Our old friends Trophy Cupcakes here in Seattle have been showing off their Halloween cupcake range.
They are fabulous and I’m particularly liking their couture outfits from Bella Cupcake Couture. Truly fashion at its finest.
Bella Cupcake Couture makes textile inspired cupcake wrappers which are fabulous for weddings, parties and other special occasions. Utterly sublime.
or the final chapter for this year I think in ‘If My Daughter Ever Complains About Her Childhood I Will Refer Her To This Blog’.
We spent the weekend at Lake Chelan, about three and a half hours drive from Seattle, high in the Cascade mountains, where the cooler temperate coastal climate of Seattle and its surroundings meets the desert of Eastern Washington. The climate and landscape seemed very Mediterranean and the lake itself reminded me a little of the northern reaches of Lake Garda in Italy, though sadly without the charming jewel-like lakeside towns and delightful Italian restaurants.
Much kayaking and swimming – in crystal-clear lake and pool – was accomplished and a great time was had by all. And a good job too, because we got back to find that autumn has finally arrived with a vengeance in Seattle. The words ‘freaking cold’ came to mind this morning.
We’ve got no more weekend trips planned (at least until the end of the month, when the Minx and I need to go to Canada to renew our visas) and I’m relishing the idea of hunkering down a bit with knitting and house stuff – it’s been a long, long, but utterly fabulous summer.
It’s a busy month round here – both the Husband and I have birthdays and it’s also our wedding anniversary - so we decided to both take the day off work and go on ‘hot date’ instead.
Can anyone tell me why we haven’t done this before? It felt so deliciously naughty and decadent and we didn’t even need a babysitter, just friends who were kind enough to pick the Minx up from school.
Despite the fact that we live close to Seattle’s Lake Union and are constantly buzzed by the seaplanes flying overhead, the Husband had never been on one (I did here, but it’s not quite the same in February), so we decided to book a flight out to Roche Harbor on San Juan Island.
I do keep forgetting what a ridiculously beautiful corner of the world I accidentally ended up in.
It’s expensive, but on a beautiful day I can’t recommend this highly enough to anyone living in the Pacific Northwest. It truly was one of the most awesome things I’ve ever done in my life.
It’s my birthday today and Seattle is rewarding me with the most glorious sunny day imaginable.
The long hot summer of 2009 continues its magic, I’ve picked myself some flowers from the garden, and I’m feeling very lazy, very grateful and very content.
Real birthday celebrations are happening tomorrow, so I can spend the day with Minx, and then on Monday both the Husband and I are taking a day off to go on a very exciting hot date, of which more anon.
See you on Tuesday!
Cute antique milk bottle vase is from Casapinka’s fabulous new Etsy store.
Or, yet another chapter from ‘If My Daughter Dares Complain About Her Childhood, I Will Refer Her To This Blog’.
This has been a record-breakingly fabulous summer in Seattle and this weekend we headed to the beach to cook sausages and watch the sun go down.
So here is the new sofa in situ. It is as comfy as hell, IMMENSELY practical, extraordinarily well -made and we are thrilled to bits with it. Thanks Couch Seattle!
You will note that we’ve also taken your advice – you were right of course - and bought a new rug for that end of the room so that the coffee table sits on it correctly and moved the green rug to the dining area. We also moved the green curtains to that end of the room to give a bit of colour and raised the curtain pole so that they hang better and give more of an illusion of height.
Things Still To Be Done About Which We Need to Talk
- Paint the walls. I have a completely different colour in mind from the last time we discussed this and am going to get samples this weekend.
- Reframe and move the artwork. Commission or buy huge and expensive piece of art (ha ha! – Ed) or at the very least do SOMETHING with the wall above the sofa.
- Replace (or possibly just paint?) the incredibly ugly door on the left which leads straight out onto the porch.
- Do something about the light fixtures, about which we have still done nothing since last we spoke.
- Crochet the sofa a beautiful present.
- Learn how to style photos better and at least smooth down the cushions on the couch before photographing it.
There is much to discuss and much to do. But we are getting there slowly.
The weather is supposed to be glorious this weekend which I suspect will be the Seattle summer’s last hurrah. So we are going to go out and PLAY!
The only thing I have really been able to achieve this summer is a ton of knitting. I was inspired by all the fabulous patterns on Ravelry to embark on a cardigan for myself, the first time I’ve knitted an adult-sized cardigan or sweater since I was at college (more years ago than I care to remember).
This Featherweight Cardigan was a really quick, simple and pleasurable knit, particularly as it was the first thing I’ve made out of yarn dyed by a Seattle-based woman who goes by the name of Sundara. The woman is a colour genius and I’ve recently been bankrupting the family buying up her limited edition yarns, but the colours, oh the colours are a-maz-ing. I will blog about her separately as she really is an artist who deserves to be seen by knitters and non-knitters alike.
