Author: Terumi
How to go to the Whistler Audain Art Museum for free if you are from Seattle
January 24, 2023I checked Whistler for the kids’ mid-winter break and it looks like all of Seattle must be headed there. The prices are sky high! I think President’s Day now coincides with BC’s family day holiday so this is one reason why it’s getting more difficult to visit the area during that time. But there are […]
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Best Western Plus Santa Barbara: an Airbnb alternative for families with a pool
Big checkmark for the Best Western Plus Santa Barbara because it has the pool that all families seem to need when we travel with kids. By teenager stage, the pool is no longer the biggest selling feature for a hotel on a holiday but it’s still something I look for and helps a place rank […]
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Asean Streat in Westlake Center: a unique place to eat in downtown Seattle
January 17, 2023We have been needing a food hall like this in Seattle forever and thank goodness Asean Streat has manifested itself in the heart of our downtown. Westlake Center is such a perfect spot in the center of our city, attached to Climate Pledge Arena and Seattle Center with the Monorail. But it’s been a bit […]
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Three Irish chocolate shops with factories you can visit
January 10, 2023Our family has been interested in chocolate factories ever since the Theo Chocolate factory opened in our Seattle neighborhood ages ago and we learned about the bean-to-bar process. Since then our kids have been to Costa Rica to see chocolate, and visiting chocolate factories have been a big part of our family holidays. Most recently […]
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Kafka’s Coffee in Vancouver BC with a playground next door
January 9, 2023Kafka’s Coffee has been part of our Vancouver adventures for decades now- my best friend baked for them years ago and they have really delicious coffee and food. But the newest Kafka’s Coffee location is so perfect for Vancouver families (and Seattle families visiting Vancouver) so I needed to talk about it here. It’s next […]
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Things to do in Seattle in January
December 30, 2022I just found out we don’t have to jump right into January for Seattle Schools-the Monday falls right after New Year’s so we get until Tuesday to start the year. So will this be the theme of our 2023 year? Can we actually ease into something in our city for once? Will we slowly sip […]
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All about Sean’s Bar, the oldest pub in Ireland and maybe even the world
December 28, 2022Old time Irish pubs remind me of Starbucks in the Pacific Northwest, like where my dad has his Grande Americano every morning with a crew he’s somehow gathered over days that have become years and maybe even decades. I don’t know how we even started looking for the oldest pub in Ireland on our five […]
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If you have Irish heritage and have a chance to visit Dublin make sure you go to the Epic Irish Emigration Museum
December 22, 2022There are many things to do in Dublin and we found out that you can probably do them all if you really want to even if you are only in Ireland for 5 days but you can also choose just to do a few and take your time and even go to Butlers for hot […]
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Schengen countries and why you need to know about them if you travel with your family from the USA
December 19, 2022I love to dream about all the places we’re going to go and often spend my free time looking up flights on Expedia. But we have had a passport mishap before where we found out our kids’ passports had expired just days before we left on a trip so we’ve been very careful about how […]
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Is 5 days enough time for a family to visit Ireland with a direct flight from Seattle to Dublin?
December 18, 2022Yes, travel is about bucket lists and places we dream about. But it’s also about budget too. So when we booked our Ireland trip from Seattle we were actually dreaming about going to Japan. We found that tickets for Japan were on the spendy side and we only had 5 days (with teenagers who have […]
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Unboxing and using our Lomi Home Composter for the very first time
December 14, 2022I was gifted a Lomi Home Composter and this post contains affiliate links and as always the viewpoints in this post are my own. I also have a coupon code for a free skylight with purchase. Add Lomi and a Skylight to your cart. Apply code: emeraldcitylife at checkout. We are trying out the Lomi […]
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My most favorite Seattle thing from 2022: Noir Lux Candle Company
December 12, 2022Maybe we can people again. It has been so hard not to people in the past couple years. And thankfully this year it finally feels like we’re starting to be able to make plans to meet friends and family and there is so much hope. We’ve been able to have so many first-time-in-way-too-long reunions and […]
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My Lomi home composter Journey
December 7, 2022This post contains affiliate links as I have partnered with the Lomi home composter to try this out and as always the opinions on this blog are my own. Have you heard of Lomi? Today my Lomi home composter arrived and I’m so excited to try it out. This machine comes from my home province […]
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Things to do in Seattle in December
December 5, 2022This year, I’m starting to work on this list in November-who am I?!! But I’m starting to get messages about December things so I’m putting them slowly on the list and maybe when December starts I’ll actually have some things for all of us to do. And maybe it’s okay to not do it all […]
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Our Seattle favorite things of 2022 for all of your holiday lists
November 30, 2022Who says that the holidays need to be hectic? I love December for celebrating and reflecting on all the joys of the year. This year I’m really thankful to have partnered with many local shops and activities that have become part of my family’s daily life in Seattle. And many of these places will be […]
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Learning about Organic Valley Milk with Moms Meet
November 26, 2022I received Organic Valley Milk to try for free from Moms Meet to use and post my honest opinions. Compensation for this post was provided and this page may contain affiliate links. If the world have never shut down, maybe we might not have taken notice to all the intricate ways our lives are connected. […]
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Things to do in November in Seattle
November 1, 2022I love November because it starts off holiday season and even in October, I start to get a bunch of November notifications in my inbox. We should all sip at least a million pumpkin cream cold brews to ward off any early snow in Seattle and so far we’ve been lucky but it is suddenly […]
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Because I keep getting asked where to stay in Vancouver BC if you’re traveling from Seattle with a dog
October 31, 2022How many of us added furry family members in the past couple years? Scout, our yorkie poo pup joined our family in May 2020 and our travel life has not been the same since. Thankfully, Vancouver BC where we we grew up is only a 3 hour road trip from Seattle and as of October […]
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Things you might want to know about the Westin Anaheim Hotel across from Disneyland if you book with Amex Fine Hotels and Resorts
October 17, 2022It seems like bookings with Amex Fine Hotels and Resorts are popular at the Westin Anaheim Resort because that is the tone we felt when we checked in. And we were apparently way too early when we checked in but we just wanted to drop our bags and head to Disneyland. And sometimes we get […]
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These are the things I learned from booking at trip to Disneyland last minute from Seattle with my teenage kids
October 10, 2022One of my dearest friends I went to university with in Vancouver BC had a trip to Disneyland planned with her family this October and we had to cancel a big trip together in 2020 (it was supposed to be to Newfoundland) so we decided last-minute that it would be fun to tag along. She […]
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