Teaching Self-Care | Skagit Alexander Technique

The Alexander Technique, which was created by Frederick Matthias Alexander in the late 1800s, is a method for improving posture and movement through self-awareness, with the aim of decreasing pain and increasing mindfulness. “The way I usually describe it is that it helps you learn to do things that you do every day, but with less tension, less pain, less fatigue,” explains Angeline LeLeux, who recently opened Skagit Alexander Technique in Mount Vernon. …

A’Town Bistro…Your New Go-To Restaurant

A’Town Bistro Owner of A’Town Bistro in Anacortes, Timothy Moffitt, spent most of his life working in restaurants so he knew what he’d do differently when he got the chance to run things. For starters, A’Town Bistro sources ingredients from local food purveyors. About 85-90…

This Year, Resolve to Drink Smarter

Several years ago, shortly after the onset of my craft beer fanaticism, I made a New Year’s resolution: this year, I vowed, I would drink more beer. That resolution…

The Mixing Tin: Uisce Irish Pub

The Sidecar INGREDIENTS Christian Brothers Brandy, Orange Cointreau, house made sours mix, lemon twist, sugar on the rim, $10 Walking in, first impressions bring me back to an Ireland trip in the 1990s. Bartenders in smart ties, watching over a wall of near-perfect selections of gins, whiskeys, and scotch. Uisce (pronounced Ish-Kah, meaning “water” in Gaelic) has been a Bellingham favorite now for 11 years. As the wintertime weather turns afoul, a retreat…

The Vault Wine Bar

Bank on Blaine’s Rich New Wine Bar The Vault Wine Bar, in Blaine, is a restaurant in a unique venue: a former bank building. Teller cages and desks have been replaced with a sleek marble…

Waiting in Style

If first impressions are everything, then a waiting room is crucial to a patient’s experience. A waiting room sets the tone for what comes next, be it…

Yes, Cold Can Give You A Cold

10 Tips to Keep You and Your Family Healthy This Winter The medical field has long known people are more prone to catching colds and the flu during the cold winter months. Previously, scientists have primarily attributed to people living and breathing together in enclosed environments. But now, according to a…

Make it a Merry January with A Kale-icious Salad

Here in the Northwest, January can be such a dreary month. Post-holiday blues, cold and rainy weather that lost its luster long ago. Pocketbooks need a recoup and taxes are looming. Resolutions have been broken and old habits are back. Rather than continuing the eating habits of months’ previous, I prefer to prepare a delicious kale and wild rice salad each week that guarantees me three things: 1. That I will eat when I am hungry 2….

Expert Advice from Edmonds

Arista Wine Cellars This time of year, the crisp air is perfumed with the crackling of alder hearth fires and spiced with notes of cinnamon and pumpkin. The promise of unhurried dinners as we gorge ourselves with extra helpings and good conversation lures us indoors. And the…

Among the Stacks

Eclipse Bookstore THE SHOP Eclipse Bookstore sits on the edge of Fairhaven, a mere block uphill on 11th Street from Village Books. But the two couldn’t be more…

On the hunt for Totality

Photographer and Friends Find Magic and an Eerie Light During Solar Eclipse The tent flaps are pushed aside and a cold breeze greets my nose, I know that today is the day. With excitement in the air, I quietly rouse my camp,…

Bringing Soothing Sounds of Song to the Dying

Threshold Singers Since 2007, the Bellingham Threshold Singers have been providing soothing sounds for people who are seriously ill or dying. These 40 or so women are committed to providing comfort for their clients as they labor through death with the help of…

Award-Winning Infant Care In Anacortes

Island Hospital Center for Maternal & Infant Care An Anacortes care center is one of just 13 winners of an international award for promoting healthy and successful breastfeeding practices. The Island Hospital Center for Maternal & Infant Care in Anacortes earned the International Board of Lactation Consultant Examiners Care Award (IBCLC Care Award). There are only 13 IBCLC Care Awards given annually worldwide. Recipients are listed as IBCLC Care Centers for two years. “It…

Program is Getting People Outside for Their Health

Recreation NW Parkscriptions Bellingham public health and medical professionals increasingly want you to take a walk in the woods — or even just around the block. It’s all part of a national program called Parkscriptions, or ParkRx. It is a national program, based in Washington D.C., aimed at encouraging community mental and physical health through physical activity like walking and hiking. And, locally, the nonprofit Recreation Northwest has adopted the concept as part of its drive to…

Information Technology Degree Boosts Whatcom Community College

Whatcom Community College is already making a name for itself as a place to be trained in the rising field of cyber security. Now it has taken another step —…

Game Changer

Rick Mergenthaler Rick Mergenthaler knows a thing or two about challenges. The retired high school basketball coach learned to ignore naysayers and face obstacles head on. He contracted polio as a child and…

One-on-one Interview with Paula Poundstone

For a standup comedian, Paula Poundstone asks a lot of questions. She is quirky, inquisitive, and brilliant, all traits evident during her September show at Bellingham’s Mount Baker Theatre. She keeps a punishing touring schedule – she is booked for 35 shows in the first half of 2018 alone –…