Everytime I go to Pike Place, I buy jewelry. They have the best antique stuff, the best craftsmen, and artisans. This last time, I came across a vendor called Hammering Girl. Kathy Henning has been hand hammering sterling silver and copper for the last 23 years at Pike Place Market. She engraves the quotes onto the bracelet, and she has a list of ones that are ready to go at the counter. However, she also custom engraves what you want to say as well, and if you can’t be there to pick it up, she’ll ship it to you!

I also picked up this ring at Pike Place. It’s pure simplicity drew me in, and I had to get it. I wouldn’t mind wearing a ring like this instead of a diamond on my ring finger either. Although I wear tons of gaudy jewelry, that one that bears my allegiance to my man must be simple and pure…and i think that’s why i was drawn to this ring so much. Please excuse the dry hands and paperwork. I’m procrastinating from doing my legal analysis homework as always.

I have the best girlfriends. It’s vacas like this that make you appreciate them the most and those memories stick with you forever. Tien took the week off to take us around Seattle, and because of it, she will have to work on her actual birthday. Well, we HAD to celebrate it on Friday of course, and after a long day at Pike Place, we found tons of shoes at Nordys and then we went back to the hotel to primp up for the night. Here we are in the hotel bar for the first drink. The bartenders were super nice and we got some great pictures before we took off to dinner at Umi.

the table covered most of our outfits and shoes…should have moved it.

One of the guys at the bar came up with this great idea to isolate Tien from the group.

Also, Jennie got this frilled black dress at Nordys that day, and she looks so hot in it! Michelle always finds the greatest dresses at Forever 21 and she’s sporting a grey one with the new Jessica Simpson pumps tonight. Tien is in a classic black dress with her new Jessica Simpson gold pumps. I’m in a random boutique find with tuxedo lapels and fun pockets. It’s backless and pretty revealing so i added a black halter to it, and it just looks and feels amazing. Tam can wear anything because she’s Hot Damn Tam Pham! She is wearing a Forever 21 ruffly top with a fitted black skirt. *_*

Cody, the host of Umi, the best sushi restaurant I’ve ever been to.


This is Tam’s last shot of the night…at the beginning of the night! hahahah *_*
Me and Tien at dinner enjoying the best sushi I’ve ever had and some amazing shots.

Last pic before sending Tam home!


Party on at Karma for the rest of the night. I’m not sure why my hair has a blue streak but it’s pretty cool!

We went to Nordstrom’s flagship store [store #1!!] and browsed around for new shoes. We all managed to walk out with at least 2 pairs of the best shoes each!!! Tien bought these gold pumps that I will have to photograph later and post, the grey suede boots that I wore in the last post, and these amazing FUCHSIA pumps by Jessica Simpson.

Michelle actually found these in black first, and settled on buying them….so Tien asked for them in her size too. Little did we know that when the salesgirl brought out the box, she mistakenly brought out the fuchsia color, not the black one. 5 gasps and a small squeal from me later, she brought them out in 3 other sizes…and we bought them all on sale for $50 a piece. Sigh…it was the best shopping day EVER!!!!!!

We spent the day at Bainbridge Island to eat at Cafe Nola. We have heard so much about this place, so we made the trek. The ferry is so much fun. We drove our car onto it, and then walked around taking pictures on the deck. When we got off, we drove about 1 min…and then parked because the line of cars was insane. It was just faster to walk up the hill to the restaurant…and we needed the exercise anyway!

the gorgeous skyline!

tien, michelle, and me

group shot of the girls

enjoying the view


a group shot with Josh who came to hang with us for the day

My outfit shot…not so good bc of the flash…but oh well. There is a story to these boots. We went to the Nordsrom flagship store [Store #1!!!!] and I asked if they had any grey suede boots. My cousin overheard and said that she saw one on sale at the reduced rack. She pulled them down and we all gasped …and then asked the salesgirls in sizes 5 1/2, 6, 7, 7 1/2, and 8. Well, as it turns out, they had all but the 5 1/2…so we bought them all. Every single pair fit to perfection, and we can’t believe our luck. They were 30% off the $100 price tag, so there was no way we were not going to get them.

forever 21 dress, club monaco grey sweater, grey suede boots, forever 21 orange scarf

Cafe Nola blew ALL of the other restaurants we went to out of the water. The food, the service, the ambiance, and the people were absolutely amazing. If you ever go to Seattle, make the trek to Bainbridge Island and eat here. There are tons of cute boutiques nearby as well…but be sure to eat here!!! We were the most complicated table with a rushed timeline to get back to the ferry so we could make the flight home, but they we not only accommodating, but made sure we were completely cared for during the meal. They held two tables for us, but since the other table was still closing up and lagging, they seated 4 of us first with 4 dishes. Then we realized that 5 tiny Asian girls can totally fit into the snug corner, and Josh got the end seat. We ended up snuggling close to eat all 6 dishes, and gave up the other table to someone else. The restaurant actually kept that table empty for us, just in case we wanted it, and told us that they don’t fill to capacity to ensure that the people they seated already get the best service possible. WOW.

