September 2016

Skagit Valley Family Transforms Patio into Extension of Their Home

Skagit Valley Family Transforms Patio into Extension of Their Home

An extensive patio project paves the way for an Edison family to enjoy the outdoors year round

After commuting to Seattle for work five days a week, Scott Edwards heads north to the Skagit Valley for some rural R&R. Edwards, managing principal for Dovetail General Contractors, and his wife had lived within the Seattle city limits for 10 years, but when their daughters, now 17 and 14, came along, they decided to…

Orcas Island Artist Gives New Life to Fallen Trees

Orcas Island Artist Gives New Life to Fallen Trees

With Laura Yeats' touch, madrona trees become beautiful vessels

  ORCAS ISLAND ARTIST LAURA YEATS has developed a unique relationship with a particular species of the island’s ubiquitous flora: the madrona tree. She uses the madrona’s gnarled, spout-like knots—which form as the tree self-prunes and heals itself—to create her imaginative bud vessels. “They started out as solid, sculptural pieces,” Yeats says, “but Nisha Klein…

Beloved Ask the Oracle Literary Event Goes to Bumbershoot

Beloved Ask the Oracle Literary Event Goes to Bumbershoot

Literary answers to life’s pressing questions

For 20 years, Seattle’s Hugo House has served as an urban writer’s retreat at its Capitol Hill location across from Cal Anderson Park, sponsoring and hosting a wide variety of events, residencies and services for readers and writers alike. And while the institution is admired throughout the nation for its rich and innovative programming, its…

A High-Tech Helmet Protects Football Players from Concussions

A High-Tech Helmet Protects Football Players from Concussions

A Seattle-based startup plays defense against concussions with a high-tech helmet

Finding a better way to protect football players from concussion and traumatic brain injury is a priority for players and coaches alike. Seattle-based startup Vicis, founded in 2013, may have an answer: a cutting-edge helmet. The Zero1, evolved from technology developed by faculty of the University of Washington’s mechanical engineering and neurological surgery departments, features…

Local Fashion Start-Up Fuses Technology and Sportswear

Local Fashion Start-Up Fuses Technology and Sportswear

Form meets function in local fashion start-up Buki

There’s no shortage of tech innovation in Seattle, but one new “start-up” is cloaked as something different: a fashion collection. Inspired by modern Japanese design, Buki brand is a sportswear line for men and women in which architectural silhouettes are paired with leading-edge fiber technology. Created by Joey Rodolfo, founder of Pacific Northwest sportswear line…

Mercer Island Woman Offers a Stylish Answer to the Uncomfortable Glasses Problem

Mercer Island Woman Offers a Stylish Answer to the Uncomfortable Glasses Problem

A local woman’s design ensures your glasses are at hand

If you’re always misplacing your reading glasses, perhaps it’s a subconscious habit, because, let’s face it, those neck chains aren’t the most attractive accessories. That’s why Mercer Island resident Michele Smith decided to design a more stylish alternative. Off the Cuff Optics’ WristReaders ($49.99, a portion of the price benefits Guide Dogs for the Blind;…

Take a Tasty Road Trip to Portland's Four-Day Food Festival

Take a Tasty Road Trip to Portland’s Four-Day Food Festival

Gather with other food lovers in Portland for the Feast Portland Festival

Where: Portland, Oregon, about a three-hour drive south of downtown Seattle. Why: The fifth annual Feast Portland festival (9/15–9/18; prices vary; feastportland.com), where chef-obsessed food lovers gather for more than 40 events in a city known for its explosive food scene. Happenings include hands-on classes in cooking, making cocktails, and even how to style and…

A Heritage of Crafting Spirits

A Heritage of Crafting Spirits

How the ‘Isle of Whidbey’ came to be the perfect spot to craft spirited fun

The Washington distillery industry is full of great stories about how and why people decided to start up their stills. Colin Campbell, distiller and owner of Cadée Distillery, has a story that goes back farther than most. He is a member of a clan in Scotland that has been crafting spirits since 1494. It’s in…

East Anchor Seafood Market and Oyster Bar Offers A Fresh Catch

East Anchor Seafood Market and Oyster Bar Offers A Fresh Catch

Shopping at an envy-inducing neighborhood market

A twinge of jealousy struck me upon entering East Anchor Seafood, Kayley Turkheimer and Brian Clevenger’s tiny seafood market and oyster bar in Madrona. As a fish fiend, I’m envious of the folks who live nearby and can stop in for the chef’s giant crab cakes or take-home wild salmon fillets. The market opened in…

Bird Watching: 40th Anniversary of the Seahawks

Bird Watching: 40th Anniversary of the Seahawks

Forty years of Seahawk history

With additional reporting by Jake Laycock For 40 years, we’ve watched the Seahawks lose (2-12 in their first season) and win a lot, making it to postseason play in 10 of the past 13 seasons. They may never become the Green Bay Packers, but as they enter their 41st season (with three Super Bowl appearances,…

Board Games: Round the Rock's Stand-Up Paddleboarding Race

Board Games: Round the Rock’s Stand-Up Paddleboarding Race

Stand up for the eighth annual Round the Rock race

One of the Pacific Northwest’s largest stand-up paddleboarding events returns September 17, when about 300 serious paddleboarders will wend their way around Mercer Island (aka The Rock) on a 13-mile course through Lake Washington’s sometimes choppy waters. The event, based at Newcastle Beach Park in Bellevue, also includes a 3.5-mile race and a half-mile kids’…

Growing Pains: Preserving Iconic Small Businesses

Growing Pains: Preserving Iconic Small Businesses

With rapid development in all corners of the city, how we can preserve the classic small businesses?

Seattle is undergoing unprecedented growth, at least in recent times. A Downtown Seattle Association (DSA) midyear report found there are currently 65 building projects under construction in the downtown core alone—even more by the time you read this. Projects are popping up at the rate of one per week. Many of us have stopped counting…