Fifty Shades of Seattle, Washington

"Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas any more."

Seattle, Washington, 'The Emerald City', that is the setting for the famous Grey's Anatomy and the infamous Fifty Shades trilogy. I fell in love with this city and a piece of me will be there forever. In this post I'll be talking about the things I've experienced, so when you go there yourself you can experience them too!

The Process

I'm a guilty reader of FSOG and watcher of Grey's, so you know that Seattle has been on my list of places to see for a long time. When I booked my flight I started doing crazy research on what to do and where to stay. I made Seattle happen on a budget of less than 1,000 dollars. The flight was incredibly cheap, $160 round trip. So if you're a student and don't have the luxury to go on crazy expensive trips, this is the place for you.

The Warwick Hotel is where I stayed. When I picked this place I was just looking at two things: does it fit in my budget, and its rating. When you have a certain budget you can't have really high expectations however, The Warwick exceeded all my expectations. The room was on the 17th floor with the most amazing view of the space needle, amazon spheres, and the bay. It was right in the middle of everything, and right next to Christian Grey's Apartment complex (which was a plus for me)! Super clean & So convenient. I definitely recommend it.

First Day 3.31.18

I love and hate airports. I love them because you have access to anywhere in the entire world, and I have a thing for beautiful views from an airplane window. I also hate them because, the airport/plane is no longer as luxury as it once was. I feel so confined and uncomfortable in a plane; like I want to break free. The only reward is the destination in the end. Anyways, the views of Washington from up above were like nothing I've ever seen before. Such stunning state!! Next time I go I just have to spend 3-4 days in nature instead of the city.

We (my travel partner and I) get off the plane, get an uber, and are driven to the city. We took uber pool to cut down on cost and it was such a good decision because we went through parts of the city that weren't on my list to see for this trip. I unfortunately couldn't fit everything in our timeline. Riding to Seattle we saw the house thats ALL black (I'm sure you've seen the picture on social media), and the oversized cowboy boots/hat thats a sight to see while there. Immediately when we got to the city I was in love.

We got to our hotel, got changed and set out for an adventure. The first thing I did was visit ESCALA and then we walked down to Pike's Public Market Place. I walked in heels since it wasn't that much of a distance. The market place was closed but we had an hour before our reservations at The Pink Door. So we stopped at a view point that you could see the Seattle Great Wheel and the bay. It was a stunning area that we took a few shots at and looked around soaking in the fact that we were in such a beautiful city. It was time to get dinner. The Pink Door is one of the most unique restaurants i've ever visited. Walls were covered with mirrors, they had a very Art Deco bar, and you could purchase tickets to watch a burlesque show. They served Italian food and I had the most flavorful dish. I ate rosemary pasta and drank lavender soda. Exquisite.

Second Day 4.1.18

Unfortunately the weather on this day was unfavorable. Super cold, 50 degrees faranheit was about as warm as it got, and there was rain and hail. Nonetheless it was a jam-packed day of adventure. We started off the morning by having breakfast at the Seattle Meowtropolitan Cafe. If you've never been to a cat cafe, find the nearest one to you and go!! I got a latte with the most adorable cinnamon cat paw sprinkled on top, went in this large glass room with a bunch of adorable kitties, and played with them for a full hour. One of the most relaxing, adorable, and fun things I've ever experienced. Great way to start the morning and, if you plan on going make sure you make reservations before hand!

Up next was The Gum Wall. This was the grossest yet coolest piece of art I've ever seen. There is not much to say besides you have to see it for yourself! It was so cool to know that thousands of people had left their mark in that small alley. So many memories and so much different DNA on each piece of gum. Pretty interesting thought. So we left our mark too! Not only did we stick our gum on the wall but also a polaroid selfie of us. (Not sure if it will still be standing if you visit but if you do and you find us send me a snap of it!) The rest of the afternoon was spent walking around Pike's Public Market Place since it was now open. So many different people were there, and everyone had a bunch of beautiful fresh flowers in their hands because there were a bunch of Russian women selling them. I couldn't leave without a souvenir so I purchased a handmade journal with paper imported from India. It was the cutest journal created by the sweetest man.

We went back to the hotel, changed, and the set off for the Space Needle. The Seattle skyline is the best skyline i've set my eyes on. Las Vegas and San Franscico don't have anything on it. It was freezing but magical and I spent an hour up there watching the sunset in bliss. Afterwards we had dinner at the most amazing rooftop restaurant, MBar. If you're looking for a great view and fantastic food this is the place to go. Their drinks are so unique and their food is honestly the best food I've tasted. For appetizer I had warm fava bean califlower purée with sumac, parsley, and grilled onions. For my main course I had grilled trout on yogurt with avocado, and caramelized onions all in front of a the view of the space needle.

