Seattle is for lovebirds…more about that title later. So, when planning our 5 year wedding anniversary trip, Matt and I contemplated several different travel scenarios. The one we hoped would work was to depart from FL. That would allow us to kill two birds with one stone. This way we would see our immediate and extended family, and get some sunshine before cruising to Alaska. This was just not possible. Not matter how we sliced it, there was no way we could travel to Florida. The problem then became child care for our 10 month old daughter. We don’t have family that lives in Georgia and we were not going to take Kat with us on this anniversary vaca. So, as you can imagine we had quite a dilemma on our hands. Thankfully, my dad and step mom volunteered to come and watch our little sweet pea. This gave us two options for travel. One was to fly to Canada, eh. Tee hehe. Or, we could fly to Seattle and cruise from there. We chose the latter of the two (obviously). What a good choice we made!<\/p>\n

A little background on Matt and I. We aren’t your typical husband and wife. We are best friends and we thoroughly enjoy spending time together. I know, I am quite blessed! Some of our favorite past times are trying new things, traveling, and eating. We LOVE food. When we finalized our plans we decided to spend a few days in the “Emerald City”. More recently Seattle is known as the “Gateway to Alaska”…ahhh…yes!<\/p>\n

After we landed we went straight to the hotel, checked in, and started touring the city. We left our house at 4:30am and had been traveling for almost 12 hours. At this point we were just a wee bit tired, as you can imagine, BUT the excitement of being on vacation gave us just enough energy to explore for a few hours. I think we ended up having 6 meals that day; mainly because we got up so early, had to deal with plane food, and were adjusting to a different time zone. When we headed out it was technically 1:30pm but it felt like 4:30pm. First we headed on down to the infamous Public Market. We took public transportation which gave us a nice local view of Seattle. When we got to the market we decided it was time to eat our 5th meal of the day, but we had no idea where to eat…<\/p>\n

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Then we came upon this little happy spot. Dear Delaurenti, thank you for providing me with the best snickerdoodle cookie of my life thus far. We ate, and we were very happy. So, if you ever happen to be in Seattle, stop by Delaurenti and have a snickerdoodle cookie. You won’t be disappointed! They also have a lovely assortment of unique food, wine, cheese, and just about anything else you can think of.<\/p>\n

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Public Market is known as the “soul of Seattle”, and it isn’t hard to see why. It is a unique and urban farmers market with a history of innovation and renovation. We couldn’t have picked a better day to arrive in Seattle. Locals complain about the unpredictable rainy weather during the summer, but the sun was shining bright and it was a happy 70 degrees outside. Perfect weather if you ask me! It made our experience much more enjoyable.<\/p>\n

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So, I am a bit of a seafood freak. To say I enjoy eating shrimp, crab, lobster, fish, muscles, or clams would be an understatement! I LOVE SEAFOOD! The Public Market had an amazing amount of fresh (and I mean fresh) seafood. The prices were low because there are no middle men to go through, and there were at least four different vendors to choose from. Too bad I was full from the Delaurenti deliciousness we had just partaken in, however, my eyes were drooling. There were all kinds of intriguing stores, like this spice shop. They had a large variety of spices and teas. If you ever need a hard to find spice, well on second thought, traveling to Seattle might be a bit to far. \ud83d\ude42 One of my favorite parts of the market was the fresh flowers. The assortments put ALL supermarkets to shame. Now every occasion I want to buy flowers I find myself disappointed because of the incredible variety the Public Market had. Not only were the flowers unique, but the prices were so reasonable! Men are constantly buying their female companions flowers. If you just walk around the market you will see almost every lady with a bouquet. So sweet and not to mention sweet smelling!<\/p>\n

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I particularly love this shot because it captures a lot about the mood I was in. The sunny warm day with a fresh sea breeze. Blue skies. The amazing fish market. Oh, and the American flag blowing in the wind seals the deal. I love the symbolism of the American dream…all of the current and past entrepreneurs who put countless hours, blood, sweat, and tears into their small business at the Public Market. I love it.<\/p>\n

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In June, Seattle opened “The Seattle Great Wheel”. This giant ferris wheel sits on the pier and overlooks the waterfront. Matt and I did not go on it as the line was tremendously long and tickets were a bit steep for a ten minute ride. However, if we had more time, more money, and when we have a larger family (assuming we bring the kids next time), then we will definitely ride this monstrous ferris wheel! It was quite the attraction so we had to snap a few shots. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

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Sweet and short story, we were in Las Vegas a few years ago and we of course toured all of the famous hotels. My favorite was the Bellagio. At the time there was an extraordinary flower exhibit as well as numerous glass pieces by the world renown artist Dale Chihuly. As we were on our way to the Space Needle, we saw this garden of glass at the Seattle Center by none other than Chihuly! Then we had to make a big decision…do we go to the Space Needle or do we visit the garden\/museum of glass? Well since you see the picture above I am sure you can guess which one we chose. I am a HUGE fine art supporter. Since I am a dancer\/dance teacher and a photographer, it only makes sense that I gravitate towards this kind of experience.
\nSide note: We actually had almost this identical piece on our cruise ship near the grand stair case. How ironic?!? I think not. I like to praise God for the type of God-incidences (some people refer to these as coincidences). He is so good to me!<\/p>\n

