St. Leo’s at 1323 Yakima Ave., Tacoma, is having their annual Fair Trade Market this weekend (Friday 4-7pm, Saturday Nov 17, 1-7pm and Sunday Nov 18, 9am-2pm). There were plenty of vendors, both Fair Trade and local folks. The building was constructed in 1912 and the architect was C. Frank Mahon. I remember when we first moved to Tacoma, I would attend Tacoma Actor’s Guild plays in the theater here. I admire the social justice program and food bank at St. Leo’s
To celebrate Halloween I snapped a couple of photos of neighborhood decorations at an undisclosed house (not mine!). I kind of admire the folks that go all out with seasonal decorations and this house feature a giant pumpkin with three ghosts and a skeleton coachman driving a pumpkin full of skulls.
When dear daughter and I went to the Western Washington State Fair last weekend we simply forgot to see the Our Body, The Universe Within exhibit and afterward that made me sad. But, on the last day of the fair, we decided to go again. Yes, there were scones involved.
I had decided not to take photos in the exhibit because it just didn’t feel respectful. Just as well since photography was not permitted, nor were cell phones. Really good photos can be found on the exhibit’s website http://www.ourbodytheuniversewithin.net/. It was a very interesting exhibit and I learned a few things. The part that captivated me the most was that they took one body and sliced it into 12 pieces sideways. So the two end pieces each had an ear and in between we saw muscle, bone, organs, etc. The individual organs were also fascinating. The stomach was smaller than I thought and the thyroid was larger. There was a brain that had been damaged by a stroke and lungs that had been ruined by smoking. The exhibit made dear daughter a tad queasy.
I love the exhibits at the Hobby Hall at the Western Washington State Fair! The people that create the exhibits are my people — interesting, smart, quirky, and a bit obsessive. The Hobby Hall is one of the fair places we always go along with the scone stand, the hot tub display (where we dip our hands), and the building with the photos and quilts and such (good bathroom on the second floor!). The exhibit building was constructed in 1939.
While we were there we talked to the ham radio folks and the astronomy guy and we saw wonderful collections (Titanic, holiday ornaments, sheep, smiley faces, Sailor Moon, Starbucks, Coke, Whiskey, hand puppets, nutcrackers, kimonos, dollhouses and many more).
Dear daughter, her dear friend and I had to go to Tacoma’s first Movable Feast, a gathering of food trucks mostly from around the region. It was great. The location in the parking lot of Cheney Stadium was convenient and parking was plentiful. I had 1/2 a pulled pork sandwich, daughter had a burrito and her friend had curry. Then we had strawberry shortcake (only it was really strawberry on a split doughnut) and amazingly good ice cream from Ice Cream Social.
http://www.tacomafoodtruck.com/tacoma-food-truck-festival/
I’ve been wanting to go to the Sequim Lavender Festival for years, but it seems like I always have had a conflict. But this year was looking good. Except that we left rather late and traffic into Sequim was awful and I we ran out of time. The festival downtown was great with more lavender stuff then I’ve seen for a long time. Next year I’ll go earlier in the day and right to the farms. Live and learn.
http://lavenderfestival.com/component/content/article/45-15thfestival
The students and staff of Clover Park High School in Lakewood, WA have created a reproduction of Arlington National Cemetery this Memorial Day weekend, as they have in other years. The photo above is actually from last year when I had my better camera on hand.
Each of the white stakes represents a service member who died in Iraq or Afghanistan, so there is a stunningly clear visual of the loss of life because of these wars. The short video from a past year sums up the project. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E936AoYq6rc
Each year the YWCA has a benefit for their domestic violence prevention & intervention programs. This year it was at Larson’s Mercedes-Benz of Tacoma at 1701 Alexander Avenue in Fife. It was great.Their showroom was filled with more quality wearable art then I’ve ever seen in one place and it was an added bonus that it supports the YWCA’s excellent mission. I walked away with a lovely necklace and a pin for my friend. While I was there I checked out a new Mercedes-Benz (I can dream!).
What was funny is that when I came home I took the Fife exit onto I-5 and pulled in right behind my husband’s blue truck. Really, what are the chances?
 
     
r Today was a travel day from SeaTac to DFW. I snapped this photo somewhere along the way. 