But I digress. This cardigan was made in Sundara’s soft and sumptuous Fingering Silky Merino in a limited edition colourway ‘Macedonia’ and, with its variegation from dark to light blue with little flecks of pale ‘foam’ on top, it was just knitting up the sea. The photos really don’t do justice to the depth of the blue and how it glows in the sunlight. Full project details on Ravelry as usual.
These pics were taken by my friend Kassandra at Seattle’s Golden Gardens beach on the last beach day before school started. Our kids are rioting gently somewhere a few yards out of shot.
While we’re on the subject of rebooting and reclaiming one’s life after the baby years, looking at these pictures I think I also really need to start reclaiming my body – it seems a bit much to be carrying ‘baby weight’ when the baby is nearly five.
I’ve been hampered in my efforts to exercise recently by lack of time and crippling plantar fasciitis -an excruciating pain at the bottom of my foot, which I think has been indirectly caused by twisting my ankle very badly a couple of years ago. At the moment the best exercise for me appears to be yoga, so I’m committing to doing a bit of yoga (either a class or a video) every day for the rest of September. I used to do quite a bit of yoga before the Minx was born, and it’s horrible to realise how inflexible I’ve become.
This is apparently what our new sofa looked like before it left the manufacturer. So fabulous to see it with the cone legs at last. It looks even better than I thought it would. Ameer and his team have done an incredible job.
It should be delivered next week, so then we get to see it in situ and sit in it. Can’t wait!
Dawn Bassett of Seattle-based LiT Shades makes bespoke lampshades for any room in the house, using designer fabrics such as Marimekko, or custom letterpress printing.
Until 7th August Dawn is running a competition on her blog where you can win your very own custom couture lampshade. All you need to do is send in a picture of a lamp in need of a revamp and Dawn will pick one to crown with its own special bespoke shade.
I mention this by way of a public service announcement because I love my readers, though I don’t particularly want any of you to enter as I’ve just entered my own sadly neglected Ebay lucite lamp. Anyway, if you must, full details of how to enter are here.
A lamp in need of a vamp.
We went, we saw, we bought. AND there was air-conditioning. What more could you ask for?
UCU has grown up. It still has a pleasantly friendly and chaotic vibe, but there was so much more stuff that was actually worth buying. Still a lot of felt though.
Here are a few images of the Uprising. I’ll talk about some of the individual stallholders over the course of the week.
Just a quick reminder for Seattle-based peeps that the first ever summer Urban Craft Uprising is taking place tomorrow and Sunday at the Seattle Center.
I got to a UCU a couple of years back when I first arrived in Seattle and found it to be a charming mishmash of the homespun, the bizarre and the fabulous. Included in the fabulous this time round will be Dave Sheely Designs and the Cakespy herself.
Oh I’ve have been a very naughty blogger recently. I’ve been struggling a bit keeping all the balls in the air while the Minx has been on summer vacation and to top it all Seattle has been having a mini-heatwave this summer culminating in a record-breaking temperature of 103 degrees yesterday (that’s 39.5 degrees in real money) .
I realise this is nothing compared with what many people elsewhere in the US go through, but you have to remember that most places in Seattle, including our house, don’t have air conditioning. So we’ve been getting through it with a combination of cool baths, evening swims in the lakes, sleeping in our new tent on the roofdeck, moaning about the weather and generally finding it difficult to achieve anything.
There’s some potentially exciting stuff going on in the background though, of which more later, and I’m intending to relaunch the blog somewhat when the Minx goes into full-time education starting in September! I’m such a bad mother, but I really cannot wait…
In the meantime, here are some pictures I took of the lavender festival in Sequim on the Olympic Peninsula. Sequim (pronounced ‘Squim’) is in the rainshadow of the Olympic Mountains and has a uniquely dry micro-climate for these parts, which is apparently very similar to that of Provence and has become the centre of a burgeoning lavender production area.
Sorry for light bloggery recently - it's the interminable school vacation here and while we're having lots of fun in the sun, there really isn't much opportunity to get to a computer.
Last weekend, as usual, was filled with preparations for our annual Fourth of July firework party on our roofdeck, for which I ended up baking 113 mini-cupcakes, two huge clafoutis with cherries from our tree and one enormous strawberry and raspberry pavlova (which I will blog about separately).
Here are the cupcakes in action (with a glimpse of one of the clafoutis to the bottom right of the bottom image)
Here is the view on a gorgeously warm and balmy moonlit night.
And here is the ISO button on my camera breaking just before I was going to take pictures of the main event.
