The Pacific Northwest
For me, moving to Washington State in January 2020 was nothing like I expected — and this wasn’t because of the pandemic. Coming from the Midwest, any big well-known city on the West Coast sounded like a distant dream, especially for a self-proclaimed fashion guru and wannabe city girl like myself.
I had no idea that moving to a suburb outside of Seattle would result in me coming to love so many areas outside the city.
I won’t be focusing on the city since there are already so many other great sources for that, so if that’s what you’re looking for I highly recommend subscribing to SEAtoday for Seattle and PDXtoday for Portland.
This blog will be more focused on the entire Pacific Northwest region — also known as the “PNW” and one of the most beautiful regions in the U.S. known for the outdoors and its lush greenery. But let me do a quick wrap on my impression of Seattle since I currently live here.
Seattle is not a city known for its high fashion; in fact, people tend to dress pretty casually just about everywhere in the city and its surrounding areas. I remember visiting the city for the first time in December 2019. I took with me all the right accessories and outfits to fit what I thought was the style — trendy clear umbrella, stylish glossy heeled rain boots, a new London Fog beige trench coat, all the works….
And when I got there in said outfit, I was totally gawked at, simply because of how put together and manicured my outfit was. I even had a local in the Columbia Tower approach me and literally ask if I had an interview that day because I was dressed so impeccably sharp. For those who don’t know, the Columbia Tower is an elegant business-focused building in Downtown where esteemed businesspeople, young entrepreneurs, and employees in the surrounding buildings come for events, meetups, or even just lunch; it was a place I definitely did not expect to be deemed “overdressed.”
Don’t get me wrong, the compliments are what I live for — after all, it does take a lifetime of trial and error to learn the art of style — but it took me by surprise that a city as posh-sounding as Seattle would be so…not glamorous.
The city itself is definitely a no-high heel zone if you’re choosing to walk as your preferred way of getting around. Downtown and its surrounding neighborhoods are filled with the absolute steepest hills you’ll ever traverse, so much that you may not make it up all the way up one of them without hailing for an Uber (I’ve learned this from personal experience and shame).
Overall, the City of Seattle is totally unexpected but has some pretty amazing views, scenic neighborhoods, and great food. But again, if I’ve learned anything over two years of being in Washington, it’s that you’ll find much more beauty outside of the city in nature (I know right, totally unexpected…)
I will, however, tell you about my favorite city in Washington that isn’t Seattle where my fellow style-obsessed readers can get their fashion fix, but you’ll have to wait for that blog to find out.
Check out my blogs to get to know my favorite places around the PNW!
An Airbnb 20 Miles from Mount Hood in Oregon