Social Creative Conversations

Our investigation and appreciation of beauty continues with a sustainable, colorful addition to make or match your mood.

Meet Jill Jago and Meg Diaz, the co-founders and creators of Vermouth.  Brainstormed over 2 glasses of vermouth, these experienced businesswomen found a way to honor the earth and honor your natural beauty by developing lip colors you'll love to wear every day of the week.  Literally, a shade for ea...

We are speaking with Coach Mindy Lee Irvine about fueling our Mind, Body & Spirit.   Each of us has our own journey with body positivity and esteem.  Sometimes there is struggle, sometimes there is confidence.   This is part 2 of a 2 part series, (See Episode 33 for  lessons on fueling our bodies and making the right healthy lifestyle decisions  for you).    Today's conversation focus is on fueling our mind and cultivating...

We are speaking with Coach Mindy Lee Irvine about fueling our Mind, Body & Spirit.   Each of us has our own journey with body positivity and esteem.  Sometimes there is struggle, sometimes there is confidence.   Over our body's history, it may change from factors such as physicality, genetics, emotion, stress, hormones, age progression, medication, life markers,  societal and cultural pressures, and the list goes on.  This...

This is the story of 3 women, with different bodies, and different life experiences, coming together to get real...and naked.  Real naked.

Have you ever been to a Korean Spa (or some European Spa) that *surprise* encourages (or requires) dropping your robe?   It is the most terrifying, exhilerating and liberating feeling.    I, personally, cannot recommend it enough.   While the trepidation has decreased over the years, it...

Is that right?
Yep.   

This is another wave of my personal reflection story, as I figured out the  "mind, body, spirit" relationship layers of pain and beauty.   

And, yes, Naked Spa-which was a part of my brave therapy to feeling confident in my own skin during a time of extreme self consciousness-especially around the people who knew me the most.

In this episode I speak about the investig...

Sometimes the hardest struggles in life unveil the most beauty and rich truth.  This is the case in my life, and especially most recently in the last year.  

Like you, I have had my body change over the years.  I've seen it change and re-arrange due to hormones, progression of age, medical symptoms or side-effects, exercise exertion,  pregnancies, you name it!     I've lost hair,  gained scars, added weight, blur...

Meet Sara Upshaw, owner and team lead at OHSUN Banchan in Seattle's Pioneer Square neighborhood.    Her Korean deli & cafe has been getting quite the buzz, and all well deserved!   While Sara is known in the food industry for her Korean flavors ( see her blog Kimchi Halfie and her authored cookbook,"Korean Barbecue at Home"), she has recently overcome hurdle after hurdle from opening a restaurant in a city strugg...

Meet the donut froster, insurance clerk, software engineer, small business owner. (Oh, and also, mother, wife, friend, joke maker, and trauma survivor).  She is all things, as many women who live a full life's journey are. 

Welcome Linda Takano, owner of thriving candle (and shower steamer) company Lulumière Shop.   During our episode she shares the highs and lows of her story-both personally and professionally.  Lis...

 I first heard Jessica Gallo playing alongside another harpist on a dark, rainy winter night in December.  It was my first sound bath experience, and it did not disappoint.   It was at the height of a very low time for me, and I was feeling a deep need in my body for calm and stillness-almost hibernation?

Jessica is a professional musician, and a Certified Music Practitioner.  She creates beautiful environments for people ...

This isn't the first time I've had to come back to self.   It's not the first time I lost me, fell deep in a hole or felt like a shell of myself.  Not the first time I've had to fight my way back, reorganize priorities to heal, or depend on others to function.  Whether postpartum, or craniotomy, or chronic health diagnosis, or ...the latest blip in my story that ran for 6 months (and counting) starting summer of...

Listen in on this powerful conversation, but also bring your eyes.   Sit down, go for a walk, or get your hands in the dirt while you give yourself the spaciousness to slow down and see beauty, and the colors of beauty.   

I had the opportunity to speak with Lorene Edwards Forkner, of A Handmade Garden, about her life as a horticulturist and horticolorist , her love of art, gardening, and the tenderness she learned for her...

There's a magical farm on Bainbridge Island that lives by the slogan "Your food has a story".   I love this adage because I think there is always more than meets the eye.   Any great experience will tell you that.   This charming, historic farmhouse delivers the story from the gardens, the farmers,  the farm to table community dinners, their CSA boxes, and the onsite bakery.  Many hands and hearts caring about guest ...

I never knew I had so many questions about cherries.  Not just any cherries.  Plump local cherries, hand-plucked from a local orchard and bathed in a proper, traditional Italian recipe of maraschino (maraskeeno) liqueur.   Sought after cherries for any craft cocktail enthusiast.   
I am, of course, speaking of Orasella Maraschino Cherries -a beloved favorite for most bartenders, bars and food & wine shops. 

Anne S...

Find a place that exudes comfort, style, and neighborhood feels and you'll be set.  Find the local place that offers impeccable wine, food, coffee, and the warmth of familiar faces and smiles and you'll never want to leave.   Then, add Jen Doak, the owner and queen of hospitality, for the cherry on top.   I'm speaking of Seattle's charming neighborhood gastro-pub, Brimmer & Heeltap, which has expanded it&apo...

Seattle's El Gaucho Steakhouse is a long time upscale dining staple, or as they call it " fine dining of a bygone era".    The tuxedoed staff, the table side flambé'd desserts,  the dimly lit intimate seating, and the soft trickle of the piano keys set the stage for a luxurious dining experience that feels like you were transported right back into the nostalgically swanky rat pack era.    Theirs is a place for f...

I guess we ended Season 1? Ha.   Consider our last 3 months a long intermission before Season 2.

For the last few months, we took an abrupt pause to get through the roller coaster that comes with sudden medical news.   This rolled right into an epic metaphorical and literal sacred journey on the Camino de Santiago in Spain, then ended with a radiation treatment to kill off the tumor that came back after 10 years.   (thankf...

Meet sibling duo Ashley Rodriguez and Chris Baron.  Two creative entrepreneurs blazing their own industry trails; but, together, they found a more rugged outdoor trail to discover and invite others to join them as they forage, cook, and share stories along the way.   

You know Ashely from her well known cooking blog, Not Without Salt.  She's authored two cookbooks, Date Night In and Let's Stay In, and there is a ...

Yes, I said exposing.   That's how I feel right now.  This could be one of my most vulnerable episodes, and I dragged another Enneagram 8 into the mix.  Solidarity.    Thanks to London Tierney from Particle Goods, you get a real look into some of the healthy and unhealthy behavior tendencies on an Enneagram 8.    We talk about everything from the struggle to carve out white space,  our trust issues, and how we'd much pref...

London Tierney has a story to tell through each fragrance she develops.    It's personal and steeped in reflection and ritual.    Particle Goods shares a journey of finding healing, creating whitespace, and cherishing nostalgic places and spaces through every candle, incense cone or perfume put out in the world.   Scent is a powerful tool. It has the ability to transform a mood, prepare your body,  and set a tone for your home...