PAX Food and Tourist Guide

 

Happy Friday little bots. While I may not be at PAX Prime this year, I still wanted to do a little guide for those who are attending. This is mostly for where to get food, slip away from the crowds, and where to unwind other than your hotel room.

Breakfast:

If you don’t want to eat from your hotel's complimentary breakfast, there are vast options for you to go out to eat. Remember a good meal before you head into the convention will keep you alert and energized all day. Here are a few suggestions on where to go:

Seatown: Tom Douglas is one of the top chefs in Seattle, he owns many restaurants and I would suggest you should try at least one before you leave town. Seatown has a great basic and some so basic breakfast options. Located on the edge of Pike's Market, the prices are great, the food is good, and you can swing threw the market after wards to pick up some snack to eat while at PAX.

Sun Liquor : Want to get away from the crowds? Head up to Capitol Hill

Saturday or Sunday to try Sun Liquor's brunch. Set in a local distillery where they make gin and vodka, it is one of the only distilleries in the country to also serves as a bar & restaurant. If you are old enough try some of their sprites they make in house. The best part, all brunch items are under 10 bucks!

5 point cafe: Set in Belltown just a block away from the Seattle Center lies the 5 Point Cafe. This 85 year old bar is the perfect fix for your greasy spoon food. Open 24 hours a day, you can get breakfast any time you want. This is a great place to cure your hang over the night before.

Where to grab food for later that day:

It is essential to have snacks on hand while at the convention. You don’t want your stomach to be growling while waiting in line or in a panel. Pike Place Market if you go early in the morning is great place to get fresh fruits and veggies to snack on, the key is to go early before the big crowds come. There is also City Target just up the street from Pike's Market where you can grab your usual junk food must haves. But say you want a good sandwich for later that day, stop by Dahlia Bakery to grab food on the go. Not many people will be there and the line goes pretty fast. Another option is to grab doughnuts for early morning meal or afternoon pickup, the best doughnuts in town is Top Pot doughnuts.

Coffee:

it's everywhere in Seattle, I'm serious, you cant walk 10 feet with out bumming into a coffee shop. You don’t need to go far to find coffee around the convention center. There is the always reliable Starbucks, or if you want to try other options there is the Nordstrom Ebar or Caffe Lardo.

Large Group Dinning:

If you normally have a large group to eat with, it's hard to find a restaurant that will accommodate your group. To combat this is is important to make a reservation at least by 3pm. That way you are not waiting for over 2 hours for a table. Here are a few places to go away from the crowds with your group:

Local 360: This place screams everything Seattle. Fresh local food, and drinks right in the heart of Belltown. This place is great for Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner.

Icon Grill: Want something that reminds you of home? Look no further than the Icon Grill; serving Seattle since 1998 with dishes like Mac&Cheese, Fried Chicken, and Prime Rib there is something for everyone on this menu. Like Local 360, you can come here for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Bonus points for it being a 5 minute walk from the convention center.

Rhein Haus – formerly, Von Trapp's: If you really want to get away from the PAX crowd, head up to Capitol Hill for some great Bavarian food. Walking in you feel like you are going into a beer hall in Germany, the beer is great as is the food and they have 5 indoor bocce ball courts. A great place to relax before another day of PAX.

Ivars: Ivars is Seattle, Seattle is Ivars and we love our acres of clams and chowder. Located on the iconic waterfront on Pier 54 you can not beat the views of the ferry’s coming into port. Great seafood you do not want to miss this little piece of Seattle history.

Unwind/ Where to go:

Now sometime you would like to get away from the convention center and relax for an hour or two. Sometimes you don’t want to sit in a hotel, why not instead go to Pikes Market and go on a Food Tour. See the different side of the market and sample the great foods of the Northwest. Or go to the Seattle Public Library with its unique design both exterior and interior. Normally I would say go ride the monorail to check out the Seattle Center but Bumpershoot is this weekend as well and the crowds over there are ridiculous, DO NOT GO!

If you only have an hour and your feet are killing you, swing into Julep for a relaxing pedicure. Need some comics to read for the trip back home, go to Zanadu Comics they have a large collection of trades and new comics.

Hope this helps you for your trip to PAX or any other convention taking place in Seattle. If you are attending this weekend have fun and be safe. See Monday for a weekly update.

