My trip was disappointing to say the least. The car accident we got into within two hours of my arrival proved to be an accurate foreshadowing of what was yet to come. With that said, here are the details I know you’re all waiting for:

• I arrived Saturday afternoon, half an hour early, to find my friend cellphone-less and not feeling well while stuck in traffic to pick me up. We had lunch, went to the store to pick up food and drink for NYE, and got hit by an idiotic insurance-less driver in front of us driving in reverse and totally unaware of anyone else in the parking lot.
• I heard my cousin’s radio show (he’s a DJ on a Seattle station) which was really cool as I had only previously heard him streamed on the Internet.
• When my friend said she lived “outside of Seattle,” she neglected to mention she lived in suburban hell, surrounded by mini malls and chain restaurants. We ate at a Cheesecake Factory, Red Robin, and Zoopa in only three days. G-d help me.
• Hard liquor is sold only in state regulated liquor stores, and is not sold on Sundays. The stores are scary and have security guards. Enough said.
• New Year’s Eve was fun and spent eating, drinking, and watching fireworks with friends. Until … the part in the emergency room where we sat surrounded by at least two gunshot victims, one screaming baby, and one man with his ear in a Ziploc bag. It was loads of fun, let me tell you. (My friend had a Crohn’s flare-up and was in so much pain she needed a morphine drip.)

• We went to Pike Place Market on New Year’s day but unfortunately about 75% of the market was closed. I didn’t get to see any fish being thrown.
• In keeping with the not doing theme, I saw the Space Needle but didn’t go in it, as my friend was a) still not feeling well and b) afraid of heights.
• Seattle, although rainy at times and completely sunless, had better weather than LA. Go figure.
• My new Merrell’s apparently fit in quite well up north.
• My cousin and his girlfriend live in the middle of the city and are way more fun than my friend. [ed. note: Jason, I am sooo staying with you guys next time I am up there. I don't know what I was thinking.]
• We checked out Cupcake Royale, this cupcake place I had read about on the Internet. They were good, not great.
• My friend took the cupcakes home and I met up with my cousin for a non-chain restaurant dinner in Ballard. The area was great and reminds me a lot of my neighborhood–little restaurants, coffee shops, bars, etc. And, my cousin totally saved me by taking me to one of his favorite Thai places, Thaiku, then to Hattie’s Hat, a great bar playing awesome music with $4 drinks. $4 drinks!?!? And on a side note, Ballard was really cool, and I could totally see myself living in a place like that.
• Because my trip was already not-fun, United Airlines decided to add to the un-joy when their entire computer system zonked out, forcing them to check in people by hand (read: using pen and paper). I got to the Seattle airport an hour and forty-five minutes early, e-ticket in hand, waited in the check-in line for two hours, waited in the security line for a bit longer, ran to my flight as it said “boarding closed,” then proceeded to sit on the plane for an additional 45 minutes. Then when I got into LAX, they had us going on a treasure hunt to find our luggage. Good times. And not a single apology from United. Guess who’s getting a letter from me.

Needless to say, I’m glad to be home.