A new Pioneer Square addition on the way is local company Seattle Soapworks. Seattle Soapworks makes yummy sounding wholesome "Milk Glow" soaps with names like Milk and Honey, which is made of milk protein, milk thistle, honey, canedula and honey fragrance. Mmmm. The creator is chemist cute girl Erna Portteus Patrawke. Apparently the secret is keeping the glycerine in the soap which, according to the Soapworks web site, attracts moisture to your face, but is taken out of a lot of mainstream products so they can use it in their fancy lines. Apparantly you don't need lotion if your soap keeps your skin soft. Sounds like a deal! The store will open at 157 Jackson Street in September.
www.seattlesoapworks.com
Tags: seattle, shopping, soap
Saturday, August 13, 2005
Tuesday, August 09, 2005
Doubts about Seattle density
Seattle Times reports on the ongoing discussion around the mayor's plan to increase downtown density and curb suburban sprawl.
Let it be known that we support the goal 100% -- that's why we live where we live, really.
But boy do we have doubts that Seattle is really on the path to achieving this. Case in point are projects like the new Cristalla complex that emphasize upscale over livability. Sure, you can build em taller -- but if you fill the place with a few million-dollar fancy-pants condos and then chop the rest of the building into little tiny studios, all you're going going to have living downtown are retired bank executives and single male bond traders. No offense to the MBA set, but we're going to need buildings with living spaces that a) are large enough and b) affordable enough for a family without a corporate lawyer at the table.
Instead, we have ridiculousness like these gems in an industry write-up on Cristalla:
"We asked buyers early on what kinds of things they would like to have, and wine storage kept coming up. So we put in a wine storage area with 15 different rooms that can hold from 200 to 1,000 bottles."
Williams determined that many prospective residents were dog owners, so the 22-story Cristalla will now feature a dog park on its roof.
Hello? Why the heck did we chase all the crack salesmen out of Regrade Park to make room for the Belltown dog-a-palooza?
For now, we'll try to remain positive. But it's Cristalla clear there's more to this than tall buildings.
Tags: seattle, density
Let it be known that we support the goal 100% -- that's why we live where we live, really.
But boy do we have doubts that Seattle is really on the path to achieving this. Case in point are projects like the new Cristalla complex that emphasize upscale over livability. Sure, you can build em taller -- but if you fill the place with a few million-dollar fancy-pants condos and then chop the rest of the building into little tiny studios, all you're going going to have living downtown are retired bank executives and single male bond traders. No offense to the MBA set, but we're going to need buildings with living spaces that a) are large enough and b) affordable enough for a family without a corporate lawyer at the table.
Instead, we have ridiculousness like these gems in an industry write-up on Cristalla:
"We asked buyers early on what kinds of things they would like to have, and wine storage kept coming up. So we put in a wine storage area with 15 different rooms that can hold from 200 to 1,000 bottles."
Williams determined that many prospective residents were dog owners, so the 22-story Cristalla will now feature a dog park on its roof.
Hello? Why the heck did we chase all the crack salesmen out of Regrade Park to make room for the Belltown dog-a-palooza?
For now, we'll try to remain positive. But it's Cristalla clear there's more to this than tall buildings.
Tags: seattle, density
Uptown Hall of Fame: Auto Gallery of Seattle
* Because it has fancy Ferraris and blinged BMWs parked... inside!
* Because it hosts parties that look like a Fitty Cent video
* Because some lucky teenager gets to drive the big $K machines into the alley to scrub them once a month
Auto Gallery of Seattle, even though we haven't hit you up for a test drive, we salute you!
* Because it hosts parties that look like a Fitty Cent video
* Because some lucky teenager gets to drive the big $K machines into the alley to scrub them once a month
Auto Gallery of Seattle, even though we haven't hit you up for a test drive, we salute you!
Monday, August 08, 2005
Help the monorail in only five minutes
New pals over at Seattle2045.org have a handy form mailer if you want to voice your opinion on getting the darn thing built. We wavered in our support as things got messy but now we want to be part of the clean-up and movement forward. Take a spin over to the site to see what it's all about and then decide if you want to add your voice and lend a hand.
PK's gotta know: Where are the alternative/gay joints in Seattle?
Long-time reader, 1st-time caller PK writes:
--snip--
Hi,
Ive been reading your blog for a while. Im moving to Seattle and I was wondering where the Alternative/gay hang outs are?
PK
--un-snip--
Dear PK --
Glad to know you're heading our way. I get jealous of the outflow to places like NYC or even, ahem, Portland OR sometimes so it's good to know that fresh recruits are coming - especially fresh recruits in search of alternative/gay joints.
I'm glad you turned to us for the download -- but I do want to caveat everything here by stating that we are pretty darn straight so are approaching this from 3rd-party POV. Should a sportswriter not cover baseball if he can't hit a curveball? That's what I'm saying!
So, by alternative, we'll assume you mean 'freaky cool' and not necessarily the alternative in 'alternative rock radio' (alternative to what? one might ask) or, conversely, alternative as in co-op food stores hawking carob-coated everything. We're hoping you mean weird and wonderful and out-of-the mainstream. And gay or gay friendly or gays-for-president, even, as a bonus.
