Northwest Gold Coast

It takes guts to pursue your dreams. For every one person that drops everything, moves to Hollywood and serves burgers between auditions, there are ten others that dream of doing just that. For many different reasons most of us are content to let dreams live in our minds. Sheila Lengle is an exception, someone who wouldn’t give up on her dreams.

Sheila’s great passion is art. She had an environmental design business in Southern California in the 80’s. By the 90’s, Sheila had moved to Seattle, was on to her second art gallery, The ec’Collective Gallery & Studio Cafe and literally lived in the place. She was living an artist’s dream.

In the new millennium Sheila was confronted with a couple of those reasons why some people’s passions escape them. She needed open heart surgery in 2002. This would have been a big enough obstacle by itself, but Sheila also didn’t have insurance. She was forced to sell her gallery. Fast forward a few more years to 2008. She was diagnosed with cancer and had to run a gauntlet of treatments.

For a while Sheila had accepted these as reasons to surrender her dreams. Sheila says, “I had no passion or purpose in my life.” This was until she was motivated by her friends who inspired her and helped her realize that she needed art back in her life. She credits her friends and her art for giving her “a true sense of self again”.

Since last December things have been different. She is finding herself as a person and as an artist. Her art focuses on flowers because they contain the “verve” and “colors” she felt her life had been was missing.

Sheila describes herself as being “on the verge”, being almost who she is supposed to be. She has been doing all the right things to position herself for success: marketing, networking, participating in art walks and even getting her work in Alki Arts, a West Seattle art gallery.

Sheila believes that she is supposed to be making a living by selling her artwork. She doesn’t plan to be a starving artist either. She says half-jokingly, “What needs to happen is people must see my work, then buy it, then after that, buy more and tell all their friends about how wonderful it is.”

Ultimately Sheila would like to support herself with her art. That is the person she is supposed to be.

Artist Sheila Lengle

To see more of Sheila’s artwork visit www.lengleart.com.

Tags: Services by Kevin Cushing
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iFLY Seattle Grand Opening
What: iFLY Seattle indoor skydiving/vertical wind tunnel grand opening
Where: Tukwila
When: August 15th
Go to: www.iflyseattle.com

Back to School Resource Fair
What: A fair for families who live in SeaTac, WA to help kids get back to school with free haircuts, backpacks, school supplies, immunizations, child ID cards, learning and community resources.
Where: Valley Ridge Park
When: August 18th, 10am – 2pm
Go to: www.anglelake.org

Sunset Supper at the Market
What: Sample food and drink form some of the area’s best restaurants in Pike Place market.
Where: Pike Place Market
When: Friday, August 19, 2011, 7:30 – 11pm
Go to: www.pikeplacemarketfoundation.org

Movies in the Park
What: Free showing of movies for the whole family
Where: Lake Burien School Park
When: August 19th and August 23rd
Go to: www.burienwa.gov

Downtown Renton Art and Antique Walk
What: Art and antiques up and down the downtown streets with paintings, multi-media, pottery etc.
Where: Downtown Renton
When: Saturday August 20th 11am – 6pm
Go to: www.artsunlimited.org

Art in the Garden
What: Thirty northwest artists will display their work in the Bellevue Botanical Garden
Where: Bellevue Botanical Garden
When: August 26th – 28th
Go to: www.gallerybythebay.com

Incredible inflatable fun at the Downtown Park
What: A variety of inflatables in all shapes of sizes for kids and adults
Where: Bellevue Downtown Park
When: August 27th, 12pm – 8pm
Go to: www.bellevuewa.gov

Seattle Marathon 10k Race
What: The first annual Seattle Marathon 10k Race
Where: Downtown Seattle
When: August 27th
Go to: www.seattlemarathon.org

Bumbershoot
What: Seattle’s Summer Music Festival
Where: Seattle Center
When: Labor Day Weekend, September 4 – 6
Go to: www.bumbershoot.org

Seahawks vs. Cardinals
What: The Seattle Seahawks home opener
Where: Centurylink Field
When: September 25th
Go to: www.seahawks.com

Tags: Services by Nicholas Nair
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Since dentists rely so heavily on referrals it is essential for a dentist to have a solid reputation. However between patients and the business aspect of running a practice a dentist already has plenty to deal with. Realistically, a dentist is not going to monitor her reputation online while waiting for a patient’s anesthesia to kick in.

