About Grout

Added to my short list of most-excellent home-repair people: About Grout. They re-grouted and re-caulked my shower to a lovely, gleaming, uniform whiteness. Perfect lines abound. Cute to boot.

Ballroom Dancing

Music and dance bring beauty into people's everyday lives.

When I was twelve I went to my great- great- aunt and uncle's 50th wedding anniversary party. My cousins and I served coffee and were the only people under the age of 60 there. I will never forget watching those people dance.

If you live in Seattle, or near enough to come here every week, you should sign up for classes at Century Ballroom, IMHO one of the most beautiful spaces in Seattle. You can take Salsa, Tango, Swing, etc. (The photo is from their website.)

Twyla Tharp at PNB

Friday night I saw "All Tharp" at McCaw Hall. Twyla Tharp is a genius.

On the right is a photo of her with a dancer from PNB (photo by Marc Von Borstel, from the PNB Uleashed Blog).

The show was pure bliss. On the cover of the program was a photo of Ms. Tharp. She is lovely in her faded Levis, white shirt, with her hair casually swept up.

A great ballet can make you fall in love with a piece of music. And so, right now I am deeply in love with Frank Sinatra. (Last year it was Philip Glass, Glassworks).

Ramtha

Fortunately, it looks like J.Z. Knight's channeling of Ramtha, a 35,000-year-old male spirit warrier, is safe from the evil forces of Whitewind Weaver.

If you think that's crazy, imagine placing a $12,000 set of china in unlocked cabinets in a retail store. See for yourself at Knight's store, J.Z. Rose in Bellevue Square. What a great selection of books she has on her website (especially loving the Beauty & Fashion and Home & Garden selections). There is even a separate section of her website titled Art Nouveau.

Crazy people always have great taste.

Lake Chelan

The best Washington summer vacation to be had is at Campbell's Resort on Lake Chelan. About 3.5 hours from Seattle, Lake Chelan is the perfect little town for a weekend vacation. It's beautiful there in the Summer and Campbell's is the perfect place to stay. Right on the lake, with two pools and several hot tubs, the best rooms to stay in are on the bottom floor for easy access to the fun stuff. They just renovated and it looks lovely, but even if they hadn't renovated I'd be back next year. There's a full service restaurant and pub so you never have to leave (which is good because there's not many other restaurants in the area). There's also a Safeway just across the street which is nice because every year I forget my toothbrush. There are kids everywhere but in this magical land of Campbell's they are all adorable.

Be sure to hit Slidewaters, the best water park ever. In my next life I will have one of those retro blue and orange shirts that says, "Slidewaters Staff".

Diva Dollz- People's Pick 2008 for Favorite Women's Boutique and Favorite Shoes and Accessories

Diva Dollz, a new-ish women's clothing, accessories, and shoe store in Pioneer Square (really, it's part store, part museum), is very fun- it's fun to look in the windows, fun to try on the clothes, fun to talk to the owners, fun to get great deals on beautiful clothes.

Apparently, Hurricane Katrina is the reason the owners of Diva Dollz are in business in Seattle, and I'm so happy to see (according to the recent People's Pick results) that they are doing well.

The Conversation, with Ross Reynolds, and Summer Trips

I was listening to my favorite radio show the other day, the Conversation (I love Ross Reynolds), and the program was about the staycation. Listeners phoned in with some great ideas for local stuff around Puget Sound. One place that several people mentioned is Holden Village up near Lake Chelan.

It's philosophy reminds me of a place that I stayed this summer for a yoga retreat, the Whidbey Institute. Unfortunately the Whidbey Institute does not appear to allow for individual stays, however Rebekkah LaDyne of Refreshing Retreats hosts her annual yoga retreat there. This was such a great weekend: delicious food, cute little houses and cabins (and camping!) in the forest, nice people, and of course the best yoga instructor ever.

Pacific Northwest Ballet

The new season of the Pacific Northwest Ballet is starting soon! I just got season tickets for the Gallery Upper section. I contemplated getting Backstage Pass tickets, which are an amazing deal for folks 21-39. The performances are on Friday nights, however, which doesn't really work so well with my 7:30 am Saturday morning runs- Saturday night is my night of choice to party at McCaw Hall.

Some Favorite Local Businesses

For geraniums for the front porch, and maybe even some lavender to plant in the backyard:
City People's Garden Store
2939 E. Madison St.
Seattle, WA 98112
(206)324-0737

For all the random little things I need to fix things up around the house:
Madison Park Hardware
1837 42nd Ave. East
Seattle, Wa 98112
(206) 322-5331

Favorite Renovation and Furniture Stores

Here's a list of some of my favorite renovation and furniture stores. I hope to continue to add to it as I find more places and possibly even add a GMap.

Antique Liquidators
503 Westlake Ave. N.
Seattle, WA 98109
Phone: 206-623-2740

Rockler Woodworking
3823 Stone Way N
Seattle, Washington 98103
(206) 634-3222

Rejuvenation.com

Found this site and, apparently, they have a store in Seattle:
http://www.rejuvenation.com/

I'll be visiting soon and shopping for new doorknobs.

Cole Haan

The shoes here are sort of on the expensive side, but they last forever and look lovely when they get old. Also, they have sales- I think they have one right now- that sometimes reach 40% off or so. Great deals can be had on boots post-season. Sometimes the photos online do not do the shoes justice. I go to the store at U Village, and apparently there is an outlet up in Marysville although I have never been there. I only have one Cole Haan bag, and although I love the design I prefer the quality of Coach, and find that the prices on bags are about the same at the two stores.

http://www.colehaan.com/colehaan/home.jsp

Walkscore.com

This website evaluates locations based on walkability.

Wabi-Sabi

I love the idea of Wabi-sabi, which I first read about in the book, The Architecture of Happiness, by Alain de Botton. (I've linked to the hardcover edition here because I think it is such a beautiful book.)

And, related- here are some links to Seattle salvage companies:

Second Use Building Materials -- 7953 Second Ave. S. (west side of Duwamish Waterway); 206-763-6929

Earthwise Building Salvage -- 2462 First Ave. S.; 206-624-4510

The RE Store -- 1440 N.W. 52nd St. (just north of the Ballard Bridge); 206-297-9119

Seattle Building Salvage -- 2114 Hewitt Ave., Everett; 425-303-8500