DAILY LIFE

Athenian Residences in Athens Greece a great hotel for families with teenagers

Staying at the Athenian Residences in Athens for the first part of our trip from Seattle to Greece with our teens in April

June 14, 2023

A trip to Greece was one of my family’s dream trips and we finally made it happen this year. It’s a place that does not have a direct flight from Seattle so it is a more difficult type of place to plan a trip from where we live especially if it’s a trip where time […]

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youth ride public transit for free in Washington state and Seattle with ORCA card

All about how youth ride buses, ferries and light rail for free in Seattle with the ORCA card

June 9, 2023

I recently worked on an instagram campaign with King Country metro where I learned that Washington State is the first state in the USA where youth can ride free until their 19th birthday. Since late 2022, thanks to Move Ahead Washington which is a statewide transportation funding package, transit is free for riders 18 and […]

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Pike place market in one of our favorite Seattle places if not everyone's

All the Seattle places we like to visit from May to maybe October

June 5, 2023

Why on earth is this Seattle list only for May to October? Is it the weather? Is it school holidays? Or is it because this is the time when all the cruise ships come to our city? From May to October in Seattle, our city feels like we get a little more packed. And I […]

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using citibikes in NYC with the lift app

How to bike ride all over New York City for $15 a day with Citi Bike and the Lyft app

I always thought New York City was a walking city. “We walked 25000″ steps a day!” people always say when you ask them how their NYC trips went. So after our last trip, using a Citi Bike Daypass and the Lift app, we definitely still got in nearly 25000 steps a day but we also […]

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#summerinslu pop up in South Lake Union Seattle

Things to do in Seattle in June

May 31, 2023

Hello June, have we really have made it here this year? Seattle schools gets out near the end of the month and it truly doesn’t feel real yet after the last few soggy days. There are definitely a lot of things things to do in June in Seattle though (like have you been somewhere to […]

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nashville hot chicken

A Nashville hot chicken tour with my twin teenagers for mid-winter break

Timing and life doesn’t always give you what you want, and my husband had a work conference during our mid-winter break in Nashville. Nashville?!! My twin teenagers were not the most enthusiastic about this trip. Being from Seattle, February usually has us dreaming of somewhere warm like Hawaii. And mid-winter break can be a longer […]

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Oia on Santorini for one night on our Greece Trip

A 10 day family Greece trip Itinerary from Seattle with teenagers

May 22, 2023

I wish I could take more credit for this itinerary but I planned very little of this 10 day Greece trip. I didn’t think I’d actually get to go because I was diagnosed with a rare autoimmune disease at the end of last year and I’ve been undergoing treatments. So I didn’t want to plan […]

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Do you love bread? Essential Bakery in Seattle has beautiful bread?

Essential Baking Company, perhaps the most historical bread starter in Seattle?

May 10, 2023

A few months ago I posted a couple of my frequent Costco purchases in my Instagram Stories.  For the cabin I always purchase this Essential Baking Company bread because it lasts FOREVER in your cupboard and when you want fresh bread immediately you bake it in the oven for about 15 minutes and it turns […]

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Hilton Seattle with two kids and a yorkie poo pup for a Seattle Kraken game

Things to do In Seattle in May

May 1, 2023

So here are a few things to do in May in Seattle: Studio Tours on Camano Island for Mother’s Day weekend If mom or you loves art, Camano Island is only about an hour’s drive away from Seattle. The Open Studio tour weekend has been happening for 24 years and this year you can stop […]

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Seattle mariners stadium in the stadium district one of our cool Seattle neighborhoods

Things to do in Seattle in April

April 3, 2023

If April showers bring May flowers what might snow showers in April bring? (And let’s hope it’s only sun showers in Seattle from now on) April is such a great time to be in Seattle with all the flowers showing off, baseball season beginning and a little lull in the city just before the first […]

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hidden worlds laika films exhibition at mopop Seattle

