This New Year was hands down the best New Year! I flew up to Seattle to spend New Years Eve with Michelle to see my favorite childhood band, Heart, perform in the same venue I saw them back in 6th grade for my first concert! We rang in the New Year with them singing ‘Old Lang Syne’ on stage, saw the final fireworks at the Space Needle (mostly enshrouded by smoke), then tried to navigate the craziness that ensued trying to get back to our hotel. As we walked with the rest of the world across the Seattle Center, we realized we were getting trapped within a crowd of people who could not get past chain link fences that were temporarily erected for the Space Needle fireworks. They were having to turn around and walk back and others were walking toward the fences. We were caught in the middle. We were beginning to get squashed by all sides. Michelle and I were able to sidewalk ourselves out of it on to a field and then try to navigate a different way out of the Seattle Center grounds. Trying to get back to the hotel was surreal. There was so much chaos. We overheard people talking about spending the night in their cars. All of the intersections were completely gridlocked. It was madness. We are so grateful we decided to spend the night within walking distance at the Fairfield Inn or this night could have ended on a bad note.
The next morning, we completed my final 5k walk of the holiday 5k challenge (5k a day from Thanksgiving through New Year), and walked through downtown and Pike Place Market. We pretty mich had the city to ourselves; it was so quiet. It was also a gorgeous day. Perfection.
Went back to Michelle’s place for two more nights. One day, I connected with Liann and Lacey (Lacey gifted us matching bracelets <3) and had a fabulous brunch at (I think) Hyatt Regency Southport on south Lake Washington. The other day, Michelle and I had lunch with two of my mom’s besties, Pam and Diane at 13 Coins and then dinner with my brother Devin and his girlfriend Kristi. It was a wonderful time catching up with those who will always have a part of and in my heart. <3
