Honeymoon Time in Seattle
Hello everyone! This whole year was leading up to this past week for Matt and I. Seattle has always been somewhere we wanted to visit, and when we got married, we decided it would be our honeymoon destination. One wouldn’t think to honeymoon in the Pacific Northwest during December, but it was the perfect trip for the two of us. Read on to see what we did!
The Living Situation for the Week
For the week we were in Seattle, we stayed at the Paramount Hotel. We were going to go the whole Airbnb route, but I realized while planning the trip…when are we going to have another honeymoon? I made the executive decision to go through a travel agent to get the best deal we could on a fancy city hotel stay (shout out to Marcia! If y’all need a good travel agent, let me know so I can hook ya up with her!). Marcia ended up getting us a great deal on both our flights and our hotel room. We stayed within our budget but got to stay in an incredible location.
The whole week was overcast and rainy, but it wasn’t awful. In fact, it added to the experience in my opinion! Every local we talked to said that it had only begun to rain the week we were there. I guess there was a little bit of good weather right before we came (of course). Honestly, I had my rain gear and Matt had my umbrella, so the weather didn’t put a damper on our excitement!
Everything was within walking distance (or a short, $5 Uber ride away), and for the stuff that was a little bit further out, we had the Light Rail system to depend on. After day one, Matt was exhausted from walking, but I was still running around like crazy. Being a pedestrian at home REALLY helped me be a pedestrian in Seattle. Matt got the short end of the stick there.
Day One: the Arrival
I hate flying, but Matt had the time of his life on the plane. He had never flown before the day we left, so he was excited to get up in the air. I had fun watching him react to everything a four and a half hour plane ride consisted of, but I was still scared regardless.
Flying scares me so bad, in fact, that I got extra clumsy and dropped a lot of stuff all over the place throughout the flight. So clumsy that I spilled my entire cup of water on Matt and I about thirty minutes into the flight! To say I was mortified would be an understatement. We were cold and wet the entire time! Other than that, we made it safe and sound.
We got to Seattle late, around 8:45pm (11:45 Ohio Time). Surprisingly, I don’t think we were super tired until after we grabbed a bite from the Dragonfish Cafe, which was in our hotel. It was…okay! We had some sushi and some Dragonfish Noodles. It was alright, but I knew that there was more delicious food to be had in the coming week.
One thing they don’t tell you about when you visit a different city is how expensive everything is. I figured it would be expensive, but I didn’t know there was a sugar and alcohol tax! That’s like, all I eat! Needless to say, I paid extra for both things all week. It’s my vacation, baby!
Day Two: Long Day Full of Activities
I woke up at 6:00AM the next day. How? I have no idea. Maybe I was excited? Either way, Matt was not happy that I woke him up too. It was a slow start for him, and by the time he had decided to order room service drinks, I was 90% done with my morning routine.
I’m not sure exactly how much getting a mimosa, a Bloody Mary, and some “breakfast potatoes” (aka steak fries) sent to the room was, but Matt reacted to the bill semi-negatively, so I’m assuming it was way too much. Of course, he did it two more times within the week, but I’m getting ahead of myself here…!
One of the places I was excited to visit was a breakfast place called Biscuit Bitch. Their whole thing is “trailer park to table” food, and it was probably the most Midwest food Seattle had to offer. I was a HUGE fan. It’s a woman-owned, women-ran business, with four locations across the city.
Every meal has some form of “bitch” in it, which I love cause it’s sassy, and all the women that we saw working was absolutely beautiful in that punk way y’all know I love. It was like walking into heaven, if we’re being dramatic here.
Poor Matt.
Anyways, I got the Cheesy Pork n’ Bitch, which is a big ol’ biscuit smothered in sausage gravy, rich cheddar cheese, and a very generous dusting of bacon on top. It was so fucking good, y’all. If you’re ever in Seattle, this should be on the list of places to visit for sure!
Matt wasn’t a huge fan of his sandwich, but I made sure to take him back a different day to try again. “You just got the wrong thing,” I kept telling him as I completely obliterated my breakfast.
