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Vintage Clothes
If you still have your concert T-shirts from Nirvana and Red Hot Chili Peppers, bring them here; my husband got $5 for one and $7 for another. This store buys, sells, and trades vintage clothes and...
If you still have your concert T-shirts from Nirvana and Red Hot Chili Peppers, bring them here; my husband got $5 for one and $7 for another. This store buys, sells, and trades vintage clothes and accessories from the last eighty years—as well as jewelry, hair dye, and action figures of notorious politicians—conveniently organized by decade. And if you think the good prices they pay their sellers equate with high prices for their customers, of course you are right.
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Salvage Broker the
Category:
Appraisal Auditing Analysis & Liquidation Services
13760 Aurora Ave N
Seattle, Washington
(206) 365-7771
Independent salvage store has amazing prices on office supplies.
Independent salvage store has amazing prices on office supplies.
This place is a dream come true for those who simply love office supplies: stationery, notebooks, pens, tape, scissors, ink, correction tape and fluid, poster board, party goods (they fill a whole...
This place is a dream come true for those who simply love office supplies: stationery, notebooks, pens, tape, scissors, ink, correction tape and fluid, poster board, party goods (they fill a whole separate room), and larger items such as lamps and filing cabinets—brand-new, with perhaps just a few little crinkles in the packaging. The selection is just too wide and deep to keep everything stacked neatly on the shelves, but a little disorder is a small price considering you’re almost guaranteed to find what you’re after—or something close to it—and at a third of the price you’d pay at Staples or Office Depot.
The staff is extremely helpful; when one of the clerks found out I was in the second weekend of my yard sale, he recommended Day-Glo signboard, for the same price as the plain white kind I’d selected. That weekend, though I had only about a fourth as much to sell as what I’d started with, I drew many times more customers and made a great deal more money. These people are wonderful.
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Local Color
Category:
Art Galleries & Dealers
1600 Pike Pl
Seattle, Washington
(206) 728-1717
The thing I wanted didn’t exist.
The thing I wanted didn’t exist.
Two blocks south of the world’s first Starbuck’s (with the original mermaid on its sign), along the cobblestoned Pike Place of Pike Place Market, are the makers of my favorite blended mochas. I have...
Two blocks south of the world’s first Starbuck’s (with the original mermaid on its sign), along the cobblestoned Pike Place of Pike Place Market, are the makers of my favorite blended mochas. I have added to this post after reading that of Jen J., who doesn’t drink coffee, because I realize now that I’m not a connoisseur either; when I used to imagine I was craving a blended mocha, what I longed for was something that didn’t exist.
Every summer I used to swoon at the advertisements for Starbucks’ Frappuccinos and Pete’s . . . whatever they were called; each billboard showed about four versions of the icy chocolatey whipped creamy drinks, with different shades of chocolate and butterscotch drizzled on top. I thought they were what I wanted.
But when I ordered, the ice was always too icy, the chocolate too cloying, the coffee itself too syrupy sweet. I began to wonder if the coffee was a deciding factor in the drink’s downfall, and started asking for the virgin versions.
These I liked better, but they were still too high on ice and sickening syrups, and lacking in creaminess. I decided that what I really wanted was a milkshake, and the other day when I heard about the Baskin Robbins’ Cappuccino Blast I thought I had found the answer. But these were the iciest of all.
Then I remembered something I never should have forgotten. The summer my husband and I were buskers at Pike Place Market (2003), we found what for me was and is the only perfect coffee shop, making the only perfect blended mochas: Local Color.
Not too icy, these drinks are much more like thick, creamy milkshakes than those of Baskin Robbins. They have EXACTLY the right amount of coffee and chocolate—not too strong, not too sugary—and even the whipped cream is only lightly sweetened—to perfection. This is clearly what a Frappuccino dreams of being.
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Bland Bakery, Rude Owners
I should have looked up to see where I was this morning before I ordered from this three-walled, open-air bakery; instead, the pleasant face and voice of the counter clerk made me forget my private...
