My Mom's Worst Nightmare

Oh no Mom. You were right. I've fallen in love with Seattle. 

My dad and I got into town this afternoon around 2:00 PDT. That's 2 hours ahead of midwest time, and that my friend is jank. It'll take some getting used to, but I'm hoping it only takes a few days to get the hang of it. Amazingly my dad and I hauled 4 suitcases, 2 duffle-bags, and 1 oversized "purse" to the car rental place and got a classy champagne Suburu Legacy which could hold all of my luggage. I swear my dad made that thing into a frickin' clown circus car with all the stuff he managed to fit inside. 

The picture above is the hill that I'll have to go up and down to get to work. I'm living in the Queen Anne area of town which feels like a cross between San Francisco and Alexandria, VA. The old buildings, huge hills, cable car lines for the bus routes, it all fits so well. If I had to give you a further idea of what it feels like, listen to the song American Boy. Now that is my side of Seattle.  Basically it's gorgeous and I'm going to get killer calves walking up and down these monster hills. 

Once we got into town I made my dad go and stalk around my new apartment building. It's called Paseo Apartments. This is the outside of the building. I wish I had taken a picture of the more immediate front because you walk up a patch of stairs and it leads right into an open courtyard. The actual complex is shaped like a horseshoe and there is a gigantic tree in the middle that looks like it's been shellacked. It's very Golden Girls but I embrace it. 

As luck would have it we actually ran into the two girls that were moving out of my future place. We stalkered our way into the apt to take a look around. Ladies and gentleman, I have a view. In fact, move over Barbara Walters, this is THE VIEW. When you look out of the window in our dinning area you see the rooftops cascading down the hill to end up with a distant view of the harbor and the neighboring mountains. The girls said that at night you can see the lights of the ferry and cruise boats floating by. Heaven.  The rest of the apt is pretty standard. I'm probably going to screw over my roommate and take the bigger room with the ceiling fan. But she'll have a good view! And a room that's hot as hell. Too bad my internship started first, sucka. I'll probably offer to switch half way through because I'm a lady. We'll see what goes down. 

Moral of the story: I really like our apt. Good location. Amazing view. Not too cramped. I say we did alright for ourselves. 

This is a view of the hill I'll be walking down to get to work. It really does put the Pentacrest hill to shame. But as you can see, it's all pretty and I'll be looking out over the water as I skid down 0.6 miles of cement. No biggie. I really do think I'll need to invest in some rain boots.

As my dad and I were clinging to our Google Maps print out to figure out how to get downtown we were surrounded by hills and trees. There were trees everywhere. Then we passed a bend and got this shot of the skyline. I was jazzed. Also--Washington is the Evergreen State. This picture stands as testimony to that fact. 

This is our hotel. The shady, shady Eighth Ave Inn. We love that feeling of not knowing what type of drug deal was made here the previous night. I want it noted that I will also be sleeping on top of the comforters, thank you very much. Whatever, it was cheap and close to everything. I mean look at that Space Needle. Not too shabby.  

Here's a look at all that luggage I was talking about. I came to play ball. 

We got some dinner at a local cafe. It wasn't too expensive and the food was actually really good. Our waitress was oozing sass and perkiness. Everyone so far seems to be so nice. It's hard to think that people in a bigger city will be as nice as they are in Iowa, but so far so good. (Also, my dad was actually happy to be there. Honest.)

See what I mean? Happy Papa Abba! You can see the crowds of Bumbershoot in the background. That's the name of the huge music/food/awesome fest that happens Labor Day weekend in the Seattle Center. It's like they knew we were coming and threw us a party. 

Seattle is boss. I'm starting to not freak out at the idea of calling it home for awhile.

