I know it’s been a while, but well, life happens! I promise a
good long douse of gossipy bloggy goodness is coming very soon, but in the
meantime, I wanted to share a quick recap of the past few hours, since I’ve
learned Seattle
never ceases to amaze me. Since a couple of out of town co-workers are in our Seattle office this week,
I suggested dinner so we could catch up. Of course, I immediately start silently
planning for Keko’s well-being since I have to navigate how to get home to let
her out, then give her some quality time after work, and then get back to have
dinner without making Keko feel “ditched.” (With Adam & Emmy now in Spain, & Erik somewhere in middle America making his way here in adventurous fashion of course, this week has been a little more stressful than normal)... I’m thinking of all this as I suggest
dinner a few days ago, but just move on with the solace that “I’ll work it out.”
So yesterday, we had a lunchtime pot luck for the newest
addition to the office, new baby Henry, and the guy who sits next to me randomly
asks why I ONLY bring Keko in on Fridays. Another co-worker overhears and requests
that she come in more often. This is one of several similar conversations over
the past few weeks, so I decide to kill two birds with one stone and bring her
in today, which of course works well in figuring out my dinner plan…or so I
thought.
Initially, things went well. We had a crisp & cool early
morning walk - a nice 2 miles downhill from home on Capitol Hill to the office
down on the waterfront. Keko excitedly runs to her spot by my desk, greets
everyone as they arrive, takes her little morning snooze. We have a happy walk
at lunch as she chases pigeons on the pier. As the late afternoon is closing in
on us, I suddenly realize that even though she’s had two walks and lots of
attention, I am either faced with leaving her in the office by herself and then
coming back down to the waterfront to get her, which is likely going to be out
of the way since there are not many restaurants down there that we are likely
to eat at, or, leave her outside while we eat somewhere, as it gets dark and
cold. Yes, she’s a princess as we’ve already established; cold and dark are not
her favorite things.
Again, I say, “It will work out,” as my two cohorts and I
head uphll for some dinner. Kelly & Rodrigo decide on a place, and as we
approach I see a charming alley lined with cute restaurants on either side, all
with outdoor patios. Perfecto! Not so much. The one that we had chosen did have
an outdoor patio, but you had to walk through their very fancy, cloth napkin’d
indoor restaurant to get to it. I knew this was a roadblock, so I started to
look for a spot to have Keko hang out where I could still see her from our
indoor/outdoor dinner patio. Kelly meanwhile, is not deterred. She proceeds to
walk into said restaurant and inquire about my 4-legged friend. She returns
within minutes announcing that, yes, of course Keko can come through the
restaurant to dine with us. Excuse me, WHAT?! I really thought she was joking,
as she mentioned they asked if she was “small”. My mind quickly pictures Paris
Hilton and her purse Chihuahua …yea,
not Keko, though I’m sure she would enjoy being carried around. I have to admit I was a bit hesitant, and we
even attempted to fashion this portable picnic blanket with straps to look like
a service dog vest. (Pitiful I know!) Thankfully, Keko was too big for the
straps and we saved ourselves a little embarrassment.
We end up biting the bullet, walk in with her, and even
though I was worried about unpleasant looks
from other diners, we were greeted over and over with, “Aw, look, they brought
their dog!”….”Oh it’s a dog!”….and before we could even settle at our table,
there was a bowl of water at her feet, and a 2nd waiter came by
within moments to see if anyone had gotten her water yet. The dinner was filled
with patrons wanting to pet her, and waitstaff commenting on how sweet she was.
She actually did have a great time, and loved the flurry of activity around her
as she laid on her picnic blanket chewing her bone, continuously wagging her
tail for 2 hours straight (which Rodrigo pointed out was a smart deterrent from
it getting stepped on!). When we left,
several of the staff actually thanked us for bringing her in. I have to say,
when I saw someone with a puppy at Trader Joe’s, I was surprised. After
tonight, I’m simply speechless. What a cool city. I think we’ll stay a while.
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| I love Seattle! Woof! |
