Livin’ it up in Downtown Seattle

Yesterday I toured the Via 6 Apartment project at the corner of 6^th and Lenora in downtown Seattle. This project is the latest and greatest from developer Pine Street Group, well known for bringing us Pacific Place, the redevelopment of the Seaboard Building and the expansion of the Seattle Art Museum.

Already at about 70% occupancy, you need to hurry down there to get a unit before they lease up! For a downtown renter, I don’t think there is anything comparable in the downtown core as far as high quality rental space along with really modern and inviting common area amenity space. The entire first floor retail level has a groovy industrial “street” feel with coffee/juice bar, bakery, tavern, restaurant and grocery space – all part of the Tom Douglas empire. A florist, barber shop and bike shop are also on site with interior and street entrances.

The apartment towers each have separate elevator banks – and corridors that jog around a bit to keep it from looking and feeling like a huge building with long long hallways. Apartment units range from 500 square feet up to about 1,000 square feet, with pricing starting at $1,175 for the smallest unit I think.  This is not for the budget living types.  This is for downtown tech types with big paychecks and cool style. I think the tenant age range here is 25-35.

Here’s what is GREAT about this project and others coming online in the downtown core this year and next - The addition of more downtown residential units means the addition of more downtown amenities – including more service businesses, restaurants and retail in the core. Seattle is a fabulous city with plans for a really fantastic waterfront redevelopment too. Check out Friends of the Waterfront for info on that, but get ready people. Seattle is going to be world class – get downtown and be part of it! 

Here are some pics I took during the tour.

Craigslist again

Here is another installation of "Craigslist - Make your house look great for not much money"! Check out these goodies that I found today on Craigslist Seattle. Great deals if you want to spend some time being crafty. Usually one of these project's only require elbow grease, some sandpaper, paint and beeswax. You can do it. Some might require some re-upholstery - so if you're not up for that,  think about hiring a professional, and in the end you will have some really unique pieces in your home for less than it would cost to go to the shops and get the same thing everyone else has.

Vintage wood desk - $45 - repaint this sucker - the hardware will look beautiful on a lighter background.Desk, vanity, entry table?

Vintage arm chairs - $50 - great price and sort of mid-century cool look.

Vintage oak restored coffee table -$95 - someone already restored this and I'm not a big oak fan, but you could refinish again in a color and have a beautiful table in a pale green or gray

Old wooden desk, $60 - great in a small space as is or painted

Vintage Sofa - $160 - classic style, just needs new uphostery and it's a great price

Here's a project for you - Settee $40 - Go for it. So cute in your bedroom

Side table - $15 - So cute! Paint it and clean up the hardware

Antique dining buffet - $250 - this is the big splurge but worth it because it's so fantastic

I may have said this before, but I'm starting to see more and more stuff on Craigslist that someone has already gotten their mitts on - and are trying to sell for some profit on their "refurbishing". I tend to steer away from these - because I don't want to pay extra for their idea. I would rather do that myself. If you feel completely NOT CRAFTY - you might like some of the stuff you see that's been redone. You get to choose. 

Warning: Your husband will yell at you if you start picking up too much junk on Craigslist and don't ever actually turn it into anything. Try not to just buy a bunch of other people's crap. Go through this list in your head each time: 

1. Do you have time to do the project?

2. Is this a unique item and at a great price?

3. Do you have a place in your home RIGHT NOW to put this thing once you're done?

If you did make a mistake and bought someone else's crap and it's still sitting in your garage, turn it right back around and put it back up for sale on Craigslist and move on. Now you are free to buy stuff. Good luck and have fun!

Boobs are back in business

Just a quick update – Went for second mammogram and ultrasound yesterday to find that there is nothing wrong with me! All is well with the boobs! So, the high anxiety of the last 10 days is behind me and I’m going to treat this as a reminder to:

Be more empathetic to people who are sick or just worried sick.

Appreciate what I have right now.

