Club Awesome!

Wow, I've made it to 30. I can't believe I'm in my 4th decade. I've always preferred my odd-numbered birthdays (my surprise 25th thrown by Hillary, Vegas for my 27th, and a low key hike and dinner on my 29th), but as Cheri so aptly pointed out, at least there's an odd number at the beginning of this one!

And boy, was that the key;-), that and having the bestest friends ever come share it with me.

Before turning 30, I made 2 significant and permanent life changes. I bought a condo and got a tattoo;-). It was all ready be shown off in time for my friends' visit. Some flew straight from vacation, others piled up in cars and drove the Slog, and still others carved out time from their Seattle lives. I'd booked a party bus, and despite a minor "I never got confirmation, and can't get ahold of the company" freak-out, and a last minute change of venues. Sitting in traffic to head to Woodinville sounded no bueno, so on Friday I found FANTASTIC places to go to in Fremont/ Queen Anne.

A few sweet, knowing cards and gifts, a couple champagne toasts, checking in at "the drunken clam" (giggity, giggity), and we were ready to go. Seattle complied and provided blue skies and hot (88) weather.

Our first stop was Fremont Brewing, where they have an open garage style tasting room, with tables and space for kids and puppies. (gotta love Seattle's dog culture!). Had a summer ale and their wheat beer, plus lots of fun conversations, and mingling of old and new friends.

With our stomachs perfectly primed, we headed to our first "adult" stop - Fremont Mischief. Where this adoraballs little distillery was empty (getting ready for a 40th), so we had the cute staff, Jason, all to ourselves, as we tried a 2yr old whiskey, a 8yr old whiskey, an extremely flavorful, aphrodisiac-induced gin, and some smooth vodka. Yum! So much to look at, must return!

Back to the bus for some more champagne and snacks (sorry for throwing blueberries!;-) ). We were headed to another local distillery - Sound Spirits for tastes of vodkas, gins, and aquavits, and herbal liquors. They were empty when we got there. No worries about lines or waiting here. Plus, they had 2 adorable greyhounds just waiting to be petted. And I obliged. Their tour is $1, and should definitely be taken advantage of. They were such great hosts to an unexpected group of 12 people!

Plus, they told us just down the street was another distillery - so we marched down the street to Batch 206. It was our lucky day - and we had no lines again! I guess everyone was at Seafair or stuck in traffic:-). Alright, now that we had our fair share of drinks (4hrs later), we headed back to my place and chilled for a few minutes before walking to the Rabbit Hole in Belltown.

Again, couldn't have asked for better hosts! Thanks Jessica! And those applesauce shots were delicious! We had burgers, tacos, beers, jalapeño poppers, and some "Skew Ball". I was also joined by a few more lovely Seattle friends! Some hours later, I thought it would be worth it to give my favorite bar a try - and to my joy and delight- the downstairs library at Bathtub Gin & Co - was open! Marcus was a sweetie and made us shots and drunks (that was a typo, but I thought it was fitting).

And a Natalie Belltown night wouldn't be complete without a call to my favorite restaurant - Spur. I love Alexandra and Dillon, they even brought me an ice cream dessert and my friend's sang happy birthday.

Cher and Hill went to bed - and to make sure we could all have a place to sleep - thanks ladies! While others of us went to the late night Lucky Diner for some food! If you're there, get the Chocolate Stout Milkshake! It was amazing! (way better than the braised greens ;-))

The 10 that were staying with me walked home - and I learned that my 438 sq ft place will indeed sleep 10 people, if not comfortably, at least sufficiently. (and with the a/c unit on the fritz, it thankfully only got to 75 overnight)

As far as I know, there was no lunch losing, and no alcohol poisoning (though I gave my own self a run for the money). It was the best birthday celebration I've had to date.

I'm so excited to "learn from the lessons of my 20s", experience new places and things, and continue on this life journey down into the next 30-years!