Fashion Fun!

So, awhile back I shared with you that I had some fashion shows in the works. Well, mark your calendars for 6/19 and 6/26 for some major fashion fun! I'll have the flyer's and details soon, I promise!

And just an FYI, Little Courtney, Big City will be on the road for a bit...so I hope to share some fun updates from the Southwest and the East Coast in the next week or so!

In the meantime 2 new Eastside of Seattle posts are going up on the Seattle PI blog this week - check 'em out! http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/littlecourtney/

Mwah!

Little Courtney ;)

Big News in Little Courtney's world!

I'm excited to share with all of you that Little Courtney, Big City can now be found at, http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/littlecourtney/!!! Now, don't fret, this blog will still be active, but the focus is going to stay on Natural Health and Beauty and fashion. My Seattle PI Blog will focus on all the fun places on Seattle's Eastside!

Please add the link above to your bookmarks and check in weekly with the Seattle PI blog. The best way to get all the scoop on what's going on with LCBC is to sign up for both email subscriptions. That way, every time I add a post, you'll get it in your email inbox :)

Cheers!

Little Courtney

Scrub a dub dub fun in the tub - Burt's Bees Shampoo

I meant to tell y’all about my favorite shampoo for a long time now. It was going to be one of my first posts actually, but I kept getting sidetracked with other postings. Every morning in the shower as I massaged my delicious Pomegranate Soy Burt’s Bees shampoo on my scalp I would try to remind myself. Well, anyways, here it is, finally, my Burt’s Bee’s Shampoo post.

Burt’s Bees stuff is amazing, and I’m really glad that they are doing so well because it means I can now pick up their products at Target or some grocery stores rather than a specialty shop I need to hunt down. They are an open, honest company that puts the facts on their labels, and I really appreciate that.

On a side note, wouldn't a dinner with Burt (Burt’s Bees), Tom (Tom’s of Maine), and Ben & Jerry (need I say where these guys are from) be so much fun?

Anyways, Burt’s Bees now makes shampoos and conditioners without any of the sodium laureth sulfates, parabens, and other nasty preservatives and chemicals I steer far, far away from. The shampoos are packed with stuff I love, are incredibly creamy and lather up like whoa, and smell divine. Right now I’m alternating between Pomegranate Soy and Grapefruit and Sugar Beet. Both make me and my hair very, very happy.

Drink up, me 'earties, yo ho!

So I feel like we've really been bonding recently. You know what I mean? I feel like I'm at that point in our relationship where I can share my most intimate secrets with you and you'll still love me for who I am. In fact, you might love me even more after I share this juicy secret with you!


See, there is this to-die-for little brewery with the best microbrewed beers AND the best food on the planet! The combo can't get any better. I swear, this tiny, little pirate-themed taproom is the best local haunt I've ever stumbled upon! Now, something else you might not know is that my guy & I are total microbrewed beer luvas' and only drink a quality brew. So, you gotta know how psyched we were when we discovered that Seattle and the PNW were, like, home to good beer! With that being said, you better believe we have been to all of the local breweries and are starting to work on the ones in Portland and Vancouver. Dude, we collect Pint glasses from every city and every brewpub we ever visit! Yes, I know we're obsessed, but you've gotta understand we don't just like Maritime Pacific Brewing Company and the Jolly Roger Taproom, we whole-heartedly love it!

Now, with that background on our search for the Holy Beer, I'll tell you about Maritime and the Jolly Roger Taproom. You may have seen Maritime Beers on the menu at many local restaurants. They make lots of amazing beers including their winter seasonal beer, the Jolly Roger, but the ultimate in beers (in my book anyways) is the Nightwatch Dark Amber Ale. Now, Little Courtney is a stout and porter kinda girl. The lightest my beers get are up in the shades of red. The Nightwatch is this amazing beer that seems to mix the best of an amber ale and a porter to get a true Pacific Northwest original brew...you've just gotta try it.

Additionally, the food is a-freakin'-mazing at this place. The seasonal menu rotates every few weeks, and I'm always looking forward to the Oktoberfest menu with the best bratwurst and sauerkraut this side of Germany. Seriously, I'm not talking about wings and burgers. Check out some of the current entree selections that this awesome Chef prepares:

Appetizer:

Seared Duck- $8.95Grilled breast of duck brushed with sesame and lemongrass glaze, served atop crispy wontons with kiwi-chili jam.

Entrees:

Fresh Alaskan Halibut- $16.95Fresh Alaskan Halibut wrapped in prosciutto, pan seared tender, served atop sun dried tomato-leek confit and finished with a marjoram-red pepper rouille.

Giant Stuffed White Prawns- $19.95Grilled giant white prawns stuffed with sweet Chilean crab, roasted garlic and pecorino cheese then finished with picatta vinaigrette.

Hungry yet? I'm drooling over here. Check out their website, http://www.maritimebrewery.ypguides.net/, and then go check Maritime out. I promise, this is the best secret I could ever share with you!





Images courtesy of Maritime Pacific Brewery

Pomegranate and Matador- LC's top picks on the Eastside

I’m transient when it comes to the make-believe border (well, minus the big body of water) between Seattle and “the Eastside.” I love them both, and don’t understand why peeps need to be picking favorites. I guess no matter where you are in the US people feel the need to pick sides. I remember the suburbs of my hometown felt they had something to prove by declaring themselves the East side vs. the West side, and without the division of areas of land then what would Gwen and Moby have sung about in the late 90’s?

