Wear What When

Details, Details

Do them a favor: Townsend Bay Soaps

Posted by: Laura Cassidy on May 12, 2010 at 06:45AM 1 Comments

Slideshow: Townsend Bay Soap makes great guest favors

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Slideshow: Townsend Bay Soap makes great guest favors

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You could finish these guys for almost nothing; some inexpensive, earthy string or twine, and a few sprigs plucked from backyard trees.

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Something to keep in mind: Present soaps and other scented favors somewhere other than the dinner table. Or, if you want to give favors out along with whatever meal you’re having, make sure they are wrapped or bagged. Try Packaging Specialties for cellophane bags or a similar solution.

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If the twine or string feels a tad too earthy, experiment with dressing up the soaps with ribbons and other accoutrement.

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As with anything you choose as a guest gift, it’s all in the presentation

With wedding season about to march down the aisle, many of you are in the T minus X days zone, meaning the Big Event is drawing near and every waking moment is about crossing off final chores and duties and making last minute acquisitions. To help, we’re going to throw lots of deals, details, and specifics your way this spring and summer. Today: a pitch perfect, cleanly designed favor for Northwest-y celebrations.

The folks at Townsend Bay Soap Company are carrying on a generations-old tradition home-making small-batch house goods. The great thing about their handcrafted, all-natural, totally-elegant-but-perfectly-simple, wonderful smelling Woods of Washington soap is that hip, mindful, DIY twenty-somethings will appreciate it as much as wise older folks will. And as much as visitors to our peaceable kingdom will be psyched to carry a piece of our evergreens home with them, lifers like us appreciate the home-grown sentiment as well.

I first encountered the soaps at Field House; they are also carried at Blackbird. Check out this write-up of the company on that shop’s blog.

While I happen to think that the Woods of Washington would make a perfect guest gift, I’d be remiss not to mention that Townsend Bay also offers a Townsend Bay Rum soap. Serving mojitos at your reception? So perfect. There are actually about twenty different soaps in Townsend Bay’s arsenal; maybe Sea Mist or or Blue Sage works better for your big day.

Keep in mind that these little guys are made by hand and it may be difficult to source 200 or so of any one variety. Sometimes, even in the final hours, you’ll have to plan ahead.

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Tags: Locally Made, Party Favors, Gift Guide, Locally Designed, Wedding Details, Wedding Favors

Moms, Part II

More moms, more gifts.

Posted by: Laura Cassidy on Apr 30, 2010 at 07:30AM 3 Comments

Photo: DenHaus

DenHaus dog pads: Picture your mom, and her dog, and their pristine kitchen, here.

Welcome back. Yesterday’s post covered Moms 1 – 5; we continue today with five more. Find the archetype that best fits the mamas you love and have fun shopping for them this weekend, and spoiling them the following one.

6. The Dog’s Best Friend I don’t have the science on this, but it seems to me that more and more moms have dogs. Dads get the cats, moms take the Germans and the Labs and the Scotties and everything else. Bellevue’s DenHaus makes indoor dog huts that double as end tables that double as sleek, modern decor pieces. The canine condos have a smaller footprint than those sometimes-unsanitary-seeming pillow/bed ordeals, and they’re no eye sore — unlike some crates we know. (Or, all crates we know.)

7. Chocolate-covered Mom Okay what mom doesn’t love chocolate? I haven’t met her. Did you meet Mandy Aftel when she visited Essenza last week? As part of her visit to Seattle, the expert o’ the senses created a four-piece sweet set with the Theo Chocolates folks that pairs rich ganache with flavors like blood orange, ginger, and jasmine. The gorgeously low-key chocolate box is available in limited quantities at Theo’s retail shop as well as at Essenza.

8. Bail-Out Mom If you’ve been calling on Dear Old Ma to float you a little cash here and there for phone bills and Friday nights, I’m going to suggest not dropping big bucks (that you clearly don’t have) on her, and instead planning a day of experiences and adventures that don’t cost a thing. Tell her you’re working hard to be a more financially responsible person and anyway, who can put a price tag on hanging out and having a good time? One of my favorite free things in all of Seattle is the Frye Art Museum. Even the parking lot across the street is gratis. If that doesn’t sound like your thing, take sporty moms on a supernatural Northwest adventure, or check out some of the freebies in our 26 Saturdays feature; Seward Park nearby animal rescue farms, inspiring community gardens, and a Zen-ful labyrinth provide scratch-free good, and good-for-you, times.

