amore, amicizia, e risa

Everytime I go to Pike Place, I buy jewelry. They have the best antique stuff, the best craftsmen, and artisans. This last time, I came across a vendor called Hammering Girl. Kathy Henning has been hand hammering sterling silver and copper for the last 23 years at Pike Place Market. She engraves the quotes onto the bracelet, and she has a list of ones that are ready to go at the counter. However, she also custom engraves what you want to say as well, and if you can't be there to pick it up, she'll ship it to you!

My favorite is this quote "amore, amicizia, e risa" meaning love, friendship and laughter. I bought one for me...and 2 as gifts. I also got one for Tien...and i absolutely love what it says..."progess, not perfection." *_*

She also mentioned that copper was good for you, but i didn't delve further into that until I got home. Apparently, wearing copper is great for curing arthritis and such. Since I'm on the computer all day long and my wrists and hands just plain hurt at the end of the day, I'm hoping this is going to help me finish law school as well as look great! Read about the health benefits of copper bracelets!

I also picked up this ring at Pike Place. It's pure simplicity drew me in, and I had to get it. I wouldn't mind wearing a ring like this instead of a diamond on my ring finger either. Although I wear tons of gaudy jewelry, that one that bears my allegiance to my man must be simple and pure...and i think that's why i was drawn to this ring so much. Please excuse the dry hands and paperwork. I'm procrastinating from doing my legal analysis homework as always.

celebrating tien

I have the best girlfriends. It's vacas like this that make you appreciate them the most and those memories stick with you forever. Tien took the week off to take us around Seattle, and because of it, she will have to work on her actual birthday. Well, we HAD to celebrate it on Friday of course, and after a long day at Pike Place, we found tons of shoes at Nordys and then we went back to the hotel to primp up for the night. Here we are in the hotel bar for the first drink. The bartenders were super nice and we got some great pictures before we took off to dinner at Umi.

the table covered most of our outfits and shoes...should have moved it.

One of the guys at the bar came up with this great idea to isolate Tien from the group.

Also, Jennie got this frilled black dress at Nordys that day, and she looks so hot in it! Michelle always finds the greatest dresses at Forever 21 and she's sporting a grey one with the new Jessica Simpson pumps tonight. Tien is in a classic black dress with her new Jessica Simpson gold pumps. I'm in a random boutique find with tuxedo lapels and fun pockets. It's backless and pretty revealing so i added a black halter to it, and it just looks and feels amazing. Tam can wear anything because she's Hot Damn Tam Pham! She is wearing a Forever 21 ruffly top with a fitted black skirt. *_*

Cody, the host of Umi, the best sushi restaurant I've ever been to.


This is Tam's last shot of the night...at the beginning of the night! hahahah *_*
Me and Tien at dinner enjoying the best sushi I've ever had and some amazing shots.


Last pic before sending Tam home!


Party on at Karma for the rest of the night. I'm not sure why my hair has a blue streak but it's pretty cool!

Earlier in the day....

We went to Nordstrom's flagship store [store #1!!] and browsed around for new shoes. We all managed to walk out with at least 2 pairs of the best shoes each!!! Tien bought these gold pumps that I will have to photograph later and post, the grey suede boots that I wore in the last post, and these amazing FUCHSIA pumps by Jessica Simpson.

Michelle actually found these in black first, and settled on buying them....so Tien asked for them in her size too. Little did we know that when the salesgirl brought out the box, she mistakenly brought out the fuchsia color, not the black one. 5 gasps and a small squeal from me later, she brought them out in 3 other sizes...and we bought them all on sale for $50 a piece. Sigh...it was the best shopping day EVER!!!!!!

bainbridge island

We spent the day at Bainbridge Island to eat at Cafe Nola. We have heard so much about this place, so we made the trek. The ferry is so much fun. We drove our car onto it, and then walked around taking pictures on the deck. When we got off, we drove about 1 min...and then parked because the line of cars was insane. It was just faster to walk up the hill to the restaurant...and we needed the exercise anyway!

the gorgeous skyline!


tien, michelle, and me


group shot of the girls

enjoying the view


a group shot with Josh who came to hang with us for the day

My outfit shot...not so good bc of the flash...but oh well. There is a story to these boots. We went to the Nordsrom flagship store [Store #1!!!!] and I asked if they had any grey suede boots. My cousin overheard and said that she saw one on sale at the reduced rack. She pulled them down and we all gasped ...and then asked the salesgirls in sizes 5 1/2, 6, 7, 7 1/2, and 8. Well, as it turns out, they had all but the 5 1/2...so we bought them all. Every single pair fit to perfection, and we can't believe our luck. They were 30% off the $100 price tag, so there was no way we were not going to get them.