Third Day 4.2.18

The weather on this day was so much better. Still cold but at least my best friend, the sun, was present all day long. On this day we started the morning by paying a visit to the worlds first/oldest Starbucks. Seattle is where Starbucks was founded and my inner white girl could not help it but go!! Let me tell you they did not disappoint. The line was so long they had rope trying to keep us on the sidewalk. I got a chai tea latte and it was definitely the best i've ever had. I also couldn't resist and bought a Starbucks cup from them that's unique to their shop only.

Next we paid a visit to the famous Chihuly Garden and Glass Museum. (If you're one of my readers from Las Vegas, the famous Bellagio ceiling is Chihuly's work ). This museum had been on my list of must see places and we spent a good portion of the afternoon in there. I got lost in the art and blown away at how he possibly created some of the pieces. All handmade and blown glass, absolutely stunning.

After, our minds were filled with awe, we walked through the city taking mental photos of as much as we could. On the way I saw the cutest little map shop and just had to go. Every map you could dream of was in there and it was like heaven for me. I definitely spent an hour in their shop playing with globes and looking at maps from the 1600s. Finally I was dragged out by my travel partner but, I made sure to purchase map pins and cute luggage stickers! At this point it was around 5 in the afternoon and we were starving. We headed to the market place and stopped by this cute local bakery called, Piroshky Piroshky, thats been around since 1992. Their piroshkys were so good and, afterwards we got local hot apple cider to wash it down.

When we got all filled up we decided to pay a visit to the Seattle Central Public Library. This library was something else. I think if I were to go study there for a test I'd be sure to fail, since I'd get distracted by the view of city through their all glass walls.

The library was honestly a work of modern art, with a hallway that was completely red!

To end the day we went back to the hotel and wore some really warm clothes and headed to the pier. There we got on the Seattle Great Wheel which is similar to the one in Santa Monica, CA. We went around four times looking over the city and the bay. We finished the night by grabbing a bite of pizza at a local pizzeria then headed back to the hotel. It was the perfect way to spend our last night in Seattle together.

Wearing Revice Denim Two-toned Venus Flares (jeans)

Final Day 4.3.18

Our last day was a wild one. We started the morning perfectly ordering breakfast to our room. Smooth jazz and Julie London were playing off of my Spotify playlist and, I drank jasmine green tea while looking out at my view for the last time. Then packed up ( I absolutely hate packing when you're leaving to come back home) and checked out of the hotel.

First, we checked out the Amazon spheres and the Amazon-go store that was super cool! We then set out for the flight museum as our last adventure. All the flight machines you can think of were in this museum and my favorite was a NASA rocket ship that you got to go inside of. Unfortunately we had to catch our plane so we had to leave abruptly... Here's where it get wild.

Our flight was at 5:30, we left the museum at 3:45. We got Uber pool because it was half the price and a 30 min ride back to our hotel where we left our luggage. However, our Uber ended up picking someone else up on the way. He dropped off the other person at 4:16pm and so we asked him to get us to our hotel as fast as he can because we have a flight to catch at 5:30. He said that we should have told him about our flight because, he would have declined the other person. So then he suggested that he will "stay outside of the hotel so we don't have to worry abut getting another Uber but, we just have to change out destination on the app." However, because we got Uber pool it didn't let us change it and he said "it's fine that we should just request another uber and he should pop up so he'll just accept it." We thanked him and finally got to our hotel at 4:30, rushed our luggage in the back of the car, and started heading towards the airport that was 26 min away. WELP, it was rush hour and the traffic was horrific. We were so nervous we wouldn't make our flight. Meanwhile, each time we would request a driver we would get someone else and then we'd have to cancel which meant, Uber would charge us 3 dollars every time. The driver was a saint! He said it was fine, that he would drive us for free, and that he understood that life is hard sometimes. He was a flight engineer for 18 years so he understood the struggle. I ended up giving him all the cash I had left in my wallet as a thank you! WE FINALLY MADE IT TO THE AIRPORT AT 5:07. Keep in mind that flights close their gate 10 min before departing and of course this specific flight wasn't delayed. We RAN through the airport, got to the wrong TSA check point, ran to the correct one. (luckily for us the check point was fairly empty) Then I've never had a problem with TSA but for some reason this one time they needed to stop me to check the bow on my shirt. We got cleared and ran to our gate that was completely on the other side of the airport. They were calling our name for the second to last time when we finally made it to the gate and got on at 5:17. It was such rush of a bunch of events perfectly falling in place. I felt like we were in a classic movie scene and I was so relieved that we didn't miss our flight. The universe was on our side.

Those four days and three nights were unforgettable and I would't trade them for anything! I couldn't even include all the little details of my trip for fear that this blog post will be longer than it already is. Seattle should definitely be on your list and I hope I've given you some ideas of things to do while there.

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