Moore Coffee

Sitting inside the historic Moore Theater and Hotel in downtown Seattle is a little coffee shop with epic lattes. Moore Coffee has become a destination for a cup of joe in the last year or so due to their creatively cute latte art.

I mean, you saw that picture and your heart melted a little, right? When you combine drawings of adorable animals with really delicious, well done coffee, in a city like Seattle, you are bound for Yelp and Instagram fame. Nice play, Moore, nice play. 

We took our local coffee expert and ex-barista friend, Tristan, on a mission to see if the coffee stood up to standard, or if you are just going to get a cute animal drawn in your foam for an okay-ish latte. As we ordered our coffees we could tell he was cringing at the thought of getting some cutesy animal drawn in his coffee, but our excitement won him over in the end (we think). They delivered the cups one-by-one, and we oo-ed and ahh-ed over each one as it came out (they don't take requests, so the unveiling as you get your order is half the fun). 

"Omg! A kitty!!!" (Tristan trying not to die of embarrassment).

"WOW!! A bear!" (Tristan about to run out of the coffee shop).

"OOo, what's this one?? NO! An elephant. This is too much!" (Tristan resigns to his humiliation and drinks his elephant coffee).

In the end, he admitted they made a decent latte and we enjoyed our cups on their outdoor patio. Now you can go to Moore Coffee with high expectations and the promise that you will not only enjoy the coffee, but the adorable animal drawn in your foam too. AND they don't just make animal lattes, they also have savory and sweet waffles on the menu that look like something we could definitely be on board with. 

So head over to 2nd Ave and just resign to the delight that is having a bear saying hi written in your coffee. You know you want to.

5 Places for the Adrenaline Junkie in Seattle

"If you don't feel like you are going to puke at least once a week, you aren't living life hard enough." - Mother Theresa 

Seattle is full of natural wonders that will get your blood running. You can hike back country trails, ski down mountains, and kayak with whales. If you are the type of person who loves getting your adrenaline rushing and that "Oh shiz, my stomach is in my throat" feeling then we have the list for you. 

Paragliding off Poo Poo Point

Parafly Paragliding 

If you have ever hiked to the top of Poo Poo Point you might have noticed those people strapped to gliders jumping off the mountain. If you have ever wanted to feel like you were a bird and see the Pacific Northwest from an aerial view this is going to be your jam! Takes 2-3 hours from start to finish, tandem flights cost $220.

Skydive Snohomish

Skydiving is not for the faint of heart. The scariest part is willing yourself to jump out of a plane (not usually a good thing). Your brain might be screaming no, but quiet that voice and jump! You'll never experience a feeling like this any other way. Skydive Snohomish has very friendly, trustworthy staff and a great history of jumps that put safety first. Takes 3 hours and costs $225 for a tandem jump.

Photo Credit: Sound Excursions Instagram

Sound Excursions 

Sound Excursions hosts a wide variety of events, one of which is white water rafting class IV rapids on the Skykomish River. The great thing about Sound Excursions is they plan everything, including transporting you from Seattle to the landing sight, food during the outing, and a guide for the whole thing! Oh, and you can BYOB too (Shots! Shots! Shots!) Cost is $139 for a nine hour excursion.

Canopy Tours NW

This zipling company located on Camano Island is home to a course of 6 ziplines. If you've never been before this a great starter zipline course, and it doesn't require too much stamina. The walking is all done on forest trails, so it's great for all ages (well unless you are under 12 since that's the age minimum). Plus you get transported to the ziplines in one of these-- COOL. It takes about 2.5 hours and costs $103. 

iFly Seattle 

We all know the weather can put a damper on plans sometimes. This means we have a lot of indoor options for things that are usually outdoor activities. Swimming pools, mini golf, and now skydiving have moved indoors! if you are over the age of three (who has an adventurous toddler??) and in good physical health this is open to you. It takes 1.5 hours and this summer they have a deal that only costs $49.95. 

