Tallulahs, Capitol Hill

The weekend after my birthday my cousin and aunt took me out for a birthday brunch (if you can't already tell, brunch is my absolute favourite meal). We went to a little breakfast spot up in Capitol Hill called Tallulahs (550 19th Ave E), which I had never heard of. 

The restaurant has a great feel to it, its very open and there are windows everywhere. Even at 10am on a Sunday when it was incredibly busy it didn't feel packed or like all the costumers were sitting on top of each other (which is pretty common at super busy breakfast spots).

To start off the meal I had the Kale, Pear, Cucumber and Lemon juice. I'm a sucker for anything juiced, which I think stems from my mom juiced anything and everything she ever could when I was growing up. My cousin had a Beet and Ginger juice, which was good but very powerfully ginger. 

For my meal I chose the Egg's Benedict. Now, I have to admit something. I will order Eggs Benedict anytime, anywhere. My boyfriend makes fun of me for it constantly, I actually think I have a problem. Anyways, I (as always) ordered the Eggs Benedict. The hollandaise sauce was perfect, and the brioche they had it on top of tied the whole thing together. The only slight criticism I would have was the number of potatoes it came with, the plate looked kind of empty. Other than that though, it was delicious. 

My cousin ordered the Lemon Ricotta Pancake which was HUGE and so good too. This thing was the size of a plate and about an inch and a half thick, but was so delicious. 

I would definitely recommend  Tallulahs, and would love to go back there for lunch or dinner

Portage Bay Cafe

This past Thursday was my 21st birthday!

I started out my day with brunch at my favourite local breakfast place, Portage Bay Cafe. This Seattle spot is well known for its extremely local and fresh ingredients. They use all local companies, such as Beecher's cheese and even have chickens out back for eggs!

I got the Goats Cheese Omelette, which was full of mushroom, spinach and goats cheese (honestly, probably my 3 favourite things). I also got a Grapefruit Mimosa which was to die for. It was a great start to my day (showing up to my 10:30 Ochem class tipsy was also pretty interesting).

Fresh Squeezed Grapefruit Mimosa

One of the best things about Portage Bay is their toppings counter, which you get a trip to when you order something such as pancakes or french toast. There's mounds of whipped cream, berries, and anything else you could want on top of your breakfast. The dishes I would especially recommend are Original French Toast (made with Challah Bread), Portage Bay Breakfast Sandwich and Goats Cheese Omelette.

Since my birthday was on a Thursday, there was no wait at 9am. However, if you're planning on going on the weekend be prepared to wait for an hour! This place gets so crowded. You can get yourself coffee and hang out outside (if the weather permits). The South Lake Union location takes reservations, and when I'm going to the Roosevelt one I normally just call an hour before I want to go to get my name on the list (they even have a system where they can text you when your table is ready, pretty nifty).

Carnaby Street, London

Along Regents Street is a tiny side alley, which leads you into Carmaby Street. It feels like a little village street, although it is smack in the middle of all the hubbub of central London. Along Carnaby you'll find all your favourite shops, such as Office and Benefit. They also take decorating very seriously for almost every occasion, so visiting around the holidays is especially fun. When you're around the Piccadilly/Regents area you should definitely check it out. 

Washington Coast: Forks and Beyond

I honestly believe the PNW is the most beautiful place in the world. Seattle is surrounded by mountains, rainforests, the peninsula, the ocean and so much more. One long weekend in March, 3 friends and I decided to go explore. We booked 2 nights in a hotel in Forks (yes, Twilight's Forks) and headed out. 

From Seattle we drove to Edmonds and took the ferry across to Kingston, and drove to Forks. 

Edmonds Ferry Port

To be perfectly honest, there is really nothing in Forks apart from a grocery store, a mexican restaurant, a drive up coffee stand, and 5 Twilight gift shops.

 Later on in the day we drove to Third Beach, through Olympic National Park. Washington beaches aren't your typical beaches; although cold and really windy they're so beautiful and fun to walk around.

After the beach, we drove through Olympic National Park to Hoh Vistor Center. Hoh is absolutely crazy, there is green hanging everywhere. There are lots of quick hikes around, so its easy to do a quick look around. Side note: there was stream with the clearest bluest water I had ever seen. 

I love this part of the world so much, and am so excited to go explore more! 

Balmy Alley, San Francisco

Throughout the summer, when I was a camp counsellor, we took a couple trips into the Mission District of San Francisco to see the famous Balmy Alley. The alley is right off 24th Street, and around a 10 minute walk from the 24th and Mission BART Station. This alley is a special area that has been dedicated to the paintings of murals. This stretch of road is full of colour, with each mural having its own story.

We took a tour with Precita Eyes, a business dedicated to getting muralists involved in the community, teaching children about painting murals, and leading mural tours around the area. It was so wonderful to learn all the stories behind the murals, and you may even get a tour by a muralist featured in the alley! The stories behind the murals are especially wonderful to hear, some old some new, its like a visual history guide.

