Family Day in Seattle

"As soon as I saw you, I knew a grand adventure was about to happen.” 
― A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh

Another fun cultural family event. You know that I dedicate this year to exploring a myriad of little cultural organizations in the greater Seattle area. I was familiar with a few of them, but most of them stay hidden until you start diggin'. So I started. I was asked before how I even get the information I get (and gladly share with others). That's all 'cause I love diggin'. Do you have some diggin' to do? Call Natasha. Did you want me to dig up some dirt? Stop calling right now. I only dig for fun shiny stuff. For instance, I dug out over 60 theaters in the area. I bet there are some more left!

Theater/concert outings are extra fun because you can get extra fancy too! So while actors get ready to show their art and creativity to us, we too take our time to get creative and expressive and show our art in exchange. Time spent in front of the mirror pays off - both Anna and I felt beautiful, fancy and cute. And rain did not spoil it at all! On the contrary, it was fun to take our umbrellas for a walk.

The theater we went to this time is located in a charming older neighborhood - Maple Leaf in Seattle. There are mostly post WWII buildings, cute little cottages, but you can find noteworthy Victorian and Tudor style houses as well. Apparently, Maple Leaf is one of two homes for a flock of feral conures (parrots) descended from escaped pets. They fly between Maple Leaf and Seward Park.

The theater itself is in an old church building. It's not the first time we visit - I'll tell you more in a minute.

Anna found this dress at a consignment shop last Summer - isn't it a beauty? I'm so glad we can share some hobbies, like thrifting. She is going through a "jeans only" period, so I was really surprised when she showed me this dress and asked whether we could buy it. It was not cheap for a second hand find, but looked incredibly good on her, and it was on sale - so of course we bought it!

This zombie display was removed after we got out of the theater, good thing we took photos - it added to the atmosphere of that day.

It was Dia de Muertos, or Day of the Dead this past weekend. You might know that this unique cultural tradition is inscribed in the List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO (read about the tradition HERE). Children in our public schools learn about this tradition (Anna's school prepared artwork to display in the Tacoma Art Museum), museums offer special Dia de Muertos exhibits and family events - we visited some in past years. This year, we went to see The Green Bird, a Mexican fairy tale at the Northwest Puppet Center, a wonderful little theater, owned and operated by the Carter family. While they are puppeteers themselves and have their own performances on a regular basis, the family also invites other puppet theaters, and one of their returning guest performers is Oregon Shadow Theatre from Portland, OR. It was the second play we've seen by the Oregon theater, and it was again wonderfully fresh, original, colorful, with live music and a great sense of humor. If you are in Seattle, do visit - there are a few performances during November. It's a true family style show where both little ones and grown ups will have great time and lots of laughs together. They also perform at a few King County libraries during their Summer reading program (look up the KCLS web site for the schedule). And if you are in Portland, OR - well lucky you to have such a gem in town!

My outfit is remixed from my closet, put together in a new way which is fun and surprising. You've seen the jacket HERE, the dress HERE. The purse is the newest addition seen HERE. I added a detachable faux fur collar from the Michael Kors poncho sweater I bough on clearance a year or two ago (HERE).

We weren't allowed to take photos during the show, but a part of the Center is a puppet museum, and I took a few photos there.  

An old poster from the USSR where the Carters had performances many years ago, among other countries. Qweti was one of the plays we've seen in this theater a few years back too. It's so fun for me to see Russian!

Justin is the most cheerful and enthusiastic performance viewer - he laughs like a kid and you can hear him applauding louder than the crowd. He only looks like a serious grown man. He's actually incredibly silly, and I adore it in him. But then, you gotta be silly to take all this cultural torture I put on him with ease.

 So that was another theater experience (and I don't write about all that we are having lately), and then we had dinner, visited Barnes and Noble, and strolled in the rain, and it was one fine family day in Seattle.

My outfit:

dress, earrings and bracelet - Chico's (old, on clearance)

jacket - Girl with Curves

faux fur collar - detached from Michael Kors sweater (old, on clearance)

boots - Aquatalia (last year, via Nordstrom Rack)

purse - Inge Christopher via TJ MAXX

frog ring - Lane Bryant sale

Anna's outfit:

dress - consignment shop on Bainbridge

jacket - Justice

scarf - Claire's

boots - Bear Paw 

Justin's outfit:

canvas coat from Cabela's

rain hat - Tilley's from The Traveler shop on Bainbridge

shoes - Ecco

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