Timing and life doesn’t always give you what you want, and my husband had a work conference during our mid-winter break in Nashville. Nashville?!! My twin teenagers were not the most enthusiastic about this trip. Being from Seattle, February usually has us dreaming of somewhere warm like Hawaii. And mid-winter break can be a longer […] The post A Nashville hot chicken tour with my twin teenagers for mid-winter break appeared first on An Emerald City Life ..read more

I was loaned a Toyota BZ4X for the week for the purpose of this review and as always everything in this post and the opinions here are my own I had no idea that Toyota had an electric SUV so when I got a message asking if I wanted to try driving one in Seattle […] The post Seattle coffee shops and neighborhoods I explored with the new Toyota BZ4X appeared first on An Emerald City Life ..read more

I wish I could take more credit for this itinerary but I planned very little of this 10 day Greece trip. I didn’t think I’d actually get to go because I was diagnosed with a rare autoimmune disease at the end of last year and I’ve been undergoing treatments. So I didn’t want to plan […] The post A 10 day family Greece trip Itinerary from Seattle with teenagers appeared first on An Emerald City Life ..read more

I keep getting asked for where we like to go in Vancouver Canada, and I have old lists for Vancouver with kids and Vancouver with my dog, but I realized recently that I didn’t have a centralized list, so this is where I’m going to put the places we like to go and things we […] The post Vancouver, Canada and the Places we Like to Go to when we visit appeared first on An Emerald City Life ..read more

(this list of pnw books contains affiliate links to a site that supports local bookstores) I often read books with a sense of place before I go on a trip, so here are a few that feel very Pacific Northwest if you are visiting the area or even if this is where you call home. […] The post Almost 10 very PNW books you might want to read this summer appeared first on An Emerald City Life ..read more

A few months ago I posted a couple of my frequent Costco purchases in my Instagram Stories.  For the cabin I always purchase this Essential Baking Company bread because it lasts FOREVER in your cupboard and when you want fresh bread immediately you bake it in the oven for about 15 minutes and it turns […] The post A bakery with the most historical bread starter in Seattle? (A behind-the-scenes tour of Essential Baking Company) appeared first on An Emerald City Life ..read more

Camano Island is so close to Seattle it can be a day trip, I’ve been telling everyone since we went there a few weeks ago. But I don’t know if this is entirely truthful. Yes, Camano Island is barely just over an hour from Seattle but if you want to try all the delicious foods […] The post Camano Commons and other delicious places to find food on Camano Island appeared first on An Emerald City Life ..read more

Not much more than an hour’s drive north of Seattle you can get to a place that feels worlds away. My mom and I recently met midway between Vancouver BC (where she lives) and Seattle, WA (where I live) on Camano Island for a mom and me adventure for an early Mother’s Day celebration. My […] The post A mom and me (and pup) trip to Camano Island and an idea for Mother’s Day weekend appeared first on An Emerald City Life ..read more

Are you somebunny who loves little rabbits? We actually didn’t try the coffee in this cafe, but I took my niece and nephew to the Bunny Cafe in Vancouver BC and there were bunnies galore. The Bunny Cafe is on Commercial drive, a vibrant street full of shops and cafes and I found it when […] The post A bunny cafe in Vancouver BC worth the drive from Seattle appeared first on An Emerald City Life ..read more

Try to find a better bathroom, I dare you. The best bathroom in the world is arguably the one at the Nashville Zoo. My teenagers and I stopped by the Nashville zoo on a recent trip to the area and it was a cold and chilly day so we even ended up with a “cold […] The post The best bathroom in the world is at the Nashville Zoo appeared first on An Emerald City Life ..read more