Seattle's Urban Villages

My Top 5 Favorite Displays From the Northwest Flower & Garden Show

This year I went twice to the Northwest Flower & Garden Show,  Friday I went as a guest blogger for the show, and again Saturday so I could go with a friend.

My 5 favorites Display Gardens for this year were....

As you walked into the lobby of the Washington State Convention Center the first display:  Eat Your Vegetables! - Garden to Table was a warm, sheltered patio with a salad garden planted in the beds surrounding it. 

   

There were several displays that featured a fire pit (or free standing fire "pit") and my favorite was this one: Sommarstuga: Summer Living, Simply and Sustainably

 

This display had two nice water features, an Art Waterfall feature, and a small pond, all in a small space designed for the entire family called "From Sippy Cups to Wine Stems ".

There were several very sophisitcated patio designs....

The first, Garden Getaway , was a calm, tone on tone retreat, very northwest coloration with the cool, evergreen forest colors.

The second, Up in the Roof, was more festive with warm oranges and reds for it's rooftop patio

 

For more photos and commentary on the Northwest Flower & Garden Show (the Marketplace and Container Display Gardens) please see my posts at: 

Deborah's Seattle Homes

Northwest Flower & Garden Show - Guest Blog

If you would like ideas for your home, be it a condo balcony, townhome patio, or you single family home's front or backyard then plan on going to next years' Northwest Flower & Garden Show which will be February 4th to 8th, 2009.  This is a wonderful way to welcome Spring!

Seattle Survival Guide: Helpful Information for Moving to Seattle

If you are moving to Seattle, or recently arrived, then here is a tip for YOU!   

A few months before I moved to Seattle from Southern California in 1994, I found a very helpful book called "Seattle Survival Guide II".  Since I did not know anyone who lived in Seattle I found this to be a great resource (pre-Internet!) to help me get to know Seattle before making my Big Move.

   

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A few weeks ago I was browsing a bookstore and found a book called "Seattle Survival Guide. 4th edition".  My curiosity made me pick up the book to check it out because it reminded me of my old book with all the highlights, and notes on the margins.  I decided to buy it and see if it was the updated version of my old helpful book.  As it turns out, it is the newest edition of a series of books on Seattle, now with web addresses as well as street addresses.  Great resource if you are relocating to Seattle, the Eastside or the other surrounding areas.

It was fun to see the changes between the my older version and the newest edition which is subtitled "The Essential Handbook for Seattle and Eastside Living".  The older version did not have any web addresses since the Internet had not really arrived yet.  The new book includes many more areas like Bellevue , South Seattle areas and cities, as well as the Islands; Mercer , Bainbridge , and Vashon.

One of the topics is employment in Seattle, and both editions list the top 10 companies.  There have been some major changes there too.  Microsoft did not make the top 5 in the older edition.  Amazon had only just come into existence and was just a little start up no one had heard of.

If you are thinking of moving to Seattle, or your job is causing you to relocate to Seattle, this might be a good resource for you...it was for me!

Celebrate 2008...at the Space Needle!

Happy New Year Seattle!

We had a wonderful, clear evening (no rain!) to welcome the New Year, and there was a crowd surrounding the Space Needle waiting to watch the fireworks launch the New Year.  The surrounding neighboring hills allowed great vantage points to take in the sight.  Lucky are those that live in parts of Queen Anne, Magnolia, Capitol Hill, First Hill, Belltown, West Seattle, and Wallingford  where they have views of the Space Needle from their homes!

This year's theme was a Tribute to Hollywood with well known music from the Movies.  Star 101.5 was broadcasting the music so anyone watching either on TV or in person with radios could enjoy the fireworks synchronized to dramatic film scores.  The clock struck midnight and the New Year...showtime! 

The fireworks and music began, the music played on and the fireworks...fizzeled...whoops...no fireworks!  The fireworks computer had a glitch and had to be re-booted twice, when that did not work, the techs manually triggered the fireworks to ....>>>> Burst<<<< and flash.  The music had marched on to it's own drummer leaving behind the fireworks.  While is wasn't the elegant show that was planned, fireworks are spectacular and the crowds enjoyed what they saw.

The rockets roared, and the fireworks dazzled, whoooooshed, sparkled, twinkled, flashed, glowed, burst, and gloried in their "Aurora Seattlalis"! 
The Space Needle glowed and sparked in the darkness, looking even more Spaceship-like with the light show!

So while the show did not go as planned...it was an explosion of exuberant welcome to the New Year and wonderful way to celebrate 2008!

Happy New Year Seattle!

