slidergirl

I would have preferred a nice "thank you" instead. $2 is an insult. I keep trying to give them to people when they ask for change, but they decline. I may have pay cash at the grocery store and feed them into the register to get rid of them 😹

The short ribs are a big favorite in Delta One.

I'm not one for sitting in the cabin, either. And, it could get a little chilly sitting out on my balcony. I'd rather sit in a bar/lounge and listen to the ambient "noise". I can make a vodka rocks last a long time...

I'm down to my last 4 work days - Friday through Monday. It's another bittersweet feeling - happy to have the Summer off but I'll miss the owners. One told me the other day that I "class the place up." I doubt it the way that I dress, but some of my "professional" behavior I learned at my Forbes classes still hangs around. I didn't pick out my rain shell yet. There was a big mudslide on the interstate that closed down the eastbound traffic so that I'd have no way to get back. And, then it's supposed to snow tomorrow and I hate driving the interstate in the snow. I have all of next week to do it. Lois - good to hear you are having a good time. sorry it was windy & chilly, though. I don't know enough about Greek or Turkish food to give you any food challenges!!

Between Cynthia and Hank talking about the lack of nighttime activity, I guess I had better stock up on my music and kindle books before my Alaska trip!!! I'm an up-until-midnight person, thanks to my work schedule.

Emma. Been there, enjoyed the pizza and they had Brunello by the glass.

I'm the one who got the $2. I've also received (along with my co-workers) refrigerator magnets from one guy who thought they were an appropriate tip to remind us that he came from Annapolis, MD. Of course, in front of a guest, we smile and gush our appreciation for such a unique tip. In the back office, we say what a cheap twit he is and toss the magnets in the trash can. Chocolate - at one time I was actually allergic to it. As a personal tip, it sucked. Giving a box to the staff NOT ATTACHED TO A TIP was nice. We had a few of those (Georgia pecans, a box of Chobani yogurt from a Chobani exec, cookies from Levain in NYC, etc. But, they were never delivered as part of a tip. take the money you paid for that Hershey bar and give it to the staff as part of an extra tip!! They won't have to fake the appreciation and will be able to send it to their kids for college 😉

I received a couple of $2 this winter at my Lodge from some yahoo. $2 won't even buy me a cup of coffee up here - chocolate sure won't do it, either.

I like that one, too. But I prefer The Uprising and the plain Red Blend. can't beat the prices.

Only 1 night in Seattle unfortunately. And, for some reason, sushi got to the top of my list this time. Usually, it's oysters.

No ripped jeans here. Never understood wearing ripped jeans in the Winter 😉 I thought of bringing my jean jacket because, well, I didn't think my red Patagonia jacket would work well at night with a dress 😉 It packs down to nothing so I'll just put in my bag and wear the jean jacket. Those of you who liked my River & Sky dip dye dress that I bought last year and used for my grand niece's wedding - they have a new version of it in a knee-length. Just in case anyone is in the market for a nice summery dress. If it's that unformal on dressy night on your cruise, it's going to be probably not even Country Club casual on dressy night on my cruise!! Bright, sunny, and 54 degrees right now. But, the temp is going back down the 30s by the end of the week, with maybe some snow on Thursday. It's the "multiple personalities" time of year up here. OOTD: black jeans, my olive tie dye hoodie shirt, pink high tops.

Well, they are sushi places and they get crowded so I don't want to mention... 😉 Elliott's Oyster House and Ivar's Salmon House are very close by.

Now I'm sorry I even brought up wine! I am doing HAL in a couple of days so I had looked up their wine policy and found that every bottle you bring on is subject to that $20 fee. I hadn't brought wine onboard before but had heard about rules. I had looked at the HAL wine list and saw nothing I wanted to buy from them and take to my balcony. Sorry I didn't mention HAL. Right now, I'm enjoying 19 Crimes "The Uprising" - red aged in rum barrels. Not outstanding, but a nice, smooth red to drink after work. And, it's around $13. My favorite Rose, la Spinetta Casanova, is a little more at $21. But, my favorite summer white is the old standby, Hogue Reisling, at $10. Even the bartender at my old country club stocked it just for me. But, you won't see me hogging any pool loungers nor whining about them...

