Skip the jo, have a chai

Well its been an awfully long time since I've blogged. Jon and I return last week from Europe visiting family and friends and things have just been crazy. Being on a sail boat in the Aegean Sea and faced with unreliable internet on the islands didn't exactly make my few attempts to blog easy. To make it up I'll do spotlight blogs talking about some of my favorite highlights from each island we sailed to. Photos will be included as soon as I organize through the 500+ on my SD card :).

The roughest adjustment to being back in Seattle is definitely the weather. Today, I ran a few errands around town, typed up some notes for a Junior League community service shift I worked, sterilized my bathroom for a bubble bath this evening (rest of the house will come tomorrow) and brushed up on some HTML stuff I hadn't used in a while. I finally sat down to relax about an hour ago and realized I've developed a nasty cough, my feet and fingers were freezing, and with the heat on it's still chilly in my apartment.

I thought about running down to Starbucks to grab an Americano but remembered how disappointed I was with my cappucino last week. There was no foam and I was very disappointed. Anyway I decided I'd have some tea and stumbled upon a hidden canister of  David Rio's Tiger Chai Tea mix. You have not had a good cup of chai tea until you've had this brand. I discovered this chai at the Metropolitan Market two years ago during a post-gyming session. I got a smoothie and my gym buddy got a David Rio's Tiger chai latte and gave me a sip. I've been buying canisters of the stuff ever since! I'm still working on the warming up part, but now my lips are slightly curved.

H2O- Tap vs. Bottled

While we were having a late dinner at Sezoni's, Jon (boyfriend) brought up a conversation he had with a coworker who recently returned from a 16 month global rock climbing excursion with her fiancee. She told him it was important we set clear expectation for both ourselves and each other since this was our first overseas trip together.

For me my expectations were pretty clear- have fun, see people, relax, and enjoy some good eats while I do touristy things. "That's not what I'm talking about honey," Jon sighed to me, " I'm talking about the little things- like can you handle drinking tap water for 2 weeks?" I'm sure I look completely dumbfounded. Then I noticed he was serious.

I spent the early part of my life growing up in Germany. My family has always been the bottled water type. I remember it being a HUGE deal when we moved back to the states and my mom got a water filter. To this day I don't drink tap. I received a Brita filter for Christmas a few years ago so now I use that religiously. Heck, I even use filtered water for my ice cube tray! Now not all Europeans or those who grew up abroad in Europe are as set in preference as my family. Tap water can be decent enough. The general rule of thumb my parents always went by was, "The older the town the older the pipes so don't drink the water." I'm sure the mineral content is different than in some regions of the U.S. but I'm not willing to risk a stomach ache over it.

Jon on the other hand will pretty much drink (and eat) anything you put in front of him. Not surprisingly our little disagreement turned into a spat. We're both firstborns so we're always right...and occasionally stubborn. Then a great compromise came into mind. "Jon," I said, "What if we get water bottles with individual filters? They make those somewhere right?" As usual when I say something he thinks is darling or silly he laughs. But I thought it was a great idea. I get my filtered water and Jon can drink tap to his heart's content. Also its portable so we can refill anywhere and we can avoid insane bottled water prices from local vendors.

That evening I spoke to my roommate about it and she told me to go to Storables. I browsed Storables website and sure enough they had some which were quite inexpensive at $9.95 so I added it to my buy list. Earlier this morning as I was exploring downtown Portland on vacation, I swung by the store. To my delight they not only had the water bottles, they came in an assortment of colors with refillable filters sold separately. Made by Bobble, water filters as you drink, the bottles are made from recyclable materials, and one filter lasts for 40 gallons. So now I can be a bottled water snob and environmentally friendly at the same time! This is definitely the best compromise I've made in a while- and it comes in pink ;).

Great Manis

Yesterday afternoon I was completely exhausted from running errands and killing myself at the gym. I decided to treat myself to a manicure. It was a pleasant enough Seattle day, you know the kind where the skies a blue and there's no precipitation. For fall it was a perfect day.

My roomie got me a certificate to Mimisan for my birthday a while back that I kept forgetting to use. Suprisingly I had only heard of them through Daily Candy, a fashionista's online city guide pointing out hidden treasures and sale deals in the area. All I heard was good things so I decided to give it a try.

I was sure they were new in the area because I've been to every spa on the hill at least twice. Sure enough some online research proved they'd been open for a year and a half. As I strolled to the top of the hill it turned out they were across the street from one of my favorite boutiques, Queen Anne Dispatch.

I walked in and was pleasantly satisfied with how stylish the place was. the decor is a mix of modern and retro pieces combined in harmony. Bamboo flooring, lime green accent paint, crystal chandeliers, Asian wall panels, retro-style spa chairs, and my favorite touch- a very well kept Louis XV sofa to greet guests in the waiting area. I was slightly jealous of the sofa. I've been wanting one forever! French Rococo style  furniture pieces are great to mix with modern furniture. If done right, they can be very versatile in uniting a room. The sofa worked very well in their space and had a little funky purple throw pillow on top. I was satisfied that place looked relaxing, unique, and smelled like green tea.

My manicurist, Phuc, was about as sweet as the girl named Phuc I knew in college. We chatted about the weather, neighborhood, jobs and of course their toxin-free line and what it meant to be a "natural" spa. She had a thick accent but the gist of it seemed to be toxin-free products containing natural ingredients. After making sure I was comfortable in my chair with a heated neck pillow (ah, perfect!), she began removing nail polish, massaging my hands with organic lotion, and manicuring. Folk melodies flowing from their CD was just as relaxing as my massage. By the time we were done I had spent a well relaxed hour in there and she did perfect lines on my french tips. I'm definitely looking forward to going back for my pedicure.

Sweaty Fingers

That was my first thought last night at the gym. I walked into the lower Queen Anne 24 Hour Fitness facility  an hour before close last night. The front desk trainer happily told me about their new cardless check-in process. Instead of passing her my ID and membership card I can now enter my phone number and use their finger scan. I then remembered that trainers had been telling me about their new "green" and "easier" cardless check-in process (rolled out by MorphoTrak) several weeks back.

Sweaty fingers...unwashed hands...leftover food grease...when does flu season start?!?!! My OCD kicked in and I briskly handed over my ID and membership card. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Works for me." Realistically there's probably more germs on the workout equipment (I try to sanitize before I use). Using finger scanners to me is the equivalent of using a public bathroom without using a seat cover. Gross.

 As I pounded out 3 1/2 miles on the treadmill I began thinking that to protect my privacy by giving up my privacy, doesn't make sense (I'll save my rant on privacy for another day). Yet I do it every day in social media communities I'm a part of. If it was for my job and I had security clearance, sure. But for the gym? Even the grocery store (which I frequent as often as gyming) doesn't do that. No thanks, I'll pass. Plastic works just fine.