See you on the other side

Hauling 4 Tons and Waffles

 

Good Monday little bots. This past week was filled with gaming, shopping, hauling, being creeped out, and waffles. Hoping this week will be boring and I can relax a little bit before I have to deal with the Bumbershoot/Pax/Labor day crowds.

In the first half of the week I played the new expansion from Diablo 3 called Reaper of souls on the Xbox One. I finished the main story and loved it! I really liked how they added some more character development to the side characters and even your own character. I still need to play adventure mode and try out the Crusader character that they have added. This past weekend all I played was playing Diablo with my boyfriend and friends.

I took a break from playing Diablo to go shopping with my mom and to comfort her as she gets a new load of hay. The shopping aspect was fine, I love shopping with my mom, but she needs to get over her anxiety over hay delivery. She has been getting hay delivered for over 18 years now and nothing has gone wrong. Usually I just have to make sure the horses are put away and secured and hold my mothers hand when they bring the trailer up to the barn. Now the barn is up on a hill and usually the guy can make it up and just have to stack the hay. Unfortunately he couldn’t make it up the hill, my mother and I had to drag 4tons.... let me repeat that... 4 MOTHER FUCKING TONS OF HAY EACH BALE WEIGHING 100 POUNDS!

I love my mother very much but between hauling that hay and the creepy delivery guy checking me out I told her I'm never hauling hay again. And she agreed with me. I told her next time they couldn’t make it up the hill for some reason, they should park the trailer down the hill and make trips with the pickup truck until the job is done. I'm not throwing my back out and being so sore it hurts to sleep because the driver couldn’t make it up the hill.

I returned home bruised, sore, and tired. So as a result of being an out of shaped pig; I dedicated the weekend to laziness. Mostly it was for recovering my mussel from pulling 4 tons of hay that I did not stretch out before hand. So thus I played the shit out of Diablo with my man on hard difficulty. I also made waffled cinnamon rolls. They were so good! I highly recommend doing this with the pre-made dough that you buy in the supper market. The waffling make a great catcher for the icing.

This week is back to job hunting. This weekend is not only Labor day but also PAX. And while I may not be in attendance this year, I do hope to catch up with some out of town friends over dinner. See you little bots on Friday for a rant I promise I will make one.

See you on the other side

The Bug Bites Are Doubling

They are starting to multiply. Just when I think they are gone....Bam! 15 more show up. Summer is the season where the bugs come out and attack you, I really cant wait for fall. Normally in the city I can avoid being eaten alive, but this past weekend I went to a good friend of mines birthday party and I got eaten. Pretty bad, not going to lie. I've put itch relief and that is not helping. Maybe I should try an oatmeal bath....

But aside from becoming an insect's meal the party was great. Booze was flowing, people were getting there dancing on, and the snack foods were tasty. Did I mention that this was an 80's – 90's themed party. Sadly, or I should say, it was a good thing that I don’t have a picture of my self dressed up as an 80's workout instructor. My god I was totally tubular.

Since i'm not going to PAX this year I was able to see a sneak peak at my friend's Tali's alternate outfit that she is doing for PAX. I'm sad I wont see it in person so I hope she gets some decent pictures of herself while wear it.

Side note; earlier this week the BioWare store is releasing this supper adorable tank top. Click the image to pre order your now!

Thats it for this week little bots, just wanted to keep it short for you. Come back Friday for a rant or something.

See you on the other side

Bitchn' Friday: Relaxation Day

Over the past couple of weeks the news has been very depressing. From the Ebola out break claiming over 1000 lives and sickens thousand more, Iraq's Isis situation, Ferguson, and the news of Robin Williams' death the news can make a one feel depressed and on edge. Lucky today is national relaxation day. I'm going to give you a few tips to quickly decompress, re-center your self, and relax a little bit before the weekend.

1. Turn off the news and social media
   I know it is hard to step away from the computer, TV, and phone; you want to be up to date with what is going on with the world and your friends. But sometimes being overloaded with so much information can be over whelming and stress you out. Turing off all your devices even for a couple of hours will help you start to clam down and relax. 
   
