Gear I Love: Merino Wool Clothes by Ibex

Disclaimer: Ibex sent me some stuff. It’s not the first time – I test drove some wool gear a few years back when I was still writing for Snowshoe Magazine.

I’m going to sound like a shill and for that, I’m sorry, but I hope you trust I won’t steer you wrong. The truth is, I love the clothing Ibex makes – it’s warm, super lightweight, feels great against your skin, and holds up for a good long time. I have a set of their merino wool long underwear that I always pack when I’m traveling (unless, like a dork, I forget, subsequently freezing my ass off in Hanoi) – though sometimes, I wear that stuff on the plane, even. That should answer any questions about how their fabric feels next to your skin – if I can stand to wear it for a long haul flight, well, that nails it.


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The Perfect Northwest Wedding

I confess, I don’t much care for weddings. Given the opportunity, I will try to talk just about anyone out of it. I don’t think much of the bridal industrial complex, a pantheon of evil designed to get you to spend gajillion dollars on “your big day” just as you’re starting your lives together. I …


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My First Guidebook Credit

Well, I’d forgotten all about that. But in yesterday’s mail, I got two copies of Travellers Vancouver & British Columbia. The cover credit still goes to the original writer but whaddaya know? That’s my name on the flyleaf. And somehow, it’s even more fun to flip through the images and say, “Hey, I took that …


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Book Review: The Man Who Ate the World

Disclaimer: The folks at Holt send me review copies. I don’t always love the books, but I love getting them.

I don’t know what millefeuille is. Or veloute. Or charcroute. This tells you how much I know about fancy cooking. I wouldn’t go out of my way to eat that weird food that’s made by chemistry – foams and dry ice and vacuum sealing and the like don’t interest me, not enough to pay for them, that’s for sure. But I love to cook and, as the scale will confirm, I also love to eat. So it was with a hefty portion of envy that I digested Jay Rayner’s new book The Man Who Ate the World: In Search of the Perfect Dinner

I think I’d like Jay Rayner. Like Anthony Bourdain, he’s acutely aware of the good fortune he has in his line of work. He eats dinner and gets paid to do so. But he’s got none of Bourdain’s macho edge. There’s a funny scene in the book where Rayner and Bourdain are both at  Tokyo’s infamous fish market, and Rayner makes Bourdain’s crew out for something closely resembling a motorcycle gang. But that’s not what the book is about.


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Friday at Alki Beach

We weren’t the only ones who decided that on this beautiful day, it was necessary – no, imperative, really – to take our lunch break down at Alki Beach. We opted for a sandwich and coffee from Pioneer, but these young ladies had a better idea: gather your people, pack a lunch and swing your …


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Fish Wednesday Has a Posse

I know you’ve been thinking, “Fish Wednesday needs a room of her own. Because all that rattling on about travel and culture and Seattle all the time, well, whatever with that.” You want to read about food. Good news, everyone! Fish Wednesday is in the house! I’ll still be posting about food here but if …


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