This is probably around a quarter of the cherries we've pulled off the tree in the last few days and there's still more to come. We're eating till we're fit to burst, giving them away and made an immense clafoutis at the weekend (which I didn't get a chance to take pictures of before it was gobbled up). We'll also be making jam before long.
But, I think we're still in need of cherry recipes. Any good ones?
So we've made a decision.
We're going with the Deep sofa below from Couch Seattle, though we're going to switch out the wooden plinth underneath for mid-century style cone feet and the whole thing will be in buttery soft ivory leather. The leather was a bit of an indulgence, and in all honesty I'm not really a leather sofa person at all, but it did seem the most supremely practical option with a Minx in the house - our existing white slip-covered sofa really does look horrific nowadays.
We partly made this decision because this is one of the few sofas we were able to sit on and test - and goodness me is it comfortable - but also on the basis of a long email discussion with Ameer at Couch. That man knows his couches.
I'm reproducing one of his emails here as I believe the advice he gives might be useful to anyone else currently buying a sofa, but also because this sort of exemplary and helpful customer service really needs to be celebrated.
Over to Ameer (the below is his email in response to my previous sofa post). I've included mini-pics of the sofas he is referring to, so we can follow the argument.
'It seems you want a modern or mid-century sofa that sits like a big lounger - which is a bit of a challenge.
Mid-century styles like the Petrie and Jasper
are a bit more upright. Not familiar with how the Jasper sits but it mimics the depth and geometry of the Petrie so I assume they sit the same-which is to say well, but hardly plush, which is what you liked about my Deep model.
For reference the Deep is 40" while the Jasper and Petrie are both 36"- and the Deep features down blend in the back and seat while neither the Petrie or Jasper do. Styles like that are both all about the straightness of the line, which down would compromise.
As for the 51 , the other style you scanned, I dig it but simply don't dig it as much as the Deep. Seeing both in person in California the Deep was a fair bit more modern and eye-catching. I don't think it's necessarily rounder by any means than the Deep.
The Rae and Nina are both nice looking but the Nina
is only 75" wide, while the Ray looks from here like it sits stiff (and being only 32" will sit quite shallow).
The Danner is pretty (but again shallow) and undoubtedly well made but you're paying maybe $1,500 to get the Adler label. I could do the Nina and probably the Danner as well. But since you've mentioned you want loungy comfort I might encourage you to look at options that include back pillows.
Byward is an awkward knock-off of a B&B Charles.
It looks awkward because the seat cushion is too fat by about an inch - and the back cushions need a touch of space between them so you can see the frame. The Charles needs to be knocked off perfectly to look good. An inch off here and an inch off there and it's not so very pretty at all
Movie sofais good but CB2 quality isn't quite the same as that of the CB main line - and the problem with a sofa like that is that you NEED lots of cushions to put behind you and while lots of throw pillows are nice to look at, they can drive one crazy trying to find the right arrangement on dvd night. Sleek yet plush is really kind of a difficult thing to do.
The Frigerio line at Limn is amazing yet Italian made with prices to match. Restoration Hardware has some great designs, but perhaps a little too traditional for your taste and they're overpriced and Chinese built. Kasala and Alchemy are always options for some contemporary styling, but you undoubtedly visited since they're both on the same street I am. Hmmm. Given your parameters I dunno where'd I'd get a sofa if I didn't get it from me.
If I didn't have 10k for Frigerio (which I don't) I'd probably go for a Steele from CB (which would fit with your room aesthetic). It's got a nice sleek look and in my opinion sits better than the Petrie.
I'm also of the mind that the aggressively mid century style of the Petrie won't age as well as a more updated style like the Steele. You could also get the Steele in time for your parents in a suitable fabric since it's stocked in a nubby polyester. The Petrie is stocked in a cotton which just isn't the right call for you given the Minx. To change out the cotton to the leather on the Petrie you're going to be waiting till well after your parents have come and gone.
I'm going through my databanks here for a good source for a deep, stylish, plush, sofa and coming up blank.
Best I can do is the CB Lounge which is stocked in a stain resistant poly velvet. Yup, that's my story and I'm sticking to it - though that one is 46" deep so will have a large footprint in a not so very wide room. I really did try!
To answer your question I've got the exact spec for both the Petrie, Jasper, and Movie but I'm not in love with any of them. I'll take another look at my resources and see if I can't suggest a couple others. For a really progressive piece that looks fantastic and sits well, I really am a big fan of the Deep. I think it would look right at home in one of my neighboring boutiques at 3x the price.
ameer
The inlaws have booked their flights out to visit us this August and we are now panicking because our crummy thirteen-year-old sofa is in a state of severe delapidation and is hugely uncomfortable. I suspect rather too much of this is to blame.
So, a new sofa must be procured.
