Starbucks is to Seattle as Costco is to…

One of the many benefits of living in Vancouver is our close proximity to Seattle. Alyssa and I took off Friday right after work to spend the weekend with our friend Dhruv at his beautiful new house in Kirkland. One of the best ways to de-stress and clear the mind for me is to go away, and spending the weekend with Dhruv and Alyssa away from my usual environment did wonders for my mood. It was so refreshing to spend the entire weekend laughing and walking around with two of my favorite people. Dhruv couldn’t have been more accommodating and in addition to being our host, driver, and Windows Phone educator, he made us several cups of Indian chai over the stove every day, killed spiders in the house that were the size of my palm, and was a great sport about being teased nonstop by Alyssa and me. It was such a pleasure to spend time with them and I didn’t want to leave. I have a lot of great photos from the weekend so I plan on posting a photo diary with all the highlights.

I must give a shoutout to Alyssa’s “internal clock” for making sure we made the most of our weekend. Traveling with Alyssa means that no daylight hours will ever be squandered by sleeping. Personally, I can’t think of many things in life that are more enjoyable than sleeping in, but growing up, I had parents who believed sleeping in was unacceptable, and now I have a best friend who thinks the same thing. So, here we are. Since I cannot sleep in without feeling guilty I might just go to bed at 7pm on Friday nights from now on. I loved Dhruv’s reaction when Alyssa texted him early in the morning on Saturday. He came out of his room, walked to the kitchen where we were talking, looked at us, and said “PEOPLE, WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!”

These photos were taken after brunch in Kirkland with a view of Lake Washington. Dhruv is the brown guy.

Click “More” below to see all the photos

Dress: J. Crew (sold out). I love these very similar styles here+here+here+here Cardigan: Talula Babaton (now T. Babaton) Scarf: Burberry Belt: Club Monaco (Alyssa’s) Boots: American Eagle from Payless (see my affordable selection of ankle boots here) Sunglasses: Joe Fresh Bag: MICHAEL Michael Kors