Seattle

Looking back over 2008, I realized that I've gotten to cover a lot of territory attending various conferences for work. This year I've been to Austin, Las Vegas, Kansas City, Salt Lake City, and now Seattle. Seattle's a pretty hip town that kind of reminded me a lot of K Street in Sacramento, only with bigger buildings and more rain. It was a short conference, so we didn't have a lot of time to sightsee. We managed to make it down to Pike Place Market just as they were closing up for the night. We also stumbled across the original Starbucks where I went in and ordered a pumpkin hot chocolate - a drink I randomly made up (it wasn't bad) - and took the obligatory "I'm in the first Starbucks" photo!

Normally I attend conferences by myself, but this time I went with two other people from my division. I tend to revel in my own company, but it was nice to have people to enjoy meals and walk around with. I stayed in a hip W Hotel that kept most of the lights turned off and played techno dance beats in the lobby and elevators, which gave me some moderate concerns about my safety, but I had a great window seat in my room and had some nice quiet moments staring at the pretty lights down below. I also had the chance to walk around a bit downtown and check out some of the holiday decorations.


And here I am enjoying my "original" Starbucks drink by the Macy's. Yay Seattle!