Saturday Trip South

My dad had to make a trip to Seattle Saturday and wanted some company, so I tagged along.  We had to take off pretty early and had a late evening mowing the night before, but we pushed through.

Our day consisted of shopping, eating, and driving.  I picked up a few things I needed for my big trip coming up (of which I plan to post more details this week.) and a few things for fun.

We hit up regular stores (you know, the overpriced ones), thrift stores, REI (during the sale---crazy!), and Nordstrom Rack.

We managed to find a Goodwill Outlet.  I had never heard of such of thing.  Basically, there were bins of miscellaneous items (clothes, blankets, etc.) to sort through.  It was total chaos.  And you paid by the pound.

People there were serious, with dust masks, rubber gloves, and super speedy sorting abilities.  My dad, the consummate thrift/garage sale shopper, even felt overwhelmed.

We moved on to Salvation Army, a.k.a. a regular thrift store.  We both had some great finds, including a never-been-used bread machine.  I can't wait to try it out next year.  And everything in the store was 50% off.  Yay!

I also was very successful at Gap, overwhelmed by REI, and found the perfect lightweight running shoes at the Rack.

We also ate food at some of our favorite places.  Taste of India, off Ravenna, has the best service I've ever experienced.  You literally cannot finish a glass of water or mug of chai before someone comes by with a pitcher and the prices are really reasonable.  We also stopped at Cristiano's, a little Italian restaurant, north of the city.  Yum!

There was also a Saturday market going on north of campus, so I had some pelmenis, Russian dumplings.  The perfect midmorning snack.

Overall, it was a lovely trip to the big city.  My tummy came home happy, my bank account, a little so.