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If you don't already know about the Real Change newspaper, check it out:
www.realchangenewspaper.org
They are a non-profit group that publishes a newspaper that explores issues surrounding...
If you don't already know about the Real Change newspaper, check it out:
www.realchangenewspaper.org
They are a non-profit group that publishes a newspaper that explores issues surrounding homelessness and poverty in Seattle. From their site: "Our publication strives to create fairness, opportunity and community by covering issues that socially conscious people want to know about, from topics surrounding poor and homelessness, to stories about labor, the environment, public health and civil liberties (to name a few)."
You can subscribe, but I usually buy an issue from the woman who sells it outside PCC, even if I know I won't have time to read it. Their vendors are homeless and they buy their copies for $0.35 and sell them for $1 and are able to pocket the profit.
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A local non-profit organization that I think is so crucial, yet based on such a simple premise, is Community Voice Mail. They started in Seattle and have expanded around the...
A local non-profit organization that I think is so crucial, yet based on such a simple premise, is Community Voice Mail. They started in Seattle and have expanded around the country.
www.cvm.org
CVM provides voicemail service to people in crisis. It might be a homeless person who's trying to get a job and needs a way for an employer to contact him. It might be a woman leaving an abusive spouse or a homeless, runaway teen trying to find a home, a job, whatever. Having a phone number of your own can be empowering when you're in a crisis. For example, you don't want your family or a potential boss calling you at a shelter.
Check out the website and consider supporting them.
"Turning phone lines into life lines"
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My family loves Oroweat bread, Oatnut in particular. We eat like one bag every 2 days! But, we generally have to pay more than $3/loaf at our local stores, like PCC or QFC. The best price I'd found...
My family loves Oroweat bread, Oatnut in particular. We eat like one bag every 2 days! But, we generally have to pay more than $3/loaf at our local stores, like PCC or QFC. The best price I'd found prior to today was 2 loaves for $5 at Costco, but that's a long trip for us.
Finding the Oroweat outlet up by Northgate mall just saved me a lot of money! Not only do they have Oroweat breads, they have buns, english muffins, rolls, etc. They also carry Cougar Mountain cookies and Bob's Red Mill dried goods (pancake mix, couscous, hot cereals), plus some other things like Entenmann's donuts and cakes.
I bought five loaves of bread plus one bag of Bob's apple oatmeal cereal for $8.55 today (6/8). The bread is marked use by 6/12 through 6/15 but most of the loaves will go in the freezer, so the date doesn't matter.
If you love this bread, you will love this outlet!
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We really enjoyed our visit to Isenhower Cellars and even joined their wine club that very day. When we visited, we got an impromptu tour of the whole facility and learned about aging in barrels and...
We really enjoyed our visit to Isenhower Cellars and even joined their wine club that very day. When we visited, we got an impromptu tour of the whole facility and learned about aging in barrels and so on. It was a fun visit and made us big fans of this winery.
www.isenhowercellars.com
The owners are former pharmacists, and as a former pharmacist myself, I figured that they would have a good head for the art and science of wine making. I was right! We liked everything we tasted. I've served their wines to friends who know a lot more about wine than I do, and everyone has been impressed (Whew, it's always hard to pick out a bottle to open for oenophiles!)
And if that weren't enough, their bottles are works of art - each label has a very artsy, impressionistic quality to it. Best wine labels around!
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I know you said you're partial to whites, but I couldn't think of any outstanding whites from when we visited Walla Walla in 2004. So, here's my two cents.
K Vinters is making outstanding syrahs,...
I know you said you're partial to whites, but I couldn't think of any outstanding whites from when we visited Walla Walla in 2004. So, here's my two cents.
K Vinters is making outstanding syrahs, which according to a story on NPR this weekend, are about to be the next "big thing" in wine. The vintner used to manage rock bands or something like that, so he is rather irreverent for a wine maker (the website used to have pictures of him in a Ramones shirt). But his wines are scoring very well and getting talked about. They are on the pricier side, but we splurged and brought some home and we're happy to have it to enjoy.
He also makes wine under the label The Magnificent Wine Company - perhaps you've seen this wine in your grocery store? it has a plain white label with black print and a black outline of a house that says "House Wine". For $10, this is a great wine for every day enjoyment.
The website says 'by appt only' for tasting, but don't be intimated. Call and ask if you can drop in.
www.kvintners.com
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We recently had a consultant from Devine paint come to our home to do a complete, in-home color consultation for us. We've wanted to repaint several rooms, but we have no idea how to pull it all...
We recently had a consultant from Devine paint come to our home to do a complete, in-home color consultation for us. We've wanted to repaint several rooms, but we have no idea how to pull it all together ourselves by picking the right colors. We needed professional help, and we got it!
Devine Color started in Portland and has their own line of paint, with the colors derived from nature. The owner/artist has now trained consultants around the country, including some folks in Seattle, to do the home consults.
Rather than matching the paints to the "stuff" in your house, like your couch and pillows and assorted knick-knacks, they try to match it to the "bones" of your house. For us, that was the hardwood floors and wood trim, and the granite counters. Then, they find a "base" color for your house from which to build a palette. Once you have that base color, you start looking at samples from all the major color groups (blues, reds, greens, oranges, browns, yellows....) and you complete a palette of complementary colors that all work well together. It's hard to divorce yourself from picking a color that looks great, say, with your couch, versus picking a color that just looks great with your base color and that you like on some primal level. But you have to trust the process. You don't even think in terms of what color will go in what room while you builld your palette!
