seattle

I washed my face with oil and I liked it

January 29, 2014

A couple weeks ago a friend at my kids’ gym class passed me a sample kit from a Seattle-based skincare company called Kari Gran. “I LOVE this stuff!” she said. “Have you heard of cleansing oils?” Yes, yes, I have. They’re in all of my magazines lately, and I was definitely skeptical. I have combination […]

giant donuts at george's bakery in north bend

When your sandwich comes with surprise pie at George’s Bakery (North Bend, Washington)

January 27, 2014

Perhaps this was the most delicious meal of the weekend: We stopped in North Bend for lunch on the way to Snoqualmie Pass; once again we were on a quest for snow. I remembered that George’s bakery does the cookies for our favorite Seattle Christmas tree farm, Christmas Creek and I saw that the restaurant […]

A nice day being a Stay-at-Home mom

January 25, 2014

A couple months ago, I got some really traumatic news that my high school’s time capsule was being dug up about 20 years prematurely because they are in the process of re-building the school. In the time capsule a couple hundred students in my class (including me!) had written letters to ourselves in the future […]

24 hours of snow at the Suncadia Resort in Washington State

January 17, 2014

We are so snow starved in Seattle right now. Ever since that icy cold week a few months back where we were teased with just a little hint of snow in our yard (and yes, I let the kids go out even though it was SUPER early!) we haven’t got ANYTHING. So when I heard […]

Trying to get a shot of the Seattle Great Wheel with kids in tow

January 13, 2014

I’m trying to steel up my courage to ride the Great Wheel sometime this new year. I had it on my summer bucket list but managed to avoid it along with Great Wolf Lodge which I hope we never have to go to. And then I developed an irrational fear of elevators that I desperately […]

Something fun in front of Seattle REI

January 12, 2014

So dare I say REI is growing on me? This is the hubby’s favorite store in all of Seattle. It’s probably the only catalog he hasn’t used paper karma (an amazing app that gets rid of junk mail!!) on and if he could go daily, he probably would. And ever since they had a members’ […]

Cookbook Cleanse for the New Year

January 8, 2014

I went on a bit of a buying frenzy last year with my cookbooks when the kids started school. I was excited to make home-made dinners and I guess I thought HAVING a ton of books would make me cook more but then it made me realize that I needed more cooking tools: more pans, […]

Sketches of Seattle and a good place to stop if you’re trying to figure out what to see (Mohai, Seattle)

January 5, 2014

The other night the hubby and I went for date night at the Mohai‘s Member Night featuring the Drawn to Seattle Seattle Sketcher Exhibit. (We pretty much ran out of the house screaming DATE-NIGHT!!!!!!! the minute my parents arrived but here we look rather civilized, I thought.) I’ve seen Gabriel Campanario’s work before in the […]

Some of our Favorite Holiday things in Seattle

December 15, 2013

This festive season we’re trying to fit in as many fun Christmas activities in Seattle as we can. We began our holiday countdown with the Macy’s parade. I remember trying to wheel these guys around when they were just a few months old so that they could ‘see’ the parade. This time they stood for […]

An inspiring visit at the Gates Foundation Visitor Center (Seattle, WA)

December 12, 2013

I had been meaning to go to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Visitor’s Center forever, but I kept putting it off. I think it was a little too intimidating, like I was preparing for a visit to Mr. Gates’ house or something. What would I wear? What would we do? What if we were […]

Chilly Monday Shopping Wishes

December 9, 2013

We have been on snowflake watch all morning and though we’ve seen a bunch of puffy clouds hanging in the chilly air we haven’t even had one teeny flake yet. I’ve been putting off today’s run because I’m so freezing cold. Hopefully some new running attire might help. I love my Athleta pants I bought […]

Santa then and Santa now

December 5, 2013

When the kids were about one year old we were in Phoenix in December and noticed there was no line at the Santa at the mall so we hurriedly bought some Christmas sweaters and excitedly waited for our visit. Unfortunately the boys were not as thrilled as we were and this was our souvenir: Now […]

Happy Day-AFTER Thanksgiving at Carkeek Park

November 29, 2013

I can’t tell you how many years Black Friday has been the big deal for me. A day where you wake up early and SHOP all day??? Now that is my kind of holiday. And of course, I’m still shopping all my favorites (Some awesome deals are happening at Anthropologie, Gingiber’s etsy site, Snapbox -where […]

A great almost-kid-cafe and an experience gift idea (Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, WA)

November 26, 2013

I am always amazed at how few kids we see at our local art museum, the Seattle Art Museum (SAM)_. Kids under 12 are always free with a grown-up and there is a neat little place to play on the 3rd floor. (I wish they had pictures of the art screened on the tv in […]

Pre-Black Friday CyberMonday and an elevator preparedness checklist

November 25, 2013

Before you go and start panicking that you set your alarm too late, don’t worry yet, because it’s still not Thanksgiving. I keep getting all these pre-Black Friday sales in my inbox and I have to constantly check today’s actual date to make sure we haven’t missed Thanksgiving this year by accident because of all […]

family holiday activiites in vancouver at the capilano suspension bridge

Christmas ideas on a Monday still faraway from Christmas

November 18, 2013

The moment my birthday ends the hubby is allowed to play Christmas music beginning the Christmas madness in my house and I love it. I love all the cheer. And I totally LOVE the shopping. Except this year we’re looking for Christmas ideas that are more experience than gifts. It was inspired by something I did with […]

Catching the last days of fall

November 15, 2013

I’m so thankful that November has so many exciting things (my birthday, Thanksgiving, BLACK FRIDAY!!!!!!!!!!!) that it’s easy to forget it’s also that bleak transition time where pretty leaves turn into an ugly, mulchy, wet mess and it’s dark ALL THE TIME. It’s so hard to say hello to winter and give up the glorious […]

New to us Seattle Restaurants with kids

November 13, 2013

We’ve been in a family restaurant rut lately. Though we love our usual haunts, the Spaghetti Factory, Red Robin and Boom Noodle have been so over-used in our rotation lately that I can’t imagine going back to them anytime soon. (And we love them). Thank goodness we spent some time this past week venturing out […]

What we do on rainy days in Seattle

November 7, 2013

To be honest, now that the kids have preschool every day, on days that it rains and storms outside it’s such a nice excuse to just hang out and have a slow morning together at home. We stay in our pajamas a little later, play some soccer in the basement, make some crafts and simmer […]

Behind the Scenes at the Seattle Aquarium (Seattle, WA)

October 25, 2013

The Seattle Aquarium was one of the first places I felt comfortable taking my twins to on rainy fall and winter days in their early years. Unlike more traditional kids’ play places, it seemed pretty clean and not as full of germs and we loved eating snack on the “bottom of the ocean floor’ under […]