After breakfast, we went down to Pike Place for the first time. It was literally 9:00AM by this point, so nothing was quite open or ready. It was kind of nice to wander around in the quiet market for the first time. We got to learn a little bit of the layout of the first half of the market and talk to some of the locals.
Everyone in Seattle we talked to the whole week was so nice! It was kind of cool. I’m used to people being kind of wary or even mean when we talk to them, but I guess people are more willing to be nice to strangers on the West Coast? I guess I also have a bad idea about what someone from the West Coast is like, thanks to the media and lack of experience on my part. They are much nicer than I could’ve anticipated!
We eventually found the Gum Wall thanks to some nice shop runners, and we of course stuck our own gum to the wall. It was disgusting, but definitely something we couldn’t miss. While in Post Alley (where the Gum Wall is), we talked to another local who told us about the Waterfront. We weren’t too far away, so we decided to walk down to see the water.
One thing no one ever told me about Seattle is how hilly it is! It’s a lot like San Francisco’s hilly terrain in the city. Matt was barely keeping up with me while walking up the street, and I was barely keeping up with him on the way back down. We’re both pretty out of shape, so the week in Seattle did wonders for our cardiovascular systems.
When we made it down to the Waterfront, we saw the Great Wheel and Matt insisted on going to ride it. I had never been on a Ferris Wheel before, so I figured it was time to see what Matt was so excited about. Since it was still early, there was only one other couple in line. The four of us essentially walked straight onto the wheel.
It was really cool to see the city up high, and it was also amazing to see the mountains and the sea far out into the horizon. We caught a glimpse of the Space Needle while we were riding around (the closest we got to it, honestly). It’s a lot shorter than we both thought it would be!
Once that was over, we decided to start walking towards Belltown. Belltown is a little area in Downtown Seattle (think of it like the Brewery District). It’s on an incline, which is cool if you are used to walking up and down hills all day! I honestly think Belltown was one of my favorite little spots in Seattle, and I hope next time we go to the city, we’re able to explore it a little bit more!
Washington is a recreational state, meaning that you can go to a cannabis dispensary and buy marijuana and all of the goodies that come from the plant with only your state ID (no medical card or anything). Technically, it’s illegal federally, but while we were in the state, I couldn’t get in legal trouble for smoking or ingesting anything from a dispensary.
We visited Have a Heart while we were in Belltown, and lemme tell ya: They were so nice and helpful with all of the questions Matt and I had. The employees were very patient with us, seeing as we had never been to a dispensary before, and I think that if we lived there, I would be a regular customer based solely on the fact that they were so warm and treated us like we weren’t dummies about what they had to offer, product-wise.
That all being said, I bought a few things and Matt and I continued our adventure around Belltown. Eventually, we ended up at Black Sparrow Tattoo, where we had a consultation to get tattoos to commemorate our time both together and together in Seattle.
We both had way different ideas in mind, but Hunter, our tattoo artist, knew exactly what we both wanted and promised us we’d be happy with what he planned to draw up for us. We were both excited about the next day, Tattoo Day!
In the meantime, we were getting a little hungry. The two of us searched Google Maps for food, and we found Dough Zone not even a block away from our hotel. Since we figured we’d need a break after walking so much, we headed over to the restaurant and grabbed some food.
Dough Zone is a dumpling house that specializes in Xiao Long Bao (soup dumplings) and Q-Bao (half steamed, half pan fried dumplings). Of course, we got both of those, as well as some Dan Dan Noodles. When I tell you that this was perfection…UGH. We had both never had this kind of Chinese food made with such quality and skill back home, so our souls left our body as soon as we had the first bite of the Q-Bao.
Matt and I destroyed our late lunch, and could’ve easily had more, but decided against ordering more so we could relax in our hotel room and not be miserable. Dough Zone was definitely our favorite restaurant, hands down. We went three times total while we were in Seattle!
