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December 12th, 2008
We experience more embarrassing moments on a daily basis than This past week we experienced another doozy, and it went a little something like this. Feeling inspired one morning, we took our laptop and our cappuccino over to the library to work for a while in a different setting. We were tired of our apartment, despite our Carrie Bradshaw-esque desk over looking the street. We found a seat along a busy aisle and after about half an hour, bent over to pull a pen out of our laptop case—only to find a pair of underwear hanging conspicuously out of our bag. For everyone to see. And it was lacy and brightly colored at that. How it got there, we have no idea. And we are pretty sure our embarrassing moment got a few laughs from passersby. Yep. We are like magnets for this kind of thing. Lacy, bright, |
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Seattle Picks: |
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| 1 | Midnight Train During our last year of college, we did the whole backpacking tour of Europe. We distinctly remember our fluent friend Bleu Papillon reminds us of those days. The name of course, but also all the great finds sprinkled throughout the shop. They have a great mix of new and vintage pieces, from beautiful sea urchin salt cellars to spice up the holiday table to gifts galore. Mom’s getting delectable Antica Farmacista home fragrance and Claus Porto soaps, and for our friend, we dug up some old pictures from our glory days. We will send them to our traveling buddy wrapped in Blue Papillon’s Garnier linens. Vive la France! Bleu Papillon |
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| 2 | Put Some Spring Hill in Your Step The holiday season fills with us with a certain amount of dread—over our mother’s cooking. While we love the time with our family, we hate to admit that our mother is a terrible cook. But bless her soul; she still does it all with her dry-as-drapery turkey, over-cooked Brussels sprouts and steamed and creamed cauliflower. Yes, steamed and creamed. So as soon as the festivities are over, we spend a leisurely meal at one of Seattle’s gourmet havens. This year we hit up Spring Hill, one of the newest and most raved about hot spots in the city. We started off with their soft rolls and butter alongside alder-smoked oysters—delish! Our entrée of rainbow trout was fantastic as well, cleverly paired with pumpkin cakes. These guys have a real flair for local cooking with a contemporary twist. We finished off with an ice cream trio—vanilla, pumpkin and Ovaltine. While they were all superb, we loved the chocolatey flavor of the Ovaltine best, as it harkened back to old-fashioned cooking. We’ll just pretend Mom made it… Spring Hill |
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| 3 | Make Over Your Nest Egg We watch wardrobe makeover shows, decorating makeover shows, remodeling makeover shows… but we have yet to see one financial makeover show. And let’s face it, that’s probably what most of us need! Interestingly enough, First Tech Credit Union is searching for households in the Portland Metro area who are ready to make a u-turn in their financial lives by participating in the First Tech U-Turn Challenge. It’s a competition among households from Lane County, Salem and the Seattle Metro for a $10,000 grand prize. Who wins? The household that achieves the most financial success in four pre-determined categories: debt reduction, savings increase, overall net worth increase, and overall level of participation. The catch? They’ll be publicly documenting their progress and financial status via blogs on the U-Turn Challenge site, and everyone can read them! All participating households will be assigned a team of First Tech financial experts to help you get on the road to a better life. Just following the teams online should teach you a lot, though. It’s a win-win. |
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| Chick Picks: | |||
| 1 | Paying Lip Service We consider ourselves to be true lip-gloss aficionados—it’s hard to find one that truly impresses us. So when a friend gifted us a glossLuxe lip gloss from Suresh Beauty, a line from a local makeup guru that we hadn’t heard of before, we were intrigued—would it be our new go-to gloss? Yup! It was ultra-hydrating, sheer, had just the right amount of sparkle, and felt luxurious on our lips. We love the Saman color for the holidays—a delicious shade of sheer wine. |
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| 2 | Show a Little Mercy |
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| 3 | I Heart You When our best friend moved away to Chicago a while ago, we felt the urge to send her off with a token to remind her of her hometown and us, and of how much she loved both. After an exhaustive search for the perfect trinket, we finally found it—a necklace from Kim Quinn. We love the contrasting wood heart with the silver umbrella (the symbol of Seattle!). Her designs are so sweet and charming that we couldn’t resist getting one for ourselves too—totally BFF. |
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Hip Happenings: |
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| 1 | Go Ahead, Treat Yourself We’ve spent the past few weekends shopping for our family and friends, dutifully overlooking our own needs—like a new pair of shoes for the five holiday parties we have next week. This weekend we are going to indulge at Shoefly—where everything (except Ugg Classics) is 50% off! Shoes, bags, accessories—hooray for holiday gifts to ourselves! What: 50% off everything at Shoefly! |
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| 2 | A Gem of a Trunk Show Zavida Gemstones has such a staggering array of handcrafted rings, necklaces and jewelry made with more than 35 different gemstones from around the world that we can't get away from one of their trunk shows without buying several pieces. The designs are striking and 25% of proceeds support indigenous artisans. At all price points, these make lovely gifts! What: Zavida Gemstones Trunk Show |
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| 3 | Put a Ring on It We are in love with Jamie Joseph’s big, colorful, bright rings. We must own at least a dozen—so we can have one that goes with almost every outfit. So naturally, come Saturday, you will find us at her trunk show—a perfect opportunity to see hundreds of her new designs. Happy Holidays to us! What: Jamie Joseph Ring Trunk Show |
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| 4 | Mmm… Chocolate What better gift to send your friends and relatives from out-of-town than locally made artisan chocolates from Theo Chocolate? They are staying open late on Monday to accommodate last-minute shopping needs—and offering special sale prices, too. Plus, get a complimentary sample of their signature sipping chocolate. We wouldn’t miss it! What: Theo Social and Sale |
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