I've spent most of my life riding horses. The rest I've just wasted. ~ Anonymous

It's really been feeling like Seattle the last few days, due to the fact that it has rained constantly for the last 48 hours. I'm actually not bothered by that at all though. I love falling asleep to the sound of rain pinging on the skylight and thunder crashing overhead. In the morning, I walk out on my deck with a cup of hot chocolate and breathe in the scent of freshly washed earth. The moisture amplifies the green of the grass, the blue of the sky, the darkness of the ground, flooding the land with intense color. It's simply stunning.

I had the pleasure of going to Pike Place Market yesterday with my friend Kaelyn. Honestly, it's one of my favorite places in the entire world. I love walking up and down Pike Street as fragrant perfume wafts from the flower stalls and light reflects off the stands of shiny produce. I laughed when a tourist gets a fish thrown at him and stopped at my favorite little bakery for berry cobbler. I got a Strawberries and Creme "coffee" at the first Starbucks ever and came home with a bag full of seafood and produce. I officially checked off buying myself a bouquet of flowers from Pike on my list of things to do before I die, and my are they beautiful. Five bucks for a big bunch of fresh irises.

I love living here, with such access to great produce and seafood. I've been really getting into cooking for myself. Tonight I made baked Parmesan prawns with roasted asparagus and sauteed garlic mushrooms with fresh green beans and spinach. Gorgeous on a plate, tasty in my stomach.

I'm excited because I have even more awesome plans. I'm going into Seattle twice again this week, once for the Northwest Folklife Festival on Friday and again with my roommates on Saturday. I love being a Seattlite!