One week ago today I was on the last leg of my cross country plane trip to Seattle–my new home. Countless ideas and questions were swirling around my brain like chocolate-vanilla soft serve ice cream about what work would hold within it’s first week and how different city life would be. Would I be able to keep up?

After a week of getting into the swing of my routine, learning the bus route, meeting my co-workers and falling in love with Seattle side-street by side-street that initial nervousness seems silly. There hasn’t been a hiccup to speak of and I’ve been meeting new people and seeing new places every day. A few of my favorites so far:

1. Cafe MOX– Yesterday we adventured into the Ballard neighborhood of Seattle to check out a cafe called MOX. Within moments of walking through the doors you get the gist: an excited buzz of conversation, wall-to-wall tables whose chairs are all filled, a coffee and beer list on the wall and sprawled across the table tops? Games. Board Games, Card Games, Strategy Games, RPG Games…ALL KINDS. Cafe MOX is a gaming parlour that definitely makes for an entertaining Saturday night. I ordered a chicken + white bean hummus naan sandwich and my friends and I decided on playing Pandemic. The service is great, the patio is wonderful and attached to the restaurant is a store called Card Kingdom where you can purchase any of the games that are available to play (or take part in a tournament if you should so desire). Check it out!

2. Smith- Brunch is one of my favorite things, so I was excited to try out Smith in Capitol Hill for my first official one in Seattle. Once we sat down and scanned the menu I knew we had chosen the right place: zucchini scramble with basil, homemade waffle with washington cherries and whipped cream, chicken and waffles, pomegranate mimosas…perfect. I went with the zucchini and basil scramble that was on special and a hot mug of Stumptown coffee. Across the table was an order of a spectacular eggs benedict for Finis and the Chicken and waffles for Travis; nothing came close to disappointing us. The decor in Smith is a conversation starter, as well. One one wall you’ll find a variety of old, painted portraits, from Kennedy to poised women with ambiguous identities, and on the other? Taxidermy trophies (deer and pheasants to name a couple). Definitely worth the walk.

3. Fremont Coffee – Known for their unique latte art, sometimes featuring either Darth Vader or a skull, Fremont coffee has become a staple in my work week. Whether it be for a quick Americano on the patio with a few spare morning moments or a meeting with my co-workers I’ve always felt welcome there. The prices are good and the coffee punch card gives you further incentive to quickly go from first-timer to regular. Great vibes, great baristas, great coffee.

4. Coconut La Croix – The weather on this coast is inching pretty closely to fall, so for me the final drops of summer are going to come straight from this can. La Croix is flavored, sparkling water that doesn’t have a lot of sugar but does have a satisfying amount of flavor. They’re inexpensive, but so far not the easiest to find. I take one whenever I can get my hands on it.

5. REI – I think a lot of you probably know how great REI is, but I just jumped on the bandwagon this week. Aisles upon aisles of anything you could need for outdoor activities await you. The Seattle location is the flagship store, so to see what makes it special you’ll just have to visit for yourself.

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Looking forward to sharing more of Seattle with you all! I leave for Europe a week from today and would love to hear any suggestions about things to do in Vienna, Milan, Cannes and Paris.

Speak to you soon!

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