We'll also assume that you know that Capitol Hill is where you go if you want to revel in good old-fashioned super-queer disco, etc. That's where the boys-who-love-girls-who-love-girls-who-love-boys-who-love-etc. action goes down in its most accessible and public form. Faves in that genre include The Wild Rose and Neighbors (btw, my including them here guarantees you that they are not cool in the GLBetc. circles -- or are so bad, they are cool. either, or!)
But I'd encourage you to explore Seattle in another way. I'm sure there are times when you want a guaranteed alt/gay experience. They're out there. But we're pretty relaxed on things up here (true cliche!) so lots of the best alternative folks are mixed up with the rest of us. No, you won't find your homies out in Belltown on a Saturday night or shooting pool at Jillian's with the boys from Belleveue, but any list of the weird and wacky goodness from Seattle will be bespeckled with gay folks and the people who love em.
Also, Seattle's gay population is graying, so some of the 'gayest' places in the city are coffee shops and furniture stores.
For specific 'please, gay only action' tips, I'd post your query to the Seattle LiveJournal and let the masses speak.
Or you can check out sites like GaySeattle.com.
In the meantime, you can also consider these places for everybody to hang. I've limited it to places within walking distance from uptown. They're mostly outside of the mainstream in the best possible way.
Freaky Cool Seattle
+ Rendezvous
2nd ave is as alt as it gets downtown and the Rendezvous is the weird-n-wonderful HQ
+ Five Point
Alternative and divey but not *gay*. I would think a gay posse would do ok there but I'd want reinforcements nearby.
+ Noc Noc
One mission: get you drunk. Dark and dirty, gets even grittier at night. Weird shit happens. Where the Stranger Classifieds folks meet, I like to think.
+ Macrina
Gay people like bakeries, right?
+ Sea Sound Lounge
Young, beautiful dancing people. Many likely gay.
+ Contour
Only late-night dancing that didn't leave me depressed and wondering why.
Pickings are kind of slim around downtown -- if I were moving to Seattle and wanted to be as close to the alt as possible, I'd either go with the tried-and-tested CapHill or Fremont, which is nearly unclassifiably strange and cool.
--snip--
Hi,
Ive been reading your blog for a while. Im moving to Seattle and I was wondering where the Alternative/gay hang outs are?
PK
--un-snip--
Dear PK --
Glad to know you're heading our way. I get jealous of the outflow to places like NYC or even, ahem, Portland OR sometimes so it's good to know that fresh recruits are coming - especially fresh recruits in search of alternative/gay joints.
I'm glad you turned to us for the download -- but I do want to caveat everything here by stating that we are pretty darn straight so are approaching this from 3rd-party POV. Should a sportswriter not cover baseball if he can't hit a curveball? That's what I'm saying!
So, by alternative, we'll assume you mean 'freaky cool' and not necessarily the alternative in 'alternative rock radio' (alternative to what? one might ask) or, conversely, alternative as in co-op food stores hawking carob-coated everything. We're hoping you mean weird and wonderful and out-of-the mainstream. And gay or gay friendly or gays-for-president, even, as a bonus.
We'll also assume that you know that Capitol Hill is where you go if you want to revel in good old-fashioned super-queer disco, etc. That's where the boys-who-love-girls-who-love-girls-who-love-boys-who-love-etc. action goes down in its most accessible and public form. Faves in that genre include The Wild Rose and Neighbors (btw, my including them here guarantees you that they are not cool in the GLBetc. circles -- or are so bad, they are cool. either, or!)
But I'd encourage you to explore Seattle in another way. I'm sure there are times when you want a guaranteed alt/gay experience. They're out there. But we're pretty relaxed on things up here (true cliche!) so lots of the best alternative folks are mixed up with the rest of us. No, you won't find your homies out in Belltown on a Saturday night or shooting pool at Jillian's with the boys from Belleveue, but any list of the weird and wacky goodness from Seattle will be bespeckled with gay folks and the people who love em.
Also, Seattle's gay population is graying, so some of the 'gayest' places in the city are coffee shops and furniture stores.
For specific 'please, gay only action' tips, I'd post your query to the Seattle LiveJournal and let the masses speak.
Or you can check out sites like GaySeattle.com.
In the meantime, you can also consider these places for everybody to hang. I've limited it to places within walking distance from uptown. They're mostly outside of the mainstream in the best possible way.
Freaky Cool Seattle
+ Rendezvous
2nd ave is as alt as it gets downtown and the Rendezvous is the weird-n-wonderful HQ
+ Five Point
Alternative and divey but not *gay*. I would think a gay posse would do ok there but I'd want reinforcements nearby.
+ Noc Noc
One mission: get you drunk. Dark and dirty, gets even grittier at night. Weird shit happens. Where the Stranger Classifieds folks meet, I like to think.
+ Macrina
Gay people like bakeries, right?
+ Sea Sound Lounge
Young, beautiful dancing people. Many likely gay.
+ Contour
Only late-night dancing that didn't leave me depressed and wondering why.
Pickings are kind of slim around downtown -- if I were moving to Seattle and wanted to be as close to the alt as possible, I'd either go with the tried-and-tested CapHill or Fremont, which is nearly unclassifiably strange and cool.
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