Born and raised in the Pacific Northwest I feel most alive surrounded by trees and breathing in the fresh mountain air.
When I am not working you will most likely find me spending time outdoors, volunteering with my church and exploring this beautiful planet with my family.
This is my place to share my passion for life and to encourage you to take time to find the extraordinary in your life.
All tagged Pike Place Market
It is easy to forget about places like Pike Place Market when it is cold outside and rainy days become the norm. However, Pike Place Market is still a vibrant, thriving market place even when the thermometer drops. The biggest appeal once the crowds thin are you can easily find a parking space and you are no longer elbow to elbow with tourists. In between appointments we made a quick pit stop at Pike Place Market for the essentials: Ellenos yogurt, a bag of fresh green grapes, a couple apples and a bouquet of fresh flowers. Most importantly, amidst the fresh produce and tchotchkes I was able to find a little hope of Spring. Often when I think about heading downtown I can talk myself out of it. However, these type of spontaneous trips remind me how much richer life is when we approach life with a little bit of wonder and fill each day with adventures that make our heart sing.
Pike Place Market is a big tourist destination in Seattle, but it is still one of my favorite places to go for gorgeous fresh flowers and reasonably priced vegetables. Especially now that I have a toddler in tow, I try to be strategic about when I visit and I try to keep the length of my trip to a minimum. Although Jasper is a very social little boy, I have noticed he starts to get stressed and anxious if a place is too busy or chaotic. My favorite time to visit is in the morning between 9:30-11am or after the lunch rush from 2-4pm. As a general rule of thumb, the sunnier it is outside the busier the market tends to be.
On any given day, Pike Place Market is swarming with tourists. However, I always manage to walk away feeling inspired by its endless array of sights, sounds and colors. When I visit Pike Place Market, I like to treat to myself to a bunch of fresh flowers for our home. There usually are a large array of bouquets to choose from for five, ten or fifteen dollars. I realize some people view fresh flowers as a waste of money, but the amount of joy they provide me far surpasses their monetary cost. The fresher the flowers the longer they will last, a little tip is to ask what they received on that particular day.
I realize I am probably the last person in Seattle to dine at Matt's in the Market, but in the event there are others of you out there might I convince you it is worth the hype. On my birthday after work we went to Matt's in the Market for an early dinner. I really enjoy getting to a restaurant once they open or being able to get an early seating time because there is nothing I despise more than going somewhere nice and not being able to hear my handsome date talk to me.
We started the meal with beet salads and then enjoyed seafood stew and halibut. The seafood stew had a ginger based broth and I simply raved about the unique flavor combination throughout the rest of the meal. We ended dinner with dessert which is something we rarely ever do and enjoyed an inventive candy bar square. There is something so satisfying about delicious food and wonderful company, it is the perfect combination for any occasion.
On occasion I have the privilege of photographing families. Typically, as I go through the photos from the shoot the candid shots are usually the ones which pull on my heart strings. I love the sweet moments captured between siblings and it makes me super excited to document my own little one soon.
