u-pick flowers near Seattle bunch of dahlias

U-pick flowers near Seattle

September 29, 2023

I always knew we loved flowers in this city. Have you ever been to Pike Place Market? But I had no idea we could pick flowers IN our city. And actually I’m not sure if there are any places right in our city to pick flowers yet. But when I went to tour Skagit Valley […]

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Hellenika Cultured Creamery a new place for frozen yogurt in Pike Place Market

Hellenika Cultured Creamery-new frozen yogurt in Pike Place Market

September 26, 2023

My family lives fairly close to Pike Place Market so it’s not just a touristy spot for us, it’s part of our lives. We often go there to shop or pick up food. And there are always new places popping up in Pike Place Market so every time we go it feels like there is […]

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making candles at Lorraine's candles in Seabrook and other new things in Seabrook 2023

Lorraine’s Candles and Seabrook Arcade : two fabulous new ways to bond with family on a Seabrook trip

September 21, 2023

Every time we visit Seabrook there is something new to look forward to. The last time we visited Seabrook the bakery there was half the size than it is now and the lineup was probably less than half as long too. It’s become VERY popular and with good reason. And now there’s a new grocery […]

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Sezane Seattle at University Village

Sezane: a pop-up from Paris in Uvillage we want to keep in Seattle for as long as possible

September 18, 2023

*an update: Sezane is no longer at Uvillage when I went by in April, but hopefully it will show up somewhere in our city again soon.* The other day I had an invite to Sezane, a new store that has popped up in Uvillage which is also one my favorite places to shop in Seattle. […]

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Things to bring to Seabrook on a family trip

Things to bring to Seabrook if you are going there for a trip

September 14, 2023

We finally made it to Seabrook this year and ended up making it a multigenerational trip this time just like we dreamed about when we first started visiting. My mom, dad, sister and her family rented a house, and our family rented a house and it was a great way to hang out with each […]

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Local artist Tori Shao painting the new mural at Grand Ridge Plaza

A new mural at Grand Ridge Plaza in Issaquah by local artist Tori Shao

September 11, 2023

Do you ever wonder about the story behind the art you see? I’ve been following along as a new mural at Grand Ridge Plaza was created. I was so curious to meet Tori Shao, the artist who was commissioned to paint the stairway behind Dick’s Sporting Goods and learn the story behind her new art […]

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Things a Seattleite might buy at Pike Place Market in Seattle (Le Panier and Ghost Alley Espresso)

Things you might only know about Seattle if you are a true Seattleite

September 8, 2023

Here’s a list to add to the stack of all the other lists that exist about this city but I heard someone (a Seattleite even!) say Pike’s Place market again recently and I couldn’t just write a post about that without sounding too angry Seattle so I thought I better write this post instead. So […]

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hockey puck from a Stanley cup final at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto

If you go to Toronto just to see the Hockey Hall of Fame

September 5, 2023

Maybe it’s because we come from Vancouver and we came *thisclose* to the Stanley Cup when the guys were nearly two years old. Or maybe because Seattle got the Kraken hockey team when our duo was in middle school and the whole city has been hyped up about hockey ever since. But when I told […]

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Seeing the Living Wall on a Tour at Climate Pledge Arena

What to expect from tours at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle

September 1, 2023

My family seems to have entered an architectural era of travel where we purposely visit towers and buildings like the Space Needle the CN tower, or maybe the Rookery in Chicago to check out the views of a city, and even in our own city, and learn a bit about the history of a place. […]

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Dalla Fonte Sicilian Tavola Box

If you love Italy, you’ll want to know about Dalla Fonte, a subscription box that will bring Italy to you

August 31, 2023

This is a sponsored post on behalf of Dalla Fonte, an Italy subscription box based in Washington State that brings a bit of Italy to your home and as always the thoughts and writing in this blog are always my own. How many times do we think about special places we’ve been to and want […]

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CN tower from Toronto City Cruises with Toronto CityPASS

How “worth it” is using a Toronto CityPASS for a summer family trip?

