Christmas Trees Suicide Girls Dreadfuls No Smoking and more

As usual, we're insanely busy. I feel like we're always driving in haste to get someplace. It's a good thing, I could be bored, right? We don't have much bored in our house. 

SG

First on the updates is that we got to go to The Suicide Girls Blackheart Burlesque in Seattle at the Showbox. The Showbox is awesome by the way. Very cool place with a domed ceiling and chandeliers all over the place. Oh, and the place has been a club for 75 years... That's insane! So on to the Suicide Girls. Picture this, wonderful tattooed ladies dancing around in sets of sheer modern day nerdy goodness. They did sets of Adventure Time, Donny Darko, The Little Mermaid, and yes... Star Wars! I mean come on, they came out to Die Antwoord's Cookie Thumper that totally set the mood. The show was better than I imagined and I would go back in a heartbeat so if there are any stops left coming to your town, you should totally go. It's pretty awesome. Oh, and their merch is pretty awesome too. 

This is "The Green Machine" WWE North West Heavyweight Champ. 

The Tree

We have been getting live trees since we moved to Washington. There's nothing quite like having that awesome pine smell floating through the house during the holidays. This year, we continued the decorating tradition with the purple lighted tree with 90% Star Wars ornaments. 

House

I saw my first random episode of House MD when I had a fever and was entertained by anything that was on. But this wasn't just an infomercial kind of blind entertainment. This was intriguing! Wonderfully flawed characters, weird medical mysteries and genius ways to solve those mysteries. Lizzie and I started watching more of them as they came on Oxygen or some odd network and we started to fall in love with the show but we wanted to see them all... in order. (Mind you there are 8 seasons with 20+ shows each) Well, Netflix had them all!!! So we did it... Every episode, in order and it was Marvelous! It was such a fun ride and honestly, I'm super sad it is over. I could watch it forever. But they wrapped it up very well and there were so many great twists! I put it on the top shelf along with my other favs, Lost, Twin Peaks and Firefly. 

Next Up

I love the American Horror Story series. Lizzie won't watch the latest one because of the murderous clown so I'll have to see if I ever have time to squeeze those in on my own. Somehow I missed the second season, Asylum... and it has Chloe Sevigny... So we started that and are zipping through pretty quickly. The first season is my favorite but they are all good. 

No smoking for me!

So as of today, I have been smoke free for one year and eleven days... I'm pretty excited about that as I really have no desire to ever go back. Yes, I'm still vaping but I feel so much better and there's no coughing, super extended sicknesses and I don't have to go outside every two hours or so, It's so nice to be done with that. 

Dreadfuls

Finally, our penny dreadfuls are in their final days on the holiday sale, so if you'd like to get them at a discount, time is running out. Enter the code holiday2014 at checkout and get your single copies or yearly subscription at www.thedreadfuls.com 

Nashville vs. Seattle Part 3

Here's the third installment of the (in)famous Nashville vs. Seattle blog that highlights some interesting differences in life from a somewhat culture shocked Southerner. The last few blogs have gotten quite a lot of readers so I'm going to continue to do these as I keep noticing differences.

Neon
There's a ton of neon in Washington State, especially neon green. I suspect that the color's popularity originated with the Seattle Seahawks and the Seattle Sounders FC but it definitely doesn't end there. People rock neon green even if it doesn't advertise the local sports teams. I've also noticed Washingtonians like to match their neon, sporting neon stripped shirts with neon socks and shoes. They're serious about their neon here.

Vape Stores
Despite the cheesy name, Vaping is also mega popular here and I get why. Using this product/method has allowed me to stop smoking for over a month now and I'm pretty damned happy about it. Anyway, there are vapor stores all over the place, including two in Gig Harbor (which is kind of weird if you've ever been here). But in general, there's tons of these places popping up. I guess it's good money if you can get in on the trend. As I know it Nashville has a very limited supply of these places. (Hint hint if you wanna make some money)

Dispensaries
Ok, pot is legal in Washington. Of course at this point you still can't buy it without a medical card but from what I hear, it's harder to get a drivers license than it is to get a medical marijuana card. So what's everyone doing? Everyone and their mom, and their mom's dog and their mom's neighbor is opening a marijuana dispensary. If you thought Washington had a lot of Starbucks, you'd be right, but quickly dwarfing the coffee houses that make this land famous are white signs with green crosses on them indicating that they sell weed legally at that establishment. I'm not kidding about how many of these places are popping up, they're on every corner. My guess is everyone is opening a store so they have the licenses and stuff in place for when they can sell to the general public and they can all retire by twenty five. Since weed is very illegal in Nashville of course you're not going to find anything like this there. It was weird coming here and seeing weed stores but now I see them so often that it would be weird to not see them . Personally I don't care about weed but I'm glad it's somewhat legal .

Bikini Baristas
Ok, this may sound redneck but one of the awesomest little perks of WA is the freedom and open-mindedness that goes on here and yes that does include having little drive up only bikini barista coffee stands. They funny part is they often make better coffee than the latest "cool coffee place in town". Maybe it's just I'm a sucker for a hot girl making coffee... I mean your day is just a little better when your mocha is served by someone in pasties. In Nashville, they might literally try to throw the bible at you if you attempted to open one of these places but maaaaannnnn if you wanna cash in big time the South is ripe for the pickin.

Nerds take all
Ratio wise, there are a ton more "nerds" in Seattle than there are in Nashville. I mean that in the nicest way too because I consider myself one of them. You'll typically run into more "nerdy" folks here. It's kind of like being at a con all the time. Chances are pretty good that you'll run into someone that would love to talk about the weapon systems of Jaeger in Pacific Rim.

The No Smoking Report

All in all it's gone pretty well. I have had some bouts of sudden grumpiness but I feel like it hasn't been THAT bad really. I don't think about it that much which was one of the major things I was most worried about but again, it's not that bad.

For those that don't know, I'm "Vaping" which is using an electronic device that has flavored nicotine infused water and glycerin that you breath much like a regular cigarette but without the tar and the other 2134135135 additives that cause cancer. Also, you can pretty much puff on this anywhere and there is no smell. Yay I don't stink anymore! So yes, I'm still in-taking nicotine but I feel like it's way better than smoking tobacco. Hey, and it's way cheaper.

It's been eight days since my last real smoke and I feel like this is totally doable. I'm still getting used to the vapor thingy. It's much stronger and really I would prefer a juice that's a better flavor than what I have but that requires a new tank, some extra time at the vapor store trying flavors and of course a new bottle of juice. Currently I'm puffing on "Triple Berry" from the Two Peas In A Pod juice company and it's ok but it sort of tastes like Red Bull which is kind of harsh and not that great in my opinion. But it's something I can live with for the moment.

I would absolutely recommend this as a way to quit smoking. It really works!