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Here is a jungle of glass and contrasting shapes. Circles, swirls, and daggers. I love all of the vibrant colors he uses in his work.<\/p>\n

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I adore these boats of glass just sailing along in a fairytale whimsical land. I can’t help hum the tune “Pure Imagination” from the film Willy Wonka when looking at this picture. If you don’t know this classic song then have a listen and I am sure you will agree. http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=RZ-uV72pQKI<\/p>\n

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There were all of these extravagant chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. I couldn’t help wondering how one would look in our dining room. Probably a pretty hefty price tag though. Maybe a picture of one will suffice…maybe not.<\/p>\n

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This is a shot I took of a different chandelier. This picture, in my opinion, is much more artistic than the one above. As a photographer I am constantly challenging myself to get shots that are beyond average. One of the things I do to keep things interesting is to take the shot from an angle that is unlike what you would expect. I am shooting from the floor here. Meaning, I am lying on the floor shooting up through the bottom of the chandelier. So, if you compare the picture before this one (the green\/yellow chandelier) it is taken the way anyone would take the shot. Not a bad shot, but it looks just like any other persons picture that knew how to point and shoot that day. In contrast, this picture turned out quite unique. I am sure the other visitors thought I was a bit loco because I was lying down, but I’ll do anything for that perfect shot!<\/p>\n

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So, this was absolutely breath taking. I loved this glasshouse..you could see part of it from the street and it is what first caught our attention when we were passing by outside. It is hard for me to describe something that takes your breath away…<\/p>\n

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Let’s just say we made the right choice going to the Garden and Glass exhibit instead of the Space Needle. Here is one of the reasons why…we could get basically the experience of both in the glasshouse and surrounding gardens. I don’t think the same could be said if we went to the Space Needle.<\/p>\n

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Here we are sitting in the glass gardens. I don’t think we could admire everything to the fullest because our sense were over stimulated by all of the extravagance.<\/p>\n

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There were all of these balls of glass on the ground of the garden. Matt had the idea to get the reflection of the Space Needle in one of them. I thought it was a great idea…a lot harder to do than you think because I kept fighting my own reflection in the shot. This is the best I could do. Here I am hiding in a bush, again looking like a crazy person. It’s ok, I own it. I am a little crazy…who isn’t?<\/p>\n

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Can we please put a hallway of chandeliers in our home?!? Pretty please?!?<\/p>\n

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We had to go back for some close up shots of the glasshouse. We were wondering how he adheres the “flowers” to the metal…I mean it can’t be easy.<\/p>\n

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Pretty flowers.<\/p>\n

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Yeah, this requires some explanation. We have this amazing camera at home, in Kat’s room, called a foscam. We have a compatable app on my phone that allows us to spy on Kat wherever we are, whenever we want, as long as she is in her room. Here we were watching my dad read to her before a nap. Oh how it warmed my heart to see them in Seattle. I love my family!<\/p>\n

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You may or may not know that the original Starbucks was started in Seattle at the Public Market. It was so busy that we did not go inside, but I made sure to take a few pics for you lovely blog followers.<\/p>\n

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Again, a happy couple shot. I am not a big coffee drinker but I do have about 4 pumpkin spice latte’s a year. Speaking of those, I could really go for one right about now…<\/p>\n

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This is where I got the idea for the title. This picture is special for a few reasons. I am wearing a necklace my dad gave my mother when they were married. It is a fossilized shell pendant my dad purchased in Seattle many years ago. He gave it to my mom on his return home from a business trip, and she wore this pendant very often. When she passed away, almost 13 years ago, it was one of the prized possessions my sister and I argued over. I have it now and wearing it is an honor. I wanted to take this picture for my dad and for myself. I still have a piece of her with me, and her legacy lives on even here in Seattle where a picture was taken in her memory.
\nMatt and I thoroughly enjoyed our time as lovebirds in Seattle. We kept saying that we could have gone home after our short little stay in our “Gateway to Alaska” (Seattle) and we would have been completely satisfied with our vacation. Little did we know what amazing adventures awaited us on our cruise and our Alaskan adventure. If you would like to learn more about our 5 year anniversary trip, check back soon. I will be blogging about in a series because there are way too many pictures\/thoughts\/memories for just one post.<\/p>\n

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Seattle is for lovebirds…more about that title later. So, when planning our 5 year wedding anniversary trip, Matt and I contemplated several different travel scenarios. The one we hoped would work was to depart from FL. That would allow us to kill two birds with one stone. 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