Christmas Lights in Seattle

Last Saturday on the first full day of Winter Solstice, a friend and I went on one of our Christmas Light tours.  This year we decided to follow KOMO TV's (channel 4) Parade of Lights list for finding spectacular Christmas Lights. 

While it was rainy during the day, by evening it cleared up enough to see an almost full moon while driving around the Seattle Area.  We covered a wide area to find these amazing displays, and while traveling from home to home, we spotted other beautiful electric expressions of the season to enjoy!

The journey began in Normandy Park....

 

Then over to West Seattle where to keep up our strength for the journey we stopped at Tully's in West Seattle to pick up some Eggnog Shakes with extra nutmeg and then to Beach Drive.

Up to Queen Anne, then over the bridge to Wallingford...Santa was on the porch at this home greeting the visitors..."Hello Santa!"

Then across Lake Washington to Bellevue to see more, at this house there was a limo doing a tour of lights.

It was a wonderful, electrical extravaganza of creative Christmas Lights expression!  Try and take a drive in your Seattle Neighborhood to see what your neighbors have done, it can be absolutely magical! 

Friday Photo: October Sunshine and a Red Sailboat

The gray days we've been having vanish and a sparkling Sunny October Day appears, and this red sailboat takes advantage....

Driving with a friend on Alki Point in West Seattle we spotted this red sailboat sailing Elliott Bay with Magnolia (and a large red bottomed container ship) in the backgorund.  It's days like this that make living in Seattle a joy.

Friday Photo - Fall Color in Seattle's Washington Park Arboretum

Last Sunday was a mostly sunny day, so late in the afternoon after my Open House in Montlake, I went for a drive through Seattle's Washington Park Arboretum to see some fall color and Wow...did I see color!

The Japanese Maples were glowing with color beneath the dark evergreens, just beautiful....

Happy 100th Birthday Pike Place Market!

100 years ago tomorrow, Friday August 17th, the Pike Place Market

opened to begin a tradition of offering fresh produce and eventually all the glorious fruits, flowers, fish

and  other vendor products; crafts, cafes, confections, coffee, collectibles and so on that can be found strolling the market.  Of course, back in 1907 it was just a few farmers selling produce off the back of their wagons, and there were no fishmongers tossing fish over the heads tourists!   

                                       To Celebrate the Markets' Centennial , there are lots of events scheduled to celebrate the Markets' 100th birthday, and we are now just a day away from wishing the Pike Place Market Happy Birthday!  The festivities began in May when the Market put its' "Pigs on Parade" .

The pigs are now scattered all over Downtown Seattle, so when you are Downtown keep an eye out for the splendid pigs. 

                        Of course Rachel the Pike Place Market Pig is still in her spot ready to pose for a photo with anyone who wishes.

The Pike Place Market is the oldest continuously open farmers market in the US, that is quite an accomplishment for a City that is well more than a 100 years younger than cities on the east coast!  While the market has had challenges over the decades fighting off developers and neglect, it has become one of the unique places that defines Seattle and makes it such a wonderful place to live and visit.

So come out and wish Happy 100th Birthday our Pike Place Market!

Seattle Art Museum - SAM's - Grand Opening Weekend

SAM - Seattle Art Museum's Grand Opening Weekend

Well, the party was an "artful" success and SAM is open again at last!  Over the weekend the Seattle Art Museum celebrated it's re-opening by throwing a 35 hour party for free to every one who showed up.  I went with a friend Saturday night, but the line to get the free entry ticket was loooong with lots of Saturday Night revelers, so we went to a downtown theater to see a late night showing of "Spiderman" (umm, not very good).   

My friend returned very early Sunday morning to visit SAM, and I went later at noon although first, I had to stop by my recent Buyer's new home in Madison Valley (one of Seattle's Urban Villages) to drop off their Home Book.  After driving to Downtown Seattle, I walked over to Pike's Place Market to pick up some lunch on my way to the Museum.   Lucky me...no line and got right on in....

WOW! The Grand Foyer was spectacular with Cai Guo-Qiang's installation: "Inopportune: Stage One" 

This piece is a series of Ford Tauruses suspended above the crowd in sort of a stop-action, frame by frame of  the Tauruses tumbling over and over with light beams radiating outwards from the cars.  Great tension with these large, heavy metal objects dangling over the crowd...then my phone rang and my new Buyers (looking for a smaller Seattle home) were back in town and ready to see the new house that had just come on to the Seattle housing market Friday night.   So off to meet my Buyers and show the house...we did write up an offer for it later that evening. 

This has been a fabulous year for the Seattle Art Museum with it's first Grand Opening earlier this year of the Olympic Sculpture Park in Belltown in January.  I can't wait to return and check out the new and larger SAM!