Issaquah Undressed

--> Aug
15

Seattle Street Of Dreams - This is the Last Week

Anyone who likes to look at homes, especially homes they can’t afford to buy, this week is your last chance to see this years Street of Dreams. I went with 2 of my interior design colleagues from my past life. We love going through and critiquing everybody elses hard work, since we use to do the Street of Dreams! I don’t get many chances to be catty! Of course there were flaws but always much good. The settings were particularly nice and woodsy. There were not the huge long walks like last year where you could run a marathon on some of the driveways. Also the prices were down from last years highest of 5.5 million to just under 2 million.

We were told to look for the $84,000 Fountain. Is this it?……… NO! We did finally find it. It was very unusual, but just as I was ready to take a picture of it my camera had the gaul to say YOUR BATTERY IS EXHAUSTED!

Street of Dreams homes, though expensive, are generally a very good price for what you get. Many new products are introduced, sometimes at no extra cost because the vendors want to get it out and noticed by the public so they often provide them to the builder at minimal cost. Also they are always innovative and usually one of a kind, although they might be duplicated by the builder later (at a higher cost).

Most people attending are not planning on buying a home there but are looking for ideas and products or perhaps looking for a builder to build their dream home. This is a great place to do that.

The best house achitecturally and the most profession interior design job in my opinion was The Urban Lodge. The builder was Grey Lundberg of CMI Homes, Inc. Curtis Gelotte was the architect. Interior Design was by Schoenfeld Interiors. You can tell when the designers work with the house and the builder closely. Results are not pleasing or professional when they just plop the furniture in after all else is done.

I was perturbed by the fact that many of the builders and/or designers used too many different wood finishes in the same house or even the same room. One kitchen had so many it looked like a kitchen showroom trying show you all finishes. Some multiple finishes can work, but it takes great discernment and skill to pull it off well. It seems to be a fad right now, short lived I hope.

The Street of Dreams is open from 10 am to 9 pm daily. Quinn’s Crossing. Last day is August 19th, for more info click on www.seattlestreetofdreams.com

Posted by Kathleen

--> Jul
09

Issaquah: 30 Minutes To Skiing

Found on Citizen Rain, A KING TV Blog. This is a must blog to add to your daily feed reed. They post some great shots to get you in the skiing mood. Click Here

Here is one of the photo’s.

--> Apr
19

Take Me Out to the Ball Game. Mariners That Is!

Another one of the great things about living in Issaquah, it isn’t that far to Safeco Field. Felix Hernandez was the pitcher Thursday night, but early in the game he went out apparently injured. We were looking forward to watching him. It was still fun, but a bit chilly. I guess we think if there is baseball it is summer. I have to admit Safeco field is a fun place to be watching a game. When the stadium was up to the voters on whether it would be built, I thought, no way, millionaire players can build their own stadium. But Larry pleaded and begged me to vote for it. So, I relented and did!. I do love it all, the sounds, the smell of popcorn, the train whistles, the roar of the crowd, the boos, the cheers, the beat of the music and the involvment of the crowd, etc., etc.

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Larry with Ichiro………………………………………………………………………..Concert on the sidewalk

--> Apr
03

Skagit Valley Tulip Festival - Worth a Drive from Issaquah

If you have never been to the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival, don’t put it off again. Click here for more info www.tulipfestival.org

The festival opened April 1st and continues through April. Here are a few tips for a better experience.

1.Go during the week. The weekends have streams of cars miles long. During the week it is quiet and picture taking is easy.

2. Take warm clothing AND boots for walking around muddy fields.

3. Try to go at the peak time (here is the hard part) too early and you will see daffodils, not huge fields of multicolor tulips. Too late and you will find lots of bare fields. This year I have been told that the peak times will be Easter weekend through the 3rd week of April???

4. Stop and get a map. Fields are rotated so they change every year. These are rural farm lands, flat and easy to get frustrated about where to go. Don’t be afraid to ask directions. The fields are a beautiful sight to behold.

5. Don’t miss Roozengaarde’s 3 acre display gardens. You can see tulips you like in bloom and order them and they will send them to you when the bulbs are ready. No more wondering what they will look like.

Tulip Town is another main attraction. It has a trolley ride to the fields. It also has a food court and art gallery and crafts. It was a little too commercial for me. I prefer Roozengaarde. There are numerous places to find food. A new feature this year are floatplane tulip sightseeing trips from La Conner! There are many more events. Be sure to click on the web address shown above or call 360-428-5959

--> Feb
17

Seattle Public Library - Central. An Architectural Wonder and Minutes from Issaquah

As promised, here is a post on the Seattle Public Library-Central. You think libraries are boring. Not this one. It is a must see even if you don’t intend on looking at a book. Located just minutes away from Issaquah. These are the pictures we took on our Valentines Day visit to Seattle. It attracts 8000 + visitors a day, but seems so big you seem almost alone, 362,987 Sq feet. It cost nearly $170 million to build and opened May 23, 2004.

Below are the hallways to the meeting rooms-red walls-red floors-red ceiling. Interesting experience.

For more information about this library and much better pictures click on this address http://www.spl.org/default.asp?pageID=branch_central&branchID=1

--> Feb
14

A Twenty-Four Hour Trip to Seattle from Issaquah

No, No, It didn’t take 24 hours to get to Seattle! More like 20 minutes. We got to take 24 hours off work for a Valentine’s Day treat! Sometimes it is nice to be near a big city no matter how much you like the place you live. We packed a lot in those 24 hours.

We had some points on our Marriott Rewards card so we called and booked a room. Thinking we knew downtown Seattle pretty well we headed for the address but couldn’t find a Marriott Hotel. We did find the Renaissance Seattle Hotel and recognized it as the hotel we spent part of our honeymoon in. Different name, different decor, but still a nice hotel located close to the NW Flower and Garden show which we wanted to attend. And it is a Marriott now even though that is not in the name. But, alas, we found it had gone to the dogs! The City Dog that is:

Renaissance Seattle Hotel Double Click the pictures for a larger view.

Our first clue was we kept seeing folks bringing their dogs into the hotel. After about the 4th one we began to investigate and found the dogs and their owners were having a “Pawty”! Well, this was something we had never heard of, a top quality hotel welcoming DOGS for a PAWTY! Wild horses or dogs could not keep us away.The wait staff circled the room with treats for dogs and for people (you had to be careful you didn’t eat the wrong ones)!

This is Indy and his owner, Amber. She rescued him from New Orleans. He is a sweetheart. Amber is going to send us the story of his rescue and many other dogs she and others helped save.

City Dog Magazine is celebrating their one year anniversary. City Dog is about Celebrating Life and Living with Dog in the Pacific Northwest.

City Dog has articles of many varieties such as, boating with dogs, products for your dog, behavior for dogs, medical breakthroughs for dogs, dog happenings and much, much more.

Top Dog 2006 is an article in the magazine that tells the best places, people, and things for dogs in the Northwest.

Well, enough about dogs. Here is just a brief look at all we found to do in the big city. Very brief, I’m tired and my feet hurt.

The Northwest Flower and Garden Show: On Feb 14-18 www.gardenshow.com

Blue ribbon prize floral arrangement - a Chaise with pillows!

Double click pictures to enlarge

A stop for fish and chips at Ivars, fish for us, chips for the seagulls:

The new Olympic Sculpture Park:

Seattle City Library:

It was just across the street from our hotel. Unusual and incredible.

Featured articles on these to be posted soon.