Recap: Infinity Mirrors at SAM

Unless you have been living under a rock for the past year, you probably have heard about the incredible new exhibit at the Seattle Art Museum, Infinity Mirrors by Yayoi Kusama. The exhibit opened last June to quite the fanfare, and after checking it out for ourselves it is easy to see why. The colorful, fun, whimsical art exhibit is absolutely mesmorizing. We should preface by saying that we know nothing about art. We literally have zero idea what things mean and can't tell you the difference between conceptual art and contemporary art, but we do know when we like something. And we like Infinity Mirrors.

Yayoi Kusama is an 88 year old Japanese artist and writer. Her work has spanned many mediums including sculpture, paintings, performance art, and environmental installations. Her works focuses on bright colors and repetitive patterns, which you definitely see throughout Infinity Mirrors. She also has crazy, bright, colored hair (sometimes red, sometimes orange, sometimes blue) making her the coolest 88 year old around. 

An image of the artist, Yayoi Kusama, painted outside of the SAM

The Infinity Mirrors exhibit consists of four rooms. Each room is filled with  different objects including: pumpkins, twinkle lights, polka dot tubers, and hanging pink globes. The mirrors that hang in the rooms make each feel like the objects go on forever. There is also an obliteration room, which is decorated entirely in white furniture. All guests receive a set of colorful dot stickers and are encouraged to place them anywhere they like. Over time, the room becomes filled with these colorful dots allowing the guests to help contribute to the art. There are also art sculptures, light boxes, paintings, and video displayed throughout the exhibit. We promise, you'll be plenty stimulated as you wander around.

According to the artist, she is interested in understanding the relationship between people, society, and nature. Not sure if that will translate for everyone who visits, but that is what art is all about we suppose.

In other news, selfies are allowed! Snap away and post to Instagram stat! 

The twinkle light room and the polka dot tubers room

Now for the logistics! Tickets to the event are sold out. However! The museum is letting in a certain number of people per day and you can sign up in the mornings for a time slot. We got in line at 9 AM. We had to wait an hour until the museum opened at 10am, but we were easily able to snag an open spot for any time the rest of the day. The only time slot that was filled when we got to the front of the line was the 10 AM spot. Once you get your time slot for the exhibit, you need to line up outside the exhibit 15 minutes before your start time, and you should expect to take an hour and a half to get through all the rooms in the exhibit. The lines to each room definitely look and feel a bit long, but there are lines for a reason - trust!  Once you are allowed in (they let in groups of two or three depending on the room), you get 20-30 seconds per room. It's quick, we recommend really trying to soak it all up and then snap a photo at the end if you feel you have time. You're going to wait a long time for those 30 seconds, so make sure to get the most out of them!

There is also a small Kusama gift shop located in the exhibit so you can take home a souvenir.

The Obliteration Room

Infinity Mirrors is only open until September 10th, which leaves you three weeks to go see it! If you do go, report back. We want to know what you thought. Also, if you plan to head to Tokyo any time soon, Kusama will be opening a five story museum featuring her artwork (including Infinity Mirrors!). The museum will open on October 1, 2017. 

Rain or Shine Guides takes on Infinity Mirrors! 

Seattle's KEXP: Where the Music Matters

There is probably no radio station more loved in this country than KEXP (90.3 FM), which just happens to have its home base in Seattle, WA. And even though its home is here, it's live-streamed across the country and loved by people from coast to coast, because who knows good music better than Seattle?

The KEXP studio, which is open to the public, is a MUST-visit for any Seattle local or visitor! Yes - it sounds weird for us to tell you to visit a radio station, but this really is an institution and a big piece of Seattle music history, dating back to 1972 when they first went on-air from the UW campus.

What really makes this radio station so special? For starters, it's a not-for-profit public radio station funded by sponsors and donations. And what that really means is that the KEXP DJs can play whatever it is they want, whenever they want...from Wilco, to local musicians, to obscure indie artists you have never heard of. You won't find Taylor Swift's latest hit played every 30 minutes on this station. They also don't have advertisements, so no more annoying plumbing jingles or cheesy jewelry commercials interrupting your jam session.