Once you have your palette together, the consultant then walks with you through the rooms to build a master plan for the house. We picked a beautiful color from the palette for my kitchen that I promise I never would have come up with in a million years. I can't wait to actually paint it and see if it looks as good as I imagine.
Another fun thing about the consult is learning some painting tips, like when to paint the ceilings or how to paint odd structures like the ceiling drywall that covers the airducts.
Note, that they do a plan for your whole house, even if you want to paint just one room. The idea is to help you have a long-term vision and help each room flow seamlessly into the next. We aren't going to paint the entire house right away, but I can see rolling out their plan over the next few years.
http://www.devinecolor.com/
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For years, we were a part of Helsing Junction CSA (community-supported agriculture). They deliver fresh, organic produce to a drop-off site in the neighborhood once a week, from June throught...
For years, we were a part of Helsing Junction CSA (community-supported agriculture). They deliver fresh, organic produce to a drop-off site in the neighborhood once a week, from June throught October. Check out their website for drop-off locations. They also provide flowers each week, amazing lillies, sunflowers, and so on.
Link: www.helsingfarmcsa.com
We always found the fruit and veggies to be high quality, fresh, and very tasty. They provide a recipe sheet each week that uses the products in the current box, in case you don't know what to do with two fennel bulbs or delicious garlic flowers! We learned to really enjoy eating seasonally and had fun trying some produce we never would have bought otherwise (kohlrabi? wouldn't have had an idea what to do with it before!).
Once a year, they have an "open-farm" and you can go meet the farmers, see where you food is coming from and pick berries ripe off the vines. Fun!
I gave them 4 stars rather than 5 because for one thing, they actually may provide too much in a full-size box, and we couldn't always get through it (just me and my husband) in one week. And, you don't have any say in what is in the box. One year, the carrots went wild, and we got carrots every single week until we just couldn't eat any more. We got lots of other stuff, of course, but this is the reality and usually the fun of a CSA - you get what grew well, and each week is a "surprise".
(disclosure: we aren't doing it this year as we started our own backyard garden, but I'm guessing they are still great!)
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My wedding cake was to die for! Seriously, we completely ran out of cake and people were unhappy that they didn't get to try the two different flavors we had! Who knew that all the guests would want...
My wedding cake was to die for! Seriously, we completely ran out of cake and people were unhappy that they didn't get to try the two different flavors we had! Who knew that all the guests would want 2 or more pieces of cake per person! People still talk about that cake today, how weird is that for a wedding cake? Note, my wedding was in 2002, but I'm guessing the quality of the cakes by Creme de la Creme is still high.
Check out the flavors and fillings and all the photos on the website. The website isn't very fancy, but you will get a definite idea of how good their cakes look and taste! They didn't have a showroom in 2002 but it looks like they do now, down in Renton.
http://www.cakesbycremedelacreme.com/
I wanted an elegant but simple cake and they delivered just what I pictured. We had a three layer cake with white icing decorated with real flowers that matched my bouquet. It was stunning yet simple. I wish I could remember the layers we chose. One was chocolate with some kind of filling, maybe a hazelnut filling? The other was white cake maybe with a raspberry filling. We couldn't have been happier with our wedding cake.
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Okay, this one might be a bit pricey, but hey, it's your anniversary!
I highly recommend the Sooke Harbour House on Vancouver Island. www.sookeharbourhouse.com
Every room is unique and has a...
Okay, this one might be a bit pricey, but hey, it's your anniversary!
I highly recommend the Sooke Harbour House on Vancouver Island. www.sookeharbourhouse.com
Every room is unique and has a view of the Strait. They have an amazing, 5-star restaurant on premises that is all organic and focused on local ingredients, including many herbs and veggies grown right on the premises. Probably the best two meals of my life were the dinners at SHH when we visited 4 years ago. Unbelievably good!
It is incredibly relaxing. You can hike nearby, go bird watching, visit galleries with local artists' work, or just relax in the soaking tub or near the fire in your uniquely decorated room.
We stayed in Room 14 - check out all the room descriptions on the website. I honestly remember the four-poster king size bed in this room as one of the most comfortable hotel beds I've slept in, and I've done a lot of business travel in upscale hotels.
You will not be disappointed.
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I had my first and only root canal in 2004, and I went to John Bull for the procedure. I have since seen that he was voted one of the Best Endodontists in Seattle by Seattle magazine in 2005. He is...
I had my first and only root canal in 2004, and I went to John Bull for the procedure. I have since seen that he was voted one of the Best Endodontists in Seattle by Seattle magazine in 2005. He is very friendly and immediately puts you at ease. He explains exactly what a root canal is and walks you through what to expect. I think I had to have two appointments total (one for prep work, one for the procedure). He works expertly and efficiently - the root canal was over before I'd even heard the first half of the CD in my walkman (hey, it was 2004. I didn't have an iPod yet). Amazing. And, best of all, I never felt a thing.
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