*** My address is 1517 6th Ave W Seattle WA 98119. Use it often! ***

It's Dumb, but Whatever

This is my first Fall in 8 years that I'm not auditioning for something. While I'll still be doing work in a theatre, I won't be acting. I'm not doing at all what I've been trained to do. It's exciting that I'll get to see a different aspect of theatre; get a more behind-the-scenes look at the people who are in the thankless roles that really make the show happen. But a big part of me is really going to miss acting. Hopefully I'll find somewhere where I can still do my thang in Seattle. Apparently it has the most equity theatres in the country, second only to NYC. Not bad at all. The one-legged dancer in me still has a few hops left in her and isn't ready to quit on that dream. 

Like Pocahontas, but White

Today I realized that I have no idea what Seattle looks like. I own Sleepless in Seattle and all it gave me was a great idea of what a house on the waterfront owned by a widowed Tom Hanks looks like. (Sometimes the Walmart bargain bin doesn't have everything you ever wanted.) I've also seen panoramic shots showcasing the skyline featured in Grey's Anatomy which are sandwiched between scenes of Katherine Heigl monologuing for 5 mins about eating butter. Riveting stuff, but not that big of a help. It all boils down to the fact that I've never been to Seattle. My actual knowledge of what this place looks like doesn't exceed the miniscule images that I find on Google Maps, which ps I spend about an hour on everyday looking up places for grocery stores, banks, post offices, and hospitals (because YOU NEVER KNOW).

I think what I'm most excited about is exploring a new city. Every time I've gone somewhere it has been with my family as benefactors and tour guides. But this is something that I'm going to have to figure out on my own. If I want a couch and the store doesn't deliver, well looks like I'll have to sack up and carry it on my back for 3.2 miles. No biggie. I'm like a fricken Michael Phelps over here. And I'll have to navigate the bus system on my own since I won't have a car. Public transportation is an unknown beast to me. Like money management or wearing the color tangerine. But I have a plan. You know those commercials for iPods where they show people dancing on buses and they look really cool, coordinated, and popular? Yeah, I'm not going to do that. I don't want to get shot. But if I see someone do that, I'll be sure to trip them on their way out thereby gaining "street cred." It's all part of the plan. 

But in the mean time I'm still here in Dubuque. I'm really enjoying my last few care free days with my family. There is a lot of talking, packing, crying over what to mail, and laughing at how ridiculous this whole thing is. My parents are being such a huge help. I know I could do it without them if I had to, but it is so much easier with them helping me. They're pretty much bamfs. I only have to finish packing one suitcase and then my carry on and then I'm done. Apparently my life weights 297 lbs. That's a lot by the way. But it'll all get there. And then I'll have to buy more stuff. Big girl stuff. Like a bed or potpourri. Oh man, I need more money. Whatever, it'll be worth it.

2 more days.

Let's Run a Mic Check

I'm finally done procrastinating when it comes to Seattle and have decided that it's time to get things done. Flights, hotel, car rental and one parental unit to move in with? Check. Apartment lined up with carpeting and yellow bathroom circa 1970s disco glory? Check. Blog so that my adoring fans don't have to rely on only facebook for their creeping? Check and check. Once I get around to that pesky packing I'll be good to go. 

I leave a week from this Sunday. My decision to move out there feels very Mary Tyler Moore to me. Or maybe it's Felicity. Hard to say at this point, but the bottom line is that I'm hoping I made a good choice. Only time will tell, and the clock says it's getting near closing time for the Midwest. To say the least, my time in Iowa has been an affair to remember. I'll miss it and my entourage dearly. 

But I'm ready to make the move to Seattle. Know how I know?

I stopped an old man along the way

Hoping to find some long forgotten words or ancient melodies

He turned to me as if to say

'Hurry [girl] it's waiting there for you'

Yep. Seattle is waiting for me. And while "it's gonna take a lot to take me away from you/There's nothing that a hundred men or more could ever do," I have to leave. Don't fret, I'll be sure to "bless the rains down in [Seattle]" and all that stuff. I'll figure out how to do that when I get there. I'm sure there's something about it on Wikipedia. But it's time for me to finally cut the cord and do something different. 

Gonna take some time to do the things we never had

--Lyrics from Toto's Africa. Seattle, Africa, same difference.