This article was published in the June 2018 issue of Queen Anne Living Magazine.

As a child with a parent in the Coast Guard, Susan Barnes never felt like she truly had a place to call home – that is, until she permanently settled in Queen Anne about 25 years ago.

Barnes’s family was originally from England, but they moved every few years or so when she was young after her father joined the Coast Guard. The family lived all over the United States, including the Midwest, New Jersey and Oregon, where she attended the University of Oregon.

Barnes had originally planned to move out to Los Angeles from New York City, where she lived after college, but visiting some friends in Seattle made her think twice.

“You have the mountains everywhere and Queen Anne has such a small-town feel while being in the middle of a city,” she said about why she chose to move to Seattle instead.

Nowadays Barnes works as a freelance graphic designer. She’s completed print and web projects for some big Seattle companies including Microsoft and T-Mobile.

However, her true love is traveling. She’s visited more than 40 countries to date, primarily as a solo traveler.

Barnes generally tries to take one big trip per year. So far, she’s traveled through Europe, Southeast Asia, southern Africa and South America.

She recalls one of her craziest travel experiences as riding on the roof of a bus in Laos for 11 hours. She also went on a seven-day trek through the Himalayas alongside only one guide who spoke very little English.

Although Barnes doesn’t speak any languages other than English fluently, she always makes a point to learn the basics in any place she visits. Interestingly enough, the place with the most difficult accent to understand is always England, she laughed.

Of course, after every trip she always looks forward to coming back home to Queen Anne. “I can’t wait to get back to the green and blue,” she said. “Queen Anne is always warm and inviting.”

But all in all, it’s the people that really make Queen Anne a wonderful place, said Barnes. “Everyone’s neighborly here - you’ll end up having at least five conversations with people just walking around the neighborhood.”

This article was published in the May 2018 issue of Queen Anne Living Magazine.

Although Kayako and Manu Sareen hail from entirely different parts of the globe, they managed to find their little piece of heaven when they moved to the Pacific Northwest.

The Sareen family has been living in Queen Anne for nearly five years now, but it took some time for them to settle down after living in a few different cities that didn’t quite feel like the right fit. Before moving to Seattle, the family lived in Dallas for two years, and in Minneapolis before that.

Kayako, who is originally from Osaka, Japan, came to the United States to attend graduate school in Minneapolis. She met Manu, who is from Delhi, India, while working for a corporation in Minneapolis in the international marketing department, which employed people from all over the world.

Nowadays Manu has his own business in downtown Seattle that helps brands and manufacturers build their ecommerce businesses. He has a business partner here in Seattle but also works with a team around the globe. As a retail expert, Manu worked for both ecommerce and brick-and-mortar retailers for over 20 years before starting his own business.

Kayako works as a professional freelance photographer. She started out photographing weddings, but eventually transitioned toward photographing food, which she felt was a better fit given her passion for cooking. She has her own studio where she styles, shoots and works on the post-production of beautiful images of food. She also volunteers her time as the photographer for the Queen Anne Chamber of Commerce, Queen Anne Farmers Market and American Red Cross.

Although Kayako had always had a passion for photography, she didn’t always feel that she had the option to pursue it. Art wasn’t really a socially acceptable career path in Japan, she explained, so she obtained a degree in business. “But, I couldn’t forget about starting my own business as a photographer,” she said after falling in love with working in the dark room in college.

When they’re not busy with their work schedules, the Sareen family enjoys going to the Farmers Market or going for bike rides around Queen Anne for the beautiful views. “We like to walk around and explore the neighborhood,” said Manu.

They’ve also developed many close friendships with other Queen Anne residents with whom they enjoy spending time. “Once you create a good support group then people take care of each other,” said Manu. “There are a lot of other transplants in Queen Anne,” said Kayako. “It helps grow more friendships.”

Kayako loves preparing home-cooked meals for the family, especially the traditional Japanese foods that she often had back home. Her favorite comfort food is miso soup.

However, whenever the family returns home to the US after traveling, the first thing they do is go out for burgers, she laughed.

Kayako tries to take her daughters, Mana and Hina, to Japan every year for two weeks to experience the Japanese school system, which is very different from schooling in the US. The girls are also Japanese citizens.

Mana and Hina are seven and ten years old, respectively. Hina likes playing soccer and her favorite subject in school is reading. “I like Seattle because it’s not too hot and not too cold,” she said. Mana enjoys reading and writing in school and loves to draw.

