Seattle, WA

One of the things I love most about Christmas is the shopping. In particular I love all the Holiday bazaars and markets, be they big or small. Even the church bazaars with all their home made goodies.

In light of that here is a list of upcoming bazaars and markets:

ARCHIPELAGO CHRISTMAS BAZAAR
Filipino Community Center of Seattle
December 1, 2007, 10 - 5pm, Free
More than a dozen Asian American artists, craftspeople, online retailers and businesses who will offer a unique holiday shopping experience.

URBAN CRAFT UPRISING
Seattle Center, 305 Harrison Street, Seattle, WA
Phone: (206) 216-0877
Saturday, December 1 2007, 11:00am - 5:00pm
This annual show (now in its third year) is renowned for drawing the most creative, unique, and cream-of-the-crop crafters from around the region-and even some vendors from as far away as Boston and Toronto! The uprising is truly a unique showcase for rising indie craft stars, and a venue for holiday shoppers to marvel over one-of-a-kind, avant-garde creations, and at no charge to the public.

A VICTORIAN COUNTRY CHRISTMAS FESTIVAL
-The Puyallup Fairgrounds
-November 28 - December 2, 2007
-Wednesday-Saturday 10am to 9pm
-Sunday 10am to 6pm. Free Parking
A Victorian Country Christmas Festival is an unforgettable event that will leave you infused with the spirit of Christmas. Step back in time as the Western Washington Fairgrounds in Puyallup are transformed into a Victorian Village filled with the sights and sounds of Christmas. Shop at over 530 Victorian stores filled with the most beautiful handcrafted and specialty items; share in a delicious meal at the food pavilion; take a carriage ride through a holiday wonderland, enjoy over 20 professional stage shows daily featuring the best music, dance, comedy and more; and don’t forget to get a picture with Santa at the North Pole or enjoy the spectacular “Living Nativity” featuring over 100 singers and dancers in a music extravaganza celebrating the best music of the season.

What: Winter Festival and Crafts Fair
When: Sunday, Dec 2nd
Where: 6532 Phinney Ave. N, Seattle WA 98103
$$$: Members $2 plus a can of food; Non-members $4 plus a can of food; Children (under 13) free
The popular event features high-quality crafts booths, photos with Frosty, live entertainment, a bake sale, and holiday cheer. A full entertainment schedule is available on the website.

THREAD SEATTLE // XMAS SHOPPING SPECIAL
Fremont Studios, 155 North 35th Street, Seattle, WA
Sunday, December 9th, 2007, 11am-6pm
$7 at the door, but, $5 when you RSVP
THREAD brings a selection of over 65 independent fashion & accessory designers from around the country to the savvy and style-conscience men and women of the Northwest. Come get first dibs and buy direct from designers showcasing wares you wont find at the mall.

HILLTOP HOLIDAY CRAFT SHOW
Northwest Arts Center (Directions), 9825 NE 24th Street, Bellevue, WA
November 28, 29 and 30, 2007 - 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
December 1, 2007 - 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Many new vendors this year, the show will feature thousands of quality crafts from more than 80 selected Northwest craftspeople.

MOKAS HOLIDAY CRAFT SALE
329 Fairview Ave. N, Corner of Fairview Ave. & Harrison, Downtown Seattle
Directions:
From I-5 North or South - Take the Mercer St. Exit.
Stay in the far left lane and turn left onto Fairview Ave. N.
Go 2 blocks. Mokas will be on the right.
Saturday, Dec. 1, 2007, 10am - 3pm
Handcrafted gifts, Christmas cards, jewelry and MORE!

Looking for a Christmas Tree? Check out the local Christmas Tree Farms.

Seattle, Bellevue, Puyallup, Holiday, Christmas, Bazaars, Crafts, Shows, Gifts, Hilltop, ARCHIPELAGO, Mokas, Thread, Washington, Victorian, Country, Urban, Uprising, Festival, Xmas

If you’ve taken a couple of days off for Thanksgiving and you’re wondering what to do with yourself, consider heading to the Yakima Valley. I’ve just heard from Jim Russi at Piety Flats Winery with a reminder that Yakima Valley Wineries will be opening their doors the day after Thanksgiving for a special tasting event that’s becoming a Northwest tradition.

Jim assures me that they’ll have their famous meatballs. However, Jim also suggests getting tickets because a lot of the wineries will have some “goodies that are a lot fancier then meatballs and will require the tickets.”

Tickets are $20 each and include the following wineries:

For a complete listing of participating wineries and what they’ll be offering, check out the website.

If you’d like some information on pairing wines with your Thanksgiving meal, check out Farley’s article over on Wine Outlook.

