{Click here to read my first two posts on our Seattle vacation; Seattle – Exploring, Visiting Friends and Seattle – Sounders and Mariners Games}

After our adventures with our friends and our day of watching sports, we were ready to visit the Space Needle and to celebrate Jordan’s 26th birthday. I’ve admired the Space Needle on many an episode of Grey’s Anatomy, but in seeing it, all I can say is that the Space Needle is seriously cool, y’all – it’s crazy huge and tall, and it’s insane to imagine (and to find out, once you are at the top!) how the Needle was constructed. Also, it should be noted that my lovely husband, Jordan, was more freaked out than me by the high heights that we experienced by being at the top – as a self-professed scaredy cat lame-o, I was surprised, but I wasn’t scared at all!

Here are a few of my favorite shots from our time at the Space Needle:

After visiting the Space Needle, we went to Mama’s Mexican Kitchen for dinner. As huge fans of Mexican food (we had tacos at our wedding!), we were craving a change from all of the seafood and American food that we had been consuming, so Mama’s was a welcome change.

We knew instantly upon entering Mama’s Mexican Kitchen that this was a place that we would frequent if we lived in Seattle – it just felt like “our place.” Delicious food, yummy chips and salsa, great service, and Jordan had a delicious margarita – what more could you ask for!

After leaving Mama’s, we went on a search for some birthday cake, but my lovely (and PICKY) husband couldn’t settle on a cake he liked, so off we went to Gordon Biersch brewery for a birthday beverage :) we had a wonderful day! On our final day in Seattle, we did some shopping around our hotel and took it easy; by then, we were tired of go-go-going all the time, so we spent a much-needed morning napping and moving slowly and kept our adventures to a minimum that day.

Overall, our trip to Seattle was the best vacation that either of us had been on, and we can’t wait to go back! We loved everything about the area – the weather, the things to do, the wealth of great restaurants and entertainment, and the dog-friendly and child-friendly nature of the city. We’d love to live in the Seattle area someday!

{Click here to read my first post about our vacation to Seattle: Exploring and Visiting Our Friends!}

After a fun-filled day with Jared, Amanda and Miles (by the way, check out Amanda’s awesome blog!), Jordan and I woke up the next morning and readied ourselves for what I liked to call our “Sports Extravaganza Day.” Jordan and I had front row seats (!!) to a Seattle Sounders game (Seattle’s Major League Soccer team) in the early afternoon, and then we were off to sit in King Felix’s Court (a special section of the stadium reserved for fans of Felix Hernandez) that night at the Seattle Mariners game.

For my husband, who has been a life-long Mariners fan and has turned into quite a devout Sounders fan since we’ve been married, this day was a dream come true for him. Just take a look at this shot I took of him at the Sounders game; I told him after taking this picture that I haven’t seen him this happy and joyful since our wedding day!

Here are some more shots from the Sounders game, including our March to the Match! We met up with a bunch of Sounders fans at a park in downtown Seattle, and we walked with them and chanted all the way to the stadium – it was a blast!

And some shots from the Mariners game, which was also a great time (free t-shirts!):

Up next: our trip to the Space Needle, and celebrating Jordan’s birthday in Seattle!

Hi all! I’m back with the first of three posts from our honeymoon-redo trip to Seattle. If you’re not sure why we (or I, mostly) felt the need to take a honeymoon-redo vacation, feel free to read this post about our honeymoon last summer; I think that you’ll see why I wanted a redo of that epic trip!

We arrived in Seattle on a Thursday morning, and it was COLD! The weather was mid-50s and cloudy, and Jordan and I felt certain that we were experiencing iconic Seattle weather. We joked that we left the heat of our home state of South Dakota (where the temperatures had been climbing well above 80 degrees for the past two weeks) for the cold temperatures of Seattle, which, frankly, made us giggle.

We walked to the Seattle Lightrail for what seemed like forever, purchased our tram tickets, and then watched as Seattle proper was slowly revealed to us as we rode from stop to stop to our hotel. There were mountain’s, y’all – and for me, who has never seen mountains before, this girl was PSYCHED. Mountains, and houses painted in colors that made me wish I could move to Seattle right now so my house would have personality (South Dakota is beige-land, I swear). Mountains and houses full of personality and people that would satisfy my Dad’s penchant for people watching for DAYS.

We exited the Lightrail in downtown Seattle and headed the few blocks to our hotel. As we walked, I shrieked in delight as I saw Barney’s New York, Tiffany, a THREE STORY Forever 21, and a Starbucks on every block. I couldn’t help but feel so blessed to be experiencing a new place full of shops that I only read about in the New York Times or heard mentioned on “Sex and the City.”

Our hotel (the Grand Hyatt Seattle) was DREAMY. Cushy king bed, a bathroom that reminded me of a spa, and a view of the city that we loved to stare at. Plus, our room had black-out shades that were operated by a light switch, which was perfect for us. Since we arrived (jet-lagged) around 10AM Seattle time, after checking in to our hotel and grabbing some lunch at a nearby Gordon Biersch Brewery (YUMMY fish tacos – Jordan had a delicious burger), we hit that light switch and napped for a few hours in total darkness. It was HEAVEN.

We explored downtown for the rest of the day, and were mesmerized by the tall, tall buildings, the dog-friendly nature of the city (there were dogs on the escalators in the mall, people!), and the view of the Puget Sound (I wouldn’t know what to do with myself if I lived near water like that; I’m guessing that I would find it rather difficult to be unhappy, that’s for sure!).

The next day, we met up with our friends Jared and Amanda and their baby son, Miles. Jared and Amanda had moved out to the Seattle/Tacoma area about a year ago for Amanda’s job as a physical therapist. Shortly after moving, they discovered that they were expecting – and let me just say, Miles is one of the cutest little boys I’ve ever seen! His cheeks are super kissable and his smiles warmed my heart – I loved to cuddle Miles!

That day, we explored the Pike Place Market with Jared and Amanda and Miles. I had heard that the Pike Place Market was a must-see for any first-time visitors to Seattle, and it was absolutely true – the market just never ends, and is full of fresh food (oh my gosh, we had a fresh peach that was TO DIE FOR – best peach of my life), handmade goods, and secondhand book stores. We had so much fun exploring all that the Market had to offer. We also were able to board a pirate ship (really!) that had stopped in Seattle from Russia – it was super cool! We took a walk around the Olympic Sculpture Park, which was fun as well. That night, we all ate an amazing seafood dinner together at a delicious restaurant on the Waterfront (the name of the restaurant isn’t coming to me right now, but I’ll be sure to update this post if I think of it!).

For more pictures of our vacation, click here. If you’re interested in my husband Jordan’s take on our vacation, click here to read his post about our vacation that he wrote on his own blog!

Up next: our experience at the Seattle Sounders (MLS soccer team) and the Seattle Mariners games!

A full post on our fantastic vacation is coming soon, I promise, but for now…here’s a teaser!