<--Edna Christianson,owner, right

Would you go to a pizza place for sushi? A podiatrist to get your teeth cleaned? Nooooo, of course not. You seek out the people that specialize in what you want.  Waxing the City , a franchise our of CO w/an interesting story, is exclusively a body and facial waxing studio located in the Slater 116 building in Totem Lake (next to @tdcurran).  No more getting pulled into some weird backroom at the nail salon.  These folks know how to wax.

Boys, don't hit the delete button so fast here.  That's right, you.  You know who I'm talking about.  Don't be shy.  You might want to take a look in your rear-view mirror on the way to work today (always the best light, says the girl w/tweezers in her console).  There is no shame in bringing your man ears, noses, uni-brows in for a clean up.  Get that furry back beach ready.  This new studio has a super clean new urban feel and they have already been pleasantly surprised by the number of male clientele walking through their doors. And of course, the ladies are filing in too.  

Here are a few reasons why:

-All of their licensed estheticians are also "cerologists" (cera=Latin for wax) which means they go through an additional 40 hrs of a "Waxing the City" training program

-Clean/sanitary environment

-Focus on client comfort

-Exclusive rights to their special hard blue wax from Spain (for smaller/sensitive areas). Just lifts the hair without grabbing your skin.

-This is a NO TIPPING studio. 

-You get 50% off any service at your first visit, they want to earn your business

  

This Waxing the City studio is beautiful and has 5 private rooms for services. The staff are all very welcoming and can take appointments or walk-ins.  Pricing varies from $12 for a lip or chin to $55 for a women's Brazilian. Full menu w/pricing here.  Hours are M-F 9-8, Sat 9-5 and Sun 10-5 and there is street and garage parking. Just in time for summer, right?  11515 124th Ave NE, 425-297-2000. ~j

Free is always affordable.  Especially when you can learn a skill that might save a life. RED Services is a company founded by firefighters that are devoted to making homes and families safe.  And they are proving this commitment by offering FREE CPR classes taught by off-duty firefighters.

You just need to provide a space and have at least 20 people for a class- so ask the boss to do one for your office, or gather a group of neighbors, church group,  round up some friends or have a family reunion.  This is a great opportunity. I've taken a class with these guys and they're great at netting out what is important to know.  Participants need to be at least 15 years old.  If you would like a certification card, then the cost is $20/per person. Email Andy Altig: [email protected] to get something scheduled. Thanks RED!

  

The City of Kirkland's Emergency Management team is excited launch two social media channels for us to follow.  Hurry up and "Like" and "follow" them on Facebook and Twitter.  The intent is to help raise awareness and better prepare our community for hazards.  

Facebook: www.facebook.com/kirklandOEM

Twitter: @OEMKirkland  

The Cow & Coyote (photo) in the center of downtown are helping to kick off the announcement of the T-shirt contest.  No, not a wet t-shirt contest, a 'win a t-shirt' contest.  Very different.  From Weds 11/12 to Sun 11/16, go to their Facebook page or Tweet them an answer to the question, "What should the Cow & Coyote put in their emergency kit?"  Winners announced on Monday 11/17. 

Wyraqocha Peruvian Kitchen- seems like we've been waiting a long time for this one at 110 Central, but they just put their 'real' sign up the other day so things must be moving forward. You can get an idea of what they've been up to on their FB  page.  Now, can you say Wyraqocha 5 times fast?

Kirkland iRepair- in the old Asher location at 13 Central, Kirkland iRepair specializes in repairing all Apple products (iPhone, iPad,iPod, MacBook). There is some very green paint up on the walls now.  And even more green stickers/signage went up today after this photo was taken. It doesn't even matter that they aren't open yet, you can make an appt on their website or call 425-753-3557. I like that their site has tabs for each product and lists pricing and turnaround times for specific repairs.

Canvas Paint & Sip Studio re-lo- Canvas has their sign on the empty retail space next to Kathy Evans at 140 Central Way (where the weird Piroshky drugstore used to be).  Looks like a little expansion perhaps??

I thought it would be fun to have a guest blogger from a local company write about what it's like to being  a mobile worker in downtown Kirkland. Thanks to Scott Bradley from Facet Digital for sharing...~j

Going Remote in Kirkland
by Scott W. Bradley

As I’m writing this, I’m sitting on a stool with my laptop, next to the windows at Zoka Coffee, drinking my coconut milk latte, looking out at the corner of Central Way and Lake Street. I’m one of the cofounders of Facet Digital, a local software design and development agency. Kirkland coffee shops are where I work.

Well...not 100% of the time.

At Facet Digital, we are a distributed team with no central office. We all work from home offices, coffee shops, restaurants, and of course, pubs. We’re founded in Kirkland, with a critical mass of our team living here, and we use the Kirkland Marina area as our meeting place. We’re big proponents of the remote work lifestyle, as brilliantly described in the recent book, Remote: Office Not Required, written by the founders of 37signals, a firm famous for being spread around the globe.  We’ve found that Kirkland is the ideal location for a team like ours.