August 23, 2023

As usual, we were last-minute in looking up what to do in Toronto for our summer trip (all we had planned was the Hockey Hall of Fame) and discovered online that there is a Toronto CityPASS and instantly knew we didn’t really need to do any more research. We are big CityPASS fans and have […]

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souffle jiggly pancakes at Beanfish at Uwajimaya

Jiggly pancakes at Beanfish in Uwajimaya Seattle

August 3, 2023

It is pretty difficult to find soufflé pancakes in Seattle and we’ve searched the area a lot. We went to Japan in 2019 and managed to get some that were pretty spectacular. (I think we’ve all seen soufflé pancakes on TikTok’s from Japan) When I was doing quarantine in my parent’s basement in Vancouver during […]

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Hedlin Family Farms a skagit valley farm stand

A Skagit Valley Farm Stand Tour you can do in a day from Seattle

August 2, 2023

This is a sponsored post for Genuine Skagit Valley to highlight their Farmstand Fresh Campaign-they have a Skagit Valley Farm Stand tour posted on their website too and we visited in late July 2023 for this farm stand tour. My family knows that if there is a farm stand on any drive we do, I […]

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hana maui resort in Maui Hawaii

Hana Maui Resort: a peaceful hotel with a perfect pool at the end of the Road to Hana

July 29, 2023

I know I just add to the echos of most travelers when I say that Maui holds a special place in our family’s heart. It was our first trip ever by airplane with our kids. And it was the first time I collaborated with a travel partner when we visited nearly 10 years ago. We […]

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nordic museum in Seattle Ballard neighborhood

Visiting the Nordic Museum in Ballard Seattle with kids (or on your own)

July 24, 2023

My kids are at the age where they’re barely considered kids anymore. At 15 years old, they definitely do not order off the kids’ menu and they no longer need to immediately stop for playgrounds when we pass them on our travels. But old habits die hard and I can’t help myself-I keep an eye […]

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seattle waterfront

Free Seattle Waterfront Shuttle for the summer

July 17, 2023

The Seattle Waterfront Shuttle is back. Here is the shuttle route for 2023 and it runs 7 days a week from 10am-8pm and approximately every 20 minutes. The shuttle season will run from July 17th 2023 to September 24 2023 and each shuttle has about 20 seats and are ADA accessible. There are two shuttle […]

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Nashville Parthenon in February 2023

When you find a life size replica Parthenon in Nashville when you least expect it

July 6, 2023

It almost felt like we conjured up a Parthenon in Nashville when we visited for midwinter break. We had just booked our trip to Greece and the kids and I had a handful of days to explore Nashville for mid-winter break while my husband was at a conference. We hadn’t done a lot of research […]

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

Things to do in Seattle in July

July 3, 2023

It’s summertime in Seattle which means a whole different feel to the city than we have from November through May. Summer is one of the best times to be in Seattle and there are a million things to do in Seattle in July. This is when we experience some of our best weather-often seemingly endless […]

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free things to do in seattle in summer

Free things to do in Seattle in summer

June 29, 2023

Hello Summer, it feels like we’ve waited so long for you and every year you are so fleeting. Summer can also be tres expensive and I’m always looking for fun and free things to do in Seattle and close by. Seattle in summer feels pretty perfect. Free Waterfront Shuttle The Free Seattle Waterfront Shuttle is […]

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hotel room at the Conrad NYC downtown overlooking the Irish Hunger Memorial

A Conrad New York downtown Review from a Seattle family who has also stayed at the Midtown location

June 28, 2023

Last year, our then twin-thirteen-year-olds went on their first ever away trip with school to Washington DC and New York and being a little bit overprotective and because it was still kind of during the new covid times my husband and I flew out to meet them. We booked the Conrad Midtown Manhattan with our […]

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