I work in Seattle and spend lots of time there, but I also love coming home to my little place on the Eastside. I like that it's suburban. I love that there are great schools here, and it’s amazing to watch it blossom and grow and balance maintaining it’s small town charm and roots with the big city it's starting to become. One of the only downfalls I find over here is the lack of some great restaurants. It’s difficult to find hip and sophisticated places to get really inventive food and cocktails. There’s a plethora of chain restaurants and lots of little fast food places, but not as many really cool local places. Now, there are some, and with time, I’m sure I’ll chat about lots of them here, but my focus today will be on Redmond, as they seem to have the least, but a couple of the best.

This morning, I’m actually writing from Pomegranate Bistro, which is Lisa Dupar’s (known for her catering company of the same name) sassy, and might I add hidden, restaurant in Redmond. Pomegranate is the quintessential Redmond place. It’s perfect for families, big groups, and great for the 20’s-30’s group that I think has the hardest time finding a place to go to in Redmond. When you walk in there is a tempting bakery case to your right and coffee bar. They make great coffee, inventive coffee drinks, like the “Hawaiian Joy” or “Almond Roca Mocha” and have delicious muffins, cookies, and other pastries. The “restaurant part” of Pomegranate has a open, warehouse feel with the wood burning oven and big windows looking into the catering kitchen out on display. The walls are painted warm, inviting shades that make the place feel relaxed and fun. I haven’t actually eaten in the restaurant yet, but every time I come to get coffee and treats there’s always a steady-to-heavy crowd enjoy great looking plates. Just from the muffins I can tell you I appreciate that Pomegranate makes what it states. I hate ordering a muffin b/c I envision it moist and full of the berries, nuts, and other bits of joy it promises to find it dotted with a few artificial blueberries. The Pomegranate muffins I’ve had so far are full of fresh berries and have other surprises packed in such as bran or hints of lemon zest. So, for the family, date night, or Sunday brunch crowds Pomegranate tops my list.

It's a bit hard to find, and, honestly, I didn't bother to check it out for a long time because it's in this weird office complex type building out in the middle that used to be nothing but auto shops. Now with Whole Foods across the street the areas growing, and I'm glad I finally decided to stop in to Pomegranate.




Pomegranate is located at 18005 NE 68th St in Redmond


Now, what seems to be even harder to find is a happy hour location worthy of a happy hour. I find myself always heading over to downtown Bellevue (if I'm not staying in Seattle after work) because there is nothing very special in Redmond. That all changed though when Matador came to town. You may have been to a Matador in Ballard or West Seattle (they have a few other new locations including Portland as well), and that’s where I used to always go. So I was beyond psyched when I found out a Matador was opening in the cute, but boring (hate to say it, but it’s true) little old-fashioned downtown area of Redmond!!!
Matador is fun! It’s a little sexy and spicy, just like a Mexican infused restaurant with a claim-to-fame tequila list should be. I’m always a fan of their steak nachos and am in love with the pork, mama’s lil' peppers, and chipotle mayo sandwich. The margaritas are delish too. Matador is located at 7824 Leary Way NE in Redmond.

I am so glad I finally have a place in Redmond to feel proud about asking my friends out to. It’s the best mix of the 20-30’s crowd around in all of Redmond. There are a few other restaurants that are decent, but not that inspiring, and a few that, in my opinion, have gone down hill in the last year or so.

So, until some of our inventive chefs and restaurateurs of Seattle decide to come across the bridge, these are 2 places I’m glad are close to home.



Images used from www.lisaduparcatering.com/pomegranate and http://www.matadorseattle.com/

Trying to find a natural deodorant is the pits!

As mentioned in an earlier post, I've found it incredibly difficult to find a natural deodorant that really combats the task at hand. I've tried a few, but, honestly, it's a stressful process as I definitely fear being labeled the "nice, but smelly" girl at the office. So, to be honest, I haven't tried as hard as I have at finding other natural products. After the success of my Tom's of Maine toothpaste, I felt pretty optimistic in giving their deodorant a chance.

The Tom's of Maine deodorant is natural, specifically meaning it's aluminum-free. There a few products people, women specifically, use on a regular basis that really freak me out. The chemicals, animal by-products, and artificial ingredients that go into mascara, deodorant, and sanitary products are incredibly frightening!!! I appreciate that Tom's of Maine's deodorant clearly lists all of the ingredients, their purpose, and the source. I also just discovered that Tom's of Maine runs their facility on wind power, which is total brownie points to this green girl.

Now, I've only been using the deodorant for about two weeks, and the first few days it was really hard to tell if it was working, but in this last week I seem to really notice a difference. By the end of the work day I don't smell like fake "shower fresh" or " powder" and there isn't any excess residue built up from the day. The Tom's of Maine deodorant uses hops (yep, like in beer) to inhibit the growth of odor-causing bacteria and they use natural scents, like lavender to help block odor. There's also a ton of ingredients in the list to help sooth the skin. This is really important, especially when you are using a deodorant before you workout or have sensitive skin like moi.

So far, I'm really impressed with this deodorant and feel so much better about using it. I feel like all deodorants take a while to really prove their strength, so we'll see how it goes and if it's not living up to my standards I'll post an update. Until then, you might want to go on a bit of a Tom's of Maine shopping spree!

Image courtesy of http://www.tomsofmaine.com/