Summer Fun & Camp Guide | 2025
Don’t miss our 2025 Summer Fun & Camp Guide! From farmer’s markets to art festivals to plain old community fun, our guide has it all. Check our what’s going on in our communities this summer below!
Feasting During the Fourth of July: Sustainable Edition
The feasting of Fourth of July has become its own beast, known worldwide. The sheer amount of hamburgers, fruit, potato salads, hot dogs, and chocolate chip cookies eaten on this day is practically unimaginable. While this is the day to go ham…
New Bistro Opens in Historic Mount Vernon Building | Union Block Bistro
Upon entering the Union Block Bistro, you’re immediately greeted by a friendly face. The Union Block Bistro is homey. The interior boasts a variety of colors, from lime green to black to ‘80s-disco-teal; the painted-over brick walls reflect the stories and age of the 1906 building. Although the features of the room are hard, the lighting is…
Backyard Beekeeping | Northwest Apiary Services
Have you ever thought of providing local pollination from your own home? Whether you want to hardly lift a finger or go all in and be one with the bees, Northwest Apiary Services makes this possible. Co-Founders Monica Burdette and Karly Kerr are…
A Worry-Free Way to Wet Your Whistle | Beverages by Boel
“I know we give people the gift of time, because we’re experts in putting together the beverage part of people’s special events,” says Boel Laxfoss, owner and operator of Beverages by Boel. Through her beverage catering company, Boel not only provides custom cocktails and mocktails, wine, beer, coffee, hydration stations, all the accouterments like ice, cups, napkins, and portable bars—she bartends, too! Beverages by Boel began in 2008 when Boel gifted her bartending services to a friend, then worked…
Collective, Infectious Joy—and Great Hair! | Beauty Collective
Elspeth Palmby laughs and looks a little bit uncomfortable when I ask if she’s the owner of Beauty Collective, a small salon tucked back from the sidewalk on Fairhaven’s Harris Avenue. “Technically, yes, I own Beauty Collective—the name,” she says, “but everyone booth-rents and it’s more like a co-op.” Miranda Ridgely, Palmby’s longtime friend and fellow hairstylist, agrees with a smile. The two women worked…
Wine Pick of the Month | Niccolo Coturri’s High Diving Sparkling 2023
PRODUCER: Niccolo Coturri WINE: High Diving Sparkling 2023 GRAPES: Madeleine Angevine and Siegerrbe from Lopez Island Vineyards We love this wine from our friends at Piquenique and Niccolo Coturri Wines—they’re some of the only natural wines being made in Washington state. Nic and Tess farm this organic vineyard themselves on Lopez Island, using no preservatives…
A Taste of the Okanagan | Kelowna, British Columbia
Calling the Pacific Northwest home goes hand-in-hand with a perk many of us may take for granted: being just a short trip away from our neighbors to the North. Whether you’re looking for a picturesque weekend getaway or an action-packed weeklong vacation, I have a location to suggest that…
Mixing Family and Business for Delicious Results | Hedlin’s Family Farm
Farming, specifically on the La Conner land his family has owned for four generations, has always been in Kai Ottesen’s blood. But that doesn’t mean he always planned on being a farmer. “I’d just graduated with a degree in English Literature from the University of Alaska Southeast but had been down here to the farm pretty much every summer of my life,” Ottesen says. “I saw a lot of…
Spring Spot Prawn & Asparagus Risotto | Chef Matthew’s Corner
May in the Pacific Northwest is a time of abundance—farmers markets overflow with vibrant produce, and the Salish Sea offers some of the freshest seafood imaginable. One of the reasons I fell in love with this region is the unparalleled access to high-quality local ingredients—some of the best I’ve ever cooked with. Whether meeting farmers in the field or picking up seafood straight from the docks, sourcing ingredients is as…
Kickin’ It With the South Fork Country Kickers
The universal appeal of line dancing has led to a recent surge in popularity and frequent appearances at local venues. The South Fork Country Kickers combine rural charm with a mix of musical genres, bringing a vibrant energy to the dance floor while providing instruction on how to…
Countryside Equestrian ‘Hipstoric’ Farmhouse Kitchen | TANNA BY DESIGN
With a nod to the English countryside, this farmhouse design combines old and new, mixing modern pieces and antique furniture with rough-and-ready European elements that everyone is gravitating toward—a ‘hipstoric’ farmhouse with a curated maximalist style. What is ‘hipstoric?’ It’s a recent industry buzzword for a…
8 Great Tastes | May 2025