Many dentists make the mistake of thinking their work will speak for itself. Unfortunately the reality is that satisfied patients don’t often chime in on dentist reviews and ratings. There is some truth in the old adage, “no news is good news”. Those that are upset or angry are actually the ones most likely to voice an opinion.

One of the biggest challenges a dentist can face is building a reputation from nothing, or tougher yet repairing a tarnished reputation. While it used to be that a patient would only share their experience in the dentist’s chair with their close friends and family, modern technology now complicates the situation. Patients, or anyone else for that matter, can tell the entire world what they think of their dentist and her practice by posting comments on social media sites like Facebook or business review sites like Yelp.

Given the difficulty involved in constructing and maintaining a solid reputation it is no wonder that many dentists don’t find the time to get it done, or simply don’t know where to begin. This doesn’t mean however that there is no hope.

A local startup has taken on the task of defending the reputations of dentists with their innovative dental marketing solutions. The Seattle Company, Dentscape monitors dentists’ reputations.
Those dentists who have neglected their reputation online, and don’t even know where to begin can take advantage of Dentscape’s Reputation Radar service. Reputation Radar is a dentist marketing service that searches the internet for reviews of a specific practice and analyzes these reviews to give the practice a reputation rating. This notifies the dentist of reputation issues and takes a proactive approach.

If a dentist’s online reputation proves to have holes the dentist can secure Dentscape’s Reputation Builder. www.dentscape.com.

Tags: Services by Kevin Cushing
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A trip to the airport can be pretty crazy. The typical traveler has an hour or two of jumping through hoops before takeoff.

Wait in line. Get ticket. Wait in line. Remove shoes. Security pat down. Sprint to gate. Wait in line some more. Squeeze into middle seat.

And this is an ideal scenario. No travel day is complete without at least one “Oh BLEEP!!!” moment. Maybe you forgot about that nice bottle of wine you were carrying that you can’t get through security or maybe the kids’ stroller broke. You can quit chugging wine in the security line and your kids don’t have to run as fast as their little legs can take them.

Ken’s Baggage & Frozen Food Storage, Inc. helps SeaTac airport travelers with “Oh BLEEP!!!” moments every day. Almost 30 years ago two Port of Seattle police officers decided to give up the stresses of police emergencies to help people survive their travel emergencies.

Over the years Ken’s Baggage & Frozen Food Storage, Inc. has had a few competitors providing some of the same services, but none of them did enough to keep up with Ken’s Baggage. Their competitors didn’t know that in order to last they had to do it all. Ken’s Baggage is available for travel emergencies like last minute shipping, copies and faxes, cell phones, calling cards, car problems, a notary public and more. But Ken’s doesn’t only help with travel emergencies, or they might just be called Ken’s “Oh Bleep” Moments. In fact Ken’s offers services that the savvy traveler with a full passport and a diet of airplane peanuts will plan ahead to use. Veteran travelers plan ahead to use their services when hauling extra luggage. Cruise ships and fishing lodges refer travelers to Ken’s Baggage & Frozen Food Storage to transport and store perishable goods. Adventurous travelers with a long layover use Ken’s Baggage to store their luggage while they ride the light rail downtown to Pike Place and enjoy the Seattle sites luggage free.

If you haven’t been convinced to use Ken’s Baggage you can be late to get home because your car battery died, your kids can struggle with a broken stroller, your client can miss that fax, and they all might forgive you. Except when you put rotting fish in the overhead bin, no one will forgive you for that.

For contact details go to www.kensbaggage.com

Tags: Services by Kevin Cushing
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Traveling with children? You may or may not realize the implications that come with bringing little ones on board. Here are 5 “I’m traveling with children” mistakes to avoid:

Red Eye Flights.
It might seem like a brilliant idea to save precious dollars by booking the redeye now, but you might realize you’re not quite the next Einstein pretty quickly when you wake up in the middle of the night to try and corral tired and grumpy kids.

