Weekend Excursions - September 22nd, 2019

I’m a type A planner sometimes to the extreme and try to pack in as much activities as possible over the weekend - this weekend I think I went a little too far.

Saturday

Mr. Mustang and I started our day arriving at Pacific Place a little after 10am. We park at the pacific place garage often and at one point I saw an advertisement for a Downton Abbey party where tickets were only $20 a person. As advertised, the $20 gets you in a private VIP party with brunch bites being tray passed and an endless supply of champagne. After the brunch party, Pacific Place would be hosting a fashion show that features looks and inspirations from the BBC show, Downton Abbey followed by a screening of the newly released movie. That is what was advertised and I naively didn’t get suspicious when all of this would be for the low low price of $20.

Instead Mr. Mustang and I were first greeted with a line that wrapped around the 6th floor of Pacific Place that took 30 minutes to get through. After check-in, we are crammed into a tight space that use to be the patio area from the now closed down Gordon Biersch restaurant where an even longer line awaits us for the buffet. Oh those passed tray brunch bites that was promised? Instead here is a limited selection of Costco’s finest store bought pastries and watered down coffee. At least the champagne was endless however I’ve never seen this brand of bubbles before and never knew that bottles of sparkling wine can come with a soda cap. The best thing that came from the catering was the cupcakes provided by Trophy but the frosting was completely murdered with edible glitter that made your teeth literally sparkle.

5 cupcakes and 3 glasses of sparkling rose later, we were ushered into the nearby movie theater where the fashion show turned into a PowerPoint slide presented by a representative from Seattle Magazine. The slides showed the newest ‘trends’ in both women and men fashions where we learned that apparently snake skin purses and cheetah print suits are in. Mr. Mustang and I exchanged glances as we were informed of what we should be wearing this autumn.

Finally the movie begins and thankfully there are no previews so we sink into our seats and enjoyed 2 hours of British drama unfold. I’m not going to touch on the topic of the movie too much as it was everything I expected from the previous 6 season; forced drama causes people to overreact and characters make snarky comments that sound clever simply because it was spoken in an English accent.

We left the theater feeling that we actually did our money’s worth - pastries, champagne and a movie for the price of $20, sure why not though the only thing that sucked was they didn’t validate our parking.

Our next item on the agenda was going to MoPOP (formerly known as EMP) because it was Free Museum Day sponsored by the smithsonian however plans fell apart quickly when we arrived. I forgot that admission to MoPOP wasn’t exactly free but you need to sign up online and request a free ticket through the smithsonian website where only a limited number of tickets were available. Figuring MoPOP must be super crowded anyways we left and brainstormed a plan B. Not wanting to relocate the car again we opted to visit the Pacific Science Center instead since Mr. Mustang surprisingly hasn’t been there much.

I figured if MoPOP was busy, the science center wouldn’t be and my hunch was correct. The Pacific Center was a ghost town where there was maybe us and 20 other people there. We took our time browsing the exhibits and got to chill while laying down on the floor during a laser show featuring music from The Beatles. It was a nice time and an easy way to kill 2 hours.

Once it hit 5pm, we decided to get the early bird special and grab some dinner. I read an article in the Seattle Times talking about a small hole in the wall restaurant in Lower Queen Anne that is a must try so I figured we’re in the area, let's go there. The restaurant is called Paju and after only one meal there, it made our list of top 10 places to eat in Washington State and our top 5 to try in the Seattle area. To read our full experience at Paju, please click HERE.

After dinner, we waddled the short distance to the Seattle Rep Theater to see the play, Indecent. Since this is the first play of the season at the Seattle Rep, our expectations were a bit high but once leaving the theater we realized that the play exceeding our expectations. We were so moved by the material that we actually stayed behind for the behind the scenes discussion and heard other audience members thoughts on it. To learn more about the play, please click HERE.

By the time we arrived home, we were beat and went straight to bed however the weekend isn’t over just yet.

Sunday

Seahawks season is officially off to a running start and we were able to get tickets to the September 22nd game against the New Orleans Saints. We had friends from the Vancouver area get tickets as well and they agreed to meet us at the restaurant Derby for brunch before the game. Mr. Mustang and I arrived first and I ordered their bottomless mimosas to start as we waited for the rest of our party. 30 minutes and two mimosas later, Mr. Falcon and Mrs. Llama arrived and we quickly ordered our brunch since it was game day and the kitchen was slightly backed up. We talked about what each person has been up to, new developments from work, what their infant son is up to and how likely we are to win the football game later today.

As we talked, everyone’s dish started arriving...except mine. Mr. Falcon and Mrs. Llama got theirs first followed by Mr. Mustang 5 - 10 minutes later however mine never arrived. The server apologized multiple times saying it will be coming out shortly but after an hour, still no brunch for Mrs. Mare and almost everyone else had finished theirs. We planned to leave the restaurant no later than 12:50pm and at exactly 12:41pm, my veggie has arrived - but instead of an egg I asked to be over easy, I got a scrambled egg instead. I started to protest but gave up mid sentence as it didn’t matter since I wasn’t going to eat it anyways. The server apologized again and not even a minute later she gave me a single plate with two fried eggs over easy. Honestly I wasn't too upset at any point because the one thing they kept providing was a constant refill mimosas - my glass was never empty during that entire time at Derby so gold star for keeping me sedated. To read my review about Derby, please click HERE.

We paid for our meal and they generously comped both my veggie hash and mimosas from the final bill so it wasn’t all bad. Another positive note towards Derby is during game days the restaurant provides free shuttle service to the stadium so we were at the gates by 1pm and got through security and into our seats just moments before kickoff. For a game that was supposed to be an easy win, the Seahawks just couldn’t get a solid grip on the slick wet grass and we lost the game by one touchdown. As a pick me up, we stopped by a Trophy vendor and bought four cupcakes and 5 macrons that should last us the week.

It was 5pm when we finally got back home and I felt rough. Every part of my body was tired and after a quick dinner involving smoked salmon chowder and a sourdough roll, I felt it was time for bed. I slithered into the covers around 8pm and despite the sensation of pure exhaustion, I couldn’t get relaxed with never ending need to constantly toss and turn in the sheets. I turned on a fan to help me cool down but that didn’t work so I swallowed two tablets of Ibuprofen to help with the aching and still nothing. My last resort was a muscle relaxer that has done wonders in the past to get me to fall asleep and even that didn’t work. I remember waking up several times throughout the night and by Monday morning I felt like I didn’t sleep a wink.

Mr. Mustang admitted the same that he also had trouble falling asleep that made us both realize that this was the final straw - we need to get a new bed. We’ve been sleeping on a full size bed with a mattress that is nearly 20 years old but we’re too lazy to commit to a new mattress or bed frame. As of Monday night, we finalized our top picks for a mattress and bed frame and hope to have a solid decision made by September 27th.