#9 - Space Needle Fantabulousness

1. Host mah jongg night.

2. Make jam.  (Done!)

3. Host brunch. (Done!)

4. Go for a picnic. (Done twice!)

5. Go grocery shopping on my bike. (Done!)

6. Finish my year-end photo albums.

7. Take Fred to Lost Lake.

8. Rearrange the backyard.

9. Eat at the Space Needle.  (Done!)

10. Stay in bed all day.  (Done!)

11. <edited for privacy.>

12. Have a really girly slumber party.  (Done!)

13. Play a round of mini-golf. (Done!)

14. Get the craft room sorted and gorgeousified.

15. Go for a weekend in the San Juans. (Done!  Orcas at Memorial Day!)

16. Have an individual date with each NGS. (Done!)

17. Go for a hike.

18. Plan and cook a week’s worth of dinners. (Done!)

19. Go to Portland to see old friends.

20. Perfect a signature recipe (one slightly more nutritional than Bundt cake.)  (Done!)

21. Go to the drive-in movies.  (Done!  Harry Potter at the Blue Fox on Whidbey Island)

22. Get a mani-pedi every month. (Done for Jan, Feb, March, April, May and July)

23. Go ice skating. (Done!  Colorado with the parentals!)

24. Find the perfect shade of lipstick.

25. Host a big tea party in the back yard.

26. Make a quilt top.

27. Take six dance classes of any kind. (THREE down.  Love the Little Red Hen.)  (Done!)

28. Ride on a Ferris wheel.  (Done!  Puyallup Spring Fair!)

29. Organize our finances and filing system.  (Done!)

        30. Plan an awesome 30^th birthday party.

Y'all, I'm skipping ahead.  I did find the perfect shade of lipstick, reshuffle a couple things in the backyard and sort the craft room, but all of those grown-up good-for-you things are so boring!  I wanna talk about celebrating!  My 30th birthday was the culmination of this whole project and boy, did we celebrate it right.  

My actual birthday fell on a super boring weekday.  So, I decided to have the party on Saturday, and on the actual day go to a retro revolving restaurant with my charming husband. That's right children, the Space Needle.  The Space Needle was built in the wonderful year of 1962 and everything about it is just as fabulous and space age as that year implies.  The restaurant revolves slowly, about one revolution every half an hour, so you get to see the entire city during your dinner.  At 500 feet up, the view is incomparable. 

 (I did not take this photo.  Some lovely person in a plane did.  But I'm pretty sure that's our table, right there on the bottom black level.)

People in Seattle are fond of whining about how the Space Needle is expensive and the food is mediocre.  I'm here to tell you, I thought the food was delicious.  It might be more standard-fancy than off-the-wall-show-me-the-pork-belly-gourmet, but that's not really what you're there for, right?  If you're going to travel 500 feet up in the air to a restaurant that spins around, you've got to suspend the snobbery and take childlike delight in all the fun details.  We started off right, I had a martini that was delicious and filled with dry ice.

 Glee!  See that look right there?  That's my gleeful look!  What kind of 30 year old gets a sputtering, smoking, probably Midori-filled martini and totally adores every second of it?  THIS kind.

After the martini, we enjoyed the rest of the meal which was delicious, but totally un-photograph worthy.  UNTIL we got to dessert.  I had the Lunar Orbiter, which I can distinctly remember having at my first trip to the Space Needle when I was six.  Ready for more pure glee?

 

Tee hee hee!  My dessert is smoking!  The Lunar Orbiter is basically a hot fudge sundae served in a dish specially designed to hold dry ice and water, sending a rolling blanket of fog across your table for a solid five minutes.  I dare you to come up with a more entertaining dessert.  (What, you have cupcakes that can do the tango?  Bring it on!)  

Included in the price of your dinner is a trip to the observation deck.  It's gorgeous.  We had a late dinner, so the pictures are pretty poor, but just so you can get a sense of the sunset...

 

So happy!  Everything about eating at the Space Needle was pure fun.  I highly recommend it for celebrating, just shelve your inner foodie and accept that its tapping into your silly side.

So much so that on the way back to the car, I may have been inspired to kick off my Italian pumps and ride the whale:

 

Glee!  You can't really see the glee on my face from here but believe me, it was there.  This whole evening was pure awesomeness, from drinks to riding the whale.  I can't remember the last time I had such a fun and memorable meal.  So far, turning 30 was totally great, and the celebration has two more installments!  Stay tuned...