After relaxing for a few hours in our hotel room, watching the Aristocats on Disney+ and drinking the free champagne they gave us for our honeymoon (thanks Paramount Hotel!), we decided that we were hungry and bored. The Light Rail lets out in the International District, so we decided to hop on it around 9:45PMish and see if we could find an Asian supermarket to buy snacks.
We stumbled upon Uwajimaya, THE Asian supermarket. It’s essentially the best the Northwest has to offer when it comes to Asian supermarkets (according to the people we talked to after visiting). The two of us were handed snacks by a very excited store clerk, and eventually we made it out of there with plenty of snacks for the week.
One thing I didn’t know about Seattle is that they don’t have plastic bags like we do! A lot of their bags are made with a recyclable plastic material, or just straight up paper bags. Some places even charge you when they ask you if you want a bag. I really liked that about Seattle, and I’m sure it’s like that everywhere in the Pacific Northwest (I’m pretty sure I heard about California getting rid of plastic bags, anyway). The only problem I found with it is that some of my paper bags got soggy in the rain, but I figured that would be enough of an initiative for me to invest in reusable bags if I lived in the city.
After all this excitement, Matt decided that it was time to stay in the hotel. After realizing it was almost 11:30PM, I agreed. This was definitely the day we did the most stuff, but it was so much fun to explore.
Day Three: Tattoo Day
Tuesday was Tattoo Day at Black Sparrow for Matt and I! We woke up around 7:00AM, went to IHop because it was close to the shop (it was just as gross as it is back home but way more expensive), and then walked on over to get our tattoos. It was the first day of rain for us as well, and I came super prepared with my rainboots and raincoat I bought special for the trip. I’m a little salty that I won’t be able to use them until the spring, because they’re cute…but I digress…
Hunter showed us the designs for our tattoos when we got to the shop. Mine was a pine tree (a Western Hemlock and the tree of Washington, if you want to be specific), so obviously it wasn’t anything too crazy, but it was better detailed than the picture I sent him so I was pretty excited to get it on my arm.
Matt’s tattoo idea was a raindrop with an anchor sitting at the bottom (because Seattle is a port city, and also it be rainin’). When he explained it to me, I didn’t quite get it. Obviously, I was still excited to see what Hunter would do with the info that Matt gave him, and he didn’t disappoint. His design was better than what Matt could’ve imagined (Matt said this, not me, I promise I’m not roasting my husband right now lol), and I was honestly more excited to see Matt’s final product than mine.
I went first because my tattoo was nice and simple. I’ve never gotten a tattoo above my elbow, so the tattoo pain I felt on my upper arm was unfamiliar territory. Usually people get their upper arm tattoos on their shoulder. I wanted mine a little further down and I didn’t want it too big because Matt and I plan on getting tattoos every year as anniversary gifts, so I got it in kind of a weird spot on my arm. Once I get a few more years with Matt under my belt, I’m sure the tree will have lots of friends up there on my arm, but for now it’s just a little goofy tree peeking out from underneath my t-shirt sleeve!
Hunter did a wonderful job on my lil tree, and even though it was a simple design, he took his time and filled out the details beautifully. I knew he was going to do an amazing job on Matt’s tattoo, and he did not disappoint. Matt’s tattoo is quite literally the best tattoo I’ve seen in a long time.
Hunter really clicked with Matt, and the two of them hit it off while he was tattooing him. It was cool to see him getting more comfortable around us, to the point where he was complaining to us about silly things like friends do. Hunter is a very cool dude and a phenomenal tattoo artist, and I really wish we didn’t live so far away because I almost don’t want to get tattooed by anyone else. He’s THAT good. If you’re in the area, I highly suggest checking them out because the shop is cool, the people in it are cool, and Hunter in particular is SO talented.
After being at the tattoo shop the whole day, Matt and I were hungry for sure. We remembered walking past an interesting looking restaurant on the way to Uwajimaya the day before, so we hopped back on the Light Rail and went to the International District again to try out the Boiling Point.