forever 21 dress, club monaco grey sweater, grey suede boots, forever 21 orange scarf

Cafe Nola blew ALL of the other restaurants we went to out of the water. The food, the service, the ambiance, and the people were absolutely amazing. If you ever go to Seattle, make the trek to Bainbridge Island and eat here. There are tons of cute boutiques nearby as well...but be sure to eat here!!! We were the most complicated table with a rushed timeline to get back to the ferry so we could make the flight home, but they we not only accommodating, but made sure we were completely cared for during the meal. They held two tables for us, but since the other table was still closing up and lagging, they seated 4 of us first with 4 dishes. Then we realized that 5 tiny Asian girls can totally fit into the snug corner, and Josh got the end seat. We ended up snuggling close to eat all 6 dishes, and gave up the other table to someone else. The restaurant actually kept that table empty for us, just in case we wanted it, and told us that they don't fill to capacity to ensure that the people they seated already get the best service possible. WOW.

This was my favorite dish...paste carbonara. I'm not a pasta person at all. I usually eat a kid size bowl...but my god, this pasta was so good I almost wanted to order another just to take home.

eggs benedict


i forgot what this is...i think foccacia...and something...i ate a lot of it. The fries are delicious.


baked eggs...omg. The polenta just fell apart in your mouth and the outside was crispy.

bread pudding is giant and yummy. I ate the whip cream mostly

look at this cappuccino. wow

Seattle buildings from the water on the way back from Bainbridge Island


last shot at the front of the ferry. what a great trip. thanks for reading!!!

gum wall

Seattle is filled with artsy people....and some weird people. That makes for some interesting places for artwork to be. The gum wall is literally a wall....of gum. It's disgusting as heck...but at the same time, so amazing. Therefore, although it is in Pike Place, this wall deserves a post of its own.

Since we started the day at Pike and I got no good pictures of my outfit, I'll do the outfit posting now. My backdrop is disgusting gum, all the most amazing shades of color. Tien took this pic of me and I'm grateful for the nice layout.

diane von furstenburg royal blue dress, h&m jacket, forever 21 tights, nine west flat boots, dsw bag

I found a bunny....right next to my Vietnamese name! How freaking weird is THAT?!


we chewed our gum, and contributed to the wall


I'm a little disgusted...but still fascinated


god dang it tam! must you lick everything?! *_*


i feel you michelle


creativity

pike place

Lovely day outside in Seattle. We planned to spend the whole day at Pike Place, so we walked all of it. Both ends, downstairs and upstairs. We bought tons of random things for gifts, souvenirs, jewelry, fruits, and of course, foooooood.

taking the time to smell the flowers


aren't they STUNNING?


fresh fruits we bought for later

oink oink...tam's favorite animal

The Pike Place Fish Market was the best with their oyster shooters that were ready to go. We bought 5, and did the shot right then and there. Here is Michelle and a lovely fish that wants her to kiss it.

playing with the fishes

oh tam *_* the things she will do..

look at the SIZE of that shrimp!!

The monk fish was the ugliest thing on earth. It scared me half to death...and here is the video. The guys at the fish market had it on a string and when i got close, they pulled the strong so that the fish snapped up to scare me. After the video, Michelle posed with it.

Here is a video of us taking the oyster shooters. Michelle brought her Yucateco habanero sauce, so we each got a drop in our shooter.

We found these oyster shooters all ready to go. It's the greatest idea EVER!


our expressions...were literally...WTF?? Are these for REALZ?

I have pictures of us taking the shooters...but a video is much better *_*



mmmmmmmhmmm donutssss

a coffee / coke / beer break

I bought these copper bracelets at Pike for me and Tien. We love them so much because the copper is good for you, and you can engrave anything on it. Mine says "amore, amicizia, e risa" meaning love, friendship, and laughter. All the things I value so much.

Tien picked out the same engraving...but then I found a more perfect one for her...and she agrees! *_* Tien's bracelet says "progess, not perfection"... which makes me laugh every time i see it. Too bad it's not in Italian...it probably sounds amazing. hahahhaa

Tam found another piggy!

This oyster bar was recommended by the boys at Pure Foods in Pike. They sold us the giant monk fish, and shrimp earlier...but they also told us where we can find some oysters that are already shucked for us. We forgot about it until an hour later when i randomly saw the sign on the other side of Pike's. It's destiny!

you gota swirl the habanero sauce all over the oyster!


ohhh yeaaaa


look at the SIZE of this thing!

Tam, Michelle, and Jennie found a shop that sold truffle salt and oils....and a free tasting of all of it. And they went to town with it.

On our way out, we ran into the Japanese couple that was with us at Chateau St Michelle wine tour! What are the chances of meeting again in this dense little city the next day...45 miles away? Amazing.