This Saturday we went along to Couch in Seattle, whose owner Ameer was really helpful and incredibly passionate about sofas (see also this write-up on Apartment Therapy ). He has a range of sofas which are eco-friendly, completely customisable and competitively priced, plus he can get sofas made 'inspired' by those at the big box stores, but again customised to your own requirements.
So here are some sofas I like. I find that I'm drawn to a sort of mid-century vibe (definitely want feet) but it needs to be incredibly comfortable and relaxing and not the sort of sofa that makes you sit bolt upright. Any other ideas? Are there any other aspects I should be taking into consideration? Anyone got any experience sitting on any of the below? I'm thinking of shapes at the moment rather than upholstery colours/fabrics/prices, though if anyone knows of any mid-century styled slipcover sofas I'd be all ears.
Jasper at Room & Board, $1,299
Movie Sofa at CB2, $999
Byward at Velocity, $1,800
Petrie at Crate & Barrel, $1.499
Rae at Chiasso $1,598
Nina at Maine Cottage, $1,700 - $2,590
Danner, at Jonathan Adler, $3,800
Finally, here are a couple of ideas they had a Couch, both of which can be made up in a gorgeous buttery soft ivory leather, which I'm very drawn too due to the practicality aspect. (Excuse the quality of these, they're scans of scans). I'd get the feet changed on both of these though.
Oh and here's reminder of the room it's going in. An no, we still haven't painted the walls.
When the landscapers were doing the hardscaping for our back garden we asked them to build a fence in order to corral the Minx.
They left us with an large orange structure which we naively believed would soon fade to an attractive weathered grey.
I don't know what the wood was treated with, but we waited and waited. And the other new wood such as the trellis faded. But still the fence glowed orangely in the corner. (And as you can see it didn't even do a very good job of corraling the Minx).
So about a month ago we bit the bullet, dodged the Spring rain showers and attacked it with the dark brown stain we'd used on the deck. It took forever - it needed two coats and it was a pain in the behind getting under the chicken wire. But in the end it looked like this. I can't tell you what a difference it makes to the whole garden.
Here is a somewhat random picture of a raccoon in the garden at the weekend admiring the fence. (You should have seen us all marvelling when we saw two raccoons - we are SO British).
I've recently come to know Jessie Oleson of Cakespy. She is a Seattle-based artist and illustrator who does cute watercolours showing the adventures of Cuppie, an anthropomorphic cupcake, and also writes the blog Cakespy, where Jessie hunts down various cakes and desserts. At which point I fully understand if you've all fled there en masse and are no longer reading this post.
As part of this month's Wallingford Art Walk Jessie was exhibiting at Trophy Cupcakes showing pictures of Cuppie in various Seattle locations. Given my borderline obsession with Trophy anyway, wild horses couldn't keep the Minx and I from attending.
I did buy a couple of little watercolours which Jessie will be sending to me. In the meantime the above is the promotional postcard for the event, which the Minx absolutely adores and which I will probably also frame for her. She particularly likes the 'Mummy and Minx buying a box of cupcakes' (yes she is fairly familiar with the appearance of a Trophy box) to the left.
If you're in Seattle, Jessie's work will be on display at Trophy through to June 1st. She's also exhibiting at Schmancy in downtown Seattle on Friday evening. For all non-Seattleites, her work is available online here.
I'm back!
Thank you so much for all your good wishes. I was quite taken aback by how badly affected I was by the shock of it all. The first couple of days I was all over the place and after that I was very, very tired - presumably as the adrenaline left my body. Fortunately the only major physical injury was to my tongue, which I managed to bite, and to my jaw, which I think was bruised by the seatbelt and which seemed slightly misaligned and made eating hugely difficult. I've had some bodywork though, and if you are in the Seattle area I can't recommend my chiropractor Dr Ted, who straightened my back out, or the magic fingers of Anne the rolfer - who managed to straighten my jaw out - highly enough.
The car was a complete write-off though, so we're currently in the market for a little practical runaround. My head tells me that I should be getting a little fuel-efficient and practical hatchback, though such things are as rare as hens' teeth in the land of the Hummer, but my heart is telling me to get a VW Beetle. If anyone's got any experiences, good or bad, to share then I'm all ears.
This might have to be a light week of posting, as I've got a lot to catch up on with mirrormirror, but here are some photos from the annual tulip festival in Skagit County that we went to the weekend before last. I'm also writing some posts over on Shelterrific if you can't get enough of me.
The setting isn't remotely as naturally stunning as Seattle's and we spent much of the weekend dodging rain and hail showers, but I came back with serious case of Portland envy.
The architecture is older and therefore more charming to my European eyes, the streets are narrower and more pedestrian-friendly and it just has a cooler and funkier urban vibe, despite being much the smaller city. Just from the clothes people wear you can tell that Portland is a city of artsy types whereas Seattle is the ultimate city of geeks.
