October 2010

Spotlight: Next of Kindle

What does the ink-and-paper landscape look like in the city that spawned the hugely successful e-rea

The Seattle Antiquarian Book Fair takes place this month (October 9–10; seattlebookfair.com), enticing local book lovers with the promise of fragrant and crumbly yellowed pages, and at the same time prompting the question: Aren’t all ink-and-paper books becoming a bit antiquarian? In an interview with Newsweek last December, Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos praised the physical…

October 2010: Shopping Around

Our top shopping finds for the month

WHAT A FLEURT  It’s easy to be seduced by Fleurt, longtime Westside resident Sam Crowley’s perky new flower and gift stop. Freshly cut hydrangea blooms, peonies and dahlias sit in bud vases ready to be plucked for an arrangement ($8), vintage window frames accent the chartreuse walls, and cheerful repurposed tables are piled with ever-changing gift ideas,…

Shelter: Eco Lighting

Shelter: Eco Lighting

How many interior designers does it take to change an eco light bulb into something as attractive as

You might guess that Mount Baker-based eco architect Rob Harrison would be a zealot about energy-efficient lighting. But beneath his family’s roof, tucked in among the curly compact fluorescent lights (CFLs), a few energy-hogging incandescent light bulbs still glow. “You can’t create a mood” with energy-efficient lighting, Harrison says, so he reserves a few lamps…

Scoop: Seattle’s Pollinator Pathway

Seattle's bees stay busy along the Pollinator Pathway

 Seattle artist and designer Sarah Bergmann is making quite a buzz, thanks to the Pollinator Pathway, a project she began in 2008 with the intent of creating more habitat for local bees and other pollinating creatures. If you haven’t heard, the nation’s population of pollinators is plummeting, and the pathway aims to aid their plight…

Scoop: Radar Hair and Records

Radar Hair and Records caters to overgrown music lovers

 Have you ever found yourself in mid-haircut, wishing your salon also offered a selection of vinyl LPs and vintage music gear? Us, too! Thankfully, Radar Hair and Records has landed in SoDo. Open since July, the funky space combines the talents of owners Betsy Hansen (formerly of Rusk, Vain and Helmet Head salons) and Johnny…

Scoop: Quilts by Boo Davis

Seattle’s most headbanging quiltmaker shows off her softer side in a new book

How does a longtime metalhead channel her deep desire to quilt? In the case of Boo Davis, 36, she quits her day job as an illustrator for The Seattle Times, creates a label called Quiltsrÿche (quiltsryche.com) and uses traditional techniques to make quilts featuring the “devil horns” hand sign and tributes to heavy-metal bands. Davis’…

Road Trip: Long Beach Peninsula

Everybody into the bog! It's cranberry time.

WHERE: Long Beach Peninsula, for the 89th annual Cranberrian Fair, October 9–10. WHY: It’s harvest season for the deliciously tart bog-dwelling berries, of which Washington is the nation’s fifth-largest producer (who knew!). At the Cranberry Museum in Long Beach (cranberrymuseum.com), revelers can check out a 10-acre demonstration bog, witness the harvesting process and browse the…

Scoop: Theo Chocolates x Reese’s Peanut Butter

Theo continues to prove that everything goes better with chocolate

The Fremont-based organic chocolate purveyor Theo has gained a well-earned reputation for fair trade cacao bean sourcing as well as innovative collaborations—for example, creating chocolates in cahoots with perfumers, tea makers and local Fremont Brewing. This month, Theo continues to prove that everything goes better with chocolate by way of its “Chef Session,” a limited-edition…

October 2010: Must List

Our top to-do's for the month

 Masterpieces from the Musée National Picasso Unless you’ve been working at the International Space Station for the past six months, you’re probably aware there’s a Picasso exhibit in Seattle this fall. It’s a genuine big deal, featuring more than 150 works—representing all 80 years of Pablo Picasso’s career—pulled from his personal collection, by which he…

October 2010: Parental Guidance

Local news, tips and products for families

Ahead of the class In the latest revolution to hit Seattle, the insurgents are kids armed with knives—and a desire to learn to cook. Called Jamie Oliver Food Revolution Seattle (JOFRS), it’s the brainchild of Suzuki+Chou PR maven Hsiao-Ching Chou, former Seattle Post-Intelligencer food editor and a regular contributor to the Balancing Act blog at…

Urban Safari: Madrona

A peaceful hilltop neighborhood nestled between Lake Washington and the Central District

 This peaceful hilltop neighborhood nestled between Lake Washington and the Central District is best known for local faves such as the Hi Spot (killer breakfasts), St. Clouds (delicious all day long) and the Madrona Ale House (as popular with kids as with grownups). But several new shops and restaurants along 34th Avenue between Pike and…

Hot Button: Will Rossi Resuscitate the state GOP?

While many wonder if Dino Rossi is the Grand Old Party pooper, state Republicans are counting on him

Category: seattlepi.com teaser headlines   State Republicans to watch Rob McKenna: Washington’s attorney general, McKenna is very smart and very ambitious. He’s a plainspoken policy wonk, has a base of support in the Democrats’ stronghold of King County, and has already won statewide office. He is the early favorite to win the 2012 governor’s race. Reagan Dunn:…