Seattle Mag
Hello, Kitty
Bellevue Arts Museum herds 155 cats into a fortuitous new exhibit.
Those little waving kitties have become ubiquitous good luck trinkets in Seattle shops—but what exactly do their upraised paws tell us? With Maneki Neko: Japan’s Beckoning Cats—From Talisman to pop icon, Bellevue Arts Museum provides both context and cuteness, exhibiting 155 vintage cats made from ceramic, papier-mâché, wood and stone, as well as several contemporary…
Welcoming Bertha, the World’s Biggest Tunnel Boring Machine
Advice for the new girl.
The world’s largest-diameter tunnel boring machine (TBM) is travelling all the way from Osaka, Japan to dig the two-mile-long tunnel that will replace the Alaskan Way Viaduct. Named for Seattle’s first and only woman mayor, Bertha Landes (a tough groundbreaker herself), the sharp-toothed, 7,000-ton Bertha may have a little trouble busting through “the Seattle freeze.” We…
Georgetown: Best Seattle Neighborhoods 2013
Seattle without the sanded edges.
Georgetown is a small neighborhood surrounded by a sea of industry. We’re like that tiny dust ball in Horton Hears a Who, easy to miss, but we are here! We know our neighbors, who become friends and then open a shop in a trailer or a yoga studio above a bar (in this case, the…
Cooking Tips Picked Up at the Chef’s Table at Altura
Finally! Got to eat dinner at Altura on Capitol Hill, Seattle mag’s Best New Restaurant of 2012, at last and, oh, man, it lived up to the lofty expectations. A friend treated me and my main squeeze to this splurge—my dining out budget ain’t what it used to be, back when I was the restaurant…
Queen Anne: Best Seattle Neighborhoods 2013
There’s a reason that Queen Anne is often at the top of Seattle’s best neighborhoods lists.
Queen Anne is much more than a 2.8-square-mile oasis of stately homes and century-old trees, good food and culture (especially when you count in Lower Queen Anne’s wealth of theaters, opera, ballet and Seattle International Film Festival’s year-round events)—all within walking distance of downtown. It’s a community of highly educated and engaged inhabitants who band…
Greenwood/Phinney: Best Seattle Neighborhoods 2013
A perfect place to put down roots and grow.
My husband and I were DINKs when we landed in Phinneywood. We collected gardening tips from neighbors and enjoyed the lively bar and restaurant scene. After we had kids, we discovered preschool co-ops, the old-school metal slides outside the Phinney Neighborhood Center and family-friendly coffee shops. I’ve transformed even further under the downward-dog tutelage of…
Burien: Best Seattle Neighborhoods 2013
A folksy—and affordable—small town only 10 minutes from downtown Seattle.
I was lured to Burien by the incredible bang for my real estate buck, but what I fell in love with was the community’s no-nonsense, hardy attitude; the beautiful, secret stretches of Puget Sound waterfront; and a charming downtown strip that makes you feel like Marty McFly stepping out of his DeLorean into a Rockwellian…
South Lake Union to Get Mile-High Tower
Seattle solves density problem "in one fell swoop."
April 1 — Seattle’s booming South Lake Union is about to get taller. In anticipation of a neighborhood up-zone, a developer has dusted-off Frank Lloyd Wright’s 1956 idea of a mile-high tower to handle density. The building will be more than 18 million square feet. As word of the 500-story skyscraper leaked, officials were quick to react….
A Toast to the Sparkling Wine Celebrating Marriage Equality
During a week when attention was focused on the Supreme Court considering the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and Facebook profile pics and Twitter avatars showed pink-on-pink equal signs in support of marriage equality for all, it seems especially fitting to share some sparkling good news: Égalité, the first-ever wine created in support of equality…
Yokohama Yankee: An Ex-Pat’s Story about Life in Japan
Seattle Business magazine editor Leslie Helm pens a family history of mixed heritage.
When reporter Leslie Helm (editor of Seattle mag’s sister publication, Seattle Business) began the process of adopting a Japanese baby in 1991, he had no idea that his quest to have children would lead to an intimate acquaintance with his forebears. In his new book, Yokohama Yankee: My Family’s Five Generations as Outsiders in Japan…
Crystalyn Kae is Moving to NYC
First it was Irene Wood, she of the amazing beaded necklaces, who upped and move to Brooklyn last year, and now we’re losing handbag designer Crystalyn Kae to the Big Apple. While we wish them both success of course, alas we can’t help but feel a little bereft at the loss to our accessory design…
Baby & Company Reopens in Remodeled Space
Seattle’s iconic Baby & Company is back home in their spot in the Terminal Sales Building at First Avenue and Virginia Street. After 84 days of construction, the store, opened in 1976 by Baby and Uri Bursten and later purchased by long-time employee Jill Donnelly, features a new full men’s department, luxe dressing rooms, a…