I’m going to sound like a commercial for a moment*. For our trip to Seattle we used one of those cheap hotel sites to find a room in the downtown area, Priceline or Hotels.com or one of those. We ended up in a sweet place paying what we would have at the Holiday Inn Express (well, it would have been had we not used valet parking every day). The room was nice, the free high-speed internet was terrific for us since we were constantly looking through rental listings, the blackout shades went up and down automatically via a switch by the bedside, the closet had a light which went on automatically when you opened the door, there was a Starbucks in the lobby, but the highlight was the bathroom. It was huge, marble, and had a glass encased shower stall which was separate from the deep bath tub. I had to run out and buy some Mr. Bubble to properly enjoy it. I couldn’t have asked for a nicer retreat after a day of driving around from address to address.

* I know, I know — when don’t I?

I have returned. While I was away I missed both chances to see Pamie read from her book Why Girls Are Weird while she was here in the Bay Area, I’m sad. But, we did find a very good place to live.

I found out that having a rental application folder, with general information and credit reports for both renters, scores big points with potential landlords. (And sometimes saves you an application fee.) Being from Ohio does too. I’m sure not being college students was a big plus as well. I’m glad the house hunting is over, it was tiring. And I managed to get a mild but annoying case of food poisoning just in time for our flight home, and I cannot seem to shake it. I’m going to sip tea and eat Cheerios all day.