A Bolt Bus From Seattle to Spokane According to my favorite Spokanite, it takes four hours to drive to Seattle. Seattle friends say six hours to get to Spokane. When I drive, it’s five hours, all of which would be more pleasantly spent reading a book or dozing or catching up with an interesting acquaintance who happened to take the same bus. Why white-knuckle Snoqualmie Pass on a snow day when you could put your life in the hands of a Bolt Bus driver?
A Haircut From Sheli Kersten Every day with Sheli is a good hair day. I can walk into her Red X Salon (1121 Pike St., 340-1177) with a vague idea about bangs and big hair. She’ll translate that into “Loretta Lynn with a Stevie Nicks rising sign” and take care of the rest. She won’t talk your ear off and she won’t judge your love life, but she will give you a beehive if you ask for it.
Tim’s Cascade Jalapeno Chips Everywhere If a gas station has Tim’s Cascade, I’m likely within same-day distance from Seattle. As great as it is to have this sign that I am close to home, I’d like it even more if, everywhere I drove, in all small towns, Tim’s Cascade chips were everywhere, salting me up and crunching me out for another couple hundred miles.
For more gift ideas, check out
Part Two of
Seattle Weekly
’s Holiday Gift Guide
.
Affordable Housing Confession: I haven’t had a Seattle address since May 2013, when the rent on my Ballard one-bedroom spiked by 50 percent and I decided the smartest decision as a working artist was to struggle elsewhere. The gypsy life has its perks, and couch-surfing in Seattle can be quite comfortable, but I’m bummed about leaving. Affordable housing close to the action—that’s what I want.
The Delridge Grocery Cooperative
West Seattle’s Delridge neighborhood, with no nearby traditional grocery stores and limited access to fresh groceries by public transit, has been called a food desert. The Delridge Grocery Co-op will change that landscape when they open their retail location on Delridge Way. Build-out begins in 2015, and they need more members to make it happen. Let’s make it happen!
Lebo’s Pie School is currently enrolling students. Get more info at pie-school.com. You can also purchase her cookbook, Pie School: Lessons in Fruit, Flour & Butter, at booksellers everywhere.