Family is incredibly important in both Indian and Japanese culture. One of the biggest differences between Japanese and American culture is that Japan is much more family-oriented and elders are much more respected there, Kayako explained. “I really appreciate Manu’s culture too because they’re very family-oriented,” she added. Manu’s parents come to visit from India every year.

The family has loved living in Queen Anne for a whole host of reasons. For starters, the small-town feel of the neighborhood often makes it easy to forget that you’re actually in the middle of a big city. “You get the best of both worlds,” said Manu. “You also meet a lot of people from different cultures here. It’s kind of cool to experience the melting pot.”

“I like the culture here,” said Kayako. “Moving to Seattle was like heaven for me.”

This article was published in the April 2018 issue of Queen Anne Living Magazine.

Just when it seems like there’s no hope for an older dog without a human family, Old Dog Haven steps in to provide healing and comfort. The organization, which was started 14 years ago by Judith and Lee Piper, gives older dogs a safe, loving place to call home for their final years.

The organization takes in shelter dogs in Western Washington that are eight years or older, many of whom are at risk of being euthanized. Old Dog Haven is intent on making sure that every single dog that comes into its care gets placed into a foster home.

Many of the dogs come to the organization with health complications, including diabetes, epilepsy or cancer. However, every dog is guaranteed to get the medical care they need, no matter the cost. Unfortunately, those costs can reach a staggering $80,000 per month for all of the foster dogs combined, making donations and sponsorships incredibly important to the organization.

Letting go of an old friend is never easy. “It’s like a dark cloud over our house when the time is getting near,” said the organization’s Events Coordinator Aaron Davis, who is currently fostering two dogs. But at the end of the day, those who foster can take comfort in knowing that their canine friends were given a loving home in their final days. “There isn’t anything in this world I’d rather do,” Davis added.

Davis, who has been fostering dogs through Old Dog Haven since 2008, has been overjoyed to see each dog’s transformation throughout the years. “They all come in with their own personal stories and they change when they’re here,” he said. “Every single one of them has been special in their own way.”

Those interested in fostering must go through screening in order to determine a good fit. Potential foster parents can specify their preferred breeds and whether there are children or other pets living in the home. First-time foster homes won’t be given sick dogs - that comes with time and experience. “We want to make sure that the dog fits their home,” said Davis.

When fostering isn’t an option, those who would like to help out can donate to the organization.

You can also attend one of Old Dog Haven’s many events that occur all over Western Washington. The Walk for Old Dogs at Cromwell Park in Shoreline has been the organization’s biggest event, raising $150,000 last year. All of the proceeds from the events go directly toward the dogs’ care.

When in doubt about how to get in touch, just attend nearly any dog-related event in Western Washington, says Davis. “Anywhere there’s going to be dogs, there’ll be Old Dog Haven.”

You can email office@olddoghaven.org to see if there are any foster openings.

This article was published in the March 2018 issue of Queen Anne Living Magazine.

In her first year as the librarian at Ballard High School, TuesD Chambers already has big plans for the school.

In December, she was awarded a $100,000 grant from Farmers Insurance for her proposal to transform the school’s current library into the John Stanford Learning Commons – a similar concept to that of Odegaard Undergraduate Library and Learning Commons at the University of Washington.

Farmers Insurance created the Thank America’s Teachers initiative to encourage teachers to propose big ideas for their classrooms – and in Chambers’ case, libraries.

The initiative awarded a total of $1 million in educational grants to teachers throughout the nation in 2017, but just five teachers, including Chambers, were given the $100,000 grant.

Chambers plans to completely transform the current library at Ballard High School by upgrading it to a common space where students, teachers and community members can collaborate using digital and print media.

Chambers believes that Ballard High School won because their proposal was unique in that it involved a library instead of a classroom. “It was the fact that we were different and that we were part of a community,” she said.

Members of the Ballard neighborhood community often use the space for meetings and get-togethers.

“We want [the students] to be able to work together and showcase their work together,” Chambers said about the goal of the Learning Commons.

Currently, a cluster of computers in the middle of the library makes it difficult to teach and collaborate, so she plans to have movable furniture and interactive projectors to make the environment better-suited for collaboration.

Chambers believes that collaborative learning will better prepare students for the real world. It teaches them how to brainstorm and work together in teams, as is often the case in the workplace. Students have traditionally worked in isolation, but “that doesn’t work for problems today,” she said. “[In the real world] you have to work with people you don’t like all the time.”

