Duchess of Downtown Tacoma

I am sitting at the airport waiting for my flight home. This 6 day journey to New York and Sedona feels like it has been much longer than that. I went all the way from Grand Central Station to the Grand Canyon. I saw the Flatiron Building in New York and the Flatiron Building in Jerome Arizona. I started in Tacoma and went to Sedona by way of Manhattan! I've been so many places and seen so many things. It feels like I have been away from home for a very long time. Its true what they say about travel. It totally changes your perspective! I'm ready to go home to my little girl cave now. And as I anticipate unpacking my bags and getting back to my life, I also want to unpack the mental and emotional journey I've just experienced. I learned some valuable things about myself on this trip. I made it in New York so I guess that means I can make it anywhere! Because of my newly discovered attitude of adventure, there were a lot of firsts these last 6 days. I went to ...

This month we are featuring an emerging new local industry: legal marijuana. Read about 5 local industry leaders below. On Monday April 20th between 6 pm and 8:30 pm Duchess of Downtown Tours will be providing a guided tour of five local Cannabis businesses in Tacoma.  Tickets for this tour are $10 regular and $20 VIP (with gift bag). Get yours here:  http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/1342566 “Does marijuana really fry your brain like an egg?”  “Can you overdose on marijuana?” “Is marijuana addicting?” 4/20 Cannabis Tour answers burning questions April 20 th 2015 6-8:30 pm Event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/780757202032368/   Marijuana is a hot topic right now because several states have voted to decriminalize recreational use. Washington State is currently enthralled in a battle over medical marijuana  which is causing a lot of controversy  (read more about that HERE ).   The 420 tour will visit both recreati...

Every Third Thursday in Tacoma, we celebrate the arts! This month marks the 5 Year Anniversary of Tacoma ART BUS ! This tour of art exhibits will visit 8 locations, serve Puget Sound Pizza to the passengers, give away great prizes and features celebrity Tour Guide Saint Bryan from Evening Magazine ! Tour is Thursday March 19 th from 6-9 pm. Tickets are going fast though so be sure and get yours in advance.  For more info or to purchase tickets, visit  http://buff.ly/1Co390S Here's look at some of the great places we will visit during Thursday's ART BUS Tour : Happy Belly Restaurant and Juice Bar  is a vegetarian focused restaurant and juice bar that also offers locally made Valhalla Coffee and Mad Hat Tea. Owner Jennifer Johnson lives by the 90% rule.... eating vegetables, fruits and grains 90% of the time and meat 10% of the time. She uses this 90% rule in the Happy Belly menu. Happy Belly proudly features the paintings of multi-media artist Jeremy Grego...

During the month of February we want to encourage everyone to spread the love of local! As you know, shopping local keeps more of our money circulating in our community, it creates more jobs, it keeps our local independent businesses thriving, its better for the environment and it helps us to retain our uniqueness. What's not to love about that?  We've selected a few products from local businesses to showcase here for you so you can get to know these terrific local independent businesses and send them your love. Here's the story of how one girl had the greatest day of her life while shopping local.  Clarissa's "Love Local" Story The day started out like any other Saturday morning. I got out of bed, realized I had forgotten to get groceries and I needed a cup of coffee like nobody's business. Like any sane person, I dressed quickly and headed over to Cafe Brosseau for the 12 ounce latte that makes life worth living.  12 ounce ...

I'm no prophet. I'm not a guru or a spiritual adviser. I'm just a work in progress like everybody else but this year I've had some revelations and I thought I'd share them with you. If something resonates and helps you then I'm grateful that I've had the opportunity to do that.  Here are 7 things that I've come to really realize this year:  1. The more you try to avoid maintenance duties, the more difficult they will make your life. Just do it a little every day and you can rest easier. It might seem in the short run that you'll get more free time to relax and do things you enjoy if you procrastinate but its exactly the opposite.  2. I can change! We can change anytime you want to. No matter what you've been telling yourself about what you know about yourself, you can change. It just takes a few minutes each day to start a new habit or replace a bad one. This year I learned how to lose weight! I also quit drinking diet pepsi and smoking cig...