there's been weekend trips to half moon bay, or maybe even one to monterey...but most of my memories of fun trips either was missing Dad, or my sis.

now that both my sis and i are married, living on opposite coasts, family gathers are increasing becoming more important (not that they weren't before!).

it's been one of Mom's wishes that we take a family vacation together. she's been wanting that for a while. and finally, after much debate on where, when, and how, we decided on seattle!!

we planned the trip for this oct, when Dad has a break from school. hope the weather will be nice then, for some family hikes around the area. we will also be celebrating my birthday! it's been a long time since i've spent my birthday with family.

we decided to rent a place in queen anne, via airbnb - it's my first time booking, and so far, well, no complaints. we'll see how the house really turns out! the queen anne area is lovely - i remember it from my girls' trip last july! and it's also walkable to the beautiful kerry park, where you can see sweeping views of downtown seattle.

from july 2014; the girls and i at kerry park

since jen visits seattle a lot, for her in laws, i'm excited to get some local recommendations! time to get planning...