EcoLavish: An Eco-conscious Fashion Show

Come check out my next event!!! www.halfpastlavish.com - 10.25.08 8pm, Fremont Abbey

Welcome to The South 47 Farm

The South 47 Farm in Woodinville is a great pumkpin patch for kids and adults alike! The farm has tractor rides, a large pumpkin patch, live music, kettlecorn, and more. My favorite find at this farm was the variety of unique pumpkins. Some of the distinctive pumpkins included cotton candy (a shade of pale pink), cinderella (the type of pumpkin with a long, curly stem), and lumina (a ghostly shade of white). I picked out a squatty, deep orange colored pumpkin, a medium sized lumina, and a small striped pumpkin-esque gourd to create a pumpkin tower for my front steps.

The South 47 Farm has a great family atmosphere and is a perfect example of a classic pumpkin picking experience.

You can check out their website at http://www.south47farm.com/.

My New Favorite Cider Mill!

To kick my week of fall-themed blogs off, I figured I'd start with some of the most delicious apple cider I've ever tasted. Although I've driven past a number of times, this was the first time I stopped at Minea Farms Cider Mill. I don't know why I haven't stopped before (they are open year round!), but I'm so glad I finally did.

The shop inside is relatively small, but the retail area is connected to the actual mill area and you can see through the windows inside into the cider mill area and watch the cider mill in action. The owners were in the shop when I stopped in, and Wanda Minea was offering tasty samples of their ciders. I was delighted to try their cherry cider!

Cherry cider was my favorite type of cider as a kid, and I hadn't found it since I moved out here. Not only did they make cherry cider, but it is probably the best cherry cider I've ever had! It's made with honeycrisp apples and dark cherry juice and is smooth, crisp, fresh, and delish!
They also have a spiced cider, a cranberry apple cider, and a variety of ciders depending on what apple varieties are in season (such as Pink Lady apple cider).

Minea Farms Cider Mill was a perfect way to start off my fall-inspired trip!

The cider mill is on Redmond-Woodinville Road. Minea Farms Cider Mill does not have a website.

On This Harvest Moon...

Autumn is my favorite season. Perhaps, because it is my mom's favorite season, or perhaps because my favorite holiday, Halloween, comes around each year in the fall, but for whatever the main reason may be it is a most delightful season! There's always a bevy of autumn-time activities that I enjoy, and it has been so much fun embarking out on the Eastside to discover some new farms, cider mills, and pumpkin patches to enjoy.

As a child I remember driving out to the country and stopping at a number of farms to pick pumpkins, buy some gourds and Indian corn, and then pick-up some cider and donuts to bring home to enjoy while we carved pumpkins. This week, I'm going to focus on some of the fun farms and whatnot I've discovered for the Halloween season!

The one thing I haven't found to make my fall trifecta of sorts complete is a good old fashioned cake donut. Now, I can't figure out yet if this is unique to the East Coast, or if my PNW friends just don't happen to know what I'm talking about, but if you have a good lead on a farm or cider mill that makes a mean cake donut (plain, glazed, or covered in cinnamon sugar) to go with my cider please do share! Oh, and as much as I love a good Top Pot donut, or other donut shop donut, in this case I'm really trying to find a farm or cider mill with a bakery or homemade donuts on site.

So, I'll start sharing my autumn-time finds, and look forward to hearing where yours are!

Bunka Fun!

One of the most inspiring and innovative annual fashion shows in Seattle, isn't even from Seattle. Each year, I love going to see Bunka's fashion show at the Broadway Performance Hall. Bunka is a Fashion Design college in Tokyo, Japan and they come over to the US in Seattle each year to show of a student designed and produced fashion show. The collections in these shows are always incredibly interesting, unique, and beautifully sewn. It's really impressive, and continues to inspire me each year.

The show comes to town every September, and it's a bit of a challenge to find out the show date, but keep an eye open in September 2009 and check it out!

I've added some photos from this year's show below.

Gift Giving Gone Green!

I'm also a sucker for all versions of pretty paper. I love stationary, note cards, wrapping paper, and all accoutrements that go along with gift wrapping. The art of creating lovely presents is almost more important to me than the actual gift inside.

So, I was really excited when I discovered PS Stores in Redmond (they have a Seattle location too)! It's like Willy Wonka's factory for the fine-paper-obsessed, and it really got me in the holiday gift shopping mood.

In addition to selling really cool stuff, they also hold classes to show you how to make even cooler stuff out of the supplies you buy. One class that sounded really interesting was their environmentally friendly gift wrapping class. Please see all the details from PS Stores below:

Environmentally friendly gifting

Environmentally friendly gifting is the hottest trend this year. Sign up for this special event for great ideas on eco-friendly wrapping.

Holiday Green
Sharon Reding & Alice Krause
You’ve made your list and checked it twice. But what about the environment? It seems like everyone’s going green and we’re glad you want to take action too. Sharon and Alice will share their ideas for wrapping the green way.
Events require a $10 fee due at the time of registration; you will receive a 15% discount off purchases on the day of the event
and a $10 voucher for store merchandise. Call 206-762-0540.
Redmond: Saturday, November 15 - 10:30 – 11:30

It's a pretty good deal too, especially compared to other craft store type of classes. Although you pay a $10 registration fee, you get it back in money to spend in the store. Sign me up!

Sugar!

I'm a sucker for bakeries, and when I see one with a cute little sign out front that says, "Sugar," I all but melt! I've been meaning to stop into this Madison Ave. bakery in Downtown Seattle for some time now, but the timings never been right. The most difficult part of getting to this bakery is, unfortunately, the parking...or really, the lack of parking. I've tried a few times to stop by the bakery but can't find any parking and then waste the 10 minutes I have to spare to go to the bakery on searching for parking. Luckily though, the other day I was driving by, gave the parking issue another go, and found a spot (well, I parked in a spot I shouldn't have but put my blinkers on and made a mad dash to Sugar).

So, I finally made it in, and wished I could stay for awhile. While the bakery case wasn't full, all the treats I happened to spy made my mouth water. It was a battle of sweet versus savory that day. Typically, the sweet wins out right on the spot, but some of these savory items looked and sounded wonderful. Not to mention it was almost too late for breakfast, but not early enough for lunch...so, after kindly interrogating the sales person behind the counter I decided on the turkey and swiss croissant, and then there was a $5 minimum for a debit card purchase, so I threw in a chocolate chip cookie for good measure, which I had plans to share with my co-worker.

The croissant was fabulous. Flaky, buttery, crispy on the outside, soft and chewy on the inside. Good amount of turkey and swiss - not too much, not too little. It was a really great treat! And later in the day when we broke into the cookie bag, that was delicious as well. I had asked the sales person if I should go for the golden raisin oatmeal cookie or the classic chocolate chip, and she quickly suggested the chocolate chip. I was fine with that, because finding a really good chocolate chip cookie, can be difficult. She was right, this was a really good, classic chocolate chip cookie.

I was really impressed and pleased with my bakery selections. Sugar is a great little bakery, with some awesome potential! I hope people defy the parking rules and stop in to Sugar as often as possible. I want to see more of their creative and inspired pastries!

http://www.sugarbakerycafe.com/