j. shipley blog

Traveling has a funny way of affecting me. It brings out hidden and/or dormant qualities of my personality, and I find myself being all sorts of reflective. And, well, this makes me feel alive which is a great feeling my friends bt-dubs. I find myself being more in-tune with the world around me, more curious, more observant, more adventurous. I guess the art of travel doesn’t accomplish this merely by it’s own accord, but rather creates a space where I can so decidedly choose to approach my adventure in this state of being (or not) and this time around, I jumped fully into that space, and it turned out to be incredibly rewarding and fulfilling. I decided I wanted to experience Seattle with abandon…to really absorb the culture, taste the food, know the people. And I wanted to do things that I ordinary wouldn’t do…at least as often as I could. And, I wanted to be aware and reflective about my experiences all along the way…partly because I didn’t want to be fully engaged in them-present to all that was happening and of course carve them into my memory and partly because I wanted to see how they affected me–what they conjured up, what they got me thinking about, what they inspired me to do….and perhaps, because I had a gut feeling that I would be wooed by Seattle…you foxy minx you! And if wooing was at play, I wanted to remain cognitive along the way as to not be duped by her rare blue skies or the allure of something new. And, well, in the end, I’m one happy, recharged, and hopeful Jeff. And a wooed-Jeff to be sure. I loved Seattle. I mean LOVED. I swear… every boutique, coffee shop, eatery or market I wandered into spoke to my soul and my design sensibilities. I was smitten. I got lost in furniture stores, sprawling marketplaces, cozy coffee shops and found myself encountering beautiful people and things along the way.

So this brings me to a huge and exciting announcement: I AM MOVING TO SEATTLE!!!!!!!!!!! EEEEEEEEEE! I’m so excited. SO. It’s time for a big change, and for me to do me for a while. I can’t wait to immerse myself into a new culture, create more meaningful art, and cultivate new relationships. There’s so much to explore and discover, and I can hardly wait. I’ll hopefully make my way north in late October and in the meantime, I’ll be in LA for the new month or so and then traveling around wrapping things up and make arrangements for the big move. I’ll still frequent Cali often as I’ll still be shooting weddings here and of course visiting my friends and family, but I’d love to have visitors as often as possible. It’s truly one of the coolest cities and I’d love to show you around.If you hear of anyone who might need my photo or design services, please do put them in touch as I’ll be looking to build relationships with locals as well as people all over. I’ll take any excuse to travel. And I’m sure I’ll need to get a little sun here or there. Haha

Ok so all over the city there are posters plastered on poles, walls, signs, dogs. I mean it’s nuts. And awesome. So many fun and interesting things going on in the city. I can’t wait to walk up to one of these said walls and point to a poster and go to the event. Yay. The second image is an restaurant whose doors first attracted me. It wasn’t open so I’ll have to add it to my eatery bucket list for sure.

Pretty church on one of my morning walks…and yes, I did experience the gray-ness and I loved it.

The first coffee shop I stumbled upon: Kaladi Brothers Coffee. So cute and so good. I sat in that yellow chair for hours sipping on my chai latte. I think I’ll have to embrace this coffee thing though once I get there. Oye.

And the fresh flowers?! OMG they are everywhere and so affordable. This might become a problem. 

My sweet friend Sarah Green who hosted me took a day off work to show me around the city and of course we had to hit up Pike Place Market. And for the record, it doesn’t belong to Pike. Nope, learned that the hard way. It’s not Pike’s Place. Just Pike Place. Take note.

This made me chuckle.Sarah and I found this cute sammie shop for lunch in Post Alley called Three Sisters. There was even a street performer to add to the ambiance. He was terrible yet so endearing and we loved it.

Sarah spotted the mirror when I took the above shot. Hello self portrait. And I’ll never forget the conversation we had over lunch. Sigh. Hipsters. LOVE! Pike Place Market. So vibrant, colorful and fun. We milled around for hours. And poor Sarah had to deal with my wandering off to take photos the whole time. So gracious that one.
We laughed the whole way down under. Hehe. I HAD to stop off at the first Starbucks. Duh. It was awesome. The weather was splendid while I was there. Summers are all the sweeter there and I can’t wait to experience it all next year. 

The next day while Sarah was at work, I piddled around downtown and Capitol Hill. I quite enjoyed myself.

And then we met up for dinner at this fabulous restaurant called Terra Plata. It was so fresh, organic, and delicious. And the atmosphere and decor was stellar. Just my style. We were totally obnoxious and asked the waiter a ton of questions and make him like us. Haha. It was awesome. 

Best salad of my life. Ok and this place?!!!!!!!!! OMG. Homegrown! That sammie right there changed me. It was a watermelon caprese delight. Heaven on earth to be sure. The cute Melrose Market that ajoined Homegrown. There were all these cute little shops in there with all sorts of fresh local food, home goods, wine and cheese. I can’t wait to spend more time there. And then there’s this restaurant in the back that I’m dying to experience. Just look at that. EEEEEE!I met up with my sweet friend Krista Welch for drinks at another amazing eatery called Oddfellows and we had ourselves some delicious libation with bourbon which I never drink…but wanted to try something new. So good!