Only in Seattle ... isms

We've known Seattle was a little different ever since we moved here.  When we first moved here our corporate housing was between uber richy houses and the slums of downtown Seattle so we saw clubbers, druggies, and dashing dames and dudes every night.  At work the standard dress is flannel plaid and jeans, unless it's summer and then t-shirts trump the plaid.  Weekends?  A bit more dressy with knee high rain-boots over jeans and jackets.  If you "cruise" downtown Seattle by Pike place, you'll see people asking for money who are wearing trendier clothes than I can afford and inevitably touting some animal hat.

Last week, a self-proclaimed superhero unmasked in downtown Seattle after a pepper spray incident. 

Best part of this photo?  Our friend is the reporter in the background.

Wanderlust: we ... are ... taking the Taylor Twins on the road ... Moving from SF to Seattle!

Whoa nilly - it's time for a change.  Well, change is hitting us at this time.  Recently I decided I needed to "expand my corporate horizons."  I love my company - amazing team, great products, and a phenomenal industry path (aka, we're moving on up in this technology world beating the big guys).  That said, I realized I can't move up within the company - we're small (50 people) and marketing isn't going to grow in the foreseeable future.  Also, I keep getting tired of trying to explain what "open source web middleware" means to my family.  So, over the past few weeks I embarked on an interview journey to find a new perfect company - I wound up getting 4 offers: a retail company, a GIANT in software, a online HR company, and a perfect-fit-for-me company (whose name I'll make public some other time).  During this interview odyssey, we were also in the process of buying a house and getting evicted (seriously, does everything come in multiples now?...)  Fast forward a few weeks and the house we were in escrow on fell out and our apartment dreams of living in SF were no longer ideal (two boys in just under 1000 square feet is not ideal).

So, we're moving to Seattle.  Yes, Seattle!  Here's the deal - the world kind of pushed us to a place where a) we were going to be homeless, b) I wanted to accelerate my career while being a GREAT mom (nothing less than A+ - just like my nanny (a constant A+)), and c) our boys would have room to roam. 

Here's the tough part - we have nowhere to live in Seattle yet after my business trip to New York next week, we're supposed to move in ONE day (yep, nuts?).  We also have no daycare, and no knowledge of the area.  But, I have cousins there and my old college roommate lives there - rad.  Also, Matt's company is going to let him work remote - awesome!

So, the isms will continue.  Here's my favorite funny for now - the hipsters (Seattle really is the home of hipsters):

Pop quiz, which is SF and which is Seattle?  Here's the deal (and my new favorite line from Matty), "our jeans are too loose and our bikes have too many gears to live in the (insert hipster hood) area."  Side-note, I actually secretly love hipsters.