Thanks so much for the recommendations, here and on Facebook. Things we really enjoyed - apart from the hotel - include Habibi for great Lebanese food (we used to live near some great Lebanese restaurants in London and its something I really miss); Hot Lips Pizza in the Pearl District for seriously great tasting pizza; Cool Moon Icecream near Jamison Square (the perfect shelter in a hailstorm); Sushiland, also in the Pearl District, for good cheap conveyor belt sushi; Cargo for funky ethnic stuff; Knit Purl for YARN and of course Powell's for books. The Japanese Garden in Washington Park is stunning and the rose garden must be amazing when the roses are actually out. Lots of amazing rhododendrons when we were there though. I also found the Holocaust Memorial, which we wandered into on the off-chance, very moving.
Mostly though we spent out time wandering the streets, admiring the street art, riding the trolley buses and hoping that Seattle's urban planners will someday turn South Lake Union or Georgetown into the Pearl District with better views. Keep your fingers crossed.
This weekend the weather was utterly fabulous, so of course we spent it going to Ikea and doing loads of chores around the house and garden. We are in that in-between stage with lots of half-completed jobs and Ikea flatpack boxes lying round the house, but progress of sorts has been made.
We did take a short break on Sunday to go for lunch at the Volunteer Park Cafe and then for a stroll around Volunteer Park, stopping at the conservatory along the way.
I just happened to have my macro lens on my camera, so it was a good opportunity to get up close and personal on some of the flowers.
Talking of pretty patterns, I know I'm supposed to be doing Weightwatchers, but a couple of these chocolate bars from Seattle Chocolates just happened to fall accidentally into our shopping trolley at the weekend.
Of course I only had one or two squares (who are you kidding? - Ed) but I'm pleased to report that they taste just as gorgeous as they look.
Oh and the below would make an extremely acceptable Easter egg substitute.
Yesterday we went for a walk in Seattle's rather splendid arboretum (say what you like about this city, but it is incredibly good at trees).
It's been a long snowy winter in Seattle terms, so the spring flowers are only just unfurling, but it was a lovely day for a walk with my newly cleaned 60mm lens, which I am very happy to have back in my arms.
I've been using some of these images as desktop backgrounds and if you'd like to do the same, please feel free to nab them (got to my Flickr, select the image, choose 'All Sizes', open the 'Large' size, right click on the image and select 'set as desktop background'). Please remember that all images are my copyright.
Speaking of desktop backgrounds, check out the Kindred collaboration between Holly Becker and Heather 'Ez' Pudewa, who have collaborated with a number of artists to produce free artist desktop backgrounds (also downloadable notecards and gratitude notes).
FINALLY I get to pick some daffs out of the garden. It's been a long, cold winter here in Seattle.
I'm back doing Weightwatchers and getting back on the Wii Fit again as, due to extreme laziness, I haven't lost any weight since I posted this.
This has of course led to every blog I read to enter into a conspiracy to see who can post up the most enticing/intriguing pictures of cupcakes they can find.
So, in a spirit of 'if you can't beat'em, join 'em' and with apologies in advance for sabotaging your diets here they are.
First up gorgeous things from Aussie Hello Naomi {via Whorange}
Then cupcakes that look like burgers, so you can beat two junk food cravings at once (from here {via Twig and Thistle}
Chocolate Guinness cupcakes with Bailey's buttercream (I am SO stealing that idea) to celebrate St Patrick's Day from Trophy Cupcakes (available through March 31st for all Seattleites).
Finally this has been around the blogsphere a bit but I am DETERMINED to make him some day {via Violet Posy}.
When we were talking paint colours recently (still dithering about that and waiting on a couple of samples) a couple of you mentioned my little Matte Stephens painting, which I picked up when Matte gave his talk at the Lab last year. It was originally intended for the Minx's room, but I've decided that I love it far too much to waste it on her.
I bought the picture because, although it's supposed to be a picture of Matte's wife Vivienne, it reminds me of the Minx, and the fir trees and umbrella are just SO Seattle.
Those of you who spend a lot of time in the American blogosphere will certainly have seen Matte's work before - much of his talk at the Lab was about how he had been quietly plodding along with his art for years, before becoming something of an overnight sensation, with lots of interesting projects in the works.
However, for those of you who don't know him so well he has an Etsy shop here full of prints, and a blog here. You can also buy original works here at Velocity. And as of today he is giving away these three new pillows on his blog.
I hope you appreciate how much I love you, as by telling you this I am severely impacting my own chances of winning.
Here's Matte and Vivienne at the Lab last year
Just updating to say that, just in case you're not lucky enough to win, the pillows are on sale at Urban Outfitters at a very reasonable price.
