Scenes from Seattle

Immediately after our Memorial Day family camping trip I flew up to Seattle for an executive offsite with my company. Unlike the one I attended the month prior, this time I was also presenting to the group of VPs and SVPs. It was also the first time my boss, the EVP, was seeing me speak publically so I really wanted to do a good job. I'm generally fine with public speaking. I'm more than fine when it comes to putting together a PowerPoint presentation. But I only got 2 hours of sleep the night before I presented so by the time my session came around - after lunch - I was running on fumes. I had the beginnings of a terrible migraine and there was one guy who loved hearing the sound of his own voice and he kept interrupting me to argue with the premise on which my presentation was founded. My boss took exception to him so at least I had an ally, but I wanted to punch him in the throat on a number of occasions during my 40 minute timeslot. At one point I called him out on his behavior and tried to make a joke about how awkward he was making the whole thing, but at that point I was so disheartened because I knew it could have been a really great presentation.

I was really excited to have this offsite in Seattle because it's one of my favorite cities. I'd move there in a heartbeat if we could. It's everything I wish Oakland was and there are so many similarities on paper but when you put the cities side-by-side one of them is infinitely more beautiful than the other. And I just adore the weather!

I didn't get to spend any time visiting my favorite spots, but we did have evening outings scheduled, so that fulfilled my desire to see more of the city than just my hotel room. On the first night we took a cruise over to Kirkland (Redmond? Not sure really ...) passed a bunch of ridiculously gorgeous houses on The Sound (including Bill Gates' compound). On the second night we had dinner at the restaurant at the Space Needle and spent some time at the top admiring the view. I almost threw up when a father lifted his kid up and over the rail to get a better view. I felt my stomach drop and my hands started shaking I was so nervous. Some parents are idiots, I swear. I'm amazed there aren't more fatalities.

Anyhow, on a brighter note, here is the city in all it's gorgeous splendour. See? Lovely.