To learn more about Yakima Valley wineries and the Rattlesnake Hills Trail, check out my reviews.

Washington, Wineries, Wine, Events, Thanksgiving, Yakima, Valley, Pairing, Events, Food, Weekend Trips, Holiday

What: 16th Seattle Juggling and Footbag Festival
When: Fri, Nov 16th 5pm-10pm; Sat, Nov. 17th 10am-6pm; Sun, Nov. 18th 11am-6pm
Where: Ravenna-Eckstein Community Center
$$$: $5 for weekend pass. Important! Tickets to the show usually sell out, so buy yours now!
Ages 6 & up. The Festival features games, workshops, contests, two live performances and in-depth access to top professionals in the juggling and footbag world.

What: Star Party
When: Saturday, Nov. 17th @ 7pm
Where: Green Lake Park
$$$: Free
Seattle Astronomical Society sets up telescopes and invites families for an up close look at the night sky. The event is held on the north shore of the lake, west of the Bathhouse Theatre. The event is cancelled in case of rain or heavy clouds.

What: Seattle Christmas Gift Show
When: November 16th - 18th, 2007, 10am-6pm
Where: Washington State Convention Center
$$$: Adults $8.50; Children (13 & under) free
Families can view more than 450 exhibits and displays, watch artists in action, and visit with Santa.

What: Great Train Expo
When: Saturday & Sunday, November 17-18, 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM
Where: Puyallup Fairgrounds, 110 9th Ave SW, Puyallup
$$$: Adult $7; Children (12 & under) free
The traveling train show features working model railroads - including a 16′ by 24′ lego train - hands-on exhibits, workshops, demonstrations, hundreds of vendors, and a train that kids can ride. Visitors can attend both days with a single ticket. There are trains for kids to operate!

What: Yulefest
When: Sat, Nov. 17th 10am-6pm; Sun, Nov 18th 12n-5pm
Where: Nordic Heritage Museum
$$$: Adults $2; Children (11 & under) $1
The museum is transformed into a Christmas marketplace with singers, dancers, and fiddlers, a visit from Santa, traditional Scandinavian food, and kids’ craft activities.

What: The Anime Discovery Project
When: Most Fridays during UW school quarters starting at 5 pm
Where: University of Washington, Gowen 301 (most showings)
$$$: $5 (membership per quarter; all showings are free)
Japanese Anime! Lots of Anime! The Anime Discovery Project is a registered student organization at the University of Washington. They show English-subtitled anime TV shows, OAVs, and movies almost every Friday during UW school quarters.
You don’t have to be a UW student; anyone can become a member (which entitles you to go to their weekly showings & to borrow tapes from their library).

What: Best of the Northwest Art Show
When: November 16, 10:00 AM - 8:00 PM November 17 & 18 10:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Where: Sand Point Magnuson Park, 7400 Sand Point Way NE, Hangar 27
$$$: $8 admission with free re-entry
“The last premiere art show of the year provides art patrons an opportunity to interact with over 280 of the region’s finest and most creative emerging and established artists. Art patrons will receive the chance to discover unique and unusual handcrafted artwork to satisfy a wide variety of tastes and budgets. Specific mediums include: Glass, Fine Art, Jewelry, Clothing, Photography, Wood, Soap, Candles, Mixed Media, Sculpture, Dolls, Home & Yard Décor.”

What: Seattle International Gem and Jewelry Show 2007
When: November 16-18th, Friday 12pm-6pm Saturday 10am-6pm Sunday 11am-5pm
Where: Qwest Field Event Center, 1000 Occidental Ave S
$$$: $7.00 Children ages 16 and under are free
see thousands of dealers of every imaginable gemstone, one-of-a kind jewelry creations, estate jewelry, special celebrity exhibits, other luxury accessories. Attendees will find discounts and an infinite variety of beautiful exotic gems, beads and jewelry, which can be found among the rows and rows of exhibitors from every corner of the world. There are NO STROLLERS allowed at the show

What: 17th Annual Invitational Miniature Show
When: 11/10-11/25, Monday-Wednesday and Friday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m.; Thursday, 10 a.m.-8 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; Sunday, 11 a.m.-5 p.m.
Where: Howard/Mandville Gallery, 120 Park Lane, Suite D, Kirkland / Juanita
$$$:
Paintings and sculptures by more than 100 artists.

What: Molbak’s 32nd Annual Festival of Poinsettias
When: 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Sunday-Friday, 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday through Dec. 24
Where: Molbak’s, 13625 N.E. 175th St., Woodinville, WA
$$$: Free?
Winter wonderland features over 30 varieties of poinsettias, dozens of themed trees, tree skirts, stockings, cards, and party ware, American made wooden toys for kids, retro tin toys for adults, pet paraphernalia, opening event with music.

