Hands raised only half for truly opting outside this weekend. I didn’t. I couldn’t help myself. The sun was shining fantastically on Friday and I do love a good parade.
And my family couldn’t help but check out the Seattle Center festivities too. I’m so excited to take my guys ice skating here this winter and they loved seeing the Armory all fancied up for the holidays. And Seattle Center in the sunshine? Now that is truly magical!
I was also thrilled to watch the Smell-O-Vision version of Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory that we just finished reading together. This was such a great way to introduce this classic movie to my kids and I loved how SIFF made this so interactive and fun. There were lots of little treats and surprises throughout the movie and I can’t believe the movie has been around for almost 50 years!
So we didn’t really get outside but we didn’t really shop either. Thankfully a lot of sales are so much easier to shop online than in crazy, crowded stores and the mountains are always calling so I know we’ll be truly outdoors soon enough.
But there’s one sale I really want to go out of my way to attend.
On Saturday, December 5th 20 15 in Seattle there is a neat sale going on at the Gates Foundation Visitor Center that I don’t want to miss. They will be hosting a pop-up shop, a Giving Marketplace, and all of the vendors will be donating a portion of their sales to various causes around the world. I love this type of shopping because it satisfies my shopping needs and also fills my heart. It’s nice when gifts I give others (and myself) do a little good too. I know Glassbaby will be there and Ten Thousand Villages too.
And If you want to give back to the world somehow and can’t make the sale, Giving Tuesday is also a day to put on your calendar. It always seems to start around the time some of the first boxes from pre-Black Friday purchases begin appearing at my door and it always feels better to put a little good out there to balance the shopping madness.
Have you heard about Giving Tuesday and do you have a favorite place to shop that gives back? And did you opt outside or shop this weekend, or a little of both like me?
Terumi Pong is a Seattle-based family travel writer and mom of twin teenage boys. She loves coffee and pastries, shopping local and looking for greener ways to live. She is also known as Scout’s mom (Scout is a 5ish pound little black yorkie-poo)
I was not aware of the Gates Foundation event, that was a wonderful bit of information and I now plan to attend. I always find myself wanting to do more after I have spent a bit of time in the center.
I actually just heard about “Giving Tuesday” today for the first time. This is the second time I’m hearing about it and I want to learn more and give! Nice post, and thanks for the reminder to give back!