Before I tell y’all about the Boiling Point, I just want to preface this with it was the worst restaurant we went to while we were in the city. That being said, it wasn’t bad because of the quality, or the employees, or anything like that. The food was unlike anything Matt and I had ever seen, but unfortunately not in a good way. It was a culture shock kind of thing for Matt. I’m just picky!
Boiling Point is a very interesting restaurant, serving different kinds of hot soups in a mini wok, then lighting the heating element in the box it sits on so that it cooks and boils the food while you’re eating it. From outside, this blew my mind. It looked really cool!
When we got our food (I had some sort of lamb soup, and Matt had the house special with pork), I was a little confused but still excited to try it. It all smelled really good! The broth of the soup was delicious, as was the meat. The veggies and the mushrooms in the soup were foreign to me. I tried a bite of everything before realizing that none of it was the taste I wanted it to be. I decided to take my broth and put it into the side of rice I got, making it a little porridge-y but delicious.
Matt straight up hated his food. When he realized he was eating pork intestine, he decided that he was done eating. It was the most expensive meal we had while there and it was just…not good. I enjoyed my food more than Matt, but it still hits the bottom of the list. I honestly think it was authentic Chinese food that was just foreign to Matt and I, and that’s why we didn’t enjoy it, but Matt insists that his soup was just trash. It gave him a little stomachache, so our night got put on hold for a while while he recovered from his meal.
Eventually, he recovered enough for us to go back out into the night. I wanted a bath bomb from the Lush down the street because we had a big ol’ bathtub in our hotel room. I love bath bombs, but I can’t use them in the bathtub at home because I’m too tall and my hips are too big to be comfortable laying in the bath. While walking there, we stumbled upon Sugar + Spoon, a cookie dough and ice cream truck. Y’all know damn well I got some cookie dough and ice cream. It was a tasty way to end the day!
Day Four: Shopping, My Favorite Activity
We went back to Pike Place Market on Wednesday to do some shopping for souvenirs. We went to the Athenian for breakfast, and it was a very pleasant experience. I could tell that if it were dinnertime, we both would’ve been under dressed. Luckily, it was breakfast time! So it was fine, and delicious! The service was great and their pancakes were great too. They also made their scrambled eggs with cheddar exactly to my particular standards, which is how I knew this place was legit.
The two of us wandered around Pike Place for a long time. We got lots of souvenirs, and met lots of really cool shopkeepers. One even gave us a whole lot of free stuff because we told him we were on our honeymoon! There’s also a store called the Purple Store where everything is, obviously, purple. My mom’s favorite color is purple, so I got her souvenir from there. I think if she ever feels like going to Seattle, she’ll basically live in there.
After walking for hours and buying up lots of goodies from the market, we went back to the hotel room to relax and drop off everything. Matt was getting some blisters by day four, so we had to go to CVS later in the day to get him some stuff to make his life a little easier for the rest of the honeymoon. It ended up being in a giant three level Target, so you know I was excited.
We ended up getting some wine to drink later on that night, as well as more snacks because we have no self control. I am also super smart and forgot to buy a wine opener, but didn’t realize it until we got back to the hotel room…luckily, the other wine bottle we bought was a screw top, so we were able to play video games and get a little tipsy like we planned! I’m pretty sure we went back to Dough Zone this day, but I honestly can’t remember. That wine was good…
Day Five: Wandering Around Capitol Hill
By day five, we realized we hadn’t really seen a lot of the other parts of Seattle. I wanted to visit Capitol Hill, so we made our way over to that side of town and went to the Wandering Goose for brunch.
The Southern style food is 100% the boujee version of Southern breakfast, and it was so, so good. I think besides Biscuit Bitch, it was the best breakfast we had in Seattle. The restaurant itself is very small, and not really made for big people like Matt and I, but the food was so good, it was okay that we were a little cramped. I had the biscuits and gravy as well as a mocha, and Matt got the fried chicken plate and said he loved it.
After brunch, we wandered around for a bit and stumbled upon Standard Goods, a local shop where lots of local artists and vendors sell their goods. The employee was very bubbly and excited to talk to us, which was pretty cool. I bought a good amount of my personal souvenirs from there because I am partial to supporting local artists, no matter where I go!