In addition to the wide range of indie rock artists you'll hear, there are also weekly programs dedicated to music genres (our favorite is Positive Vibrations on Saturday mornings, which plays reggae music from 9 AM - noon PST). There are also in-studio sessions where artists (visiting and local) play right in the KEXP space and the best news is, it's open to the public FOR FREE. Tickets to the in-studio sessions become available around 90 minutes before air time, and it's first come, first serve. The more well known artists will fill up fast, so make sure you are there early. They let 75 people into the standing room only space where you can listen to the artist's performance and interview on air. Sessions last around 30 minutes. Check the entire line-up on their webpage. 

The beautiful La Marzocco

If you aren't interested in an in-studio session or if you are waiting for your session to start, the KEXP studio is a wonderful place to work and hang out. The beautiful La Marzocco coffee shop fills the space and serves amazing coffee from a list of rotating coffee roasters around the world, which changes monthly. The space is large and filled with light and there is seating for everyone, ranging from tables to couches and armchairs. All this plus the free wifi makes it an easy place to get some work done. KEXP plays overhead (obviously), and there is even a record store for shopping and a rotating art gallery. You can even watch the current DJ on air through a large window. The whole set-up is chill, laid back, and very, very cool.

KEXP's colorful floor

If you are already a fan of KEXP, consider donating! In addition to supporting a wonderful station, there are also a ton of member perks. Check them all out here. KEXP is located in the Seattle Center. If you want other ideas about things to do in this area, check out this post. 

Seattle Smoothies: An Investigation

Ah smoothies. Is there anything easier in the morning than dumping a bunch of fruit into a blender with some milk and turning it into a thick concoction of goodness? We love how you can tailor them to your liking and how easy it is to slip in any other healthy thing you want. Spinach? No problem! Weird powders? Sure, why not! If you add enough fruit, you can't taste any of it! But let's also be real, cleaning the blender can be kind of a pain, so sometimes it's just easier to grab a smoothie somewhere else and leave the cleaning to them. Below is our recommendations for the best places to grab a smoothie around town.

Kitanda

Kitanda's Energy Blast Bowl

This Brazilian smoothie shop is known for their acai smoothies and bowls (a smoothie bowl is just a smoothie...in a bowl). The bowls come in a variety of combinations, but the main base is banana and acai, which reminds us, doesn't acai sound like the most pretentious fruit? We know it's a superfood and all, but we sound dumb saying it. Luckily, it's delicious! Anyway, one combination includes granola, coconut water, and dried mango (called Rio de Janiero) or there's one with chocolate sprinkles, coconut, and something amazing called a condensed milk drizzle (called the Festa Bowl). The photo above is the Energy Blast Bowl with banana, strawberry, granola, peanuts, and honey. We love this shop because in addition to smoothies, they also sell Brazilian specialties like cheese bread (!) and chicken cones. They also have a small shop full of imported goods, and you can even buy acai in bulk for creating these babies at home (yes, you'll have to clean the blender).

Jujubeet

Jujubeet's Cacao Wow

Jujubeet might mostly be known for their artisanal juices, but it also has a well stocked menu of both healthy foods and smoothies. The extensive menu has everything from sandwiches, soups, crepes, salads, plus coffee and tea. We also love all the wellness shots that are offered such as the Coco Probiotic (kefir, organic coconut water) and the Happy Belly (aloe, pineapple, basil). However, this post is about smoothies not all that other wellness stuff, and Jujubeet makes the list for their Cacao Wow made with almond milk, almond butter, cacao, banana, and protein powder. It tastes just like a chocolate milkshake. But, like, a healthy one.

