Home Tour

At the end of June, with COVID-19 changing how people live and work at home, my fiancé and I left our 615 square foot city apartment for something closer to nature and nearly three times larger. In our new space, we have ample room for two people to work in separate areas, two staircases for the cat to thunder up and down, and a living/dining/kitchen area we’ve had great fun decorating with midcentury influences.

Click the carousel below to scroll through our setup so far:

Select decor sources:

• Seattle map: Burnt Sugar, Fremont store

• Candle hurricane (on dining table): Crate and Barrel

• Striped pillows & couch: CB2

• Lamp: Article

• Matte black mug: Ember

• Kitchen runner: Ruggable

Other pieces come from a range of places, but most reliably Amazon (everything from books to a faux plant), Williams Sonoma, and Crate and Barrel.

Fidalgo Island

About an hour and a half north of Seattle is Fidalgo Island, nearly parallel to the isolated San Juans and boasting a lush, walkable park at its southwest corner, Washington Park. Last weekend, my fiancé and I changed up the quarantine monotony and took a socially distanced hike along the Fidalgo Head Loop Trail (and a few of its various branches) through dense forest and along craggy heights.

The trail’s view across the Burrows Channel is one of the most striking things I’ve seen this close to Seattle.

Although all trail documentation online listed the park’s loop trail as easy in difficulty and fairly level (with elevation gain of under 300 feet), don’t be underprepared footwear-wise like I was. The trail is very flat across extended distances and suddenly extremely steep in short bursts, and the rocks along the cliffsides have very little purchase. There is loose dirt throughout, making some steps tricky. Definitely wear your regular hiking shoes if possible.

We left the park well in advance of sunset, but it’s on my bucket list to come back and see this shoreline during golden hour. Sunset Beach is angled slightly to the west, so I’m sure incredible light is guaranteed.

Seattle Solitude

It’s been a weird few weeks of profound solitude in Seattle. But the sounds of the city are slowly flooding back: the rush of traffic, the occasional siren, screeching tires, people chattering on sidewalks.

We’ve been passing some of our time taking slow, aimless walks in neighborhoods, encountering sculptures, rose gardens, and surprise views of the Space Needle. More commonly, though, we’ve been marathoning more HBO & Netflix than anyone has any business doing. (Watch Big Little Lies and Dead To Me. Right away.)

Today a number of Washington counties were approved to move to phase 2 of reopening operations. Recovery is underway but I’m of the view that we are so much better off safe than sorry. Can’t go wrong with an abundance of caution.