Be better!  - ok that’s a catch-all because I’m sure I’ll think of more things but right now I’m grateful for good health and good technology. And I should stop complaining about bad drivers, etc. I’m cuttin’ everyone slack – starting now, and including me. Ahhhhhh, better already! Have a great weekend (with your boobs!)

Buy This Now

Our good friends in San Francisco turned us on to this little nugget (thanks Mark and Kerry!).  It's a magnetic door stop.  We bought one immediately for our front door and have never been happier! Get one, it's unbelievably easy to install and your days of propping the door open with miscellaneous crap are over. Attach one piece to the door and the other piece to the wall and you will have instant DIY pride and the door wont hit you in the ass on the way out anymore!

I think several companies make them, but we got this one from Stanley at Home Depot and it's perfect. 

Boobs = Anxiety

Hey,  I just joined a “super secret” not awesome club. Right now my membership has lasted about 10 days. Here’s how I got my invitation. Two weeks ago, I had my regular doctor’s appointment with routine mammogram. La la, just your normal same routine every year event.  A couple days later I get the regular routine mammogram follow up letter in the mail. I rip it open and say “hey, I passed my mammogr……..SCREEEEEEEEEECH – WTF – “your recent mammogram showed a finding that needs more study.” That’s not the sort of invitation I like. Come in for more testing – you shut up!

My ears immediately got RED HOT. My heart started beating, my hands started shaking and my mouth got dry. And this was just the letter that said they want me to go back for more imaging, that’s all. Jesus! So of course I called and got the soonest appointment, which was 10 days away (now, finally, it’s tomorrow), so I will find out more then, but a whole 10 days of worrying?  I’m freaking exhausted from it and there is a very real possibility that there isn’t a thing wrong AT ALL.  Ahhhhhhhh, anxiety! You bastard!

So, here’s the “super secret” club part. Turns out that almost everyone I’ve mentioned this to has gotten this letter sometime in their mammogram lifetime – and pretty much everyone has reacted the exact same way I have been acting.  Slightly freaking out. Except they deal with it more gracefully and don't freak out to everyone who will listen - unlike me. But, here’s the good news. I live in Seattle, Washington – the land of good medicine, so even if in the end the news isn’t good, I’ll just deal with whatever happens and maintain my “club membership”  for however long I need to. But I’ll be pissed, count on that. Oh, and if anything after tomorrow wrecks my summer – there will be hell to pay. Seriously.  You boobs are trouble, should have known from the start. Troublemakers!

Cleaning House

No, really! We cleaned the actual house. We started to notice in the last few months that the north side of the house was turning green or greenish/brown or something very very pooplike and unattractive. Tons of green goo (I think algae) was starting to collect on the siding and then pollen was sticking to it, and it needed help BAD. The thought of scrubbing the whole thing seemed kind of overwhelming so we were not exactly rushing to do the work.

Then……my lovely mother mentioned that she just finished cleaning her composite deck with this miracle solution called 30 SECONDS OUTDOOR CLEANER and I should maybe try that on my siding. So a quick stop at Ace Hardware – and a little read about what sort of environmental danger we were in for, and off we went.

Here’s how time consuming and horrendous the process was: 

1. Spray it onto dry surface. 

2. Wait about 5 minutes. 

3. Rinse off with garden hose.

That’s it! We used the gallon jug in concentrate, mixed with water (as per directions) and went for it. It was fantastic. I’m now ready to clean everything with it.

Oh, regarding the enviro-impact. The packaging says it’s fine to use as directed and is ok around plants and animals. I have to say, it just smells like bleach, but it says it doesn’t have bleach in it. In any case -  I think I would be careful to use directly around any edible plants or veggies or too much or often that it might affect groundwater, but it says it’s safe. 