What "mess" are you talking about for Trenitalia? On on the website, click the "Eng" button at the top to get English. Then on the home page under "Main Solutions", put in "Venezia (tutte le staziones) (means all Venice stations), and your to as "La Spezia Centrale", then dates and the earliest time you'd want to leave. A bunch of options will pop up. I picked the first one, which has one change of train, in Florence. It the Frecce "fast" train to Florence then a change to a regional to La Spezia. Click on the price at the right and you'll find all the options for class of seats and pricing. If you use something other than Trenitalia's site, you'll encounter a fee for having them book for you.

I'm staying there on 28th this month. Using points. And, it's along the water to walk the Elliott Bay Trail. And, it's near 2 places I want for dinner. I'll try to remember to write about it.

sounds yummy. Do you know anything good/bad about Wasabi Sushi & Izakaya? It is in the vicinity. At least I have 2 I can choose from. Thx.

As long as the Eurodam makes it to Seattle on 4/28, it could play whatever it wants how many times it wants going out!!!

Well, I can bring my own wine if I wanted to pay $20 "corkage" for a $20 bottle...

Happy Easter to those who celebrate. And, for all of us, today is also National Mature Woman Day. I chuckled at my black dress thing. It's the same one I wore to Teatro di Silenzio to see Andrea Bocelli last July. One thing I always travel with is a LBTD - Little Black Tshirt Dress. It's by Woolx and it was so very comfy in that 95+ degree weather at the concert. Sunny and WARM today up here!! Supposed to get up into the upper 40s and possibly to 50!!! Now, we're all thinking about the flooding that may come. The condos are at the bottom of a run, so it's going to get runoff of the run snow and any melting from condos uphill. Sandbags have been ordered so we can try to channel water away from the building. OOTD: black jeans, tan henley Tshirt, pink high tops.

I think the lumberjack show would be pretty cheesy for teenage boys (too cheesy for me and I'm an old lady). did you show your boys some ideas and see what they think yet?

I think I'm going to be a little early for the salmon on the ladder. Bummer. I've seen salmon ladders full of salmon on the Columbia River before. It's a cool site. I might wander by anyway, just in case. I'm there early May. I've got nothing else planned but walking around.

The one thing about MdR is that the traffic on PCH (aka Lincoln) is atrocious!!! I don't know if the old way down Pacific from Santa Monica to Washington and then in to Admiralty Way to the end of MdR to get back on Lincoln. I used to live on Pacific & 28th Ave and Venice & Canal St back in the day. I'd stay in Santa Monica now.

About as boring as it could get at work today. So, I started on a new, dreaded chore: going through the rental condos and count silverware, dishes, mugs, glasses, utensils, pots & pans, sofas, beds & bedding, etc. also take pics of the stuff so we know what brand/looks like if we have to replace. I spent 2.5 hours on the first one and only got 2/3 of the way through the kitchen stuff!! These people have overstaffed their kitchen!! I mean, the minimum is stuff for 4 and they have things for 16, 20, 4 different sets of 8 different "small plates". and stuff like that. Even I don't have 4 different sets of tongs!!! I finish this one tomorrow and start on another one. Lord help me!!! Changed my mind on my OOTD - changed the shirt to my pink & white short sleeve T to match my pink high tops. And added in my denim jacket. And, I just put a headband to my hair as I didn't feel much like doing anything with it and didn't want a ponytail again. I realized I don't have a sweater that I could take on the cruise for if I got chilled in a restaurant, so I may take the denim jacket as it goes with everything. I can add one of my pins to it spiff it up at dinner time. I forgot about "dress up night" - people will just have to look at me in horror in my black knit dress (OK, it's a wool Tshirt dress), my black boots and my denim jacket. Maybe I'll take my Italian crystal necklace and earrings to spruce it up. I won't be going in the MDR anyway.

I love the Sky Lounge!! They have upped their game in the food offerings. I always arrive way early for my flights so I can go eat and relax in there. My AMEX Plat gets me in when I'm flying "back of the bus", so that's a plus. Have a good, relaxing flight! Let us know what you have to eat/drink on the plane. And thanks for the birthday shoutout.

Hank - I'm enjoying your commentary. I'm also reading Cynthia's accounts, so I feel like I'm along with both of you! The trip sounds like you might need to step up the onshore activity so you don't stay awake long enough to notice there's nothing going on 😉 I do take exception to your comment about people eating dinner in the buffet. I'll be doing that in 22 days on the Eurodam. I like to be able to get a nice entree-size salad for my dinner and I'm not into table chatter. I'm not in and out like a Mickey D's, either. Just sayin'