Harlow's Is Open For Business

It's open folks!  Come and get it.

Harlow's opened late last week and is ready to meet your drinking needs.  We dropped in (twice in fact) and love it.  Congratulations to Kevin and Tracy.  It's on the corner of Ballard Ave and 20th Ave NW.  Go get some tots and some beer!  

Dude. Art.

Blowing Sands Glass Studio is showing some fantastic sculpture by Dan Klennert.  You can see a number of his works outside the studio like this one above.   We think they appeal to the mechanic in all of us, not only inspiring us to see the animal and human forms but to identify the individual parts.  Well done, dudes!

The studio is located on 14th Ave NW and NW 58th St a little north of Ballard Market near St. Alphonsus.  Go check it out art fans!

This Horse is Awesome.

Winner, Winner Chicken Dinner!

After an 11th hour campaign on Facebook push by Hazlewood the contest was decided! Hazlewood is the clear winner sweeping their competition with a respectable margin.

So join me in congratulating them. We are already are hard at work on their Major Award!

The Captain has Left the Building

A faithful reader sent us this sad picture. Caps's Keys has closed up shop. Now where will you go to get keys made?!

We at BGG have a very strong opinion about this subject. Caps was great. But we highly recommend Pacific Key in the parking lot of the Greenwood Fred Meyer. Their keys are perfect and always work! We have been faithful customers for years after a number of horrid key debacles. Namely, we had keys made twice and then twice repaired at the Ballard Fred Meyer. Imagine the horror of leaving the keys to your petsitter only to find they don't work!

We wish you all the best Clay!

One Day Left to Vote in the Best Happy Hour Poll!

Get your votes in folks!  Polling closes on October 1st at 5 p.m. in our second fight-to-the-death Ballard Happy Hour showdown.  Tell your mom, get your dog to vote, tweet about it and remind your friends! 

The winning bar will receive a swimmingly fantastic award by yours truly.  An award of epic proportions.  The suspense is nearly unbearable.

What is up with the Old Sunset Bowl and Denny's Sites?

First there was some cardboard art all over the fences.  Now there are huge white tents.  Who knows what is up?

Ballard Ave's Newest Bar - EXCLUSIVE!

The dynamic folks behind Moshi Moshi, Kevin and Tracy Erickson, are opening a new bar on Ballard Ave.  It's going to be called Harlow's and will be a self-described dive bar.  They're catering to folks who like to get their drink on - just an old fashioned love song if you ask me!

Harlow's will open up in the corner spot at 5200 Ballard Ave.  Down by the Tractor, the space used to be a guitar shop.  You know, this place:

Tracy hopes to have it open by the end of October.  Well, we know where we're going for Halloween!  Hooray and more Hooray.  Congrats, you two.

Happy Hour Show Down Continues!

It's a dead heat right now in our poll with Hazlewood and La Isla.  Vote now in the first round and send your suggestions for the second round of voting.  Remember, if you don't vote, you can't complain.

UPDATE:  Here are the results of our first round of voting.

As you can see, it's a dead heat between Hazlewood and La Isla.  Round Two kicks off today.  Don't forget to vote!

The Wood Pulls A-head

In our exciting Happy Hour poll, see the poll to the right, Ballard Darling Hazlewood has pulled ahead in the votes.  Where do you like to go?  Get your votes in now! 

And send us your nominations for other great Happy Hour bars in Ballard.  We'll have a second round of Polling next week!

Ballard's Happiest Hour

Let's have a poll!  Where is the best Happy Hour in Ballard?  Something about 3 p.m. on a Thursday has made us wonder.

Vote at right!

We voted for Hazlewood, mostly due to our undying love of the darling Jessica who is there today.

Vote, my pretties, vote!

High Ballard!

Next stop, Market and 15th!

We noticed an interesting trend in Ballard this summer and fall. While we were out walking around on Market Street we encountered a strange smell pouring out of cars.  It was an unmistakable smell, one that is instantly recognizable.  No, it wasn't cigarette smoke and it wasn't air freshener.  It was the Reefer!

And it wasn't just once that this happened.  It was multiple times, about half a dozen, that these mellow cars rolled by us or stopped at a light.

Which is why we wanted to pose this question.  Is this a new trend or is it just random?  We'd like to know if you, gentle reader, have also noticed an increase in the number of herbally enhanced drivers in the hood.  Because last we checked, there still isn't a medical marijuana store in Ballard.

Help The City and Help Yourself!

Booze - Let it Free

Fill out the Seattle Nightlife Initiative Survey
We enthusiastically brought you the news that our Mayor is pushing to extend liquor serving hours to allow bars to set their own staggered closing times if any at all.  We're in favor of this proposal, as you may know, because it's a proven method to prevent a lot of the mayhem that occurs with a singular bar closing time.

