An Emerald City Life

Best Advent Calendar 2024 Watchlist

Just like Halloween and Christmas start slowly sneaking into summer, annual advent calendars start popping up earlier and earlier every year too. I’m not sure what I’ll be doing for this year’s calendar yet but there are a few that have caught my eye. I’ll add the ones I see to the list below and […]

Chicago Sightseeing with CityPASS and how to visit the Chicago Art Institute in under an hour

Nearly every year or even a few times a year my husband has to travel to Chicago and I’m always a little envious when he goes-Chicago is such a fun city to visit and my favorite trip there was right at the end of 2019. Recently I had the chance to tag along again and […]

The Anchor Hotel in Fukuyama: a cool hotel a train-ride away from Tokyo with a castle nearby

Fukuyama would never have been on my radar if it didn’t have a Shinkansen that would take us back to Tokyo after visiting my relatives in Kochi on Shikoku Island in Japan (about 3.5 hours). The Anchor Hotel looked like a cool place to stay and Fukuyama seemed like the best place to stop at […]

Staying at the Mimaru Hotels Asakusa Station on a trip to Tokyo with teenagers

We’ve traveled to Tokyo several times with our kids over the years but Japan travel has changed a ton since pre-2020. We finally made it back this August as part of a trip to see family in Singapore and the south of Japan and it turned out that this kind of trip with teenagers is […]

Visiting the Seattle Aquarium and Space Needle with a Seattle C3 CityPASS

My niece had been wanting to see the Space Needle forever and we promised her that one day we’d go. This summer we finally made this happen on a beautiful sunny day when my sister and her twins came to Seattle. I looked up various admissions for all the things we wanted to do (and […]

If you go to Japan in August you might need waterproof hiking shoes

Sometimes there are things you don’t always think about needing on a trip when you go to a place with weather vastly different from where you are coming from. On a recent trip to Japan in August my family found out about the typhoon season and how summer rain there can literally come out of […]

Transformers One: an Interview with Chris Hemsworth and Brian Tyree Henry

Childhood me who just-a-million-times-more-than-a-teeny-bit wanted to be a reporter one day would have screamed a little if I told her I interviewed Optimus Prime and Megatron this afternoon. And I even got to chat with the two of them in the same room not trying to kill each other. It feels like so many of […]

An interview with Hannah Shankman who is Fanny Brice in the Funny Girl musical coming to Seattle and then all across America

*just an update* I went to the opening night in Seattle (September 24th) and Hannah’s Fanny Brice was incredible! She literally becomes Fanny Brice: her vocal range is phenomenal, she is hilarious and endearing, the costumes are sensational and this Funny Girl is the type of musical you want to see if you love musicals […]

Poutine is on the menu at Seattle Kraken hockey games this year

I was invited to Climate Pledge Arena for the media preview of the food scene for this year’s Seattle Kraken season. It’s year four for the Kraken at Climate Pledge Arena and of course my family is very excited about hockey-the first game we ever went to was in December of 2021. Coming from Canada, […]

Why childhood vaccinations are so important for my family (and yours too)

this is sponsored post about vaccinations on behalf of the Washington State Department of Health. All opinions are my own. I don’t think anybody ever thinks they’re going to get really sick. But about a year and a half ago, I got a diagnosis that ultimately changed my life forever and last year vaccinations became […]

Is staying at the Atlantis Bahamas on Paradise Island really overrated?

I was told that staying at the Atlantis Bahamas was overrated at least a handful of times when I mentioned to people I was going to Nassau. But I remember dreaming about the Atlantis Bahamas since I first saw it in travel photos. I think the towering pink arched building is one of the most […]

All about the new Museum of Illusions in Seattle

A few weeks ago I was invited to work with the new Museum of Illusions with my Instagram and I ended up having such a great time I thought I’d share here too. The Museum of Illusions in Seattle is a franchise of a chain of museums that now has around 50 branches around the […]

Shopping adidas men’s sneakers for my teenagers for summer trips

This post featuring men’s sneakers is sponsored by adidas. All opinions are my own. Blink and suddenly my babies are teenagers and their feet are way bigger than mine. We have been buying men’s shoes for them for a while now and I don’t remember when this happened but maybe sometime in middle school. (I loved […]

Have you heard of Del Corazón from Seattle, a meal solution for busy families? 

This is a sponsored post featuring easy meals and sides for Del Corazón.  All opinions are my own.  I was recently introduced to Del Corazón, a new brand of Latin-inspired frozen entrees and sides from Seattle-based InnovAsian.  Because this is a Seattle company, I was instantly intrigued and wanted to try these products with my family. I think they are a […]

Shopping women’s running shoes with adidas for the summer

The oldest tofu maker Ota Tofu in the USA is in Portland just in case you want to go there too

I had no idea the significance of tofu in Portland until I walked into the door of Ota Tofu last month. And Ota Tofu was not in my plans at all. I was at a travel conference and I only had about 24 hours in Portland and I found a mural nearby I wanted to […]

A quick and easy breakfast with Yoplait Strawberry Yogurt

This post is sponsored by The National Frozen & Refrigerated Foods Association (NFRA). All opinions are my own. For more inspiration during #JuneDairyMonth, be sure to check out delicious ideas from NFRA at EasyHomeMeals.com #JDM2024 Can we talk about all the things us parents need to get done throughout the week? And breakfast is one of those daily tasks […]

All the Strawberry fields near Seattle I was recommended on Threads

My friend and I took our boys berry picking together maybe 10 years ago and wanted to recreate the day before our giant teens can drive together without us. I thought we would go to Duris Farm, a farm that feels the closest to where we live in Seattle. Unfortunately it wasn’t open the day […]

Ultraman, an Otamatone and a trip to Japan

If I talk to anyone about travel lately, it seems like they’re planning to go or have just returned from a trip to Japan. (Have you been to Japan?) And our family actually has a trip to Japan booked later this summer too and I’m excited to revisit since we haven’t been in so many […]

Staying two nights at the Westin Grand Frankfurt on a Five night trip to Germany

How do you choose where you go on a trip and where you want to stay? Our five night trip to Germany from Seattle was planned based on a school schedule, a football game and the ability to use airline miles to book the trip as well as Frankfurt having a nonstop flight from Seattle. […]

The time I took my teenage son to Frankfurt Germany by myself

Ever since our twins were babies we’ve tried to do as much together as a family as we can. My husband had just started as an attending at a busy hospital when our guys were born and after years of residency and med school it now meant even more call, more presentations, and more responsibilities […]