They also had a pamphlet at the counter that was the owner’s recommendations for tourists to get to know Capitol Hill like a local. We took one and instantly saw a paragraph about Neko Cat Cafe. I practically ran there!
I didn’t realize how much I missed having pets around (especially my baby cats) until we were without them for a week. Matt and I walked into the cat cafe and were met with a little bar, and a separate cat room complete with all the cats I could ever want to give all my love to. We walked in just in time to go into the room with the group that had just walked in, so we bought our drinks (Matt had a simple milk tea, I had a CBD infused lemongrass spritzer because I am bougee) and walked on in!
The cats had little bowties on and I desperately wanted to buy one for Freya, but I knew she would never keep it on, so I didn’t buy one. The cats were…so cute. I suggest checking their website out if you want to learn more about what a cat cafe is, and if you want to look at pictures of cats! This particular cat cafe was very nice, so if you’re ever in the area, I suggest you go!
We also went to the Elliot Bay Book Company, which is a big ol’ bookstore in Capitol Hill. I bought a book about the moon in 2020, so I’m excited to explore that (eventually!). It’s a pretty big bookstore, and it’s very quaint in there. I liked checking it out!
Our last stop before heading back towards our hotel was The Reef, which is another dispensary in Seattle. The employees and their products rival Have a Heart in quality and price, so if you’re in the area, check out both and tell me which place you prefer!
After dropping off all our goodies from this day, we went to Sushi Kudasai, a small little sushi shop in the City Center down the street. Their sushi was quite possibly the best sushi I have ever had, and it was in the middle of a mall! The salmon was so…buttery…I’m drooling just thinking about it!
Day Six: Visiting the Best One Last Time
This was our last full day in Seattle, so I knew I had to go back to all my favorite places before the plane left the next morning. Matt was still having fun, but I think at this point he was tired of walking. We Ubered to a different Biscuit Bitch (the first one was the downtown one, which is so small…this other location had seating!) and the food was just as good as the last time. Matt actually got something he liked (the Smokin’ Hot Bitch, to be specific). He was much more impressed the second time around.
We went back to Pike Place one last time because I knew we hadn’t explored all of it. We still hadn’t by the time we left, but we found a whole different section of the Market we hadn’t even been to yet! We had sushi again at a different place (I didn’t write the name down, unfortunately…that’s what happens when you get excited about sushi and chicken katsu) and then wandered around, looking at everything.
Eventually, I had to go to the bathroom, so I ran off while Matt was buying something and did my thing. When I walked back out into the market, I heard a street performer singing downstairs and at the little balcony, there were people watching. I texted Matt where I was and went over to listen.
I’m super embarrassed to say that the rest of this moment is exactly what 17 year old Mary used to dream about after getting broken up with so hard. Back in the day, I wanted to meet someone by happenstance in a really unconventional way. I wanted that happenstance meeting to be super romantic and unique so that I could tell my future kids how their parents met.
I got the unique meeting part down…we met online, right before I deleted my dating site account for good. I deleted it after our first date because I knew I didn’t need it anymore. That’s pretty romantic and super sweet, in like a down-to-Earth, very modern way. Our kids will dig the story, no problem.
Let me tell y’all the short version of this story…The busker at the bottom of the balcony had a beautiful voice, and I practically hung off of the balcony to listen. She ended her song and I clapped along with everyone. Then, she went into “All of Me”, by John Legend. That song’s one of my favorite love songs, and literally the entire time we kept making fleeting eye contact. It was like a movie, y’all.
And, sort of like a movie, my lovely husband came back and kissed my cheek, reminding me that I was on my honeymoon with him, not in my Teenage Pansexual Movie Fantasy Land meeting my love interest for the first time. We walked off to do some more sightseeing, but not until she was done singing.
Putting all of my romantic fantasy writer brain aside, Carly Ann Calbero is a fantastic artist and if she can transport me to that fantasy land, she must be able to do it with all her fans, right? I Venmo’d her $5 for the performance, and if you can find her online and listen to her perform I’m sure you’d Venmo her $5 too!
