A Place for Trendsetters

Once upon a time, four girls found themselves sitting on an over-stuffed red couch, drinking $4 champagne out of mismatched wine glasses, talking life, loss, and love (or lack there of). That time was actually this evening, and those girls, my friends. The four of us live in Seattle, Washington, the portal to the Pacific, home of the Seattle Mariners, Ivars Seafood Bars, and the birthplace of Costco. Definitely all things to be proud of. Or at least I like to think so.

We live in an apartment right in the thick of things. East of downtown on trendy Capitol Hill, which has enough culture to be its own country, really. Fitting in up here means wearing anything from neon mesh lingerie to black trench coats and dog collars for a casual stroll to the grocery store. In fact, our very own apartment is advertised as "A Place for Trendsetters" on huge posters in the lobby windows. To be honest, every time I see the signs I nearly get hives, as the weight of that title really stresses me out. I guess i'm just still trying to figure out what trend I want to set and how much I should make my roommates pay me to take it public. Enough to pay for the liquid courage i'd need to have before setting foot on Broadway Avenue in lingerie at least.

In a city that is so diverse, full of culture, life, and no doubt- trendsetters, one would think that finding your place here would be quick and painless. However, I've come to find that a girl can really get lost in this city. Being fairly new to Seattle means that sometimes the skyscrapers close in on you and the sound swallows you whole. Not even dying your hair green, shaving a mohawk and wearing ass-less chaps will get you the attention you crave, the attention you deserve, as the guy sitting next to you on the city bus is probably wearing an equally ridiculous outfit.

And certainly as single twenty-something year old girls in the city, looking for legitimate guys to give you that attention is out of the question. According to the 2000 US census, single men outnumber single women in Seattle in every age group until 45 (cougar status... guess that makes sense). But I personally would like to know why all the single ladies didn't fill out their census ten years ago? Maybe it was too embarrassing to check that single box, or maybe they were too busy prowling the streets to find a mate, either way they have given the rest of us single girls false hopes for the past ten years. And though I have only been in Seattle a short time, I can already vouch for the fact that there is a definite lack of intelligent, eligible, single guys here or if they are here and the census isn't lying, those guys are hiding in the most unlikely of places. Either way, I can say with utmost sincerity that I filled out my census last month, put aside my pride, and checked the single box. Just doing my part for generations to come.

My point in all of this being, thank heavens for friends. They give me the attention I need, when I need it, and visa versa. Forget having a boyfriend, or a really great job. A co-worker's sympathy only goes so far when I spill an entire coffee down my white blouse before a big meeting. Not that I necessarily have a job that would require me to wear a white blouse, or attend a big meeting, or even a job for that matter. But seriously, when my illegally parked car gets towed because the City finally figures out my grand plan and realizes that the ticket on my windshield is from last week, not today, or when I get lost on the way to a first date and show up thirty minutes late sweating, flustered, and frantic, my friends are the ones to pick up the pieces at the end of the day. And believe me, usually there's a lot of them. Someone once said "Nothing of me is original. I am the combined effort of everyone i've ever known." And though I believe this to be absolutely true, I feel that some people, namely, Darcy, Madison, and Taylor (because of our close proximity, great friendship, and endless attention giving) make up quite large pieces of my life at the moment.

My name is Allie and this is my blog. However, the stories found here are those of the everyday occurrences in the lives of Darcy, Madison, Taylor and myself. Four very different girls searching for very different things together amongst the busy streets and blinding lights of Seattle. This is the written documentation of our lives as we venture off our over-stuffed red couch to face life, loss, and love (or lack there of) in the city. And who knows, maybe we'll even become trendsetters along the way.