Of course if you’d rather just stay in and read a good book, you might want to check out The Book Stacks for a recommendation or three.

Seattle, Weekend, What’s Happening, Events, November, 11/16/07, 11/17/07, 11/18/07, Festival, Poinsettias, Woodinville, Expo, Great Train, Miniature, Show, Annual, Molbak’s, Yulefest, Christmas, Gift, Gem, Best, Northwest, Art, Star, Party, Greenlake, Astronomical, Society, Juggling, Footbag

Don’t you just hate it when you hear about really cool events when they’re nearly over? I just found out this morning that Coffee Fest is this weekend!

It’s not entirely too late, though. Today is the last day so if you want to catch part of it you’ll want to get in gear and head over to:

Washington State Convention & Trade Center 800 Convention Place
Seattle, Hall E & F
Exhibition hours: Sun 12:00pm - 4:30pm

Here is the schedule for today:

Sunday November 11th, 2007
8:30am-10:30am Breakfast with Champions presented by VitaMix

8:00am - 12:30pm Hands-on Barista Training Workshop

8:15am-11:15am Gelato Training Workshop

8:30am-11:00am Roasting Basics Workshop

9:00am-11:00am Hands-on Smoothie Workshop

10:00am-12:00pm Summa Coffee Academy’s Math for Roasters

12:15pm - 1:45pm Coffee Cupping for Retailers and F & B Professionals

12:30pm-2:15pm Hands-On Free Pour Latte Art Workshop

1:00pm-3:00pm Summa Coffee Academy’s Espresso Tuning for Wholesale Roasters

In addition, there will be 1 test scheduled every 20 minutes for Coffee Fest/I.A.S.C. Barista Certification Testing.

Late registration is $30. That’s steep for just one day but it looks like there is still a lot of good stuff going on today so it may be worth your while.

Last night was the The Millrock Latte Art Competition. I’m so bummed about having missed it. The winning entrant was Layla Emily Osberg who crafted a “pristine heart with a thin-layered line” and a “beautiful border.” Osberg walked away with a prize of $5000 which her employer, Blenz Coffee of Vancouver, British Columbia, has promised to double. Not bad for 5 minutes work!

Second place went to Colter Jones of Vancouver, British Columbia, walked away with a cool $1000. Third place went to Justin Teisl of Milwaukee, Wisc. who earned $100 a minute for his entry, taking home $500. Still not bad for 5 minutes work.

Todays competition will challenge six baristas from Washington and Oregon in a competition where they must prepare and serve 12 coffee drinks within a 15 minute time frame. The winner receives an expense-paid trip to the 2008 U.S. Barista Championship in Minneapolis.

Coffee Fest is held four times a year with the fourth location, Hong Kong, new for 2008. The next competition will be held in February in Washington, DC.

Here are a few pictures I found on Flickr. I’d love to see your pictures. If you went and have posted your pictures online, please shoot me a link!

I should ask Gliilan, over at Food History, about the history of coffee!

Coffee, Fest, Art, Latte, Seattle, competition, Barista, training

A while back I wrote about my friend, Scott Meyer, an up and coming cartoonist from Washington, who was “discovered” by Scott Adams of Dilbert fame. Scott Adams refers to the experiment as, “my ongoing reality series on cartoonist Scott Meyer”. In the experiment, SA has been helping SM to refine his comic to make it more marketable to newspapers. This has involved turning SM’s work into a more traditional newspaper strip style. Fans are still on the fence as to which style they prefer but whether SM sticks with his current style or switches to the strip style I’m sure that his interaction with Scott Adams has and will continue to pay off in both experience and exposure.

I’m both pleased and proud to inform you that Scott’s (Meyer) cartoon, Basic Instruction, has been nominated for the The 2007 Weblog Awards for Best Comic. Scott is in great company with the likes of Penny Arcade, xkcd, PvP Online and several other well-loved internet cartoon strips.

Please take a moment and vote for Scott and Basic Instruction as the 2007 Best Comic Strip!

There are just 7 days left in October and The Breast Cancer Site is just shy of having enough clicks for their sponsor to fund and additional 150 mammograms. They are currently sitting at 90%. Please follow this link to add your click. It won’t cost you a dime and it could save a life.

The free mammograms go to low-income, inner-city and minority women whose awareness of breast cancer and opportunity for help is often limited. Your click is paid for by site sponsors, and mammogram funding is provided to clinics throughout the U.S. through the efforts of the National Breast Cancer Foundation.

Speaking of breast cancer, the Austin Komen is right around the corner. I’ve been walking 2-3 hours a week in addition to an hour of pilates once a week and the hour long Zen training on Saturdays. It’s come up on me really fast this year and I haven’t done nearly enough fund raising. My family is finally getting around to signing up, though!