On our way out of the Market, we ran into a dude from California asking people where he could get a tattoo. We told him we just got a tattoo, and he was so excited. I guess everyone was ignoring him? Honestly if some random person came up to me while I was busy, I’d probably be wary too. This guy was so pumped to be talking to people who would listen, he told us his life story (girlfriend had a job interview at a good hospital in Seattle, so he came with her and was bored, so he wanted to get a tattoo).
“Are you guys from Cali?” he asked us once he realized we were just listening to him at this point.
“Nah, Ohio.”
That blew his mind, and he let out the most animated “WOAH” I’ve ever seen. This dude had Big Mary Energy. “That’s like a five hour flight, isn’t it?? I only flew for 30 minutes today!! Oh man!” If we lived in California, we’d be friends with this guy. He was a goofy dude.
Once we told him where the tattoo shop was, he rushed off and we decided to make the trip to the Downtown Library. At this point in the trip, I think I was finally starting to feel all the ups and downs of the city’s terrain. By the time we got to the library, I was tired and crabby.
We walked around the first two floors of the big library, and then Matt wanted to leave. I was like “???” because we walked so far to only spend 15 minutes looking at library books…Crabby Mary didn’t like that…so we went to Voxx, a fancy coffee shop down the street, and had some coffee. It was pretty tasty but I couldn’t enjoy it fully because I was so tired. Matt, being the best husband ever, realized I was just as tired of walking around as he was, and we went back to the hotel to rest up before going to Dough Zone one last time.
I had a feeling third time would be the charm for something weird to happen at Dough Zone. While we were there for our last dinner, we didn’t know how the waiting system worked, so we didn’t put our name in with anyone because technically we didn’t use the screen at the host podium to do so. When another couple walked in and were offered the bar before us, I was not having it. I said something about it aloud (I usually avoid conflict, but Crabby Mary needed some Bao in her tummy, like, right then and there).
The couple didn’t want the bar seats (I’m not sure if it was because of me, or the fact that they wanted an actual table), so we snagged them and sat next to a guy who was destroying his plate of food. He suddenly offered us some food and I refused, not wanting to talk to anyone but whomever was serving me my food. Plus, as a woman in America, I refuse to take any strange food or drinks from anyone, especially strange men. That’s like, Saftey 101.
Matt, however, didn’t get that memo from my body language, and took a bite after the strange man said it was “disrespectful not to”. I was shocked, but didn’t want to say anything about it until after the guy left. Eventually, the guy was so intrusive to our bubble that we moved down to the other side of the bar, which is when I told Matt how dangerous it was to accept food from strangers (especially if they’re a little off, like this guy was). Matt basically agreed, but ya girl was still on edge, ya feel me?
Once we put in our order, the guy suddenly got up and walked swiftly towards the door without paying. Almost all of the workers followed him out, and that’s when I realized that there was no management around to actually do anything about this guy dining and dashing.
I looked at Matt, who had the same mindset: We weren’t about to get involved. None of the women working were strong enough to catch the guy, but none of them tried either. It had me wondering if this happened often? I knew from being in food and retail to not run after people who steal something, so if I were them I probably would’ve not tried to stop him either.
Other than that, the meal was amazing as we expected! It was just a rocky start! After dinner, we returned to the hotel to repack and get ready for our flight the next day.
Day Seven: Goodbye For Now
I woke up three times the last morning we were in Seattle. Once at 4:00AM, once at 6:00AM, and finally at 6:45AM. I wanted to be on the Light Rail to the airport by 7:30AM, so I got up and got ready as fast as I could. Matt went and got us breakfast at Anchorhead Coffee and had his own little Moment with the barista.
This is what happened, in Matt’s own words:
“I went down there, and I had just woken up, you know? So, I walked in and said ‘Y’all got breakfast sandwiches?’ And the barista gave me a look like ‘ooh’ and said ‘Yes, we do…are you from Texas?’