The City and the Police are in favor, but they will still have to get it passed by the Washington State Liquor Board.  According to our pals at the Stranger, the proposal is at risk because WSLB thinks it would encourage more drunk driving.  How?  Oh, they surmise that all the drunk people who don't live in Seattle will take to their cars to grab those last few hours of drinking.  We think that's a pretty fringe case scenario.  It's far better to have  some rogue drivers dispersed throughout the night instead of streets filled with them all at the same time.

So here's how you can help!  Please fill out the Seattle Nightlife Initiative Survey.  It's located right here.  Please let the city and the WSLB know that you want to extend bar hours.  Mayor McBeardy actually has an 8-point plan which is open for public comment.  That means you!

Thanks so much fellow nightlife friends.

OMFG What a Stupid Idea

We were reading in the Ballard News Tribune that city council member Sally Clark is considering regularly shutting down Ballard Ave to cars to promote commerce.  I'm sorry, but when was the last time you strolled leisurely to a restaurant in pouring rain, through the snow, in omnipresent drizzle or rode your bike down a windy wet street to get to a restaurant?  Are you crazy?   Did you notice the nice weather we had this summer?  No, we didn't either.

We at BGG have been stuck in traffic back ups that extended miles due to such cutsey fun-time street festivals as The Greenwood Car Show or The Ballard Seafood Fest.  Sure, those festivals are fun and you get to feel very EUROPEAN whilst strolling around in the road with your street food and your overpriced tchotchkes in reusable shopping bags.  Yeah, that's just awesome!  But pity the poor asshole who is trying to get home who can't get across town because some neighborhood decided they wanted to party in the streets.

Give us a flippin' break!  Ballard and the City of Seattle can't get their transportation issues together enough to synchronize street lights (something which would save us millions of dollars in wasted commute time/jam time) so you really think this would make people who live here happy?  We don't.

Sunset gets Squirrels

PIZZA....YUMMMMM

And this is better news than you think!  We heard that Flying Squirrel pizza will start serving pies at the Sunset on October 10th.  We had heard they were coming to Ballard (secrets) but didn't know where exactly until today.   Hooray for Max!  Can't wait to get our face in some delicious pizza and rock.

Old Scam - New Twist

The old scam of magazine and books sellers going door-to-door is back and this time they are posing as University of Washington college students "raising money" for study abroad trips. We have from an inside source at the University of Washington Study Abroad Office that several people in the community have called to verify if this in fact is legit. It is NOT. According to our source, the Study Abroad Office and other Departments on campus are not sponsoring any fund raising of this kind. Reports of these tricky door-to-door salesmen have come in from across the Puget Sound region, including Edmonds and Mercer Island.

What to do if someone knocks your door? Well, after you have slammed the door in their faces, it is suggested that you call the police....

Mayor McBeardy is Our Hero!

Prayers are Answered

Finally, someone in this city is talking some sense!  Today the Mayor of Seattle (surprisingly, not the Mayor of Ballard) proposed that bars should be allowed to stay open all night.  Hooray!  Finally someone running this city is talking sense.  Hopefully it will weaken the stranglehold the crazy-restrictive-controlling-antiquated-out-of-touch  Washington State liquor board has on our nightlife. 

Anyone who travels knows that if you allow bars to close when they want and stagger closing times, it lessens the 2 a.m. crazy time.  People drink, get drunk and go home on their own schedules.  No one wants a  hoard of drunked up fratholes roaming the streets with reckless abandon all at once.   Wouldn't it be nice to be able to get a taxi at 2 a.m.?  Brilliant, Mayor, brilliant! We are so happy you are our Mayor instead of that blowhole Nickels.  Amen.

Now, we only have to hope that the WSLB approves it.  Where is our sexy silver haired pol when we need him?  Reuven??  A little help please....

WARNING! The Police Read BGG!

Well Peeps, it appears that Seattle's Finest might be reading Ballard Gossip Girl. This evening at 7:30pm a Seattle Police Department Officer was spotted giving out tickets to cars that were parked front-in in back-in angle parking places. Yes, this has been a rant of BBG writers and apparently, the SPD have caught on. I do not wish anyone a ticket, but come on, read the signs.

Honey Bucket + Fireworks = Melty Mess

Don't Light Your Farts!

We spied this on our way home this weekend.   Evidently, about  9 p.m. on Friday someone threw something explosive into this porta potty.  Neighbors said it sounded like fireworks.    We're sort of astounded by the mess.  It didn't smell at all and had basically reduced the whole thing to a solid pile of plastic.