If you have the pennies, I would appreciate it if you would donate to me or my team. You don’t have to donate a ton of money. Every little bit helps. So even if you can only spare a few dollars, I’ll be thankful.

Funds are used for breast cancer education and screening programs in Bastrop, Caldwell, Hays, Travis and Williamson counties, as well as to support the Komen for the Cure Award and Research Grant Program.

If you’re local to Austin and would like to join my team, The Pirateers, please jump right in! The more, the merrier. My family needs to get off their lazy behinds and sign up. Do you hear that, family? I can’t believe this year’s walk is just 17 days away. I’ve been walking 2-3 times a week so I’m ready to go! It’s only 5k though so anyone can do it. All that and you even get to dress like a pirate! Sweeeeet!

I just love all the fun pink stuff out this month. From the pink Kitchenaid to pink jewelry to Panera’s Pink Ribbon Bagel it’s hard to miss the pink parade of products!

And now I must get my butt in gear and get to my upholstery class.

click, give, mammogram, Komen, Austin, pink, Panera

It was 40 years ago this week that the Seattle SuperSonics played their first regular season game on October 13th, 1967, in San Francisco. They lost that game as well as the next but eight days later, on October 21st, they had their first taste of victory winning 117-110 over the San Diego Rockets. That victory was short lived, however, as they proceeded to lose 11 of their next 12 games. Although it wasn’t the most auspicious start, Seattle fans weren’t bothered. They were just happy that the NBA had seen fit to award them with a franchise.

The SuperSonics got their name from the supersonic transport - a prototype super fast jet then under contract by Boeing. Happily, the Sonics, as they became known, had greater success than Boeing’s jet.

The Sonics first superstar player was Lenny Wilkens who played on the team from 68-72 when he was traded off the team. In 1973 the Sonics got a new coach in basketball legend, Bill Russell who took them all the way to their first playoffs. In 1977, Lenny Wilkens returned, this time as their coach. Lenny helped skyrocket the Sonics with an NBA Championship in 1979 garnering Seattle it’s first major pro sports trophy since 1917!

In 1983 the franchise was sold and for the next 20 years the team saw a series of up and downs which drove franchise owner, Barry Ackerly to threaten to move the team. The Seattle Coliseum, home of the Sonics, had grown dilapidated and in need of repair. In fact it was so bad that in 1993 the Coliseum’s leaky roof led to a “rain out”, the only game in NBA history to be called for rain! Somewhat appropriate for Seattle, don’t you think? The City ponied up and transformed the Coliseum into Key Arena. Most notable during that timeframe was the back to back trips to the NBA finals in 78 & 79.

In 1996 the Sonics made it to the Championships but eventually lost to Chicago. In 2001 the Sonics were sold again, this time to an investment group led by Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz. The new franchise owners demanded the City underwrite a costly expansion and renovation to Key Arena. The City resisted and the owners threatened to sell or move and sell they did, to an Oklahoma investment group led by billionaire Clay Bennett. With the City’s continued disinterest in upgrading Key Arena, the new owners began looking outside the City and decided on Renton as the site for the new King County Event Center. Mr. Bennett has stated that he plans to relocate the team to Oklahoma if a suitable arena is not provided by the City by the end of this month. The Sonics, however, have a lease agreement with the City of Seattle and Key Arena until 2010 and the City voted 8-0 to prevent an early termination of that lease.

The Sonics surprised many people in 2004/05 by winning 52 games and taking the organization’s sixth division title. In 2007 they were awarded the 2nd pick in the NBA Draft, their highest draft position to date.

Somehow I don’t think the team would be quite the same in Oklahoma! Calling them the Sonics in Oklahoma where Sonic drive-through restaurants are prevalent would be the first oddity.

While the SuperSonic’s celebrated their 40th anniversary last year, this year is the official anniversary. Happy Anniversary, Seattle SuperSonics!

For more sports (and someone who might actually know what they’re talking about, check out Kieran over at the All Sports Report!

Seattle, SuperSonics, Sonics, Basketball, 40th, Anniversary, Key Arena, Sports, Coliseum, Oklahoma, Starbucks

THE FASHION SHOW
40 models + 20 photographers + 1 Marching Band
Streets of Downtown Seattle - Intersection of 5th and Pine
5pm

THE PARTY
Terrace Garden @ The Red Lion Hotel
1415 5TH Ave Seattle, WA
6pm

Tuesday, September 18th, 2007
Everyone is invited. And it’s free!

Seattle, Events, Shoot for Change, Fashion, Show, Party

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Thank you

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