I should have looked up to see where I was this morning before I ordered from this three-walled, open-air bakery; instead, the pleasant face and voice of the counter clerk made me forget my private boycott. The owners are rude to Pike Place Market’s buskers (blaring their radios so we can’t be heard and therefore can’t make our living), gruff to their employees, and indifferent to their customers. The young clerk who helped me today was as sweet as a frosted cinnamon roll, but as soon as I heard her boss’s surly voice I remembered where I was. Also, the food is surprisingly uninspired. It would seem hard to go wrong with freshly baked sweets, but theirs are bland-flavored and stale-textured. I won’t make this mistake again.
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Fresh, Hot Bread: Free Slices
They don’t just give away free bread (with butter); they give away GOOD bread. I found out about Great Harvest by going to the food bank just off Sandpoint Way, between two of their branches (the...
They don’t just give away free bread (with butter); they give away GOOD bread. I found out about Great Harvest by going to the food bank just off Sandpoint Way, between two of their branches (the second being on Lake City Way, to the north); this bakery is a regular contributor of freshly baked loaves. I used their bread to make toast and sandwiches for the kids I babysat, and they couldn’t get enough.
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Viridis
Category:
Beauty Salons
117 Main St
Kirkland, Washington
(425) 576-9345
Ali Black will make you look like a movie star.
Ali Black will make you look like a movie star.
[Added later: Ali has moved! Details at end of review.]
How many times have you brought a celebrity photo to your stylist and received a celebrity haircut? How many gorgeous haircuts still looked...
[Added later: Ali has moved! Details at end of review.]
How many times have you brought a celebrity photo to your stylist and received a celebrity haircut? How many gorgeous haircuts still looked great when you had to style them yourself the next day?
I once would have answered that these were inversely proportionate--and recommended a nice, reliable haircut over a fabulous, unrepeatable one. That was a long time ago.
Since 1993, when I first met Ali, I've had the satisfaction of knowing I'll always get the look I'd pictured. Because she listens--and cares--Ali understands what I want in addition to whether it suits my hair type and willingness to fuss with it. Knowing, as well, that I can't always schedule regular visits, she even suggests variations that won't get awkward while growing out. She tells me if I'll need special tools or products to get a look exactly right, and explains so carefully how to style it that, after some practice, I've learned to make my hair look almost as good on my own as on that first day.
Back when Ali worked at Sahaira in Bellevue, my sister Laurie was so sure I would love her (the stylist and the person) that she brought me along for one of her haircuts. Laurie, whose gorgeous hair seemed even more so lately than ever, had been seeing Ali for years, even after moving to Seattle; no one else understood the wavy, curly hair that Laurie and Ali and I have in common.
When Ali came out to meet us, with her adorable, genuine smile, I understood why Laurie was charmed. I made an appointment, and very soon understood Laurie's devotion. From that day--continuing through her move to Viridis--Ali has been my stylist. During some lean times, I've tried to save money with discount salons, but always regretted it. Worst was the haircut so awful that, in a panic, I tried to correct it myself: I ended up crying for weeks over all the damage before returning, at last, to the only person I trusted to fix such a mess--and while remaining completely unfazed. But even the non-traumatic times were a waste of money when I realized that, instead of a so-so, discount haircut every six or eight weeks, I could get a fantastic one half as often; Ali's cuts look better four months later than a new one from someone else.
Never before have I asked for advice about what to do with my hair--not even from friends, let alone from a stylist with no idea of my taste. A testament to my supreme faith in Ali is that I routinely visit her with no ideas, or helplessly conflicted between extremes (long or short, bangs or none, layered or not). Undaunted, Ali rushes away and returns with a stack of magazines, flipping through them with me and pointing out styles she recommends. Finding one that I love is just the beginning: next she wants to know what I like and dislike about it, asking more detailed questions than I'd ever thought could apply to a hairstyle. She listens close to my answers, and to the problems I describe in my hair, remembering things I've said and that she's observed in me from farther back than I remember myself. Even when I haven't seen her for years, as after a temporary move out of state, Ali remembers more about me than my doctors do from visit to visit.