The wonderful lampshades in the house featured below are handmade by Seattle-based designer Jill Smith, owner of Insatiable Studios.
The shades are all meticulously crafted using a papier-mâché process and then decorated with found papers. Her lampshades are available to buy online and her work also adorns several commercial spaces, such as PCC and the Dahlia Lounge here in Seattle and Nordstroms in Chicago.
I really want one for the lucite lamp base I found on Ebay last year which is currently adorned by a VERY dull Ikea lampshade. It's going to have to wait a bit though as I've just had a nasty bill for camera repairs.
Just a quick heads up for Seattle peeps. Firstly there's a sample sale TODAY at the Seattle Design Center in Georgetown. Normally it's open to the trade only, but today it's open to the public with hopefully loads of sale goodies available. We'll be there later this morning.
Secondly the best Italian restaurant in Seattle has, very excitingly, recently opened two blocks from our house in lower Wallingford (just north of Gasworks Park). We went to Cantinetta last night and had the most amazing time - fabulous buzzy ambience, friendly and knowledgeable service, a rustic but airy space in a converted corner brick house and incredible food and wine. The rabbit with wild mushrooms and polenta was one of the best things I've ever eaten in Seattle.
I'll try and do a proper review with photos next time I go, but in the meantime I advise you to run there as fast as your legs can carry you.
If your daughter is as obsessed with bright colour as mine is then I suggest taking a look at Little Overcoat on Etsy.
Made by a woman living on an island in Puget Sound, just a short boat trip from Seattle, these tees and dresses are patched together from vintage and recycled materials, with some new European prints added to the mix.
There are also some boys' designs and some women's tees and skirts which I am VERY tempted by.
Pssssst! All Seattle readers. The Obama cupcakes are back at Trophy Cupcakes for your inauguration celebrations.
This was the snowscene inside...
And this was the snowscene outside...
Very early this morning we were woken by a 'thundersnow' - a thunderstorm and blizzard in one. All very rare for Seattle and particularly for us being so close to the lake. Seattle is now of course completely paralysed with more snow expected at the weekend- will we be able to escape for Christmas?
I know many of you are from the Seattle area, so I wonder if you could consider the following letter from the Superintendent of Seattle Parks and Recreation {via the Instant Hausfrau}. If you're not from Seattle I would imagine the situation will also be pretty much the same wherever you are. Please spread the word if you can.
Here's a picture of the Minx to get you in the mood.
Hello everyone
Each year, several of our community centers host holiday parties for under privileged children. At the parties, children from low-income homes receive toys provided to the community centers by Toys For Tots. This year, Toys For Tots has received so few donations that they have been unable to fulfill our community centers’ requests. You can read more about it here:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2008478478_toysfortots07m.html
As a result, some community centers have had to cancel their holiday parties, and others are scrambling to gather toys.
Seattle Parks and Recreation has more than 650 children this year who are pre-registered for the holiday parties, and who hope to receive a toy. Were it not for this annual party, some children would not receive any presents.
I am asking you to consider donating a new, unwrapped toy to help us meet this overwhelming need. Our most urgent situation is for Garfield Community Center. More than 150 children are pre-registered for a holiday party THIS Friday, December 12. That’s tomorrow. (After center staff were turned away from Toys For Tots this past week, they stopped registering children for the event. So there will probably be more children who just show up for the party without having been registered. We won’t turn anyone away.)
Four other community centers still have holiday parties scheduled in the coming weeks and hope to fulfill their need for toys for these children. If you cannot find time to shop and donate a new, unwrapped toy by tomorrow, there’s still time to help the other community centers.
If you would like to donate a new, unwrapped toy, you can do so at the following locations:
Parks Headquarters, 100 Dexter Avenue N — Kathleen Shaw (684-7050) or Patricia Young (684-4369) RDA Building, 800 Maynard Ave. S — Jacqueline Tabor (684-7044) Densmore Building, 8061 Densmore Ave. N — Brenna Clausen (233-7011)
Thank you for considering this donation.
Tim
p.s. Please forward this email to any friends or family you think can help.
Tim Gallagher
Superintendent
Seattle Parks and Recreation
A few small announcements.
Holly at Decor8 has excellent taste in blogs.
The next meeting of the Grassroots Business Association is this Thursday at 7pm at Vermillion in Seattle. Set up by Megan of Not Martha and The Organized Knitter and Kristen Rask from Schmancy among others, it's for everyone currently owning or thinking of starting their own small business. I hope to see lots of you there.
The fourth annual Urban Craft Uprising is taking place in Seattle on December 6th and 7th at the Seattle Center. I last went two years ago and it was a typically Seattle mix of the homespun, the bizarre and the fabulous, so I'm much looking forward to going again.