Another great thing about the area surrounding Balmy Alley is the plethora of Latin American cuisine. I would especially recommend La Paz (1028 Potrero Ave). They have an AMAZING pupusas, and the staff are incredibly friendly (when visiting the restaurant with 20 nine year olds, they let us all come and sit inside while eating bagged lunches while we waited to try some pupusas).

Kids Crafts: Coffee Filter Flowers

Last summer I was a camp counsellor at "Girls on the Go", a summer camp for girls aged 9-13 in Berkeley. Our main site was at a park, and we would bring lots of arts and crafts to do when we weren't doing our insane activities.

This craft is the absolute easiest thing to make, and they really turn out so beautiful!

1. Take 3 coffee filters and pinch together the centers of them, tying the pinch with a piece of string (or elastic band or whatever you have on hand)
2. Using watercolours, paint the coffee filters. This can be done however you want! I like the use different colours and try to make an hombre effect with the lightest in the middle and the darkest around the edges.
3. Allow to dry

Pike's Place

Whenever I'm in a slightly touristy mood I love heading into the city and to Pike's Place Market. Its so stereotypical Seattle, and so much fun to look around at everything there is to offer! And yes, there are flying fish (along with a plethora fruit and veggie, cheap flowers, and homemade trinket stands). Surrounding the main market there is also tons of restaurants, other market areas, and stores (including the original Starbucks!)

Some particularly noteworthy stops include
Daily Dozen Donut Company: simply delicious and very obviously homemade. They fry the mini donuts right in front of you, and when you ask for a flavour they add it (Cinnamon, Sugar) to the bag and shake. I'm not really much of a donut lover, but when they're so fresh and still warm I can't help myself.
Pike Place Chowder: If you've in the mood for some clam chowder, this is the place to go. Its very tiny, with only a little counter space and stools but the chowder is out of this world.
Original Starbucks: I know I know, you've come all the way to Seattle and there's no way you're missing this. Honestly though, what's going to happen is you're going to stand outside for an hour to order the exact same drink you could get at the Starbucks one block away.

Gasworks Park, Wallingford.

This is, without a doubt, my favourite place in Seattle. When you walk into Gasworks you're quickly greeted by green grass and an old gasification plant. Once you walk past the plant, however, the entire skyline of Seattle comes into view. Its kind of mindblowing. Either it is day or night it's absolutely worth the visit.

Showing someone the sights: London in a day

Whenever anyone is visiting me for a short amount of time I always take them on this tour of the city. It hits a lot of the more famous sites, and can be done in a matter of hours if you're really busy. I always come into the city through Waterloo train station, so that's where the walk starts.

1) Walk from Waterloo Train Station to the London Eye, there are signs everywhere so its a pretty easy walk.
2) Walk down the London Eye to Westminster Bridge. All along here are wonderful places to capture Big Ben and The Houses of Parliament.

3) After passing Big Ben, turn left down Abingdom Street to Westminster Abbey. its pretty expensive to go inside the Abbey, and most of the time we just look at it from the outside. However, if you do want to go inside I would highly recommend it. Its absolutely beautiful and very interesting.

4) From Westminster Abbey, walk towards then along St. James Park. Along this pathway to the left you'll see beautiful homes and to the right the beautiful green park. A little bit of serenity for the hectic day.
5) At the end of the walk you'll reach Buckingham Palace. If you time it right you'll be able to see the changing of the guards which is always fun!
6) After seeing the palace, walk through Green Park towards Piccadilly St, towards Green Park Tube Station. When you hit the road, turn right. On the way to Piccadilly Circus you'll see the famous Ritz Hotel.

7) After about 10 minutes you'll hit Piccadilly Circus, where Piccadilly, Regents and Strand Street all meet in a hubbub of tourists, shops, and the famous giant video screens. (If you're looking for some shopping, head down Regents Street!)

8) After taking pictures to your heart's desire, head down Strand. Down this street you'll hit and MnM's store (!) and Leicester Square. Walk diagonally though Leicester Square, and you'll pretty much run into the National Portrait Gallery and on to Trafalgar Square.
9) Museums in London are all free, so definitely take advantage of the National Gallery and National Portrait Gallery.
10) From the square, walk down Northumberland Ave to the river. From here you can walk down Embankment towards Big Ben, with great views of the London Eye.

Although this seems long, its very easy to get done in an afternoon and feels like you saw so much of of the city!

The Incredibles: Homemade Costume

For Halloween this year I really wanted to be an Incredible. I didn't want to spend a lot of money on it, as I know I'm really never gonna wear it again (except maybe for another Halloween). After looking online to no success, I decided to just make it! I love homemade costumes; in 3rd grade I was a christmas present by literally wrapping and decorating a box and cutting arm and head holes - it was awesome.

Anyways, the process for this costume was extremely simple! I went go the closest goodwill and picked out a plain red t-shirt for 3 dollars. After looking online for shirt cutting tutorials I watched this one in order to cut the shirt into a crop top. After, I drew on the logo with marker, and started painting using an online picture as a guide. I just used regular acrylics, mostly because I know I'm never gonna wash it or really wear it so the paint didn't need to be proper fabric paint.

Paired with some black high waisted shorts, and I was ready to go!