Have a client meeting at 9am?  I head to Zoka, Caffe Ladro, or Rococo. They all have WiFi, power outlets, delicious coffee, and the perfect ambiance for a laid back business meeting. Zoka can get pretty packed by remote workers and their Macbook Airs by 10am, which makes for an upbeat environment where the WiFi still works great. Caffe Ladro is a bit quieter and smaller. Unlike Zoka, they don’t have any large tables suitable for more than 4 people, but you will find outdoor chairs facing the sun for those rare days we can see it. Rococo has fantastic coffee.They roast their own beans on premises, which may be why it’s always nice and warm in there. The back room lets you feel tucked away from the foot traffic when you really want to focus on your work.

Today, after a few hours at Rococo, I popped over to The Lodge Sports Grille (two doors down), to grab an early lunch date with my wife (one of the perks of being a remote worker!), in a nice quiet booth where I could get in another hour of work after she left. The Lodge is great for conversations that need a little more privacy, and is usually quiet around lunchtime, but can be pretty loud when there’s a game on TV.

For happy hour, we head on over to one of our favorite drinking holes, The Wilde Rover, for a pint and a creative brainstorming session. If we’re schmoozing a client, we’ll take it on over to Cactus, Milagro Cantina, or Trellis. The food is delicious at all of those. Trellis has year-round outdoor seating, good people watching, and some very interesting dishes that focus on locally-sourced organic foods. Cactus has excellent outdoor seating during the warm month(s).

If you like boutique tequilas and the gourmet version of the street taco, Milagro is the place for you. Sometimes we’ll even make it a family thing, and have the wives and kids meet us out at Zeeks Pizza for a family-friendly evening over a delicious gourmet pizza. The kids love it for the raw pizza dough and the view of the cooks, while the adults enjoy being able to hold conversation while the kids are entertained by the staff.

The great thing is that so many of these establishments are within walking distance of each other. The Kirkland Marina area has an excellent walkability factor, and parking is surprisingly easy and cheap! You get three hours of free parking on surface lots during the day and it’s only $1 per hour from 5pm-9pm. Try finding $4 parking on the other side of the bridge!

Facet Digital loves Kirkland and we love supporting the local businesses here. Check out our website, get to know our faces, and say hi when you see us buzzing around building cool mobile apps, websites, and other software products for many of our clients who are also doing cool things right here in our own backyard.

     

Kirkland Ave is quite the hot-bed of activity lately!  Lifelong locals Paul (photo) and Nancy Griff recently opened their own salon studio concept, Mosaic Independent Salons,  after lots of research and careful planning. Despite Paul's background in tech start-ups, he realized the beauty industry is in need of a make-over.  Mosaic Independent Salons isn't your everyday salon.  It is a sharp new space with 25 self-contained 1-2 chair salons that are independently owned and operated.   This allows stylists to have their own business without having to start or buy a full-scale salon themselves, or rent a chair in a salon where there's a boss and maybe a little co-worker drama. 

The salon studio concept is really popular in other parts of the country and is starting to gain traction here. Mosaic provides studios that are between 100-200 square feet which are fully equipped with everything a stylist would need.  For roughly $275/wk in rent (which includes use of washer/dryer), a stylist can choose their paint color and the name for their door and be ready to work.  Totally customized and turn-key.  Expect to see more of these popping up around the Northwest, after the Kirkland prototype is in full swing.  The goal is to create a positive environment for the stylist so they can focus on their clients. 425-922-2815. ~j

  

I couldn't help but notice (ie: be nosy) that a new little shop with fun girly accessories opened on Market Street right next to Salon Pecoaro.    I dropped in to discover that it is actually connected to the salon and one of the stylists, Donnette Russell (photo left), has expanded the space and will call it Zarza Style Boutique.  She has lots of great fashion jewelry ($5-50), scarves ($15) and purses for super reasonable prices.  I'm thinking it could be a great place to pop in for a hostess gift or to find some last minute jewelry to go with an outfit you are wearing that evening.

UNRELATED GOLDEN NUGGET for you: I recently figured out the Kirkland Costco gas station is open early (even though the store doesn't open until 10). So you CAN get less expensive fuel with no line.  It's not even on their website.... There's literally nobody there at 9am on a weekday.  Can't believe I am telling you all my secrets. Here are their hours: 6am-9:30pm Mon-Fri and 6am-7pm Sat/Sun. 

I made an appointment for a 90 minute facial at Ambrosia MedSpa & Wellness  (across from Juanita Village Starbucks) because-hey- it was the last week of school for the kids so it might be my last moment of silence and self-indulgence for a few months.  And what a treat it was! 

I did some quick and easy paperwork before Maren Brown, medical aesthetician,  whisked me into her room and the magic began.  She cleansed my face with a Clarisonic before the microdermabrasian which felt like a small mechanical sander sloughing off all that old dry skin that used to make me look like I was 87.  Maren's music was a relaxing mix off of her own playlist which didn't include dribbling waterfalls which I was thankful for (cuz they make me feel like I have to pee).