This was my favorite dish…paste carbonara. I’m not a pasta person at all. I usually eat a kid size bowl…but my god, this pasta was so good I almost wanted to order another just to take home.

eggs benedict

i forgot what this is…i think foccacia…and something…i ate a lot of it. The fries are delicious.

baked eggs…omg. The polenta just fell apart in your mouth and the outside was crispy.

Seattle buildings from the water on the way back from Bainbridge Island

last shot at the front of the ferry. what a great trip. thanks for reading!!!

Seattle is filled with artsy people….and some weird people. That makes for some interesting places for artwork to be. The gum wall is literally a wall….of gum. It’s disgusting as heck…but at the same time, so amazing. Therefore, although it is in Pike Place, this wall deserves a post of its own.

Since we started the day at Pike and I got no good pictures of my outfit, I’ll do the outfit posting now. My backdrop is disgusting gum, all the most amazing shades of color. Tien took this pic of me and I’m grateful for the nice layout.

I found a bunny….right next to my Vietnamese name! How freaking weird is THAT?!


we chewed our gum, and contributed to the wall


I’m a little disgusted…but still fascinated

god dang it tam! must you lick everything?! *_*

i feel you michelle

creativity

Lovely day outside in Seattle. We planned to spend the whole day at Pike Place, so we walked all of it. Both ends, downstairs and upstairs. We bought tons of random things for gifts, souvenirs, jewelry, fruits, and of course, foooooood.

taking the time to smell the flowers

aren’t they STUNNING?


fresh fruits we bought for later

The Pike Place Fish Market was the best with their oyster shooters that were ready to go. We bought 5, and did the shot right then and there. Here is Michelle and a lovely fish that wants her to kiss it.

The monk fish was the ugliest thing on earth. It scared me half to death…and here is the video. The guys at the fish market had it on a string and when i got close, they pulled the strong so that the fish snapped up to scare me. After the video, Michelle posed with it.

Here is a video of us taking the oyster shooters. Michelle brought her Yucateco habanero sauce, so we each got a drop in our shooter.

We found these oyster shooters all ready to go. It’s the greatest idea EVER!

our expressions…were literally…WTF?? Are these for REALZ?

I have pictures of us taking the shooters…but a video is much better *_*

mmmmmmmhmmm donutssss

a coffee / coke / beer break

I bought these copper bracelets at Pike for me and Tien. We love them so much because the copper is good for you, and you can engrave anything on it. Mine says “amore, amicizia, e risa” meaning love, friendship, and laughter. All the things I value so much.

Tien picked out the same engraving…but then I found a more perfect one for her…and she agrees! *_* Tien’s bracelet says “progess, not perfection”… which makes me laugh every time i see it. Too bad it’s not in Italian…it probably sounds amazing. hahahhaa

Tam found another piggy!

This oyster bar was recommended by the boys at Pure Foods in Pike. They sold us the giant monk fish, and shrimp earlier…but they also told us where we can find some oysters that are already shucked for us. We forgot about it until an hour later when i randomly saw the sign on the other side of Pike’s. It’s destiny!

you gota swirl the habanero sauce all over the oyster!

ohhh yeaaaa

look at the SIZE of this thing!

Tam, Michelle, and Jennie found a shop that sold truffle salt and oils….and a free tasting of all of it. And they went to town with it.

On our way out, we ran into the Japanese couple that was with us at Chateau St Michelle wine tour! What are the chances of meeting again in this dense little city the next day…45 miles away? Amazing.

We spent the majority of Day 3 at Pike Place because its one of my favorite places to be in Seattle. Since the girls have never been, we roamed the whole place for hours on end…and we had so much fun with all the flowers, the seafood, the people, the gum wall, and of course, the pictures.

