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July 25th, 2008
Last week we went to the James Taylor concert at Chateau Ste. Michelle—and we cannot even begin to tell you how excited we were. Seriously, we were bordering on obsessive. You see, we happen to secretly think—or not so secretly now—that there is something ridiculously sexy about the other JT. (Have we mentioned that we also, in addition to our hidden nerdy side, are really “old souls”? Sometimes we think we might be 60-year-olds in a 26-year-old’s body.) And yes, we realize how odd some people may find our love for Mr. Taylor. Heck, we even considered bringing a giant sign with us that read, “Marry Me, James,” but our boyfriend wasn’t as into that idea as we were. Also getting lots of our love at the moment? These super stylish and totally enviable reusable grocery totes from Ecologie Bags. Forward this issue of Seattle Picks to 5 friends and CC picks@seattlepicks.com, and you could be the proud owner of your own pair of these fab bags. Read on for more info! |
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Seattle Picks: |
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| 1 | Vive le Chocolat! One of our favorite childhood memories is of our French grandmother recounting the liberation of Paris: “We were dancing in the streets, the American troops threw chocolate from their tanks and into the crowds—and when I tasted that Hershey’s bar, I spit it right out.” We knew our refined tastes came from somewhere, and with the grand opening of Queen Anne’s Chocolopolis, chocolate fit for grandma is now within our reach! This retail shop features row upon row of chocolate from around the world, including Amedei—one of the world’s finest—as well as artisan truffles and the most delicious hot chocolate we’ve ever had. (Try the “spicy” one.) Friendly and knowledgeable staff members will not only help you find the perfect chocolate, they’ll teach you about it too. Sign up for a guided chocolate-tasting tour and they will even come to your chosen location with all of their goodies. We love our plain old Hershey bars, but this place has taken chocolate to a whole new level for us. Bon appetit! Chocolopolis |
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| 2 | Spring Cleaning We always dread the annual Spring Cleaning that our house, closet, fridge, and purse so desperately need. (Who are we kidding? In our case it’s more like summer cleaning.) But we hate the clutter even more. And yet, every year when the time to clean rolls around, we hit a groove and powerhouse through it. It feels so great when we can finally see the floor, and everything is squeaky clean—except ourselves. It seems all that dirt finds a new home, on our face. So we flipped through our little black book to find “facial spring cleaning,” and came up with the number for The Bathery. We love the way our face (and Chi) felt after a steam, followed by the delicious Vitamin C and calming boosters underneath our refreshing gel mask. Plus, the facial massage with essential oils, coupled with the luxe “ear-neck-shoulder-arm-leg” massage basically obliterated any evidence that we had done any cleaning at all. Topped off with a much needed exfoliation, including oatmeal clay and a double-cleansing process, we were cleaner after leaving The Bathery than we’ve ever been before. Now if we could just hire The Bathery to deal with our house… The Bathery |
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| 3 | Staycation’s All I Ever Wanted We adore exploring foreign cities, stumbling upon fabulous shops, and eating scrumptious meals in restaurants with teensy dogs staring at our every bite. If we could, we would jet off to Paris tomorrow. But after shelling out for airfare, we don’t have enough money left for eating—much less shopping. And who goes to Paris without shopping? When we can’t get away but still need a little French action, we travel to Ballard to visit Tableau. We love it for the ultra-chic home accessories (including Le Jacquard Français table linens—ooh la la), unique jewelry, wonderful furniture (we like to imagine we found it at a Paris flea market), and the ever-changing assortment of art, tableware and paper goods. On a recent visit we picked up an adorable Le Petit Bateau outfit (from France, natch) for an upcoming baby shower and are quite sure our soon-to-pop mom-friend will be oh so impressed. Heck, with all the money saved on travel we felt absolutely no guilt splurging on a new handbag (okay two) for ourselves! Who needs the Eiffel tower? Tableau |
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| Chick Picks: | |||
| 1 | Bling with an Edge We’ve been known to wear pearls and kitten heels while sipping fruity cocktails, but once in a while we want something with a bit more edge. So we trade the heels for studded leather boots, a stiff martini, and a fabulous bracelet from Sahlia Michelle Designs. Handmade with raw diamond quartz, freshwater pearls, and a mix of sterling silver and gunmetal chains, it’s girly and bad-to-the-bone. Visit Sahlia Michelle’s website and get 25% off her entire collection when you enter the promotional code ‘Seattle Picks’ on the shopping bag page! www.sahliamichelle.com |
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| 2 | Sweetly Subversive We love sending cards to friends for all occasions, however, we are a little over the usual Hallmark-style greetings—they make us feel like we have a case of writer’s block. Not so with the distinctive letterpress greeting cards from The Bittersweet Project. For the friend that loses her job, the one that says “Cheer up, it could be worse.” For the friend that just got a hush-hush nose job: “Let’s compare scars.” It’s certainly a cheeky way to keep up correspondence. www.thebittersweetproject.com |
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| 3 | Stylish Shoppers We are saving the world, superhero-chic style, one reusable grocery bag at a time. And when we can get ones that will match every outfit in our closet, we are over the moon. The stylish bags from Ecologie Bags come in ten different color combinations, and hold the equivalent of four plastic grocery bags. Lightweight and colorful, we have an entire stash—so even at the grocery store, we are perfectly coordinated. www.ecologiebags.com |
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Hip Happenings: |
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| 1 | Rock On When we are looking for breathtakingly beautiful jewelry designs, our go-to designer is Rock Star Jewelry. Lucky us, Rock Star Jewelry is on sale for the entire month of August at 30% off—which means it’s time to stock up on these pretty (rockin’) pieces! What: Rock Star Jewelry Sale |
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| 2 | Movies Al Fresco South Lake Union’s Cinema on the Lawn is showing the so-cheesy-its-good movie, Bring It On, tonight, so grab a picnic dinner and your former cheerleader gal-pals and spend an evening watching this cult classic under the stars. Make sure and get there early for prime seating to see all the cheering action. What: South Lake Union Outdoor Movie Series: Bring It On |
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| 3 | Gettin’ Artsy It’s the time of year for the Bellevue Festival of the Arts again. With jewelry, photography, textiles, glass, fine art, woodworking, sculpture and pottery, you are sure to find something to satisfy your arts and crafts desires. Plus it’s outdoors, so you can be artsy and enjoy the sun! What: Bellevue Festival of the Arts |
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While you are out and about this summer, don’t forget to check out the places that spark your interest when you are reading the Picks. Please stop into the businesses we mention in Seattle Picks. Our mission is to support them, and we’re counting on you to help us accomplish that! |
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