The Emerald City

What a weekend! Kristen and I escaped from reality to Seattle for business but certainly got to play tourists and have a fabulous time. We arrived safe and sound on Saturday to see that Seattle looks like a ghost town. I didn't understand how on a Saturday afternoon hardly anyone was in downtown Seattle. However, of the people that were downtown a very bold man with a megaphone inside his car announced while we were walking by 'girl, you make those pants look good!" and "I am digging that red hair". I was laughing so hard I almost fell down the hill.

Kristen and I wondered around this surprisingly windy city with our map and "oohed and ahhed" at all the buildings. We went to the W hotel to scope out where we would be meeting for Project Runway. We then ate dinner at Wild Ginger restaurant. This was our first taste of what Seattle had to offer in terms of food and boy were we impressed. After eating a delicious dinner in this dark, edgy restaurant we went back to the hotel to put some very last minute touches on the pieces and get ready for our big day.

The next morning we started the morning with jitters and primping. We concluded before we left that whatever happens, happens for a reason. We scurried along to get to the W hotel with plenty of time to spare. While sitting in the waiting room with the other contestants Kristens nerves started to settle a little. We got everything ready and had our heads held high in confidence that this interview would go well. We stepped in and the three judges were sitting at their tables, cameras on, and plenty of people eager to hear what Kristen had to say about herself. She started off talking about where she comes from and her accomplishments, and then the bomb dropped. As soon as she said that she has been in the fashion industry for three months the judges completely became closed off. We left the interview frustrated but also a bit releaved.

Kristen found out that she will be headlining her own fashion show in New York City during Fashion Week September 10-17th. So we figured that she has all these wonderful things going for her without having to go on Project Runway. This way, she has time to complete her entire spring collection before fashion week without rushing through it. So we took it as a blessing in disgize. We moved on and enjoyed the rest of our trip to Seattle. It was time to play. We went to a Brazilian restaurant for lunch and tried a little bit of everything that the restaurant offered. They had a Sunday buffet and people came around and sliced meat off for us to try. It was quite an experience since neither of us had ever eaten Brazilian food before, but it was quite enjoyable.

Kristen and I went and explored the Pike Street

Market, played and had a great time. As soon we got there, we started exploring around, buying momentous gifts for loved ones, and seeing all the charactures of Pike Street. We listened and danced to street musicians and befriended the nice "fish guys". The fish guys were a hoot and totally made our day. Tahoe, one of the fish guys, was fascinated by Kristen's success story and was so excited for her to rise to the top. We then went and ate at a fabulous seafood restaurant that had pretty good food with AMAZING deserts. We ate a velvet chocolate cake that was to die for. We hoped that we wouldn't go back home 20 pounds heavier but concluded that if we did, it would all be worth it.

The fun really began when we had lunch on top of the Space Needle. It was great to sit on top of this famous rotating monument and eat lunch while gazing over a beautiful sunny day in Seattle. We looked over the city and marveled at the beautiful Pacific Ocean, high rising towers, and beautiful harbors. While looking around we saw a really colorful building with amazing

arcetecture. We asked our server what that brightly colored building was and she said it was the music museum. We immediately went "ooh! we want to go there!". So we did, and boy did we feel like little kids in a playground. We looked at Jimi Hendrix broken guitars, gazed at famous rockstar pictures, learned how to play some instruments, and had a photoshoot that only rockstars could enjoy. We had an amazing time in the music museum and couldn't get over how cool of a place it was. Afterwards, we walked over to the International fountain and splashed around taking off our heels and getting as close to the fountain as we could without getting wet.

The next morning we packed everything up very early and headed back home. The trip was a great event for the both of us. It was a great learning experience, we discovered a lot about ourselves and also got to escape reality and play. Now we are back home and back to work. Be sure to keep checking back to this blog, as I will continue to post updates on our upcoming events including Midnight in Wonderland Mesela's Premier Fashion Show in May, business meetings in NYC in June, followed by Fashion Week in NYC in September.

Christina