If you've ever been to Seattle in October, you know how easy it is to fall in love. When the sky is clear and the leaves are fifteen different colors and you are biking through the endless parks in awe with a new friend, a coffee waiting at every turn and enough restaurants, shops and attractions to keep you busy for days.

You shop at Public Market, walk through the urban forests, grab a drink in Ballard with strangers, take the ferry across the Puget Sound, eat fresh oysters off the beach...you wonder why you don't already live in this super livable land.

And the then the fog rolls in and you hear the sun won't come back until March. The affair ends quickly and you pack your bags, going back to wherever you came from, with a light heart and a warmed soul.

After a year in Bilbao, Spain, I know how slight rain for long periods of time affects me, and I'm not quite ready to sign up for long periods sans sunlight. But I'll visit Seattle any day, rain or shine.

Take a trip on the water...

Ferry Tripping in the Seattle Wool Cap (get your own here)

Warm up a little at the Volunteer Park Conservatory...

Bike through the Sculpture Park...

Eat... and enjoy the ride.

Stay: Ace Hotel 2423 First Avenue Seattle, WA 98121--206.448.4721 Hotel Five 2200 Fifth Avenue Seattle, WA 98121--206.441.9785

Shop: Totokaleo 1523 10th Avenue Seattle, WA 98122--206.623.3582 Mon — Thur 11-6, Fri — Sat 11-7, Sun 11-5 Cairo 507 E Mercer Street Seattle, WA 98102 Mon — Sun 12-7 Ebbets Field Flannels (they handcrafted our Seattle Wool Cap!) 119 South Jackson Street Seattle, WA 98104--Mon — F 9-5, Sat 10-5pm Nube Green 921 E Pine Street Seattle, WA 98122--206.402.4515 Mon — Sat 11-7, Sun 11-5 The Elliott Bay Book Company1521 Tenth Avenue Seattle, WA 98122--206.624.6600 Mon — Thur 10-10, Friday — Sat 10-11, Sun 10-9

See: Frye Art Museum 704 Terry Ave Seattle, WA 98104--206.622.9250 Ballard Locks 3015 NW 54th Street Seattle, WA 98107 Olympic Sculpture Park 2901 Western Avenue Seattle, WA 98121--206.654.3100 Volunteer Park Conservatory 1400 E Galer Street Seattle, WA 98112--206.684.4743

Eat/Drink: Victrola Coffee 310 E. Pike Street Seattle, WA 98122--866.228.0206 The Walrus and The Carpenter 4743 Ballard Ave NW Seattle, WA 98107--206.395.9227 Ocho 2325 NW Market Street Seattle, WA 98107--206.784.0699