Open Books, Wallingford

I met Tennyson when I was in the third grade. Anne Shirley introduced us and ignited what has become my quiet affair with poetry. Upon hearing Anne recite Tennyson, I took myself straightaway to the library and told the librarian, "I'm looking for the poem from Anne of Green Gables." She knew immediately: "The Lady of Shallot." I spent the next week memorizing the poem's twenty stanzas. At age 8 I had never experienced the...

Reflexology Foot Path at Bastyr University, Kenmore

September always catches me off guard with its hint of cool and sideways light. The ninth month arrives and I am jolted. It's the same every year. "Wait!" I exclaim. "Where has summer gone? Time is moving too fast. Slow down! Slow down!" The problem is, if you are a naturally high, mile-a-minute, see it all, do it all, busybody, go-getter like myself, slowing down is a task as difficult as stopping a rolling 3,000-pound...

Holly James Salon and Spa, Kirkland

When I was in junior high I hired a beautician to apply my makeup for my school's famous ninth grade spring dance. The beautician had recently moved to Seattle from Dallas and declared it her mission to beautify the women of the entire Pacific Northwest, one sweep of her mascara wand at a time. "Y'all are so grungy here," she announced while applying foundation to my cheeks. "Before I moved here I never even heard...

Cafe Wannabee, University District

It would be easy for any woman to quickly develop a schoolgirl crush on Wally, proprietor of the University District's latest and greatest new coffeehouse. In my first twenty-minute meeting with him, I learned that the man is dedicated (it took him a year and a half to get the cafe up and running as his fulltime construction gig only allowed him an hour or two at night to work on building his business), that...

Third Place Books, Lake Forest Park

In 1989 Ray Oldenburg wrote a book entitled The Great Good Place in which he wrote that there are three essential places that all people must have in order to feel centered in life. The first is a home, the second is a school or workplace, and the third is a community space where a person can gather with others to meet, to laugh, to discuss, to banter, to unwind, to simply hang out and...

Revolutions, Greenlake

If you are a woman who gets utterly annoyed when a stranger calls you "sweetie," you may want to avoid Revolutions as your morning latte provider. If, however, you are a woman who gets a thrill from a little unexpected sweet talk, Revolutions is your place. Here's just a small sampling of the greetings I have received from the baristas upon approaching the counter: How you doing, Sugar? What's going on today, Sweetheart? Hey Girl!...