Seattle is so beautiful in the summer, they said. The sky is so blue, they said. The weather is so lovely, they said.

They said, they said, they said. All I can really say positively about the hot weather last weekend in Seattle is at least it wasn't humid. Though, anyone who's lived through an east coast summer can tell you that is actually a HUGE silver lining, so I take back my snark, it was beautiful and lovely. 

Plus, I got to wear some of the shorts that usually sit useless in my closet! Yay?

But those skies were most certainly not blue. It might look merely hazy in these photos, but it was actually smoke from the Canadian wildfires that made it feel like a simultaneous flashback to smoggy, pre-Clean Air Act Los Angeles and a frightening preview of 50 years in the future. No thank you.

But apart from the heat and the smoke, it really was a lovely weekend in Seattle with some of my best girlfriends! We visited salmon at the Ballard Locks and did a little pizza eating and wine tasting on Bainbridge Island. We ate lunch at Microsoft, sampled some of the best ice cream in Seattle, and I confirmed pink peppercorn is lovely with sweet things (so lookout, future cake plans!).

We took a gentle hike near Mt. Rainier, where I took too many photos of wildflowers and got as close to Wild as I'm ever going to get on a teeny portion of the Pacific Coast Trail. I got annihilated by mosquitos, who apparently will just ignore all bug spray in favor of my sweet, sweet blood (I knew this already though, see: East Coast summers mentioned above).

I spent my last, itchy morning taking my very happy, inner 13-year-old self on a mini 10 Things I Hate About You tour to the Fremont Troll and Gasworks Park. You most definitely cannot play paintball but you can sit and imagine Heath Ledger and Julia Stiles paddle boating under the Seattle skyline on Lake Union. You might even find yourself whelmed (and feeling ancient).

So thank you, Seattle, you were hot and hazy, but I'm coming back for you! Just next time, please be drizzly and cool like a normal person, ok?