I’ve been loving the holiday season here in Seattle. It’s my first time ever living in this city at the holidays and I’m so impressed with all the festive cheer that the city displays. Lights on every tree, carolers on every corner (okay, not quite), and fun holiday events all over the city. Here are some of my favorites.
JINGLE BELL RUN
This run benefiting arthritis research was so much fun! It’s a 5k and 95% of it is on the I-5 express lanes. When else are you going to be able to run on the freeway for 3 miles with thousands of people dressed in antlers, Santa suits, and tutus? I even saw an abominable snowman and accompanying lumberjack. The added bonus, since it’s on the express way it’s covered in case of rain, which let’s be honest it’s pretty miraculous it wasn’t raining this year on race day (side note: as of December 17, it’s the driest December on record). I bet it’s one of the only practically indoor 5k courses in the world. I’ve been running a lot lately, so I was hoping for a fast time, but once I realized just how crowded it was with 12,000 people running down I-5, I opted for an enjoyable time instead and just marveled at all the creative costumes as I trotted along in my jingle bell antlers and red stripy socks.
GINGERBREAD HOUSES AT THE SHERATON
Local architecture firms design massive gingerbread houses around a designated theme to benefit JDRF Northwest Chapter. This year, I think the theme was global train stations. Here are my two favorites:
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| Source: http://gingerbreadvillage.myevent.com/3/gallery.htm |
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| Source: http://gingerbreadvillage.myevent.com/3/gallery.htm |
THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST BALLET NUTCRACKER
A holiday tradition for many Seattle families, I hadn’t been to the Nutcracker in more than 10 years. The last time, my best friend and I leaned for two hours in the standing room only section at the Vienna ballet. This time, we paid for real tickets where we actually were able to sit and enjoy the production and take in the brilliant Maurice Sendak designed set. Here's a pretty worthless photo of said set. Just take my word for it, it's spectacular.
