I am ashamed to say it took me four weeks to find my local library. Well, not technically.

We had passed it a couple of times driving through town handling other post-move necessities, like transferring our licenses, registering our vehicles, shopping for groceries, etc. So I had found it–I just had not visited it. Until this weekend!

We had a short weekend because Brian had to fly to the east coast early on Sunday, but we made the most of Friday and Saturday.

We were devastated to learn, upon arrival home from our Friday house hunting excursion, that our favorite Friday evening spot, Under the Red Umbrella, had gone out of business since we were there last week. Apparently there were issues with the property manager renewing their lease, which was really disappointing to hear.

We decided to check out Prohibition Gastropub, a speak-easy style restaurant and bar a few blocks away, and we were very happy to find a good wine and beer selection as well as live music. I’m not sure it’s our new place, but we will probably be back at some point and maybe take along some friends.

Speaking of friends, we spent Saturday at Chateau Ste. Michelle Winery in Woodinville catching up with one of my fellow Americans from my time studying abroad in Northern Ireland. He and his wife relocated here from Virginia a year and a half ago, and as it turns out, we are following very closely in their footsteps. They brought a pile of other friends, and we hung out on the lawn drinking wine until the security officers told us we had to leave. We weren’t misbehaving–they had to clear the grounds of people who did not possess tickets to the Chicago concert about to take in the winery’s amphitheater. We were happy to scoot across the street to Redhook Brewery for dinner and a fabulous end to the weekend.

We have been making the most of our weekends, checking out local places and things to do as well as exploring some of the local neighborhoods. I have also been exploring new worlds through the books I grabbed from our shelves before the movers packed everything up for our relocation.

I thought my pile, pictured above, would last me until I was reunited with my home library. Not so.

Enter the Everett Public Library. Just a few blocks from our apartment, I finally made my initial visit in order to secure my library card, explore the bookshelves and bring home a few new novels.

The staff was friendly and quickly helped me complete the paperwork for my new card. “Why did it take you so long to get a card at our branch?” the librarian asked me. Outwardly I started to mumble something about just moving here from Ohio, but internally I was asking myself the same question.

I love the shelves when you first walk in–much like a Barnes & Noble, they have ‘new arrival’ shelves featuring the latest fiction and non-fiction with the staff recommendations for similar selections. I had to limit myself to three–they are due in two weeks, after all–but I am already looking forward to my next visit. There are about 400 novels that have long been on my Goodreads ‘want to read’ shelf, and I imagine I’ll be successful in securing one or two.

I also want to pop into Bookend Coffee, which is just inside the lobby of the library. It was packed when I walked through, but I could see myself disappearing into a corner booth with a book and beverage next time I’m there.

Just a little PSA to show your local library some love. I’ll definitely be back to support mine!