Good Eats in Tacoma :-)

So, if you thought of Tacoma at all before, you probably just thought of it as that city south of Seattle or north of Olympia, not really a destination, no art, no sights, no places to hang out & enjoy a delicious meal, among interesting people or in an interesting atmosphere. Yes, Seattle & Olympia both can boast of great attractions & destinations, art & delicious food, but you probably already knew that. Tacoma has some hidden gems waiting to be discovered by anyone willing to stop & have a look around. Today I thought I'd talk about some of the fun & tasty destinations to check out around the historic shipping port known as Tacoma, Washington.
Let's start with ‘breakfast‘ treats:

Legendary Doughnuts: Amazing, delicious doughnuts in decadent flavors to start your morning off right (or hey, who says it has to be morning food. Treat yourself to a bit of decadence, whenever you feel like it). Buy a dozen & save some for later or cut them into smaller pieces & create a sampler, so you don't miss any of the scrumptious flavors, you'll be tempted to eat them all at once! 6th Ave Tacoma, WA

Inside Legendary Doughnuts

Sasquatch Cinnamon Rolls: Gigantic cinnamon rolls (& little ones too), in different fun flavors every day, macaroons  of many sizes & flavors, delicious lefsa (my favorite), plus many other treats. You never know exactly what you'll find here, but you can be sure it will be delicious. There's plenty of vintage memorabilia & silliness to look at & keep your attention, while you enjoy your treats & the company. They open a little later in the morning, but it's worth the wait or you can take your treats home & try to save them for the morning. Freighthouse Square, Tacoma, WA (bring cash, they can not currently accept credit cards)

Inside Sasquatch

Little Jerry's:  A little retro diner based on Seinfeld. Serves breakfast & lunch, American fare with cute Seinfeld related names, Seinfeld memorabilia & episodes of Seinfeld streaming throughout the day. You can sit inside or out at a little diner style table or you can sit on bar stools at the counter. There's also a small annex that serves espresso. In Fern Hill, Tacoma, WA

At the counter in Little Jerry's

Olive Branch Cafe: Serves breakfast, lunch & pastries (sandwiches & cafe fare) in a beautiful, quiet atmosphere.  Great place for a business lunch. New location inside Freighthouse Square, Tacoma, WA

One of the main attractions in the Olive Branch Cafe is the tea cabinet , from which you can  pick  from a huge selection of teas to be perfectly brewed in one of these ingenious mugs. Sit & relax in this lovely place, watch the trains go by & enjoy something new or something more classic from their fine selection of teas, chat with the friendly staff or book a tea party for a special occasions & events.

Not a complete list, just a small sampling of what Tacoma has to offer, in historic & interesting little areas around town. Go out & explore, let me know what gems you find. Next time: Lunch (my favorite meal). SAM

Favorite Things Week 3, 4 & 5

Things to drink:

Tea!
Zhena's Gypsy Tea Coconut Chai One of the most delicious chais, ever! Plus, it's fair trade & the tins are refillable. It's a win, win, win!
Zhena's Raspberry Earl Grey Raspberry is a delicious addition to Earl Grey (& it's fair trade & refillable)









Shoes that I like:

Doc Martens- the company is now 50 years old!
Savannah
Blake
From their official US site dmusastore

I have several different types of  Doc Martens




Handmade shoes on Etsy:

soleilduautomne

So cute & they look so comfortable!








I have many shoes: Converse, ballet flats, no platforms or heels at the moment, but I should get some. Someone once accused me of having a shoe habit, I didn't agree at the time, but maybe...

people in my life:
Friends & family!

transportation:

Candy apple red '66 Mustang, sadly, no longer with us :(
There are many other cars I like, plus boats & planes can be fun...







So, these are some of my favorite things. How about you?

Check out other favorite things on Being Tazim:


* Teapot & Mustang image are the property of samsstuff, all rights reserved. Please contact me for permission to use.

Bumblebees, Spring, Tea & other stuff....

Newest Sam's Stuff shop listing http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=23789439
So, today I saw the first bumblebee of the season. An adorable, big, fat, fuzzy bumblebee. A sure sign that spring is on it's way. No, even though he was fuzzy & cute, I didn't try to view him up close. He was still a bee, after all. I also saw wasps (not fuzzy or cute), giant spiders (fuzzy, not cute) & adorable little birds, all today. The flowers are blooming & it was a lovely warm, sunny day. A perfect day for a nice cup of iced tea.
Which reminds me... I want to get more of the Gypsy Tea brand Lemon Jasmine tea, delicious (as are many of their flavors). They did not have any at Fred Meyer, where I've gotten it in the past, so I may need to get a refill on-line, at their website. If you've never tried their tea & you like tea, I highly recommend it. I haven't had any flavors that I haven't liked yet! The Coconut Chai is the best chai I've ever tasted & the tins are refillable on-line.
All this talk of tea brings me to... the "tea parties," hosted by Fox News, etc. that have been all over the media this past week. I'm not even sure where to begin with this. It seems to me that this is a comparison of apples & oranges gone horribly wrong, not to mention a terrible waste of money, time & commodity, all rolled into one. The colonists where protesting taxation without representation, the taking of their money, not to put back into the colonial infrastructure, not even really to help the "mother country," but to line the pockets of the already wealthy. Our current government (& not governments of the past, who all had different goals & methods of achieving those goals) is taking money & assets to reinvested in our countries infrastructure, going beyond the whole unsuccessful "trickle down economics" theory of recent administrations to stimulate growth through the creation of jobs & the prevention of property loss. One of the problems they have run into is the lack of real cooperation from some who take this stimulus money & reinvest it into their own little "trickle down" (again, this has not worked in the past, why is it going to work now?)theories, lining their own pockets & companies with money that the average person will never see. The effect is more of choking growth than stimulating it. It's an old model that didn't work in the first place. If it had, we wouldn't be where we are today. So, to get back to the colonists & tea parties, the comparison is way off. We do not have the same situation. The money is meant to create jobs & stave off the concurrent rise of homelessness that the loss of jobs has created. The sooner corporations get with the program & drop old & ineffective models, the better off we'll all be & the sooner we'll truly recover from this crisis. That's my opinion, at any rate, what's yours? How do you think we can best "recover?"