We don't usually get good sunsets from our house since it faces southeast (some very fine sunrises though) but this evening there was a sunset that filled the whole sky.
I'm almost embarrassed to tell you about my newest knitting project. Inspired by this blog post I am knitting up a very quick scarf in garter stitch on big fat needles.
I'm using Twinkle Soft Chunky yarn which is 100% pure wool, incredibly soft and only gently spun, so it's very er, woolly and fat. My local yarn shop carries a great range of yarn brands but never chooses the nicest colours so I'm not sure I would necessarily have chosen this pink if all the colours had been available. However, I've ordered some other colours online, as I think I'm going to be making more scarves.
If you want to make one too, I loosely cast on 20 stitches and am knitting it up in garter stitch on size 35 (20mm) needles. My original inspiration suggests size 50 needles, but my yarn shop doesn't stock needles that big. The needles are very ugly and plastic (which does have the benefit of being lightweight) and they're quite tricky to work with. Let's just liken it to knitting candyfloss with telegraph poles. But it really does knit up quick so there is much satisfaction to be gained.
UPDATE: I've just undone everything and reduced the number of stitches to 16 as it was too wide. I'm determined to get one scarf out of one skein of wool. So just scrub the bit about it knitting up quickly...
I promise I'm not being paid to shill for Trophy Cupcakes, but I thought you might like to see some of the essential supplies I bought for tonight's election party.
They told me they'd had over 1,000 pre-orders for the Obama cupcakes and were baking them at the rate of 50 every half hour and still selling out. They weren't making any John McCain photo ones (this is Seattle after all), but did have some with sugar elephants on them which did not seem to be selling...
Before we hit the neighbourhood to collect a quite spectacular quantity of candy, we decided to go trick or treating at the Wallingford Center - a small collection of indie shops housed in a beautiful old wooden school building.
The star turn of the Wallingford Center is Trophy Cupcakes, Seattle's best cupcake shop, which has recently been discovered by Martha Stewart, which had gone to town on Halloween-themed cakes.
Just a quickie for all people who are either running a small business in the Seattle area or thinking of starting something up.
Megan Not Martha has got together with a bunch of folk to set up the Grassroots Business Association providing practical help and emotional support to small business owners. The first meeting is tomorrow Wednesday at 6pm at Vermillion in Seattle. All details are here.
This is incredibly timely for me, as I'm starting to think about setting up 'mirrormirror US' and have absolutely no idea where to begin. I hope to meet some of you tomorrow and a big shout out to Megan and co for getting this ball rolling.
This Saturday we had glorious autumn weather for our annual pumpkin hunt. One of the nicest things about Seattle is that you can drive for about half an hour out of the city and end up somewhere like this. Also known as paradise on earth if you're a small girl who likes to grub about, play with horses, splash in rivers and ride in tractors (not to mention the pumpkin trebuchet which got the Husband childishly excited). Highly recommended if you're in the Seattle area and looking for a good pumpkin patch.
For all Seattle readers, this is just to let you know that tonight's Lab is all about the growth of modern architecture in Seattle and features Richard Corff founder 360Modern. Unfortunately I can't be there yet again (the Minx's new school keeps organising events for new parents on Wednesday evenings, and I feel these should take priority for the moment). But if you go, I know you'll have fun.
For about twelve short but glorious weeks of the year - from the end of June to the middle of September - Seattle is the best place to be on earth.
For the last couple of weeks we've been enjoying the most glorious Indian summer, temperatures in the mid-to-high 70s (around 25 degrees) and cloudless clear blue skies. This weekend was another such but with added poignancy. The slight chill on the breeze in the morning and the leaves starting to turn red round the edges told their own story. The weather is supposed to turn colder by next weekend, so this weekend was full of small goodbyes.
The last strawberry lemonade The last margaritas on the deck
It was also the last chance for some crazy drunken dancing under the stars but I've decided to spare you the photos
Come twilight, on a crisp clear day full of sunshine such as today, I love sitting on the roofdeck and watching the setting sun bounce off the downtown buildings while the lights come on in the streets below.
An hour or so later, the whole scene looks like this.
Just playing with the 'bulb' setting on my camera.
This weekend was spent swimming in crisp, emerald lakes; listening to the wind in the aspens; messing about in boats; gazing in awe at the Milky Way and Jupiter's moons through a telescope; hunting Sasquatch in the woods and swinging on Sky chairs...
.. all courtesy of our lovely friends who have just acquired a rather luxurious log cabin in a valley near Leavenworth.
Sometimes we are very, very lucky indeed.
This month's Lab is tonight at Velocity's South Lake Union showroom as usual.
It features Lauren and Emira talking about their book and website The Boss of You which markets itself as 'everything a woman needs to know to start, run, and maintain her own business.'