   
2. Go for a walk
   While you are not using your computer or phone for a few hours, why not go explore your neighborhood, or a local park. Being outside while doing some light exercising is great to clear your head and admire your surroundings.
   
   
3. Take a bath
   A warm bath filled with bath salts or aroma oils, surrounded by candles or dim lights with some music always feels great. And what is wrong with pampering yourself while you are relaxing.
   
   
4. Meditation
   Wither it is for 5 minutes or an hour, a little bit goes a long way to re-center yourself.
   
   
5. Wear comfy cloths
   If you are stuck wearing tight uncomfortable clothing, all you want to do when you get home is to slip on some baggy pants and shirt. Instant relaxation!
   
   
6. Read a book
   While your in your baggy cloths might as well read a good book to drift your thoughts away from the stress in your life.
   
   
7. Drink wine
   Enough said.

I'm not saying spend the whole day relaxing, just carve out at least an hour when you can relax and be yourself. Hope this helps you little bots if you are feeling a little stressed out or depressed. Take time out for just yourself, enjoy the little things around you. I'll see you Monday for a weekly round up.

See you on the other side

Bug Bites Everywhere!

I'm melting little bots. I'm becoming a puddle of flesh and sweat. To it is suppose to get up to 90 something today and if you know me at all I hate the heat. Fans are blasting on high right now, the windows a re closed to keep the heat out, and the cat don’t look like they have heat stork so I should be good until the thunder storm hits tomorrow. Until that happens I'm not going to do anything strenuous or cook anything in my apartment.

So last week I had to do adult things... managing stocks. The details are so boring I was even falling asleep, but hopefully now I can have my stocks make me money instead of staying at one level. I seriously need a retirement fund that is huge so I can retire at 60 and not 80.

Also last week I ran away to my parents house and had the most amazing meal. We all went to Pikes Market and at at a french restaurant called Maximilien. We sat outside, the view of the ferrys And West Seattle couldn’t be beat. The food was wonderful, well seasoned, and not to heavy for a warm day. The down side for me to go there every week is the pricy. At the end of the meal the bill for 3 people was well over $200, but we did have cocktails, 3 course meal, and a bottle of wine. I would go back for a special occasion or if I saved up some money.

While at my parents house my sister and her family came down for a visit. It's so weird to see children growing up. Last time I saw them was 4 months ago and from that to now they have all grown so much, one of them is almost as tall as my mom. It creeps me the fuck out. Aside form that It was a pretty relaxing weekend aside from all the bug bits that I revived. My legs look as though they have some weird disease on them. So I left Sunday morning to return to the city where the bugs don’t bite me.

So not much happened this past week, skipped seeing the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie due to the fact that I do not want my childhood to be ruined. I'm getting my costume ready for a friends party that is 80s-90s themed. With a simple costume I kinda wish I was going at least another convention so I could make an awesome costume. But I have to save money and properly plan out my costumes for Emerald City Comic Con. On that note of cosplay, wanted to show you a video of what cosplayers need to stop doing, and it is not what you think. Have a great week little bots and fingers crossed I don’t turn into a puddle of human flesh.

See you on the other side

Writing Cover Letters Suck!

I'm melting in my apartment. For the past three days it has been up in the 80's and if I use my stove or oven it feels like I'm living on the sun. The poor cats have taken to laying on the wood floors in front of the fans for comfort. When I know it is going to be warm, I stash some towels in the freezer and pull them out for the cats to lay on to stay cool.

Besides dyeing in the heat, it was Seafair week. That usually entails more tourists, cranky locals, more bums, Navy sailors out looking for some booty, and the Blue Angles flying over downtown. It's cool to hear them fly over until you have a cat in your lap and they scratch the hell out of you. I always try to avoid Seafair events to to the crowds and over priced inflation that happens when it comes around.

In between the Blue Angles flying practice, I was busy once again sending out my resume and writing cover letters. I don’t understand when a company ask for a cover letter but they never read them! You always hear how they either skim over it taking a total of 30 seconds or not even reading it at all! Worse yet if you are called in for an interview they ask you question which you have already answered in your cover letter that is sitting in front of them! Its all a big head ache and I question myself every time I write a cover letter.

