Ooh guys I'm going to keep you in suspense a little longer about the 52 books I've read so far this year (well, 54 now...), but it's in your best interest to wait because there are about seven books on the list right now that I'm quite sure you won't want to read, and if you hold out just a little longer I can give you 52 books that you will want to read, or at least might want to know that you don't want to read... or something. Sorry for the run-on, the take-away is: not tonight.
So, what could be so interesting that I would keep my list of books from you? It is Seattle. This past weekend, I met up with Niko, Teddy and Hannah for a whole bunch of catching up, walking around and drinking, and I really could not have asked for anything better. For those of you who have somehow managed to avoid hearing about all three of these wonderful people, they were some of my best friends in college, and, as a matter of fact, three of my first friends in college. We had a lot of weird, smelly, hilarious times together, and basically I love them all more than almost anything. We hadn't been all together since graduation, and after some nearly miraculous schedule coordination, we managed to find a long weekend when we could all get together.
I drove down to Northfield on Thursday night, which was quite an ordeal, because my neighbor had stayed up until after 4 AM playing video games (at least, I assume playing video games -- otherwise they were just playing a loop of this horrible thirty-second clip for hours on end) and there were several storm warning automated phone calls between 2:30 and 4:30, so I hadn't gotten all that much sleep. Luckily, I'd downloaded the James McAvoy/Benedict Cumberbatch radio play version of "Neverwhere," which definitely kept me alert. I got into Northfield around 10, but then Teddy and I stayed up until around midnight, basically because I insisted on discussing some conspiracy theories with him (you better read it, Teddy, I know you know what I'm talking about!). We slept for a few hours, and got up before 5 to leave for the airport. We were early-ish for our flight but had some Youtube clips to catch up on, so that wasn't a problem. Other than the hilarious people sitting near us ("Oh, is that Mount Rainier again? It looks different from this angle." "Did you know that New Zealand is below Australia? I just learned that! It's ok, though, my boyfriend's really good at geography." Teddy and I definitely exchanged some looks.), it was an uneventful flight. We only had to wait for a few minutes outside before Hannah came and picked us up.
Oh, Hannah. I see Teddy pretty often, and I visit Niko whenever I'm in Boston for longer than a week, but it's been over three years since I saw Hannah. I don't know what I was expecting, but, in all the ways that count, she's exactly the same. The three of us hugged in a way that was both wonderful and incredibly awkward, and then hopped in the 4-Runner and drove into Seattle. Hannah took us to a great restaurant for brunch where we got started on the reminiscing. I don't remember exactly what we talked about (maybe that time we blindfolded her and took her to Red Lobster for her birthday, or Europe '08/Diabetes/Belgian waffles-gate, or the BFP...), but it was lovely. After brunch, we dropped our stuff off at Hannah's apartment, I changed into sneakers, and we went for a bit of a hike in Discovery Park. We walked down to the beach where I worked on a really impressive sunburn and we talked more about what we're doing and what we're planning on doing in the next few years. After, I don't know, an hour? Two hours? of that, we headed back to Hannah's apartment.
So, now we come to a secondary reason for the trip: vetting Hannah's fiance, Pat. I was apprehensive about Pat, not because I had any evidence that I should have been apprehensive necessarily, but Hannah's important to me and I can't just let her marry anyone. My apprehension pretty much disappeared immediately upon meeting Pat, when he insisted on hugging me and Teddy. We didn't have a lot of time for getting-to-know-you's before we headed out again, this time to a brewery where one of Teddy's friends works (read: free beer!). So, that began the eating and drinking portion of the evening. After the brewery, we ate dinner at a delicious Turkish restaurant down the street, where Pat distinguished himself again when he paid for everybody (word to the wise: the sure-fire way to get me to like your SO is for him/her to pay for my food/drink/pump batteries). After dinner we went to a bar where we met up with Lynsey and Nate, where we proceeded to have a pretty good time. Let's just say, there were hijinks, and the night ended with Teddy insisting on buying a copy of Cosmo and then holding it up whenever Hannah or I was giving him a hard time and yelling, "I bought this for you!"
The next morning (after some delay, TBH), we picked up Niko at the airport and shared another wonderful/awkward group hug. Then it was off to another delicious brunch, which Pat paid for again (love you, Pat!), and then a great walk around a lake near Pat and Hannah's apartment. Niko, Teddy and I talked a lot on the walk about all kinds of things. Niko's got a new job, which sounds exciting and exhausting, in equal measure. Of course we also talked about Fargo and what's going on with Teddy. Basically, there was a lot to discuss. After the walk, we got chips and salsas and Coronas at a Mexican restaurant where the burritos are the size of newborns. Literally, people take their swaddled newborns to this restaurant and photograph them next to the burritos. It was incredible. Then we just... napped. For several hours. Actually, there was more gabbing, and Hannah demonstrating yoga poses to us, unsurprisingly. Around 7:30 we went out for Ethiopian food (ahh so good), watched some hipsters playing bicycle polo, and then had some delicious, delicious (vegan!) ice cream. There was some discussion about going out dancing, but we opted for a night in, playing Cards Against Humanity and He Said/She Said. The latter is a game where everybody comes up with an answer to a prompt (He/She/Where they met/What he said/What she said/What they did) and then folds their paper over their answer and passes it to the next person so they can answer the next prompt. This game is often terrible, but it was really funny Saturday night, mostly because Hannah's relatives all made appearances, from her parents and siblings, to "the first Hayes in 1630s England," to Rutherford B. Hayes, to her future children. God, making fun of Hannah just never gets old.
Sunday morning we all woke up to Pat coming into the living room going, "I love you guys!" and giving us more hugs before leaving for the day (I approve 100% of this guy). The four of us decided to do something touristy for our last day, so we went to Pike's Place Market and to the original Starbucks, and then sat outside for a long time, just enjoying the views of the water and the mountains. After lunch, we went back to the neighborhood with the brewery so Teddy could say goodbye to his friend and Hannah, Niko and I could have coffee and discuss wedding planning (!). Lynsey and Teddy joined us after a while, we all chatted some more, and then it was time for Teddy and me to go back to the airport. Saying goodbye always sucks, but Hannah's wedding is coming up in just a few months, so we'll all get to see each other again soon. The trip back was actually pretty nice, because Teddy and I got great seats on the plane, and Teddy was convinced that we were sitting across the aisle from George R.R. Martin (we were not). We were back in Northfield by 11, we finished watching the show we started Thursday night, and then went to sleep. I saw Teddy for a bit at the bagel shop Monday morning, and then got on the road back to Fargo. Great trip. Best trip.
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