Hidden Worlds: The Films of LAIKA World Premiere Exhibition at MOPOP in Seattle

March 17, 2023

Even if you haven’t seen any LAIKA films you’ll probably want to stop by and see this new exhibition at Seattle’s MOPOP, especially if you are curious about how stop-motion movies are made. Hidden Worlds: The films of LAIKA is having its world premiere exhibition at the MOPOP and it will be there through summer […]

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zebras at woodland park zoo in Seattle

Why a Woodland Park Zoo membership in Seattle is a very good idea

March 15, 2023

When is the last time you went to Woodland Park Zoo? I grew up in Vancouver BC, and even though Seattle is a three hour drive away, my parents would always get a membership for the zoo so it was a big part of my childhood and now it’s a big part of my kids’ […]

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costa coffee at seatac airport in Seattle

Costa Coffee is at SeaTac Airport and you can get it 24/7 there too

March 11, 2023

A few weeks ago I was invited to Seatac Airport where Costa Coffee has arrived in the N gate area. Seatac is the first airport in the USA for this UK-based Costa Coffee. And Costa Coffee represents one more new stop for travelers to get excited about at Seattle’s bustling airport. It feels like every […]

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Dear Evan Hansen at the Paramount Theatre in Seattle

Dear Evan Hansen the musical at Seattle’s Paramount Theatre

March 9, 2023

There are plays that you go to watch for fun and there are the plays you go to think about life, one of my 14-year old sons tell me on the way home from Dear Evan Hansen.  So was the play ok?  Yes. It was good. Just Evan was really cringe. Cringe? Like he tried […]

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Ireland coffee at bean hive cafe in Dublin

Places to stay in Dublin if you travel to Ireland with teenagers

March 3, 2023

I used to think that the twin baby stage was the hardest stage of family travel but traveling now with teenagers is challenging all my prior beliefs. We love how our guys can pack and carry their own things, help plan the trip and they are way better at waiting and dealing with unplanned things […]

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university of Washington cherry blossoms in Seattle

Things to do in Seattle in March

March 1, 2023

How many of us dreamed we’d be shoveling snow in Seattle in March? I think most of us have our fingers crossed that we won’t have to but after the weekend snow we got here it feels like there’s a chance. March in Seattle feels like it’s when our city starts to collectively wake up […]

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designing motherhood exhibit at the Gates Discovery Center

Designing Motherhood at the Gates Foundation Discovery Center in Seattle

February 28, 2023

We have until the end of December 2023 to see the Designing Motherhood exhibit that just opened at the Gates Foundation Discovery Center in Seattle and we all really need to see it. This powerful exhibit examines birth and pregnancy and our own relationship with the subject-we are all products of birth after-all. What to […]

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Oxnard california mural near La Gloria on the Taco Trail

All about the Taco Trail in Oxnard California

February 11, 2023

This should really be called “All about three places on the Taco Trail” in Oxnard California because we only got as far as three places before our bellies were too full to eat anything else. My family arrived in Oxnard on our trip with Visit Oxnard on an extremely rainy and unusually weatherful weekend and […]

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best dessert at madonna inn in San Luis Obispo California

Best dessert combo to order from Madonna Inn in SLO

February 8, 2023

Have you ever heard of the Madonna Inn? Maybe you’ve seen the Madonna Inn from viral videos on the internet and they’ve popped up in my instagram feed too but I had no idea I would ever visit. This is a hotel famous for its over the top decor and individually decorated rooms-there are 110 […]

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putting gum on Bubblegum alley in SLO another gum wall than the one we know in Seattle

The Gum Wall in Seattle, Bubblegum Alley in SLO and how these relate on Feb 3

February 3, 2023

Did you know Feb 3rd is National Bubble Gum day? I had no idea until it started popping up in my social media feeds today. As a Seattleite, bubble gum is something I always think about when I go to Pike Place Market because we have a Gum Wall there. And then I recently went […]

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