Showing posts with label Seattle. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Seattle. Show all posts

Monday, July 29, 2013

Field Trip: Arts Fair(s) and Chocolate. Perfect Day!


I didn't do much in the way of creating this weekend but that doesn't mean it wasn't a creative weekend. For the past 67 years, my hometown has held an arts festival the last weekend of July. I've attended it for as long as I can remember ( NOTE: NOT the 67 years!) . What started out as one fair, has now grown into three separate fairs that take up a large chunk of downtown. I didn't photograph everything because a lot of the artists don't allow pics which I respect. The fair(s) takes place the last Friday, Saturday, and Sunday of July and attracts artists local and national.  The main fair is the Bellevue Arts Museum Fair , accompanied by the Bellevue Festival of the Arts,  and the 6th Street Fair.

Mr. Chocolate and College Boy both enjoy going to this too which makes it great for me knowing I can take my time looking at everything. The Bellevue Arts Museum hosts a kids fair with all kinds of creative activities for the little ones. College Boy reminisced about the years he enjoyed doing all the stuff. I love living in a city that has a passion for the arts. 


Each year a different artist recreates a classic piece of art in chalk in the front of the Art museum. 

I always hate it when the rain washes it away :( I love that they close down a road outside of the museum and provide boxes of chalk for artists ( mostly young, some older!) to do their own chalk art. 


I loved this booth that was filled with all kinds of whimsical creations. Forms the artist designed freehand and then covered with old maps and all kinds of found ephemera from bottle caps, game pieces, old jewelry. She had smaller pieces too: 


If you're ever this way the last weekend of July, this is a MUST attend event. 

We can even tell the weather by this annual event because I can't remember a year where it's rained or not been gorgeous. After doing the Arts fair, we headed to downtown Seattle and to the Pike Place market. Mr. Chocolate and I go there regularly and since College Boy is home for a bit he wanted to go. We love all of the fresh produce, seafood, and artisans that make up the market. Even though we're regulars, we discovered something new and OMG TO DIE FOR! 


THE most amazing Greek yogurt place just opened a couple of weeks ago at the main entrance to the Market.  It's called Ellenos Real Greek Yogurt and as the name implies, it is Greek style yogurt but with an incredible array of fruit and chocolate toppings. Think a gelateria for yogurt. We each got a walkaround cup. Mr. Chocolate and I went for the cookies and cream. College Boy went for the Boysenberry. 




They have so many flavors and I didn't write them all down but suffice it to say they have something for everyone. Pretty much any fruit you can think of and it was agony deciding between the mocha, chocolate, and cookies and cream! All of the yogurt is made here in Seattle and Ellenos is family owned and operated. This could be very very dangerous! 

No trip to "the market" is complete without a bouquet of flowers. The hardest part is choosing from the many vendors and bouquets available. This trip I didn't actually get flowers because we were going to be doing a lot more walking and the bouquets are huge and get heavy. When we're going home soon after, I can't resist. 


Hope you enjoyed this virtual field trip! 









Sunday, May 13, 2012

Happy Mother's Day!

Mother's Day Tulips

My PicMonkey addiction continues.  Wishing all of you creative and amazing  Moms a wonderful  Mother’s Day.

These are some pics I took at Seattle’s Pike Place Market last weekend, and played around with using PicMonkey this weekend. I’d give each of you a bouquet of these if I could! The first pic uses a paint filter to fill in the blank space while maintaining the photo. I added the butterflies and the text.

Black and White Bouquet

This one I converted to B&W, added film strip edges and a canvas like texture. 



Iris Polaroid

This one I framed with a Polaroid effect and used a color shot option to make everything but the center black and white. 


Tulips

And this one, I just cropped , framed with photo corners and added a color mat.

Have fun today whatever you do!

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Saturday, November 27, 2010

Our "Black Friday" Traditions...

do not consist of getting up before the chickens and waiting in long lines to shop. For as many years as I can remember, we have gone to downtown Seattle to see the Christmas decorations. The Fairmont Olympic hotel ( which used to be the Four Seasons Olympic) is a very special place for us. It's where we got engaged; where we spent our wedding night; where we've celebrated birthdays, Mother's day, or just gone for a weekend getaway. Every year, the hotel is host to a huge gala fundraiser (which we don't attend!) auctioning off gorgeous, professionally decorated Christmas trees. The proceeds from the auction benefit Seattle Children's Hospital.  They're only on display the weekend after Thanksgiving before they're whisked away to their new homes.
I'm very into the red and lime green color combo right now so this one caught my eye. Each one of these trees is so detailed , words don't do them justice. Of course this one with a chocolate dipped strawberry was one of my faves!
Even once the trees are gone, the hotel remains a magical wonderland: 
One of the traditions we love the most is visiting the "Teddy Bear Suite". The hotel decorates one of their junior suites with, as you can guess...teddy bears, and its open to the public to view:
Here are some of the bear friends all comfy on a beautiful bed, surrounded by the spirit of Christmas. After the Fairmont, we usually head over to the Seattle Sheraton which hosts the annual gingerbread house village...giant gingerbread houses decorated by their pastry chefs with amazing themes. The line this year was waaay long and we decided not to wait but maybe another day during the season.  From downtown, we headed over to another area we love, University Village, near the University of Washington, which is an outdoor shopping center that's beautifully decorated. Seattle weather being what it is, I didn't take a lot of pics here because of the rain but guess who we found? Not Santa but his helpers!
Waiting for the boss man to kick things off. A few years ago, our own hometown started its own holiday celebration called "Snowflake Lane" ( well it's called that until 12/26 and then the week between Christmas and New Year's it's called "Celebration Lane") where every night live toy soldier drummers appear to perform to a music and light show complete with "snow"...the fake kind...we've had enough of the real stuff! Giant drum shaped stands line the road on both sides in front of the mall with lighted snowflakes on top.

Remember I'm short! So this pic was an "up shot"
Every night there are other toy soldiers walking around on stilts handing out candy, as well as Sugar Plum Fairies and other Winter Wonderland guests. Isn't this a lovely couple?

Frosty the Snowman, Rudolph, and a giant polar bear and Christmas Mouse also made an appearance. It was a great day, just focused on soaking in all the seasonal fun.