Katie and I are feeling refreshed and energized after our Seattle BlogCon this weekend. We had a great time planning and brainstorming about Red House West, and we accomplished the few missions we set for ourselves. First, the Panton S Chair report: We googled “Panton S Chair Seattle” and guess what came up?! My post from last week about testing out the Panton S Chair in Seattle. While this was kind of exciting, it was not particularly useful information. So then we called the Design Within Reach Seattle showroom, which had one on the floor that we could test out. We floundered around (a choice verb given how hard it was raining) downtown for a while trying to find the showroom, and after asking several people for directions we found the storefront. And there she was, the sinuous, lithe, elusive Panton S . . . .
I had to think about whether or not I liked the chair for approximately .2 seconds. Katie snapped this pic in the process.
The floor model was red, not what I would choose, but being able to sit in it made all the difference. It is astonishingly comfortable! Truly, you cannot believe how comfortable this chair is. We compared it to the wishbone chair, several shell chairs, and the tulip chair (interestingly Katie reports that her vintage tulip chair is more comfortable than the modern incarnation), and it was way more comfortable. It’s sturdy, but light, easy to pull in to the table after you’re seated, and has a surprisingly dainty footprint. I could eat a five course meal, write a blog post, and/or hold one or more 18 lb. cats in my lap without getting uncomfortable. In sum, I’m sold.
It was also really fun for us to see furniture that we’ve lusted after on the internet but have never seen in person. Many of the things we saw met or exceeded our expectations, but a few also fell flat in person. The Design Within Reach people were so friendly, and we were invited to put our soggy feet up on the most beautiful pieces of furniture I could ever imagine. Because I live in Alaska, most of my furniture purchases are made sight unseen after hours agonizing and searching the web for yet another photo that might show me an angle that reveals some bit of crucial information that makes the difference yay or nay. I feel like I just got hours of my future back by seeing the Womb Chair, the Milo Baughman recliner, and the Egg Chair in person. After I win the lottery and Chester realizes a huge fortune because of his heretofore undiscovered lineage that makes him a Count or Duke, I will snatch these babies up.
Next the Blog Meeting Report: We were serious about having an organized discussion about Red House West, and trying to talk through our hopes for what it will become, our feelings about our beginnings, and what we need and want to do going forward. 
One of the very best things about this experience so far is that Katie and I talk and text pretty much constantly as we generate ideas, give progress reports back and forth, and edit each other’s posts. We’re loving collaborating together, and we’re going to keep it going. We realized that a theme among the blogs that we most love and follow is that they include a lot of the personality of the author(s). We decided that we should follow suit, so that while we are creating and curating things for our homes, we are also reflecting and sharing our personalities and friendship here on the blog. To that end, we decided to explore the modern art form known as the “selfie.” As it turns out we have a real knack for taking artful and flattering selfies: 
Nailed it.
We will continue to post on Mondays and Wednesdays, and share Good Scores on Fridays. In fact, speaking of Good Score, it is my great pleasure and honor to share the following historic announcement with you: We’re doing a GIVEAWAY! We’ll announce more details on Friday, but suffice it to say that if you submit a Good Score by email to redhousewest@gmail.com or through Instagram by tagging #rhwgoodscore you will be entered to win a little somethin’ somethin’. The winner will be drawn randomly from the submissions, and will be announced here on Friday, May 30th.
Blogger at work (we spent hours styling this shot, draping the banana peel just so).
We are so pleased with how Red House West has developed so far. Our goals starting out were to have fun, learn new things, and spend time working and collaborating together. Check, check, and check. We definitely want to say that we are so grateful to our readers for following along and leaving thoughtful and supportive comments. It means a lot. Onward!
Solstice in Anchorage means about 22 hours of daylight. Without the regular cues of darkness time becomes a looser concept and dinner and bedtime creep later and later (tired and cranky toddlers are still like clockwork).
The menu was salmon with dijon mustard, bread crumbs and herbs, and couscous, roasted beet salad, and brownies for dessert. It’s classic Heidi: simple local ingredients that she manages to turn into an exquisite dinner like it’s no big deal. 
The salmon was so good, cooked perfectly, with the tang of the dijon and the crunch of the breadcrumbs. Heidi promises to have the recipe up on her blog soon. This is definitely one to try this salmon season!