Chambers is confident that the students will make the best possible use of the Learning Commons, and she’s been impressed by their drive to learn. “It sounds really cliché, but it’s the students,” she said about the most rewarding part of teaching. “It’s seeing them as they grow up.”

This article was published in the November 2017 issue of Queen Anne Living Magazine.

In keeping with the spirit of the mantra, “never leave a fallen comrade behind,” The Seattle Stand Down helps veterans in need transition from military to civilian life.

The Seattle-based nonprofit focuses primarily on helping veterans who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless by providing them with access to community resources and social services.

“We try to be a voice for those who don’t have one,” said Rebecca Murch, executive director of the organization. “These veterans in the streets were our comrades in battle.”

Murch is a US Navy veteran herself.

The Seattle Stand Down is holding their seventh annual event on Dec. 14 and 15 at South Seattle College’s Georgetown campus. The event serves as a consolidated resource fair for veterans to help them get back on their feet.

“I like to think of [the event] as a really big family reunion,” said Murch.

The event focuses primarily on three areas of service: housing, employment and legal. “If something is off [in one area], then it really affects the other aspects of life,” Murch said about the importance of all three areas in a veteran’s life.

“Housing can be kind of a challenge,” Murch admitted, and it’s made even more difficult given the current housing market in Seattle, but the event gets veterans connected with a caseworker to help them start the process of finding a permanent place to live.

Representatives of South Seattle College will help the veterans with their resumes and connect them to jobs. Several law firms will also be present to offer their pro bono services.

Each veteran who attends has the option of being connected with what they call a “battle buddy,” who helps them navigate the event to find the resources they need the most.

The event also provides on-site medical and dental care.

The Seattle Stand Down is always appreciative of volunteers and donations - especially donations of clothing or hygiene items. You can sign up to volunteer for the event online.

The driving force behind Murch’s tireless dedication to the organization year after year? It’s the feedback she gets from the veterans. One particular written comment from a veteran who attended the event about five years ago read, “thank you for reminding me that I do matter,” Murch recalled. “It still makes me tear up a bit.”

This article was published in the November 2017 issue of Queen Anne Living Magazine.

The residents of the Bayview retirement community showed that you can dance the night away at any age at the fourth annual Savoy Gala on Sept. 8!

Guests and residents participated in a toast to Bayview’s bright future with friends, family and the greater community.

This year’s gala was wildly successful, bringing in approximately 160 guests who had a blast dancing to a live jazz swing band, enjoying some delicious food, and being photographed by a professional photographer.

“The event this year exceeded our expectations!” said Jennifer Flick, the executive assistant to the CEO at Bayview. “The attendance was the highest it’s been in the last four years. I attribute that great success to the heightened involvement of resident and board volunteers this year.”

Bayview also added a new facet to this year’s Savoy Gala: a fundraiser for the Bayview Manor Foundation, which works to enrich the lives of Bayview seniors in their retirement years, as well as the community around them. The event raised a staggering $26,000!

Tickets for the gala were paid for entirely by donation and tallied anonymously on a display board in the lobby. Those that donated to the fundraiser included Bayview residents and their guests, as well as the gala’s generous sponsors, including Partner Sponsor Andersen Construction and Leadership Sponsor Auburn Mechanical, who graciously underwrote the costs for the entire evening.

Raffle tickets were also available for purchase, with all funds going toward the foundation. Fabulous prizes included everything from Fifth Avenue Theatre tickets to a getaway on Orcas Island.

Bayview is a 62+ nonprofit retirement community located in the Uptown neighborhood that focuses on the personal self-discovery of its residents through affiliation with the Methodist Church, although they welcome people of all faiths. Bayview is managed by a volunteer Board of Trustees.

The event wouldn’t have been possible without the generous contributions of the volunteer team, consisting of Bayview residents and board members.

Everyone involved in the Savoy Gala truly made it a huge success and a night to remember!

This article was published in the October 2017 issue of Queen Anne Living Magazine.

As the daughter of parents in humanitarian work, Laura Early lived everywhere from Texas to the Marshall Islands growing up, but Queen Anne is where she’s felt most at home.

In adulthood, Early found herself in San Francisco where she lived for 12 years working as a floral designer. However, over the years she made continuous trips to Seattle to visit her sister’s family in Queen Anne.

When San Francisco became too expensive, she finally took the plunge and decided to permanently relocate to Queen Anne in 2009 and hasn’t looked back since.

