Life In The Pacific Northwest
Please join the Snohomish County Youth Chorus for a celebration of our favorite holiday music this Saturday, December 15 at 7 p.m. in Mukilteo at Pointe of Grace Lutheran Church!
Learn more about the chorus:
👍 Like their Facebook page for updates on future events!
🎵 Check out their website at www.snocoyouthchorus.org!
I just found these two events that are happening tomorrow in Marysville and Everett respectively.
The Port of Everett is hosting the Holiday By The Bay. Check out the flyer below for details.
The City of Marysville will be hosting their annual Christmas Parade tomorrow evening starting at 5:00 pm. It’s along State ave, which will be blocked off starting at 4th street. So, find a place to park as close to Comeford Park as you can.
Now that Thanksgiving has come and gone, we can consider the holidays fully upon us. Warm 106.9 is fully on Christmas Music mode (24/7 through Christmas Day). Edmonds lead the way last weekend with their Tree Lighting. However, we’re far from done with the holiday fun. Here’s what’s coming up in the next few days.
December 1:
December 2:
December 7:
Earlier I posted this: “Christmas Starts In Edmonds This Evening“. Below are a few photos from the tree lighting. Sadly, I took far more shots, but my camera’s night settings weren’t working well and most of them turned out blurry. I might need to upgrade my old Olympus PEN.
Anyway, head over to the Facebook page and give these one’s a like, if you’d be so good.
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2274815762740422&type=1&l=5cbc5baf9b
The Saturday after Thanksgiving has held a family tradition for us over nearly 2 decades: The Christmas Tree lighting. The tree in question, which is a live tree that lives in the spot year round, is located near a spot we often park. Whenever we’re describing the spot, we don’t call it “the Veteran’s Park”, not “by City Hall”, nor “next to the police station”, nor “where the farmer’s market is”. No, my friends, we’re “parked by the Christmas Tree”. A landmark for the whole year. And we’ll be there, yet again, in a little over an hour.
Maybe I’ll see you there?
The good folks over at the Pacific Chamber Orchestra pinged me on Twitter a few days ago, asking me to add them to my Music and the Arts Page.
@NotJustSeattle Good morning, please add our website to your "Music and the Arts" Blog https://t.co/TQGIRz9VPK @PacificaCOrch is in 9th season of chamber music in #Everett outreach concerts in schools too Thanks! pic.twitter.com/s0BhGgRB8Y
— Pacifica Chamber Orchestra (@PacificaCOrch) November 6, 2018
I always delight in finding new artists, so am more than glad to add them. Head over and say “hi”, and lend them your ears during their holiday concert season.
We spent this early afternoon at BrickCon. It’s hard, really, to imagine the scale of this event. 100s of exhibitors, 1000s of attendees. Swarms of people. As much as I delight in the creations, it’s also a bit exhausting to meander and jostle with so many people. I enjoyed myself, but after an hour and a half, we were ready for lunch at the Armory and a nap. I could hear the grand food at Skillet calling my name. Always a happy thing.
Below are a few photos from the day. I hope you enjoy!
Well, I promised a couple of weeks ago that I was going give more details for the artist’s tour I did on Whidbey, but life got a bit maniacal. So, here we are, a bit late, but, well, here we are.
The tour covers the whole island, from the southernmost tip all the way up to Oak Harbor. Check out the map below, giving the studio locations.
We only explored the southern parts of the island, focusing on Freeland and Langley. And we pretty much just went from our first to the next closest, and so forth. For a tour that’s got some geographic spread, this seemed the best way to go.
First we stopped at Sharon Spencer’s studio. Her work combines native American themes and styles, along with some asian influence. What I saw was amazing, but I deeply delighted in the architecture of the studio itself. Allowing plenty of tree filtered light in, I felt at home in this very northwest styled space.
Our remaining sites blurred together, order-wise. So I’ll put them here in random order.
I love Codie Carman’s use of color and line. Very bright and cheery. Her paintings make me think of island life at its best.
Christi Shaffer’s pottery delighted me deeply. I love the intersection of functional and elegant her work brings.
Penelope Crittenden’s sculpture’s modern elegance warmed my soul. Oh, and since I love owls, too, her work has a happy place in my heart.
The proverbial last but not least was Gina Michel’s glass art. One piece she had on display (not the one below) charmed the musician in me deeply. An electric guitar, made of glass. Though not playable, it was still rather awesome. She told us about crafting a piece from an old harp. The photos were amazing! Amazing enough that it was bought by a music school to inspire those students.
I plan to make the 2019 tour (August 24 & 25, 2019). And, perhaps, budget even more time and explore further. I might even be clever and bring my camera.
One thing I noticed about the Edmonds Arts Festival yesterday: food. Once upon a time portable food vendors were, well, mediocre at best. Often times they were dreadful, to the point of promising almost certain food poisoning. Quality was job two.
We’ve shifted from food trucks to, um, foodie trucks. Better put, food trucks are evolving. They’re becoming exercises is culinary creative excellence. This change is a beautiful thing, which I welcome. They add a new, positive element to our region’s festivals.
Does this upscaling come at a cost? Are they more expensive, making living in the region tougher for those earning less than the median! Or just uppity, gentrified fare challenging the more traditional palette? It seems we are able to have a blend of costs, foods and styles. So, I’m not concerned. I often wonder about such things, though. I desire the region to be accessible to all.
Higher quality food enriches the whole experience. I’m pleased at this change, seeing it as progress.
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Found these two while on Twitter today:
Renton City Comicon: September 15th & 16th
Washington State Toy and Geek Fest: June 30th & July 1stIt’s great to find fun new events to add to my list. I do my best to keep this up-to-date. If you find something, let me know!