Duchess of Downtown Tacoma

Another un-themed version of some of what Tacoma has to offer. When it comes down to it, it's not all about talking about local shopping and business owners, it's about SUPPORTING them.     This last weekend Opera Alley hosted a magnificent gathering of local vendors and shop owners in a faux Paris Market. Among the tented goods you could find art, clothes, food and above all else good company with some of the brilliant minds in Tacoma. At one end, next to this mural was the great Eiffel Tower, park benches and nibbles and wine to be indulged in. Libertine Tacoma Connect on Facebook I was in need of some more salts from Libertine Tacoma! Christy Reedy manages some of the most tasty and magnificent salt blends. I have a modest collection compared to the 50+ blends and flavors Libertine Tacoma offers and can't get enough. While she includes information cards with suggestions on food and drink pairings for each flavor experimenting is encouraged and full of re

  Fall may very well be my favorite season of the year. Yes, I know it's not quite fall yet, but it's swiftly approaching and while I take in the last days of summer with 80 degree heat, I'm daydreaming of mild scarf weather, book clubs and journal writing. So I went shopping.     Culpepper Books, sellers of fine, used, rare and out of print books 2521 North Proctor, Tacoma Connect on Facebook   I ADORE, the smell, look and feel of a book. There's no e-book that will ever match the feeling of opening up a good read. Never, ever. Culpepper Books is a gem in the Proctor District FULL of books for all tastes and occassions (and the owners are delightful and knowledgable).  I've given a book club a good shot a couple different times and decided that with shorter days and cooler weather, it was time to give it another go with a focus on local authors. Tom Robbins is local and established and seemed a good starting point. Culpepper Books had Skinny

I thought I couldn't do this blog today because I didn't eat at any restaurants this week. Its kind of unusual for me since I am surrounded by great restaurants and most of my meetings take place in them but I was kind of reclusive this week. Then I remembered that I did get some butter chicken to go from India Mahal but since I ate it at home I didn't take any pictures. Here's a picture from a previous visit.   Look at those giant chunks of chicken! This butter chicken is the BEST!  On Thursday I visited Hotel Murano  to make arrangements for our visit there during the next ART BUS tour . I got a sneak peek at the new gift shop and was surprised by excellent parking spot this person was given. Right smack in the middle of the lobby! Talk about your VIP parking! :) What does this have to do with Menu Item Monday? If you ride the ART BUS in September you could win an overnight stay at Hotel Murano and breakfast at their restaurant ( BITE ) which is just up those st