I’m pretty excited to have discovered this little nugget of efficiency. Apparently, other people have known about it for years. Duh! I think back to the year we got married at the farm and remember myself spending an entire summer day scrubbing the algae off the house and side of the garage so it would be pretty for pictures. Why oh why was I not smart enough to investigate an easier method. Grrrr. 

Before

Before

Before

During

During

After

After

This is what you need to clean your house! Go!

Happy Fathers Day

Wishing all of you and your Dads a great weekend! This is my Dad, as a young man. Such a good looking fellow! 

These F*ing Shoes

Super excited this morning to see the arrival of a package from Gilt Group! I ordered these super cute sandals for summer. Yay! They go with my outfit today - so I'll wear them. 

Now I want to kill them. They wont stay on. When I walk I have to shuffle or they will just slide right off. Look man, I don't have weird feet - I wear sandals, flip flops, whatever, name it.... no problems. These f*ckers will not stay on. I've only had to walk from the condo to the car, from the parking lot to my office, my office to the coffee machine and back and I am about to throw them out the window.

Thinking about hacking them somehow. Should I add something sticky under the top part? Should I get some ribbon to tie around the back. Should I NOT buy items on sale without wondering why they are on sale. I'm imagining a giant warehouse somewhere in New Jersey (sorry New Jersey) floor to ceiling with these shoes in every color - NOT SELLING! Has anyone else had this problem?

Here they are. Sorry Kelsi Dagger, no offense, I still like your other shoes!
(PS. this is not my home carpet, it's the office carpet - don't judge)

Anyway, see ya later super cute sandals. Wish we could have hung out longer, but 2 hours is as far as this relationship is going. Time for you to "step-off"!

Nike - Me Likey!

You know what Nike is doing that is totally awesome? Letting you be a shoe designer!!!

You can jump on Nike’s website and look for sneakers (I was looking at Nike Free 3.0) and there on the left side of the page I found the “Customize it with Nike ID” link –you can totally turn your sneaks into whatever color combination you like. Of course I picked the most neon-y bright color combo’s I could find (because I’m from the 80’s) and I have to say I LOVE THEM!  Super comfy and all that, but I’m mostly excited to wear them for the bright and shiny factor. I kind of like them best without socks though – so I might regret that when they start to stink, but right now I LOVE THEM. Did I mention that I LOVE THEM. I LOVE THEM!

And one more thing. You can customize the front of the tongue with your name or whatever you want, so I chose GO on one foot and FAST on the other – for a little extra motivation to get after it.

And one more other thing. I’m not a huge Nike person, I have a few things here and there but not more than other sportswear company items – so I’m not trying to force you into a Northwest brand.  This is just such a great marketing and sales tool – you need to know about it. And sorry, it’s not cheap, but for a custom item, I didn’t feel like it broke the bank either.

And lastly – I’ll be so upset if I get them dirty. Wah. Mine are below - the swoosh is actually the neon orange color too - but the flash is making it looks white - but it's not. That would be way too normal.

Chandelier-ious!

I am on the lookout for some hanging chandeliers for the condo. I have a couple of places for hanging lighting down the center of the kitchen/living area – and another one above the liquor cabinet in the living room. I don’t have photos yet of the condo and its “look” so far, but stand by, I’ll document the progress soon. We moved in last August, and it really does take a while to adjust to a new place and sort out what our traffic patterns are and how we like the furniture arranged, lighting hung, etc.

In the meantime, I’ve been trying to find lights with some wood features–I want a modern style but still a somewhat “pacific northwest” feel.

What do you think of these? Most of the ones I like are enormously expensive – story of my life![Groan!] But, so far I’m really having a good time looking!

This one is super 60's mod - kind of like it - but it's $2,267 - that's a lot, especially if I wanted two of them.

This one is from West Elm - I like the "city" quality of it - and it's affordable at $399.00

I love this one too - but at $1,072.00 - yoikes!

This one could be great at $398.00 - modern, industrial, yet still Northwest-y

And this one is kind of interesting too at $279.99