What do we hope to see soon in Seattle that isn't currently here? Bungee jumping. All we are saying is there are a lot of bridges and cranes in the area...seems like someone should use them for our entertainment.

Seattle's Best Sustainable Restaurants

Remember when we used to eat Cap'n Crunch and Spicy Hot Cheetos and didn't know that they would eventually kill us? Aww, those were the days. Now we have all this evidence (damn you science) that tells us we should probably be eating more like the Flintstones (sans Moonshine, boo, they take away all the good stuff!) and less like Saved By the Bell. And, lucky for us, we live in this awesome place that really takes this seriously. We have lots of restaurants who put organic/local/sustainable/all other healthy buzzwords inserted here at the top of their list of priorities. Double lucky for us that this food usually tastes better. We picked our favorite spots around the city that serve delicious and sustainable food. 

And just for the sake of clarity we will leave the definition of sustainable and delicious here: 

Sustainable: adjective  sus·tain·able \sə-ˈstā-nə-bəl\ involving methods that do not completely use up or destroy natural resources

Delicious: adjective  de·li·cious \di-ˈli-shəs\ very pleasant to taste

Photo credit: Local 360 Instagram

Local 360 is a Belltown spot that sources almost all of their ingredients from places within a 360 radius of the city. Recommendation: The fried chicken will make you feel like you can live forever.

Stumbling Goat in Phinney Ridge has an atmosphere that feels like home and ingredients that came from the organic farm around the corner (well not literally, but you get it).  

Homegrown this sandwich shop crafts some legit sammies. Plus they really do make sustainability their #1 priority. Recommendation: Bacon, Egg, and Beechers for breakfast or the BLT for lunch!

Mashiko was the first fully sustainable sushi restaurant in Seattle. Hajime serves up creative, authentic and sustainable sushi in West Seattle and also offers sushi cooking classes! Recommendation: Nami Omakase is a ton of food at a great value.  

Tilth is one of the many restaurants in Seattle you can find a James Beard award winning chef who cooks up mouth watering food. It is beautifully presented and a bit pricey, but you get high end ingredients you don't have to feel any guilt chowing down on. Recommendation: Pan seared scallops

Portage Bay Cafe is not only sustainable, but quite possibly one of the happiest places to eat on earth. Recommendation: 1. Go for brunch. 2. Get the Pancakes or French Toast which will gain you access to the best toppings bar you've ever seen. 3. Go to town. 

Photo Credit Top Left: Mashiko, Top Right: Portage Bay, Bottom Left: Tilth, Bottom Right: Stumbling Goat

Girls Night Out: Brooke Westlund's Fabulous Paint Night

Readers, we love ya, but we have an honest truth for you. If you are paying for those paint nights where everyone in the class recreates Starry Night you are doing it all wrong. Last week we had the pleasure of hanging out with Brooke Westlund, a Seattle abstract artist, in her studio in Pike Place Market and creating some truly unique and beautiful art pieces to take home. 

The whole experience was a perfect 10. Brooke was ready with wine, snacks, and paint stations when the group arrived (she won us over at wine). We grabbed our aprons and started choosing colors for our paintings and then got started! It took about 3 hours from start to finish, but this is at a very relaxed pace; we gabbed and oo'ed and ahhh'ed over everyone's works, which added a lot of time! 

At the end of the night everyone had created something completely unique to their personalities. It was pretty incredible how different they all were. Some did the more geometric style and some did the more circular, bubbly style and all of them were beautiful! 

Even though she is a fabulous artist, we think the part that makes her truly great at throwing these events is her open and friendly personality. She was absolutely one of the girls for the night. We all felt at ease and able to ask for advice on what we should do based on her expertise (and for the indecisive ones in the bunch this was very important). 

Outside of throwing fun paint parties, she also sells some truly rad art. Go find her gallery on Western Ave (we wrote about it when we covered The Backside of the Market) and shop around. There is art for all prices and personalities!