Seattle is such an amazing city, filled with great food, art and culture. I love exploring the different neighborhoods and walking through town, stumbling across a cool new bar or restaurant.

Last weekend David and I went up to visit our friends Elaine and Shaun, who live in Capital Hill in a gorgeous apartment. Friday night we arrived right around dinner time and had a great time catching up over some gin and tonics. For dinner we went to Nue, a fun, casual restaurant featuring creative street food from around the world. We shared Portugese Octopus Skewers (compliments of the chef, a friend of Sean's from Chicago), East Indies Brussels Sprouts, which I was absolutely obsessed with, Korean Bibim Naengmyeon, Grilled Barbados Pig Tails, and the Trinidad Goat Curry. The food was rich and flavorful, capturing the global flavors of each location perfectly. It was a fantastic meal!

Afterwards we went for drinks at Rachel's Ginger Beer, my new favorite bar for many reasons. They make their own ginger beer in a variety of flavors and make both family friendly and more adult drinks. They also offer a wide variety of fried food with a huge selection of dipping sauces. This will definitely be my first stop the next time I make it up to Seattle. They need to expand down to Oregon!

Saturday morning we went to brunch at Skillet Diner in Capitol Hill. All of the food was absolutely fantastic, and they had great, spicy bloody marys. The servings were large, but it is definitely more of an upscale diner.

Elaine got the Serious Toast. She was hesitant because of the name, and it was definitely a little too much to eat! I had a bite though, and it was fantastic!

We happened to walk by the Starbucks Reserve Rostary on our way to Pike's Place, so we had to check it out! The inside is absolutely gorgeous, with rich, expensive finishes and very creative features. The shop section had great coffee and accessories, and although we were too full to try any of the food or drinks, everything smelled delicious!

Even though I've been many times, I don't think a trip to Seattle is complete without stoping by Pike's Place Market. I love looking at the flowers (and need to find a similar market in Portland, the prices are amazing!!) and all of the other food and crafts.

I really wanted to buy one of these pepper wreaths or garlands! I just didn't want to carry it around the rest of the day, but next time!

David's pork bao bun. These things are DELICIOUS, and Seattle has a great selection!

The Olympic Sculpture Garden is a very cool, modern park filled with lots of creative sculptures. It was the perfect place to enjoy a sunny day in the grass and rest after our morning of heavy eating!

The Space Needle! We didn't go up, but enjoyed exploring the area around the base.

We ended the evening at the Autumn Moon Festival in the International District. Over 30 food carts from all over Seattle were set up, as well as live music and dancers. We all sampled lots of great food and enjoyed watching the crowds. I also enjoyed my first trip to the International District!