Bellevue

We had promised Lindsay a "south of the border shopping trip" for her birthday in May and this was the first weekend free after the craziness of June.

I thought it would be fun to do an overnight so we had a less rushed time.

We have a "usual" Seattle hotel and list of things we do.

I thought it was perhaps time to change things up a bit and having heard many extol the virtues of Bellevue (A little east of Seattle between two lakes) we decided to eschew the I5 and head down the 405 to trendy, modern and mall-full Bellevue.

We did not see this view as the misty, rainy weather that has marked the start of Summer did not abate.

We did find the malls.

We shopped for several hours getting most everything in Lindsay's List and others getting a few things too.  I enjoyed shopping for some of the little peeps in my life.  World Market yielded up some perfect gifts to send with my Dad to the family in South Africa when he goes in August and I thoroughly enjoyed my first (and most definatley not my last) forays into both Crate&Barrel (opening soon at Oakridge - oh.dear.me) and The Container Store where my Dad bought my Mom and I this ingenious device...

It is a phone bungee - never will my iPhone be lost in my purse again!

A tasty dinner at PF Changs was a nice end to a long and busy day.

We stayed in an Embassy Suites which we usually love and this would have been a great location had it not been at total capacity....and no hotel does its best when stretched that thin.  The arrival of the famed Red Sox baseball team to play the Seattle Mariners had brought baseball fans by the thousands to the area and our hotel was overrun with many young boys and their increasingly inebriated parents.... never ceases to boggle my mind how people will behave in a hotel.

It was a noisy night and an early morning and not our best experience.

Sunday arrived with more rain and mizzle so we headed North via a crazy busy outlet Mall and our beloved Trader Joes and an quick and efficient border crossing during which the usually surly and unchatty border guard said "Welcome Home" as she handed our passports back.

Indeed - welcome home on Canada Day!


We came home and unpacked and enjoyed the brightening skies and sun as we ate a quiet dinner on the patio and enjoyed an early quiet night in our own beds.