9. The Single Foodie That Kathryn Robinson, huh? Check out her list of Mother’s Day eatery picks. Quite a spin. Our esteemed restaurant critic imagines a gastro-mum who loves nothing as much as a fawning chef. Not even a foie gras terrine.

10. You Don’t Bring Her Flowers Anymore It’s easy to over-think gifting in general, and it’s easy to think flowers are just too easy. They’re not. When you take care to pick out, create, or help create an arrangement that’s truly special (don’t even think of dialing those 1-800 people), the experience feels simple, sweet, and classic in really wonderful way. I love Marigold and Mint and Fleurt, two new shops I wrote about earlier this week, or, try the talented arrangers we spotlighted one fine Valentine’s Day month, some of our favorite plant shops, or any among Seattle’s talented weddings and event florists. Should I remind you that you’re not the only one calling upon calla lillies, peonies, and posies and you better not wait til the last minute? Nah, you already thought of that.

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Tags: Gift Guide, Mother's Day

Moms, Part I

Tell me what kind of mom you have and I’ll tell you what to get her

Posted by: Laura Cassidy on Apr 29, 2010 at 07:30AM 0 Comments

The laptop tote by Kirkland’s Plaid Doctrine, because mama’s gotta go.

Moms: Where would we be without them? To help you celebrate the ones nearest and dearest to you, I’ve identified ten maternal archetypes and paired each with perfect gifting ideas.

In Part I, we fete laptop-toting frequently flying moms, brand new mommies, English or otherwise Anglophilic mums, best-dressed mamas, and earth mothers. Don’t see yours here? Come back tomorrow for five more.

1. The World-Class Business-Class Regular If she could be two places at once, one of her would totally be here all the time, sure. Of course. But given that impossibility, she’s off to seal the deal in Dubai and sign the dotted lines in Dallas. Check out the classic, new-world travel bags at Plaid Doctrine. Conceived on the Eastside by Suzanne Park, these laptop-storing totables are made with recycled fabrics (did you know a recycled bottle could become baby blue houndstooth?) and prime grade vegetable-tanned leather. In true designed-in-the-Northwest style, the bags are fabricated in the USA using materials sourced, for the most part, domestically. And check this out: Park is offering Where What When readers a 15% discount if you order before Mother’s Day. Enter “seattlemet15” in the promo code prompt. Park notes, “We do free ground shipping only—within the greater Seattle area that is usually 2 days.” Plan accordingly. This kind of mom can’t be kept waiting.

2. The Newbie Does it get easier, or does it just get easier to deal with how challenging it is? She wouldn’t trade mamahood for nothing but she sure could use a massage. Our Feel Great Now feature lines up a dozen or so of the city’s best ways to destress, unwind, relax, and feel totally and completely taken care of. Get her a treatment-specific gift certificate if she’s too tired to be bothered with choosing her own, or go with a dollar amount and let her design her own day. A couple tips: Make sure she gets an hour or so padding time around the appointment. Tea and a relaxing walk before, and plenty of no-rush luxuriating in the spa’s steamy saunas and fluffy robes spas after. Have the day’s next meal ready to go when she gets home. And do the dishes. And the laundry. And make the bed. You don’t want her re-tensing immediately upon re-entry.

3. Tea? Totally In a city known for its coffee, there sure are a lot of tea-drinking types, and c’mon, there’s something so old-fashioned and sweet about tea time. Visit the Crumpet Shop and make up your own crumpets-and-jasmine picnic; take her for a proper Japanese tea ceremony or a Brits-in-Bothell cucumber-and-cream-cheese-with-pinkies-out afternoon; or package up some loose leaf from Miro Tea, Teavana, or one of the other dozen or so tea spots threatening to overtake the coffee shops.

4. The Clothes Horse I’m sure it has something to do with her being a mom, but Kay Smith-Blum at Butch Blum has gone a little mad with her Mother’s Day promotions. First, there’s the Style Boost. Have you heard of these? The BB team is gonna pull a mama from Palamino’s on May 4 (be there, with her, with your I heart Mom pin on) for that week’s boost — speaking of boost, the winner will also get a hair extension treatment from Marco AND $50 gift certificate to the Capitol Grille. Wait! There’s more! If you don’t score the style boost, get to Butch Blum /info:357/ early on Sunday May 7; the first two shopping madres will also get the $50 Capitol Grille card.

