Behold Seattle on a Kittyful Day!

Before moving to Seattle, Mike and I were mentally prepared for constant rain and made a pact to never complain about it. That still stands, but we certainly appreciate the sun a lot more when it appears! However, we noticed that our tolerance for the cold has dropped significantly since leaving Wisconsin so we spent the sunny weekend sheltered for the most part then soaked in the sun for a little bit around the Space Needle.

I didn't intend the day to be cat-themed, but in our world, this really isn't a surprise.

We kicked off the weekend playing Kittens in a Blender at Café Mox while munching on a simple but satisfying lunch. By the way, we highly recommend Kittens in a Blender and not just because we're cat lovers! It's really easy to learn and is fairly quick to set up and play.

BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwich at Café Mox

As the place got crowded because of a game tournament, we headed to the EMP Museum for the Hello Kitty exhibit! The EMP Museum features interactive pop culture exhibits that basically is like a Children's Museum for kids and adults. A really cool feature is the Sound Lab where you can try out different instruments in sound proof booths and record your own music. I'll have to try that on my next visit, but my mission this time was to fight the crowds of kiddos to bask in the addictive cuteness of Hello Kitty.

Frank Gehry designed EMP Museum

How Cute is the Little Girl Posing with Creepy, Futuristic, Bodacious Hello Kitty?

I don't remember what about Hello Kitty that caught my fancy above all other themes when I was a kid. I didn't grow up with cats so my love for Hello Kitty products wasn't always associated with the species. My earliest memories of Hello Kitty were of my parents taking my brother and me to Shirokiya department store in Hawaii, where I would always find myself in the middle of the Sanrio store floor admiring the Hello Kitty themed pencils and erasers. We couldn't afford many non-essentials at the time so my dad's occasional splurge on a Sanrio gift for me was indeed something special.

The exhibit perhaps provided me with at least one good explanation of my lifelong penchant for all things Hello Kitty. The story is that Shintaro Tsuji, the father of Hello Kitty, founded Sanrio because he wanted to bring everyday joy to people through the idea of small gift giving. I think, in addition to the obvious adorableness of Hello Kitty, it was indeed the gifting aspect of acquiring Hello Kitty that made me especially happy as a kid. I knew it wasn't something I can get by asking or whining to my parents. My parents had to work hard and save to purchase the cute little presents for me as a display of their love and affection.

The Little Coin Purse that Started the Frenzy in 1975

If only I had the patience to make Hello Kitty themed lunches...

Hello Kitty Couture

View of the EMP Museum from the Children's Museum

After our visit to the museum, we walked around the park between the EMP and the Children's Museum, strolled outside of the Chihuly Garden (we have a future date night planned there), and admired the Space Needle from different vantage points. It was definitely a beautiful weekend!

Space Needle