Verve Bowls

The Beast Mode smoothie bowl from Verve

Verve Bowls, which is located inside the new Pike Motorworks courtyard in Capitol Hill, has got you covered on all things acai much like Kitanda (above). However, they also have unique pitaya bowls. What is a pitaya, you ask? We had no idea either. Turns out a dragon fruit's real name is pitaya. Whatever you want to call it, it's hot pink, which makes it the best fruit around. Verve Bowls wins all the awards because of the plethora of toppings you can add to any bowl. Matcha, bee pollen, flax, chia, heck, you can even add spinach. We recommend adding peanut butter because duh. Our personal favorite is the Beast Mode pitaya bowl blended with PB, banana, strawberry, house made almond milk, and topped with granola. Walk next door to Stumptown for coffee and you are winning at life.

Sweetgrass Food Co.

Matcha, Matcha, Matcha smoothie

We find that lots of smoothie places tend to have the same type of ingredients on the menu, which is why we love Sweetgrass. They have unique flavor combinations that we haven't seen many other places. For example, you can get a Good Morning Brew, which is basically a coffee smoothie or a Mexican Morning Avena with oats and pears. Pictured above is the Matcha, Matcha, Matcha smoothie, which comes with, you guessed it, matcha. In addition to the awesome smoothie combinations, you can get smoothie bowls, house made pastries, grain bowls, hot drinks, and bone broth. They also have a tiny shop where you can buy interesting things like brain octane. We aren't exactly sure what this is, but +1 to Sweetgrass for having it.

Healthy Bonez Beverage Co.

HB's Nut Buster Bowl

Okay, okay, so Health Bonez isn't actually located in Seattle. You'll have to cross the bridge for this one and head over to the Kirkland/Totem Lake area, but after lusting at their Instagram account for months and months, we knew we had to check it out. And boy did it make the cut! This place, which started as a food truck, now has the cutest, yet simple, brick and mortar. They sell cold pressed juices, which you can get in a growler, and, of course, shakes and smoothies. Their base is "nice-cream" (frozen blended bananas), with a variety of toppings to choose from. We chose the Nut-Buster (peanut butter, banana, pretzels, peanuts, granola) but we also had our eye on the Yam Yam (sweet potato, banana, cashew cream). One thing we know, is that it is 100% worth the trip to the east side at least until they open one in Seattle (please open one in Seattle!). It tasted like a dream, and hard to believe it was good for you.

Seattle's Wishing Tree

We here at Rain or Shine Guides don't consider ourselves particularly superstitious although we also don't make it a habit of walking under ladders or opening umbrellas indoors. And while deep down we do know it's all a bit silly, we'll go out of our way if it means a little extra luck and good fortune. So when we heard about a wishing tree in the Capitol Hill neighborhood, we figured we should take our chances and go check it out. And boy is this wishing tree done right!

For those of you who aren't familiar with the concept, it's basically what is sounds like: a tree that grants wishes. People tie their hopes and dreams in some format onto the tree and BAM the tree God grants it. Or the tree fairy? Or maybe it's a Grandma like in Disney's version of Pocahontas? We aren't exactly sure.

Capitol Hill home owner, Jane Hamel, has created her very own adorable wishing tree for Seattle to enjoy, complete with seats made out of tree stumps, a bench and table, and a jar of markers and cards for writing your wishes. After creating your wish, place your card in the gold jar and she will take the card and laminate it and add it to the tree. This keeps all of the wishes protected from Seattle's rainy weather. The tree has thousands of cards hanging on it in six different languages. Some wishes are funny, some are sad. As for our wish, we can't tell you..but it might have been food related.

Wishing trees tend to spring up all around Seattle, but the Capitol Hill location is the only one that seems to stick. We heard about a wishing tree at Carkeek Park. It was painted red, and while we did find the red tree (above the salmon slide), there were no wishes tied to it. We also heard about one on the Ship Canal Trail, but, sadly, we were unable to locate it. If you know about any other wishing trees around town, please leave a note in the comments! You can find the Capitol Hill tree at 1251 21st Ave. E. (cross street is Galer), and if you want to make an afternoon out of it, the tree is located very close to Volunteer Park. We encourage you to go, write down your heart's desire, and see your wish come true*.

* Rain or Shines Guides is not responsible for failed wishes, including, but not limited to winning lottery numbers, new Teslas, and weird family members skipping out on Christmas.