The Black Cat is known for its vintage, classy atmosphere and it’s delicious Mexican Street Corn Dip. From red brick walls to stained-glass Tiffany lamps, this is the perfect restaurant for fancy dining in historic Fairhaven. Who knows, maybe you’ll even catch a glimpse of the ghost who reportedly roams the halls of the building! Get the night started right with JUXT Taphouse’s Cocktail Flight! Pick any four…
52 Perfect Saturdays
Ever wake up on the weekend and feel a tug to get out of the house and do something fun, but you have no idea what fun thing to do? Sometimes, you can waste a whole beautiful day languishing around trying to figure out a plan. Well, we’re here to help, with 52 ideas for a great…
New ADHD Center Opens in Bellingham | Hallowell Todaro ADHD & Behavioral Health Center
March 3 marked the opening of the new Hallowell Todaro ADHD & Behavioral Health Center in Bellingham. The health center, an offshoot of the larger Seattle location, will initially serve as a place for new client consultations and therapy, with plans to eventually expand to patient and parent coaching. Nick Mabbutt, licensed marriage and family therapist and one of the two initial employees at the Bellingham office, briefly describes the difference between coaching and therapy: Coaching is…
A Hub for Thrift, the Heart of a Community | Worn Again Thrift
THE SHOP The beautiful Bellingham National Bank Building on Holly Street has a stylish new tenant: Worn Again Thrift, a curated vintage store that believes secondhand apparel is a gateway to sustainability, community, and self-expression. Worn Again began as a two-person team (Owner Miles Harlow and a co-founder), buying and selling vintage on the road, off porches, online, and at pop-ups. They opened their brick-and-mortar at the corner of State and Champion…
Keeping Bellingham Blooming
Strolling through downtown Bellingham, you’ll come across many treasured local haunts. And from May through October, you’ll find yourself face to face with something unique to the summer months: enormous flower baskets hanging from downtown lamp posts. The presence of these vibrant flower baskets is the result of the Adopt a Flower Basket program, a community giving campaign put in…
New Restaurant Brings Dim Sum to the People | SOHO Bellingham Asian Kitchen & Bar
A new restaurant has moved into the previous K-Pop Chicken and Beer space in downtown Bellingham, and it’s serving up something that Bellingham’s been missing: dim sum! SOHO Bellingham Asian Kitchen & Bar serves “dim sum, Thai cuisine, and other Asian-inspired dishes in a dynamic…
“Meant to Be” | Melissa Hatcher of Adored Boutique
Melissa Hatcher, 32, isn’t just the new owner of downtown Fairhaven’s Adored Boutique—she’s a legacy. Since Adored opened in August 2020, Hatcher has worked…
Great Places to Get Flowers for Mom | Five Faves
Flowers represent spring, which is associated with new life and motherhood—that’s part of what makes them such a popular gift on Mother’s Day. Here are some great local options for sourcing blooms for your mom this spring, because she deserves them! By the way, most of these businesses offer bouquet subscriptions or flower CSAs, if you’d like to keep the mom appreciation going. 1. Frogsong Flowers This gardener-florist grows flowers in a roughly 1/3-acre home plot…
Cornhole for a Cause
Excitement was in the air. Cornhole bags flew across the astroturf field of the Bellingham Sportsplex as players warmed up for the ensuing…
Since Time Immemorial | Teresa Taylor
Since Time Immemorial is a recurring series featuring community members whose families have been here since time immemorial. The ancestral knowledge carried by Lhaq’temish, Nooksack, and other Coast Salish peoples is knowledge about how to live in our shared home in a good, life-sustaining way. We live in a time when we need to restore our relationship with Mother Earth and with one another. We…
The Mixing Tin | Blackberry Jalapeño Margarita
BLACKBERRY JALAPEÑO MARGARITA Red Star Taco Bar: $12 Ingredients: Jalapeño-infused blanco tequila, blackberry jam, lime, and a salt and Tajín-rimmed glass A cold winter’s night, a warm summer’s day, tequila and blackberry have come to say hey. The Blackberry Jalapeño Margarita from Red Star Taco Bar is clean, refreshing, and sharp. In a short crystal glass over ice, the cool,…
A Tribute to Community | Blaine’s Blessing of the Fleet
Despite the constant flow of travelers passing through the Peace Arch border, the seaside city of Blaine maintains a distinct small-town charm. In…
Bellingham’s Summertime Hub Comes Back to Life | Portal Container Village
The Portal Container Village at Bellingham’s Downtown Waterfront reopens on May 2, bringing with it local seasonal food, shopping, and outdoor fun. Both the…
Getting Market Season Running! | EN Valley Farmers Market 5k
The team behind EN Valley Farmers Market in Everson has teamed up with the Greater Bellingham Running Club to start the summer farmers market season off with a burst of endorphins….
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…