BFM '11 - SEATTLE

The BFM, which stands for Big Fat Meetup, is an annual weekend away for women who met on a homeschooling forum that I'm part of. It has nothing to do with school and everything to do with laughing, eating, and playing for three nights and four days. The location changes every year and three years ago a string of financial miracles allowed me to go when it was in Huntington Beach. This year it was in Seattle and since it was close enough for me drive to we planned ahead for me to go. As it turned out, I ended up co-planning the weekend with my friend Heidi. Tim is currently unemployed, which puts a damper on vacations, but we'd already paid for the trip, so I went and thoroughly enjoyed myself.

I'll tell you a little about my trip, but I must confess that I have very few pictures. I don't know how I managed to come home with an almost empty camera, so I guess I'll be stealing pictures from friends who went and were more diligent about taking some.

I filled my van with three local-ish friends and headed north on Thursday morning, picked up Heidi (my co-planner), then went to our hotel, which was on Lake Union, to greet people as they arrived. Deana showed up with some booties she'd made for the 6th W. So thoughtful!



Some of the group went to Melting Pot for dinner and some of us ate from the rooftop of a building downtown (someone loaned their apartment to a member of our group for the weekend). I was in the rooftop group and we all bought our dinners at Whole Foods, then elevated into the Seattle skyline. Not only was the view amazing, but dinner was great, the company was fun, and I got to eat the best cheesecake in the entire world. This picture doesn't come remotely close to doing the view justice or showing what a gorgeous day it was, but I had to include it so that you could get an idea of what it was like.



We all met back at the hotel Thursday evening for chatting, snacking, and playing a game involving fun trivia about each of us. Heidi and I handed out bags filled with all sorts of goodies, including these totes with a logo our friend, another Heidi, designed and embroidered.




Aren't they cute?! The embroidery Heidi is the same one who has done some of my Ws, both embroidered and woven. We were also able to take the logo design and have it put on water bottles for everyone. So fun!

On Friday morning several of us met at Pike Place Market and spent a chunk of time shopping, eating, and visiting the gum wall. An attempt at taking the Underground Tour fell through, so a group of us headed to a Greek restaurant for lunch, then headed different directions. My group started at Pioneer Square and walked toward Seattle Center, stopping when the mood struck. The mood certainly struck when we came upon a gazillion trees with sweaters in Occidental Park. Hilarious!



Our group met at Ride the Ducks, which was highlight of scheduled events for me. So fun! Lots of historical information for the tour aspect, but also some good music, a funny captain, and lots of laughing as we rode an amphibious vehicle down the roads and through the waters of Seattle. Bonus points for getting to sit with Heidi, the co-planner variety!



Just a quick shot of the skyline from the middle of Lake Union taken while on our Duck Ride.



After our tour was done, we walked a couple blocks to Buca Di Beppo and inhaled a fantastic dinner. That night several of us hung out in the pool room, whether chatting around a table, swimming in the pool, or soaking in the hot tub.

Saturday morning was spent lounging around our room as people got ready for the day, then we all hopped on the Bainbridge Ferry. I ended up spending our time there with Thea. We split a gigantic panini, laughed hysterically as we tried on silly glasses, and found a few treasures as we browsed the shops. We ran into a couple BFMers on the ferry back to Seattle and kicked around with them on the waterfront as we killed time before dinner.

That day I scored two Ws! The blue one was from a shop on Bainbridge Island and the other is a type setting block that Thea found at an antique store. Pretty pleased with those two purchases!



Saturday night's dinner was at The Crab Pot, which was delicious. Some of the group went to do karaoke and the other part went back to the hotel. I'd had about 10 hours of sleep in two nights by that point and had walked countless miles over a few days, so I opted to head to the hotel and relax in the pool room with some of the people from our group before heading to bed.

Sunday morning we all met for breakfast in the hotel, then everyone headed for home. Leslie gave me these knit dishcloths, which I'm happy about. Someone else had made me some a few years ago, but I'm a dork and ruined them while washing sharp knives. Lesson learned and the new ones won't be used for that purpose.



The time away was physically exhausting, but otherwise totally refreshing. Of course, there are a million details I've left out, funny stories that won't ever be shared publicly, and loads of memories made. I'm so thankful I was able to go!!