When I'm certain Ali knows just what I want, she nevertheless goes back and repeats everything we've discussed, making absolutely sure she hasn't misunderstood. Only then do we go to the sinks--for a long and impossibly luxurious shampoo, with a neck and temple massage that alone are worth the cost of the visit. (For my sister Laurie, as well as an aunt who now sees Ali regularly, this is an integral part of the experience.)
Next is the haircut. Anyone else who suffers from acute shyness and thinks of a haircut in terms of the almost-inevitable small talk will understand my relief to discover Ali's comfort with silence and her respect for those who wish to observe it. On the other hand, those who love a thrilling, nonstop conversation will understand one of my favorite things about Ali--something I came to appreciate as soon as my initial shyness wore off: Ali is an uncommonly good conversationalist. At a time when it seems nearly everyone lacks the patience or interest or concentration, a careful listener is as rare as an interesting speaker. Ali is both.
After the cut is the styling--only if you want them. Having (in my purist youth) abhorred all styling products--even blow-dryers--and cringed when a hairdresser doused my head with CFC's, I always appreciated that Ali asked about these things. (Now she knows I'm happy with the works.) And since hairdressers get a commission on the salon's products, and some are pressured by their bosses to pressure the clients, I've always been struck by the fact that Ali NEVER acts like a salesperson. It's almost a cliche for a stylist to find some fault with your hair (or respond to your own complaint) by blaming your favorite products and urgently suggesting something else (which they happen to have on hand). An example of Ali's refreshing manner is this:
At my last visit, she asked which styling products I used and, when I named my favorite gel ($3.49 from Target), I couldn't help preparing myself for the kind of thing I was still used to from other hairdressers: "No wonder your ends are so dry--let me show you this other line." But, no--Ali just wanted to tell me how to use the products I already liked for the best results.
NOTE: This review was posted on 7/5/06, its rating solely based on Ali Black. On 4/19/07, she ended her six years with Viridis and moved to Bellevue, where she continues her five-star work at Salon SoMa. The comments above, which may or may not still apply to Viridis, are just as true of Ali now as ever.
Please look up Ali Black at Salon SoMa, Bellevue's Aveda Concept Salon, one block from Bellevue Square: 306 105th Ave. NE, Bellevue, WA 98004. See also www.SouthoftheMall.com or call 425-455-1343.
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Invisible Hairpins
This "molding putty," which isn't really a putty at all, works so well and so easily that it's just like putting invisible hairpins in all the right places. I found it in Paula Begoun's Don't Go...
This "molding putty," which isn't really a putty at all, works so well and so easily that it's just like putting invisible hairpins in all the right places. I found it in Paula Begoun's Don't Go Shopping for Hair Care Products Without Me, and bought it because it was the cheapest item listed under "Best Styling Gels with Extremely Strong Hold that Cost $10 or Less." In fact, it's only $2.64 for 5 ounces—less than half the price of the next cheapest product on that list, which was less than half the size.
As Begoun says, this is less a putty than a "slightly stringy styling gel." I thought that sounded disgusting, but found the consistency no less than perfect for what it does. I have never worked with a hair product that's easier to use; with one hand I position my hair the way I want, and with the other I apply a TINY amount of this gel; the hair stays put. You can use it to raise flat bangs, to flatten cowlicks, and anything hairpins would do, plus more. At first, I used it with a hair dryer, but when I found out I didn't need to, I stopped bothering; now I just apply it and go. Best of all, in the unlikely event that my hair falls out of place a few hours later, I don't have to wet it and start all over again; just like with a hairpin, I simply apply more gel where needed and work it in to place.
When I want extra fullness and smoothness, I add Garnier Fructis Curl Construct Mousse (controls frizzies great), on hair that I've allowed to dry about halfway. Even using these two together, not counting my shower, I only need two to three minutes to style my hair. I LOVE THESE PRODUCTS. For most needs, the fiber gum putty alone should be enough.
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