I really hope to be there - I feel like I've lost my 'mirrormirror' mojo in recent months and need to be reinspired - though at the moment it's not entirely clear to me how I will manage to fit it in between unpacking, laundry, repacking (we're off to our friends' cabin in the mountains this weekend), Rolfing, training and er, actually working on my business.
Another date for your diary is the next Lab on August 20th which is entitled Bring + Brag - a show and tell night for local creative people to showcase their art, products, or business.
I know that some people who read this blog fit into this category, so this is a golden opportunity to 'market' yourself and your wares to an audience of Seattle creatives, retailers and bloggers among others.
If you want to take part then email the lovely Ali at Velocity and I look forward to seeing you next month.
Or, if this child dares ever to complain about her childhood, I'll refer her here.
God Washington state is BEAUTIFUL sometimes. More pictures on my Flickr.
So around forty adults and an entirely unnecessary number of children under 5 climbed up to our roof deck one balmy summer's night. And this is what they saw...
I yet again had far too many margaritas to be safe in charge of a camera and also forgot to take any pictures of the food or of the extremely cheesy red, white and blue decorations, or of the Stars and Stripes and Union Jack fluttering gently together in perfect harmony.
The Minx rushed around all night waving a Stars and Stripes and being taught to say 'down with the King' by our friends. There will be beheadings.
Seattle excelled itself once again. God bless America.
Preparations are underway for what is rapidly becoming our traditional party to celebrate 'America's birthday' (which is how we explain things to the Minx) or Britain's liberation from the US depending on your perspective.
This year I'll try and stay sober enough to take a few pics. This is the only one from last year which wasn't fatally blurred.
So last Saturday we just hung out in the nabe.
Watched naked people cycle past.
Went for ice cream at the new and very fabulous Molly Moon's (had the balsamic strawberry which was extremely delicious and the salted caramel which was too salty).
And then came home to watch the setting sun bounce off the downtown buildings from the deck.
I'm so glad we moved to this part of Seattle.
Speaking of which, very long time readers may remember me blogging ages ago about Matt whose videos of him dancing all over the world are some of the most watched on You Tube. What I didn't know then is that Matt lives in Seattle and always finishes his videos by dancing near a Seattle landmark (the 2006 video finishes at the Troll which is also just around the corner). The final scene of his latest effort was filmed in Gasworks Park, which is just on the other side of the trees which you can see at the bottom of the picture above.
Unfortunately I found out about the filming a couple of days too late (via the new and very excellent Wallingford Seattle Blog) or else the Minx and I would have been there with bells on (in the figurative sense of course).
Watch the new video and be strangely moved. And look out for the very nice colourful houses in Buenos Aires.
Just a quick reminder that this month's Lab is on tonight between 6pm and 8pm at Velocity's showroom and is going to feature Kristen of Plush You and Schmancy, Hansi of Hansigurumi, and Moxie of Made by Moxie, talking about the rise of the plush movement and crafting in general.
I'm hoping very much to attend, though I'm currently mainlining echinacea and zinc in an attempt to stave off an increasingly spluttery cold. But if you're in the Seattle area it should be a really fun evening as usual.
I'm having a massive clear out ahead of the imminent arrival of my crazy Italian rellies (who hopefully do NOT read this blog) and have decided to limit myself to only a year's worth of magazines.
So if anyone in the Seattle area fancies getting their sticky mitts on back copies (from before June 2007, going back to 2005 in some cases) of Elle Decoration UK, Homes & Gardens UK, Vogue UK, Domino, Real Simple, Elle Decor then please contact me quick before they go in the recycling bin.
The weather in Seattle
The weather in London
The proceeds of any ads shown here will go to charities supporting women in the Third World. If you would like to advertise on this blog please contact me. All ads will be at my discretion.
Contact Endsleigh for Life Insurance in the UK
Recent Comments
You are brave and inspiring, and yes, there is definately a difference. Go Paola!
that calendar is just too cute, i *had* to have it!
very pretty! LOVE the roundabout pic.
There is a definite difference in your photos, way to go!
I am also still at 172, oddly enough my wii says that my cat lost .7 pounds, darn cat! I've given myself a mini-goal of losing 8 pounds by my b-day in early Feb, hopefully that will be a good incentive. Right now I'm alternating between wii fit+ and wii active, when I get my body used to moving again I'm going to try the cardio coach you recommended. See you in January :)
let me just start off by saying you've always looked gorgeous!
no doubt about it you've slimmed down. as we all know, muscle weighs more than fat. also, as you get more healthy, your body distributes your weight more efficiently, which is why the scale may not have changed, but your body definitely did! the proof is in how your clothes fit.
congratulations, paola!