The Sun came out today, bright and beautiful. The afternoon was spent cruising through the arty town of Kirkland, waving to our usual haunts (SLIP, Cactus!, Cafe Happy, Sweet Cakes, etc), happy that they are doing well and haven't after all shut down in this ghastly economy. That's when we noticed Olive You. Wow, isn't this the same as the one in Downtown Seattle, I asked A. Must be, he said. We walked around to the front and realised that it has replaced Marina Park Grill, another of our haunts, where we happy houred a dozen times, sitting on the sidewalk, close to the lake, munching on their Rosemary Fries and glugging the Tequila with lemon juice. Sigh, one down, we thought. But Olive You looks like a good Mediterranean restaurant with an interesting menu including breakfast and plenty of veggie options. And it does have outdoor seating. So, much better!

We walked further to sit at the Waterfront and soak in the sun for sometime, when we saw this Indian, Hotdog chap. With his Hotdog stand right at the lake, he was trying his best to attract attention from the passersby. And he tried his luck with us."Haaat doggg!", he shouted. We smiled at him and continued walking. On seeing us, he must have thought, "These two look like vegetarians...", because, he immediately added, "I have whey geeeeee", meaning he has veggie dogs. His tone was so funny, I couldn't help giggling. That's great, but no thanks, said A. His accent was so addictive that we kept mimicking him the rest of the time.

We then strolled to the pier, looking at all the boats and the apartments standing right on the lake, when it became a little windy, and a couple on a boat asked A to give a hand in docking the boat. Can you tug the rope, please, he said and threw the rope over to A. All the muscles that he has built after his daily workout sessions at the Gym, were finally put to use. You must have looked like a Sailor to him, I quipped. Our next stop was at Cefiore. The plan was to have Coffee at Zoka , on the way to which we bumped into Cefiore which has introduced a new fat free frozen chocolate yogurt. I wanted to give it a try and so we went in. $3.75 for a small size flavored fat free frozen yogurt. They probably base their small, medium and large sizes on a Wrestler's appetite. Like, a small size is what he eats when he is not too hungry, medium is when he is hungry and large is what he eats after starving for days. We are no wrestlers and yet, dug into the huge small sized cup, polishing it clean. It was quite delicious. But the $1.50 pistachio gelato on a waffle cone that you get at Costco, beats everything in quality and price and of course quantity - there is just one size, three scoops on a cone and this will feed a hungry Wrestler too.

So, we walked a few steps and there was Zoka, waiting for us with outstretched arms ( doors more like), and we couldn't just walk away. Especially after we saw the sign - Coffee + Bagel = You, with a smiley face in the place of "You". All for $3.00. Peanuts, I know. So we went in (for a Latte minus the Bagel), A stood in the line for the Coffee and made me grab a table by the window.

It was casual and stylish and had a more Libraryish kinda feel. Lots of young people, early twenties probably, were sitting with their laptops and the slightly older ones (like us) were engaged in a one on one banter with their friend/partner. The smell of freshly brewed coffee was refreshing and so was the array of cakes and sandwiches to my right. And, the decor was very trendy. There were huge glass windows from floor to ceiling, on all sides and some paintings were hung above it. Huge cylindrical shaped pendant lamps hung all around the coffee lounge. Here's the coolest thing - the whole of Downtown Kirkand has Wi-Fi. That means I can sit at the Lake and log into my company network and work from lake, synonymous to work from home. I should try this some day.