Changing the subject from pure anger to joy, did you see the new Guardians of the Galaxy? Not going to say anything about the plot or anything other than GO SEE IT! You like Syfi, GO SEE IT! You like Marvel, GO SEE IT! You like comedy, GO SEE IT! You like an origin story that does not feel like an origin story, GO SEE IT! If you like action, GO SEE IT! You like shoot out and violence, GO SEE IT! You like seeing cute thing, you get the drill now GO SEE IT! It is such an enjoyable film I don’t recommend it for children under 13, but adults will get every joke and reference that they make in this film. Here is a cute spoiler gif from the film.

Thats it for my little bots, come back friday for some rant I will be doing I'm sure.

See you on the other side

Bitch'n Friday: Convention Pervs

     Happy Friday little bots, hope where ever you are at it is bright and sunny day. San Diego Comic Con was last weekend; news and sneak peaks on films and TV shows were announced, New comics, and awesome cosplay. Unfortunately many instances of sexual harassment happened over the course of the weekend. Most widely talked about was the Jack Ass who thought it would be funny to stick his finger into the butt crack of Alicia Marie who was dressed as Tigra. I praise Adrianne Curry for beating the shit out of that pervert, but I wished that a male bystander could have restrained him long enough for enforcers and police to arrive. 

     It sickens me that people think that it is ok to go up to cosplayers and gorp them, shove cameras into there faces (but mostly boobs), or verbally harassing them sexually and or calling them “fake geek”. Were they not taught not to touch a stranger, ask permission, if you nothing nice to say; say nothing at all, or any etiquette what so ever? If they were not taught how to behave in a social setting, my god those parents need to be slapped. But most likely they were taught and forgot along the way and use the pathetic excuses “I'm socially awkward.” 

     Socially awkward does not give you the permission to act like a sexually predator. Just because a girl or guy is wearing a barely there costume does not mean you should touch them or take pictures just there private areas. Further more if you do touch someone without their permission or take a provocative photo, that can land your ass into jail and you will be labeled a sexual predator by the law. If you think walking up to a girl is awkward; just imagine doing that every time you move into a new neighborhood and have to introduce your self to all you new neighbors as a sexual predator.

If you find it difficult not to do these things, then you should stay home. If you still want to attend a convention where there are cosplayers and women follow these basic rules where you wont be a creeper.

1. Always ask permission to take a picture.
   Sometimes the person is on there way to another event or eating and they don’t want their picture taken at that time. That's ok, keep an eye out for them later in the day or even ask if they are joining a group photo shoot later in the day. 
   
   
2. When Taking a picture shoot full body or ask to take a selfie with you.
   Just boob shoots are not ok! Or butt shoots, or up-skirt shoots as well. Also if you see anyone doing these things, please report it! 
   
   
3. Keep your hands to yourself!
   This really has to go with out saying. If you want a hug, ask permission. Same goes with putting your arm around them. Most armor is a bitch to make and put on, we do not want to be readjusting every time some one touches it. When in doubt think of it as a strip club, if you touch the strippers you are bounced out quicker than a humming bird flaps it's wings. Also the the shit will be beaten out of you.
   
   
4. Complement them on their costume and not their body.
   You come off as a creeper if you start telling them how sexy they are over and over again. Or say they have really nice boob/butt, while you may think its a complement the person will feel uncomfortable. That is where you will be labeled as a creeper to every cosplayer, word spread like wild fire at cons.
   
   
5. If you are going to harass some one claiming they are not geeky enough; Keep your mouth Shut!
   If you personally think they are a fake geek and are only there for attention, just shut up. You know nothing about them and should watch this informative video about “fake geek girl.”
   
   
6. Always say thank you and leave.
   You want to thank the coplayer for allowing you to take their picture and or striking up a conversation with them. Once your business is done leave them alone, and DO NOT FOLLOW THEM AROUND. Again you become that creepy con creeper.

So if you can follow basic etiquette of keeping hands to your self and shutting up, you should be fine. If not not do not attend any convention ever. While I doubt this trend of convention creeper is going to end any time soon, us regular convention goers should keep an eye out and report or photograph anyone who breaks the rules of the convention. We are the one that can stop it, and put those in check.

If you have anything to add please leave me a comment down below. I'll see you Monday for a wrap up of my week.

See you on the other side