However, as always, we must eat first! Tien took us to Lunchbox Laboratory for the most insane 1/2 burger….for breakfast. Tien, Tam, and I shared the 1/2 lb truffle burger with sweet potato fries. Jennie and Michelle had the black bean veggie truffle burger with tater tots. Here is the evidence.

5 pretty girls can put this back, yo…just watch

1/2 lb truffle burger with sweet potato fries, mac n’ cheese, tater tots, and a chocolate milkshake

fun decos!


is it scary that we finished it all?

who knew eating would be so exhausting?!


5 months preggers we feel like. i love tam and michelle’s sad and exhausted face.

mine is the root beer. sooo gooot


this was absolutely delicious…all 300mL of it

I cannot believe that Chateau St Michelle is so close to Seattle. It took us less than 45 min to get there but the weather was on our side. We had some slight drizzle, but I didn’t even pull out an umbrella the whole trip.

We arrived at the main house and this gorgeous cherry blossom struck me. We pulled some picnic tables underneath and posed in front of the house.

After we explored the interior and tasted, I opened the door and walked right into this beautiful peacock! There were two of them, and they were not afraid of people whatsoever. They were just doing their thing, and then disappeared as the winery started to close. The best part?? We’re matching colors!!!

Beautiful colors

Michelle and I climbing the oak barrel. It’s tradition.

Chateau St Michelle for Michelle!!

I love this painting. Too bad its $400 or i’d get it already.

The tasting room all prepped for us

Dick’s the man.

This cab is Michelle’s favorite. We got a box set of the Riesling, the cab, a muscat, and sparkling wine. As we were just about done tasting, these 2 guys were setting up a photo booth for the event that night. They asked us to do some test shots for the booth, and boy, did we go to town with that thing. The pictures need to be scanned still…but Jennie took these of Michelle and I at the very end.

Final group shot with the Japanese couple that came with our tasting.

After dinner, we had to spare some room for frozen custard. I have not been able to find this in CA, so people, let me know if you find a place!!!

We got the banana split frozen custard with vanilla, chocolate, and taramisu custard. They make a new flavor everyday, and there is a calendar so you can find out what’s coming next. I cannot believe how big this thing is. We ate it ALL.

I came home and started organizing the photos into folders and categories. When I started labeling them, I laughed at this one because it sounds like a title for an episode of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

Anywhoo…on the second day, we woke up bright and early to get in as much stuff as possible….and boy did we!!! We went to breakfast at Toulouse first, enjoyed some amazing morning cocktails along with Creole Cajun food, and then walked to the Space Needle. This is one of my favorite ones from breakfast. We ate so well, we almost rolled out of the restaurant, and Tam kept rubbing her tummy. I accidentally forgot to change the settings from Tungsten, so there is a blueish tint to this pic…but that makes it look even better.

Dick’s Restaurant was next to Toulouse, and they have their own parking lot. Cars that drive into the lot see this sign…but for us, we just had to take some incriminating photos…that are not to be posted other than this one. *_*

On the way to the Space Needle, we stopped by the International Fountain in Seattle Center. I love this fountain because you can run down to the water and jump around if you want, or you can sit on the rim and enjoy the view. Michelle braved the cold and ran down to the water. We shot a video of her doing the fist pump! I die of laughter every time I look at Michelle’s face here *_*

Tien took this pic because we were unconsciously proportional to each other.

I have the power of Poseidon


Tam was not aware of the pose we were aiming for.

The Needle was so much fun, but it was FREEZING cold at the top. The elevator shook as we rode up, but that did not scare us! We walked out onto the observation deck and took photos in the freezing wind…and then ran inside to buy hot coco.

Even though it was so cold, we still gotta look good!! We layered and wore cute coats, mittens, and beanies to bear the cold. Jennie wore these amazing boots the whole day and she was a trooper in them! Her black ensemble just made her white bag pop and it paired perfectly with her checkered scarf!

Tam and Michelle were equally cute in their winter gear. Here they are, freezing their butts off and still bearing it so that they could take these pics of each other. In the meantime, Tien Jennie and I were inside already buying hot coco. Tam is wearing a Forever 21 white coat and the most adorable mittens without fingers. Michelle’s ghetto fabulous jacket kept her warm with my Burberry scarf [which I don’t think I can get back *_*]

The troll lives underneath the Freemont bridge. He’s actually really scary looking, and when we attempted to climb around the back, there were a bunch of sleeping bags behind him. However, we still managed to take tons of pics and be as loud and obnoxious as possible.

We did this jump at least 20 times with an epic FAIL. However, we persisted and it paid off in the end! Whooot!