“I looked at her and was like ‘uh, no, I’m from Ohio.’ So she went ‘Oh, okay. How long are you here for? Do you have any free time?’ and I was like, ‘Actually, we’re about to leave here soon.’
“So she made a face and said ‘We?’ And I went ‘Yeah, my wife and I.’ And her face…she was so devastated, babe! But I got the coffee and the sandwich for ya.”
It’s probably my favorite part of the trip for him cause he never gets flirted with, but when he does, it’s always because his lil Southern accent comes through his normal speaking voice. I think he’s 10/10 cute, but for some reason, I like when other people share that sentiment with me! I can tell it makes him feel kinda good to get flirted with sometimes, so I never really get jealous. I did, however, ask him if he was from Texas for the rest of the day just to get on his nerves.
Anchorhead Coffee was the best way to close out our Seattle trip, and it made me realize that I didn’t visit nearly enough coffee shops while I was there. Next time, we’re doing a coffee tour!
We were running behind to the airport, and I was becoming more and more nervous that we weren’t going to make our boarding time. Of course, Matt’s body decided he needed to go to the bathroom right before we made it to the TSA line, so I waited impatiently for him to take care of business. By the time he was done, we had less than an hour to make it through the longest TSA line I had ever seen.
Luckily for us, we made it through just in time for our boarding group to be called, and we got on the plane with less than five minutes to spare. It was the most nerve-wracking thing I’ve had happen to me in a minute! I got to sit next to the window on this flight, so looking out at the clouds helped me calm down.
By the time we touched down, it had only been threeish hours, but thanks to the time zone difference, it was now 5:00PM (we got on the plane at 9:55AM Seattle Time, to put it into perspective). The lovely Damian came and picked us up from the airport. I didn’t know how homesick I was until I saw him! I also didn’t realize how much I missed sitting on the couch at home until I got to do it after excitedly showing Damian every single thing I bought from the trip.
So, Now What?
All year, I’ve been looking forward to this honeymoon with Matt. Now that it’s over, I’m having a very similar feeling to when the wedding day was over for us. Post-wedding has been full of planning this honeymoon, but what will I do now that there’s officially nothing to plan?
Looking into the post-honeymoon future, I know we will be going on a cruise next year with my friends, so I’ve got that to look forward to and plan for. We plan on going to Japan with our married friends within the next few years, so that’s something to prepare for as well. And if I know us, we’re probably going to go back to the Pacific Northwest before we become parents (in a perfect world, anyways).
I know that we’re still young and we can travel as much or as little as we want before (and after) kids. Having kids and traveling is hard, according to literally every parent I’ve ever met in my whole life. Will we get to go everywhere we want to before we start our little family? Most likely not. Life doesn’t work that way! I think as we get older, we’ll want to go explore just as much as we do now. I’m hoping that our kids will want to explore cities with us too!
That’s all in the far future though. For now, it’s back to normal. I work my first double of the month for my welcome back shift. All of the doubles I’m working this month are going towards both bills and Christmas presents that I didn’t get in Seattle. The bigger tip out from working a little extra will make up for the week of unpaid time off for me, and since Matt is lucky enough to get paid to go on vacation, he’ll only have to make up for being sick the week before (which is something I’ll talk about later, in the monthly post!).
The rest of 2019 will be full of paying off bills and getting back into the swing of things to go into a new decade confidently. Matt and I are excited to get into the groove, but I know we’ll be counting down the days until we get to go back to Seattle…in the meantime, I’m going to learn how to make that Q-Bao…
Thanks for reading everyone! I wanted to get this out sooner in the day, but I am the Procrastination Queen. I wrote lots of notes and took lots of pictures so that I could share exactly what Matt and I did while we were on our honeymoon, so I really hope you liked reading about our adventure!
If you’re interested, feel free to follow me on Twitter for daily goofiness and updates on future blog posts. If you have any short story ideas or writing topics you’d like to throw at me, feel free to do so on Twitter as well. I’d like to write about lots of different things once 2020 gets started, so I’m starting to stockpile lots of good rough drafts!
