It's mid-April and the window is about to be open… literally and figuratively. Sixty-four degrees Saturday and Sunday after a cool Friday, which means Seattle is doing the thing it does: rewarding patience with a weekend that almost makes up for everything.

Almost.

The Sounders are back at Lumen Field for the first time in weeks after the World Cup pitch conversion finally wrapped. The Skagit tulips are still going. The Cadence Video Poetry Festival is running at Northwest Film Forum all weekend. There are enough new restaurants to justify both Saturday dinner and Sunday brunch without repeating yourself. And the NHL playoffs start Saturday - which is either exciting or a reminder that the Kraken finished with 79 points and are watching from home.

You know which one applies here.

Get out there.

Sounders FC vs. St. Louis City SC - Lumen Field, Saturday April 18, 6:30pm
The Rave Green return to MLS play after getting knocked out of the Concacaf Champions Cup by Tigres on Wednesday night on away goals - the cruelest of outcomes. So they've had about 72 hours to process that. St. Louis City SC comes to town Saturday evening and Seattle, with their unbeaten home record intact (3-0-2 at Lumen this year), will be motivated. Tickets start around $28. On Apple TV or in person. Either way, the Rave Green faithful have waited since February for a home match and this is the welcome back party.

Cadence Video Poetry Festival - Northwest Film Forum, April 17-19
The ninth annual Cadence Video Poetry Festival takes over Capitol Hill's Northwest Film Forum all weekend. Moving image meets text in a genre that defies easy description - and after screenings, ticket holders can mix with filmmakers at a casual mixer. Tickets run $20-$90 depending on what you want to see. Not every weekend has a film festival where the poets actually show up.

Les Misérables - Paramount Theatre, Friday-Sunday
The Broadway revival of Les Misérables is in its final days at the Paramount. Full orchestra, full spectacle, full cry. This is the one you told yourself you'd see and then kept putting off. Tickets start at $105. If you miss it this weekend, you missed it.

Skagit Valley Tulip Festival - Mount Vernon, All Weekend
This year's bloom came in early thanks to a warm winter. Mid-April is still an active window -- RoozenGaarde, Garden Rosalyn, and Tulip Valley Farms all have fields going. Check the live bloom report at tulipfestival dot org before you commit to the drive. An hour north on I-5. Go before 9am or after 4pm on weekends - the two-lane roads back up badly in between. The fields are muddy. Wear boots. You know this.

TEDxUofW - Kane Hall, UW, Sunday April 19, 10:30am-3:45pm
Short talks from passionate people at the University of Washington's Kane Hall. Ideas delivered in under 18 minutes, in an auditorium, on a Sunday. The kind of thing you feel slightly better about yourself for attending. Free or close to it.

PNB: Giselle - McCaw Hall, Friday and Saturday evenings
Pacific Northwest Ballet brings back the Romantic-era classic this weekend at McCaw Hall. If you haven't seen Giselle performed by a company this good in a room this good, here's your window. Tickets start around $35.

Gordo Steak - 323 Occidental Ave. S, Pioneer Square
From the team behind Asadero in Ballard and Kent comes their Pioneer Square follow-up: a Mexican carne asada house with various cuts, regional marinades, and a tequila bar. Self-taught chef David Orozco grew this from a food stand in 2014 and Pioneer Square is his biggest stage yet. The space is snug -- go early or expect a wait.

Saigon Oi Kitchen & Bar - 2106 E Madison St, Madison Valley
There is more than one motorized scooter hanging from the ceiling of this large, new Vietnamese restaurant on E Madison. The menu covers the essentials - bánh mì, phở, vermicelli bowls, rice plates, salt and pepper wings - but the space itself is a statement. Open Tuesday through Sunday. Madison Valley doesn't get a lot of splashy new spots. This one qualifies.

The Rebel - 309 NE 45th St, Wallingford
The former Kate's Pub has reopened as The Rebel, keeping the divey bones and overhauling the menu as grown-up bar food. Every fried snack is dropped in beef tallow - including the artichoke hearts - and the standout is a Philly cheesesteak that the Infatuation accurately described as having "gone to grad school." Pool, darts, TouchTunes, cheap tacos on Tuesdays. A Saturday night that requires no planning and ends at midnight. Wallingford earned this one.

Columbia City Night Market - 4850 37th Ave S, Saturday
The monthly Columbia City Night Market is back Saturday with eight food trucks, 20 makers and vendors, live music, and a beer garden on 37th Avenue S. Ten minutes on foot from Columbia City light rail station. Free to attend. One of the better recurring street events in the city.

O-Jak Watch Party - Central Cinema, Sunday
A live dance performance, a video screening, networking, and Korean-Southern fusion refreshments at Central Cinema on Sunday. The kind of thing Seattle does that is genuinely hard to explain to anyone who doesn't live here - which is exactly why you should go.

Waterproof Outdoor Blanket
You are going to end up on grass this weekend whether you planned to or not. Between the Tulip Festival fields, any park sit in 64 degrees, or a pre-match Sounders tailgate, a compact waterproof blanket is the thing you'll actually use. Machine-washable, folds into its own carry bag, won't absorb the inevitable April damp underneath.

Gerber Multitool
Tulip fields, an outdoor concert, a tailgate, a night market, and a dive bar with questionable bathroom fixtures - this weekend has a lot of moving parts. The Gerber has 18 tools and fits in your pocket, which means you are theoretically prepared for all of them. You won't use 16 of the tools. You will absolutely need the other two at the worst possible moment.

Friday is cool (55°F) but Saturday and Sunday climb to 64/65 - which in Seattle constitutes weather you owe it to yourself to be outside in.

The Sounders need the home crowd after a brutal week. The tulips don't care about your schedule. And somewhere in Pioneer Square, a carne asada taco is waiting.

Make your plan Friday. Adjust Saturday. That's how it works here.

We'll be back Monday with whatever Seattle did while you weren't looking.

- The Drizzle