Early has been living in Queen Anne for eight and a half years now and has seen the area change quite a bit throughout the years. Of course, she’s seen more condos go up and the traffic worsen, but at the same time she asks, “who can’t say this about any neighborhood in Seattle?”

Early has also seen the demographics of the neighborhood change over the years. “There’s more diversity here now, which I love,” she says. “I hear people speaking different languages.”

Upon moving to Queen Anne, Early started working with kids and would bring them into the Fountainhead Gallery to look at the artwork on display. Soon enough, her regular trips to the gallery turned into a weekly volunteering gig for her, and eventually that evolved into a paid position as the gallery manager.

Working at the gallery has helped Early rekindle her love for art, she says. “I’m a painter and I’ve been doing art my whole life.”

And clearly that love for art stuck hasn’t strayed - she’s been working at the Fountainhead Gallery for three years now. “I really love my job because there’s really a sense of community,” she says. “I know the regulars by name and I like supporting local artists. It’s a little gem, it’s a special place.”

That sense of community isn’t just unique to the gallery - Early notes that she’s felt very connected to the Queen Anne community ever since she relocated here from San Francisco. “I know all my neighbors here, whereas people weren’t as friendly back in San Francisco,” she admits. “Queen Anne is much less transient.”

Early’s favorite part about living in Queen Anne? She says, “I like the quaintness, the walkability - I think it’s just a really beautiful place to live!”

This article was published in the October 2017 issue of Queen Anne Living Magazine.

When Michele Rose’s Polish ancestors moved to Queen Anne, they probably never imagined that the family would end up staying in the area for several generations.

Rose, a third-generation Queen Anne resident, was born and raised in the neighborhood and recalls several fond childhood memories: “We used to ride our tricycles up and down the street and there was this big ‘haunted house’ at the end of the street where an old German man lived,” she says with a laugh.

Rose lived briefly in California during her college years and later moved to Chicago, but she eventually came back to Queen Anne in 1989, married her husband Irv in 1993, and has resided here ever since.

“It was just natural for me to come back here,” says Rose, who is retired but previously had a career in the international shipping industry. “It’s just home to us and I can’t imagine living anywhere else.”

It isn’t hard to see why she feels this way about living in Queen Anne - Rose has deep family roots in the neighborhood. Originally, her maternal great-grandparents had emigrated from Poland to Puyallup, but eventually her grandmother, along with her great aunt and uncle, decided to move to Queen Anne where they happily settled in a large Catholic community. Later on, Rose’s great-grandmother joined them.

In those days, says Rose, nearly every city block was self-sufficient with a dry cleaner and grocery store - there were no supermarkets at the time. Rose’s grandmother, whom she affectionately refers to as “Nanny,” worked as a checker at the local Queen Anne Safeway.

“She virtually ran the store,” says Rose. “People really loved her and she did very well for herself.”

Rose’s family has seen Queen Anne go through several changes over the years - both for better and for worse. During the 1980s, the family watched as the area seemed to be heading downhill. It was made up primarily of older people with fixed incomes, and conversely, low-income hippies. “It was not a great area during that time,” says Rose.

At the time, parts of Queen Anne were even occupied by the controversial Love Israel Family, as well as several other cults. She recalls that many parents began sending their kids to other school districts that they felt were of better quality.

Rose recalls that since that era, large entities including Amazon and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation have brought in young tech workers to the area. She’s constantly witnessing new people move here, and has seen the cost of living consistently rise. “They like [the area] and can afford all of this energy,” she explains.

As a result, “Queen Anne is very hip and young now,” she says. “It’s more vibrant.”

Regardless of the multitude of changes that Queen Anne has seen over the years, Rose still feels that the neighborhood has retained its beauty and charm. There are several parks within walking distance from where Rose and her husband live, which they enjoy venturing to regularly. “I just like that I can walk up the street and it’s very vibrant,” she adds. “The architecture here is perfect.”

Rose also enjoys the abundance of good food right at her fingertips. “I hardly have to leave the street sometimes because the food is so good.”

Perhaps above all, Rose appreciates the beautifully unique opportunity that she’s had to grow up in one place surrounded by her family all the way from childhood to adulthood. “It creates an enormous amount of peace and serenity,” she says about the opportunity.

People come and go from this area, she adds, “but I’ve stayed the same. I’m happy to invite them into my world, ‘cause I’ll always be here.”