5. She With Her Arms Around the World The earth mama will love whatever comes her way, that’s just her way. At Nube Green you can choose from a crazy-wide assortment of goods (reworked fine jewelry, tomato-plants-in-a-bag, salvaged wood furniture) all linked by a common yet fairly uncommon bond: They’ve all been made in the USA. The shop’s raison d’etre is to offer beautiful, mindful objects that have never flown over an ocean. The earth-lover in her will love that.

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Tags: Gift Guide, Mother's Day

Sweet Suggestion #3

How to get under the covers with that special someone

Posted by: Laura Cassidy on Feb 04, 2010 at 12:30PM 0 Comments

Photo: Image from Blackbird's shopping pages

As far as helpful hints go, what better way to say, “Hey, I’d really like to get under the covers with you” than a rich, vivid, beautiful blanket.

The folks at Blackbird and their sibling shop Field House have an affinity for American and Northwest products, and they’re in love with (as are others in the fashion world) the Oregon-based heritage brand Pendleton.

Couldn’t you be in love with — or under — Pendleton’s Fremont blanket?

All the gorgeously historical and timeless Pendleton pieces in the Blackbird collection (or for that matter at the Downtown Pendleton store) — can be seen as the anti-lingerie. Not that there’s anything wrong with lingerie, but skimpy and strappy doesn’t work for everyone.

If cozy, warming, and private is your idea of sexy, well, you know what to do next.

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Tags: Hamburgers, Locally Made, Valentine's Day, Heritage Brands, Home Decor, Gift Guide, Pendleton

Sweet Suggestion #2

Seattle-based Hopscotch Tees combine wee neighborhood pride with sweet sentiments for little ones

Posted by: Laura Cassidy on Feb 04, 2010 at 07:00AM 0 Comments

Photo: Image from Hopscotch Tees

If your favorite Valentine is 9 months old, a box of chocolates is probably a little much. A dozen roses? Not so much. But how about this sweet little onesie by Shana Perrina of the locally based line Hopscotch Tees?

The thing about Perrina’s designs is that they’re customizable; neighborhood pride goes hand in hand with retro-feeling, poppy design.

Check the fine print on the image here: "The sweetest thing in ____________ (your neighborhood here) since ____ (the little one’s birth year there)."

For more tees for boys, girls — and yes, these come in uh, big kid sizes, too — check the Hopscotch’s online shopping page.

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I know, I know, two cupcake-related posts in two days. Won’t happen again. I promise.

Stay tuned for another Sweet Suggestion later today.

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Tags: Valentine's Day, Gift Guide, Locally Designed, kids stuff

Sweet Suggestion #1

Get fresh with locally made woodsy sweet soaps by Sweet Petula

Posted by: Laura Cassidy on Feb 01, 2010 at 09:15AM 0 Comments

Photo: Photo courtesy Sweet Petula Etsy Shop

Here’s hoping that two weeks from today you’ll wake up with a perfectly wonderful love hangover. If that worthy goal is yours, better get to work now on making it so. Your first Wear What When Sweet Suggestion: Sweet Petula’s soaps.

Down in Pioneer Square, and over on Etsy, Cory Smith’s shop is a cozy boudoir drawer full of Egyptian musk, vanilla, lemon verbena, pink grapefruit, cedar, and myrrh. Smith crafts soaps, candles, bath salts, lip tints, and other lovely things in her studio just beyond the shop and then accesses some centuries old spirit to help her wrap these things in old French postcards and apothecary prints.

It’s gorgeous stuff.

Photo: Photo courtesy Sweet Petula Etsy Shop

I love what she says about her Bonjour Monsieur shea butter soap, pictured here: “When I meet the man that smells like this….I’m going to walk up to him and say, "Bonjour Monsieur!”

I don’t want to speak for Smith, but I don’t imagine she’d mind if you borrowed her line. Just order some soaps first.

There’s a shea soap for friends and mademoiselles as well; visit the shop to put together an assortment of feel-good sweet somethings for someone you love, or go through Etsy and have Smith create one for you.

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Tags: Locally Made, Valentine's Day, Pioneer Square, bath and beauty, Gift Guide