A series of steaming, warming,  sponging, painting, extracting, massaging and small rhythmic circling with Eminence Organic Skin Care products (decolletage and hands too) was so heavenly I woke myself up with a giant snore! Which is always embarrassing but Maren rightfully understood this as a true sign of a job well done.   Which I also felt when I looked at my glowing shining face of healthy aftermath and thought, "there's hope for me yet! Thanks Maren!"

Ambrosia MedSpa & Wellness has had a new owner since January, Stacie Lindal.  Stacie was a corporate HR Director for 16 years but always had a passion for skincare.  When she decided to pursue her dream of running a skincare business, she chose Ambrosia because "...she loved the staff.  it just felt RIGHT."  Ambrosia has been around since 2008 and Stacie has kept much of the staff in place. 

Ambrosia offers an array of spa services such as facials, laser hair removal, photo-facials, microdermabrasian and skin re-firming.  This may sound like Greek to you youngsters out there, but words to the wise: pay attention now for what awaits around the corner.  They also have a family doctor, Dr. Vern Cherewatenko on site three days a week.  He is able to help with things such as B-12 shots, bio-identical hormones, ADHD, sports physicals and general health.  Dr. Alexander Sobel is an aesthetic injector and is double board certified in General Cosmetic Surgery and Otolaryngology/Facial Plastic Surgery.  This is one stop shopping to the fountain of youth and wellness in a comfortable and relaxing atmosphere.  Not even halfway into summer and I am missing Maren already.  There's a special offer too, of course, for first time clients (one per client) you can enjoy the "Triple Beauty Treat", which is 3 treatments for $150.  You can join their email list here to stay up to date on all the monthly specials. Feel free to check them out- good stuff awaits you! 425-814-3235 ~j

Just saw this letter from the City Manager's office I thought you might be interested in...huh...

April 2, 2013

Important
message about the Cross Kirkland Corridor

Dear Community Member,

It is with great disappointment
that I share with you that the City of Kirkland was served on April 1, 2013
with a Federal lawsuit which seeks to stop the City from removing the rail
tracks and ties along the Cross Kirkland Corridor. The lawsuit was filed by
Ballard Terminal Railroad Company (“Ballard”) in Federal District Court in the
Western District of Washington.  In addition to the injunction, Ballard
has filed a petition with the federal Surface Transportation Board (“STB”)
seeking to reactivate the Eastside Rail Corridor for freight service from
Woodinville to Bellevue, WA.  These actions make it necessary for the City
to carefully evaluate Ballard’s claims and to consider our legal options.

As you may be aware, the City has
hired a contractor to remove the rails to make way for an Interim Trail along
the Cross Kirkland Corridor.  The removal has been anticipated to begin
this month; with construction of the Interim Trail to begin this fall. We
intend to keep with the community’s desire to allow use of the trail as soon as
possible, even if it requires us to put our plans on hold as we take time to
better understand the impacts of the lawsuit and petition.

The Cross Kirkland Corridor is 5.75
miles of the 44+ mile Eastside Rail Corridor (ERC).  Apart from the
segments owned by the City of Kirkland and the City of Redmond, the ERC has
been recently acquired by King County. 

It is our initial understanding
that Ballard seeks to keep Kirkland from removing the rails on our Corridor so
that freight use can be re-established.  We are hopeful that the Federal
District Court will rule on the injunction case in the coming weeks and that
the STB decision regarding Ballard’s request to reactivate our Corridor as a
freight (not transit or excursion train) corridor will also be expedited.

We are confident that Kirkland will
ultimately be able to carry out our citizens’ vision for the Corridor. 
However, there are many complexities to this issue and your understanding and
patience is appreciated.  Updates will be released through the City’s
email notification subscriber lists and posted to the Cross Kirkland Corridor
webpage at www.kirklandwa.gov/crosskirklandcorridor.

If you have a specific question,
please send it to Pam Bissonnette, Director, Public Works Department, at
425-587-3802 or [email protected].

Sincerely,

Kurt Triplett

City Manager

City of Kirkland

 
Fall is the perfect time to plant and prepare your yard for winter, so it's opportune that the City of Kirkland is offering free natural yard design workshops.  They are  conducted by expert yard care professionals, and will help you create a beautiful healthy yard.  With all the sunshine we've been having, it's all I can do to remember to water my grass!  Seriously, though, it looks like they have a lot of professionals ready to share all their secrets with you, so take advantage if you can.

Here's the lineup: 

Dates and
Topics:   

 October 4, Garden Design and Growing Healthy Soil

October 11, Designing with Plants and Natural Pest Control

October 18, Edible Gardening and Smart Watering

October 25, Natural Lawn Care

Time:                           
7:00-9:00 p.m. each Thursday

Location:                    
Our Redeemer Lutheran church, 11611 N.E. 140^th Street, Kirkland

 To Reserve
a Seat:   Call Betsy Adams at 425-587-3858 or email [email protected].