Free Shuttle Rides. A family vacation may not be the best time to rope a friend into driving you to the airport. Travel can be tough on kids and subjecting your friends to stressed out kids is a surefire way to strain a friendship. When traveling with kids try simplifying things with reliable and convenient airport parking with shuttle.

50lb Bags. If your kids are struggling to drag their bags across the dirty airport floor as you rush to catch your flight they won’t be happy campers or you could end up carrying all the bags plus the kids. An easy way to avoid this problem is to do a practice run; try having your kids carry or wheel their bags around the house to make sure they can handle their luggage before you leave.

In Flight Boredom Blues. Traveling can be a real bore for a kid. Plan some fun. You don’t want to worry about your kid being restrained by an air marshal. Plan ahead for this with some activities or games. A kid’s travel pack is a great way to keep your kids occupied for a few hours.

Airplane Food (or the lack thereof).Save your kids from the airplane food. Plenty of kids can be picky eaters so beware. They will probably like airplane food even less than you. This is an easy problem to avoid. My favorite solution is to make traveling a special event for kids, break the rules for once and do the junk food at Burger King or a Frosty at Wendy’s. The airport has plenty of options in terms of dining so regardless of what you feed them, just make sure their bellies are full before bringing them on the plane.

Remember to adjust your travel plans for the little ones next time you travel; for the children, yourself, and the weary business traveler trying to sleep in the seat in front of your kid.

Tags: Services, Travel by Kevin Cushing
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Looking for fun things to do in Seattle during the summer? While we may not have the brightest weather on the planet, we’ve got a wide variety of activities, events and attractions that are brilliant rain or shine. Take a look at the city’s summer must-dos for families and friends before summer ends.

Sports:
Mariners Games: Enjoy watching a game with the family at Safeco field, a modern ballpark with a great views and great fans. While at the game choose from a slew of tasty restaurants to enjoy delicious Seattle food at the park.

Sounders Games: One of the most unique sports experiences is a Sounders game. This team is Seattle’s hidden sports gem. Nowhere this side of the Atlantic can a soccer fan find a better place to watch a soccer match. If you ask a Sounders fan, the roar of the crowd and atmosphere in the stands rivals that of any stadium abroad.

Outdoors:
Crystal Mountain: With hiking, horseback riding, views and dining all at the same place, Crystal Mountain is a “can’t miss” summer destination. During summers that follow a particularly good winter, lucky visitors can even experience skiing during the summer months. If you are looking to experience the outdoors this summer make sure to include Crystal Mountain on your list.

San Juan Islands: Offering incredible views, water activities and sunshine, the San Juan Islands are a great escape. Enjoy the sights of the Puget Sound and fresh air riding a Washington ferry over to the islands. Once you’re there you will find plenty to do, from whale watching, hiking and kayaking to shopping and eating at the area’s delicious restaurants.

The City:
Duck Tours: Tour the City of Seattle with the Ride the Duck tour. Explore the city from these distinct amphibious tour vehicles. See the city’s sights on the ground then take a tour on the water in the same vehicle. Experience the city in a unique way by trying a Ride the Duck tour this summer.

Pacific Science Center: The Pacific Science Center is a fun and educational museum which helps its visitors experience science in a new and interesting way. While many claim they are just there for the children, don’t let them fool you, it’s a thrill for adults too.

Seattle Center: Visitors can relive their childhood by living it up at Seattle Center’s amusement park. Or see the iconic space needle and the local favorite musical fountain. Before you leave check out the shopping Seattle for some tourist memorabilia.

Seattle’s summer has so many choices that it would be impossible to list them all, let alone experience them all. This list is a start if you want to try. However, if you manage to tackle this list you’ll at least feel like you have seen a bit of it all.

If you’re still looking for more things to do in Seattle, head over to www.seattlesouthside.com to find more ideas.

Tags: Services by Kevin Cushing
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