Jennelle Marcereau Gallery: A Stunning Landscape Photography Gallery in Tacoma

My friend Jennelle Marcereau is an incredible landscape photographer! Her work is beautiful; I am proud and I want to tell you all about it. 

Do you remember that one point when your Facebook connections grew exponentially because all of your college or high school friends were finding each other all at once? Well, Jennelle and I connected online during that flurry and though we sent a nice message saying "We're both living near Seattle!," we never set up a time to see each other. Then recently, Jennelle posted that she was opening a gallery of her photography! I was in Michigan the night of her Grand Opening, but we were able to connect and talk in her beautiful space for hours one afternoon not long afterward. 

She and I are Theta sorority sisters from Michigan State University. We were roommates in our sorority house and it was incredible to laugh and fill each other in on everything that has happened in our lives since we were 21. I kind of wish we'd been recording it, because we really did a good job of boiling our stories down. Have you done that lately? It's quite a mental exercise.

Jennelle has a fascinating life. She balances life as an emergency room doctor with the creativity & physical strength of being a professional nature photographer. In just talking with her, I felt kind of jealous of her brain.  It gets a healthy workout in two completely different kinds of thinking. What a thrill. 

Jennelle loves to travel and hike to capture photos that are absolutely incredible. The color and composition she is able to see and then capture, is just beautiful. Though many people are moved by her images and make a purchase right on the spot, I see an important future for Jennelle in medical spaces. I think her images could bring comfort and inspiration to patients during the uncertainty of the office visit and waiting room.

On a different note, Jennelle thought it was very cool that I had become an artist and writer. She said that she remembered that I was creative and enthusiastic in college, but didn't know that I would become a maker. She invited me to bring my cigar box purses to display & sell at her gallery during a Tacoma Wine Walk. When she saw them in person, she asked if I would like to keep them in her gallery for a while. She liked that it would give her customers a variety of art pieces to look at. It was a kind and generous offer to share her space with me and I am grateful to her. It feels wonderful to have some of my collection on display in an art gallery. My life just keeps surprising me. Thank you, Jennelle, for the honor. Your gallery is beautiful!

#seattleblogger #finddelight #tacomawa #pnw #HerPNWlife #wanderwashington #photography 

View A Cut Flower Catalog: Dahlia Barn

Take a Tour of a cut flower catalog of every dahlia blooming at the Dahlia Barn in North Bend, WA.  

Listen to some mother/daughter chatter about loving dahlias.

The Dahlia Barn has this Living Cut Flower Catalog on display every weekend thru September in their barn from 10 am - 5 pm. If the weather and blooms hold up, they may swell their display dates into early October. Check their post on Facebook. They sell cut bouquets for $10. It is a memorable way to spend part of your weekend and I encourage you to find this moment of delight, just 40 min from Seattle. 

I first heard about the Dahlia Barn from a glowing magazine article and was thrilled to make my first visit out to see them in 2014. I was living in a hotel at the time and could only dream of having a house just miles from this very farm. I was able to meet the owners of The Dahlia Barn, Aimee and Jerry and could see for myself how passionate they are about these magnificent plants. 

In my opinion, The Dahlia Barn is THE source for dahlia tubers and I encourage you to order some for your garden. I am impressed with their entire operation, including the detailed care and planting instructions they offer online. 

(flowers on my lap!)

#dahlias #dahliabarn #flowers #farmstand #flowerfarm #ayearinflowers #growdahlias #instalove #seattleblogger #finddelight #farmtovase #floralglory #farmers #buylocal

Missoni: Target: 20 Year Anniversary Collection

How do I love Target...let me count the ways. I have been a huge fan of the Target designer series since it's inception. I remember buying my parents the Michael Graves knives & knife block 20 years ago, knowing that they would love it.

I have been buying pieces selectively whenever Target had special collaborations. I love displaying them throughout my house at different times of year. Above is my new Missoni tray on an ottoman in my family room. I want everyone to realize how effective a $20 item can be. I was thrilled that it was designed to match the 3-piece tray I bought 8 years ago. Follow this link to read my blog post from way back when and see my home and how this 3-piece tray complemented my décor when I lived in Michigan.

copyright 2011 Anne Reeves

For the gardeners reading this, the magnificent milk chocolate-colored roses in the vase tray are Koko Loco by Weeks Roses.

#seattleblogger #target20 #missonifortarget #missoni #interiordesign #finddelight 

Mount Si High School Tour

The resounding sentiment I overheard from adults when touring the new Mount Si High School was, "Can I go too?" 

On September 7, 2019, the residents of greater Snoqualmie Valley were invited to the Grand Opening Celebration for the new high school. Dan & I both wanted to support our neighbors and see the state of the art facility where the kids of our neighborhood would be going to school. We plan on attending Friday night football games and high school musicals at the very least and we wanted to be there on Day 1.

First of all, the school is enormous at 350,000 sq ft. There are glass walls, raised desks, brainstorming rooms and technology at every turn. The Career and Technical Trailing area was stunning.

Can you imagine being able to learn welding here?! Lucky Ducks doesn't seem to adequately describe how the adults felt. We would all love to be kid for a day and get some time in on this beautiful equipment. I overheard one woman say that touring the classrooms made her feel inspired to help. I heard her brainstorming with her friend who she should contact to offer her skill set.

You really should read the excellent article by Danna McCall on the Living Snoqualmie website to get all of the details about the challenges of building a large school in a flood way. See, I told you that you'd want to know more. This school is build completely on "stilts" with student and faculty parking underneath. It is a feat of engineering and vision.

This (above) is the classroom dedicated to photography and those are the monitors the kids will be working on. Um, yes please. Could I have taken photography classes in my high school? Maybe if I wanted to stand on the sidelines at football games, but that's not the type of photography I'm drawn too, obvi.

What really got me was the rooftop greenhouse and the on-site horticulture classes. Sign me up. I am so thrilled for the students. I will support you in every way that I can! Go Wildcats! 

#seattleblogger #mtsipride #washington #mountsihigh #community #neighbor #education