It also looks like the folks who did it left the top from their Dibs container on accident.  Forensic evidence?!

Where Will You Watch?

All Things Football Soccer

After watching a STUNNING victory by Team USA this morning, we were wondering where we will watch the game on Saturday.

Here at Ballard Gossip Girl Headquarters, we are big Football Soccer supporters.  We have signed up to help support the USA bid to bring the World Cup to the states.  Which is why we wanted to show you something cool.  They have a match finder feature to find a place to watch the games in your area.  Click HERE to go to the site. We see that The Dray is showing games but didn't see any other Ballard locations.

What we would also like to point out to our dear friends at Market Arms and Connor Byrne is that they need to list their viewing schedules here!

So kids, get your vuvuzela ready to rock!  See you on Saturday!

p.s. Don't forget to sign the petition to bring the World Cup to the US.

Graduates of the Ballard Driving Academy

Another day, another row of cars parked the wrong way.


Hey kids, it's Back In Angle Parking Only! But don't let that pesky sign dictate how you park around town.  We know you are graduates of the Ballard School of Driving and you specialize in

• Parking by Sound
• Driving with your turn signal on - always
• Using Curbs to Steer
• Turning right, no left, no wait a minute, Stop!

Remember, it's the Ballard way.

In case any of you newcomers need to brush up, here's your Almost Live Ballard Driving Academy Refresher Course.  Enjoy!

This pretty much sums it up...

Spotted on Ballard Ave:














Our sentiments exactly!

Location:Ballard avenue

Ballardites Refuse to Read

The other day I snapped this pic. The sign says BACK IN ANGLE ONLY.....Is this a gross epidemic in Ballard, or just some visitors from the East Side?

Alert: The Sun is Shining!!

Ballardites - get out and enjoy the sun while you can!  Unbelievable turn of events here, much like "All Summer in a Day," don't miss your chance at the once-every-seven-years glimpse of the sun.  Seriously people, it was getting kind of grim around here.  So grim that I'm referencing Ray Bradbury stories.  Thanks Seattle.  Your weather is less sucky right now than it has been for the past, well, what seems like forever.

Amen.  Now crank up "Black Hole Sun" and hit the road.

Today's Deal: $10 for $25 Worth of Fried Fare, Barbecue, and Drinks at The Waterwheel Lounge

You know here at BGG, we love our Waterwheel fried chicken. Well imagine our surprise to wake up with the best groupon deal EVER!

$10 for $25 of Waterwheel delicious fried chicken.
That rocks!

Get out there and get your fried chicken on!

Help Me!

We saw this the other day when we were waiting at the corner of Dexter and Nickerson.  Seems like someone added a little graffiti to Leonard the goldfish's billboard.  Nicely done, nicely done.  It was gone  the next morning.

p.s. you won't see this story on myballard.com's corporate sponsored site, either!  The aquarium is one of their many advertisers.  Which reminds us to remind YOU, dear reader, that we here at Ballard Gossip Girl are a not for profit local blog.  That's right, we work for free and don't take money from the man.  Free Press for All!

This Is Going To Be The Greatest Thing to Happen to 15th Avenue EVAR

All "Pitching A Tent" Jokes Aside....Picolinos Finally Gets It Up

We checked in for Picolinos Happy Hour last night and found out that it was the inaugural opening of their big top tent.  They erected a magnificently large pole in the back patio and now have a green and white tent to shelter diners.  We have to say it's quite fabulous!  You can see how the tent can be rolled up and down the pole quickly and efficiently.  It's...well...wonderful.  Go check it out.  They're up on 32nd and 65th across from Rain City Video if you didn't know.

Here are some more shots of their patio.  I predict it will be the new great place to hang out this summer.   By the way, you should also try their butternut squash ravioli  pictured below.  It's heavenly.  

Singles Event at Shelter tonight

Come join other Ballard singles tonight at Shelter, around 6. We will be gathered around the fire pit. Come for Happy Hour!!

Ballard Art Walk is Saturday!

Happy Cinco de Mayo everyone!  I'm sure you're aware that it's probably a good day to let the amateurs run wild at Matador and La Carta.  And Azteca as well.

To tide you over until the weekend, we wanted to remind you of two things.  First, Ballard Art Walk is coming up on Saturday.  And second, it's also Mother's Day Weekend, so that's pretty special.  What made us think of it?  Well, Gifted sent us a little note to say their Mother's Day menu for art walk includes pear cheesecake, tea sandwiches and chocolate dipped strawberries.  YUM!  So do your shopping early people!  We're sure the Ballard Sunday Market will be packed with strollers, kids, dogs, moms and dads this weekend.

Make Way for Ducklings!

CUTE OVERLOAD!!

We counted 7 little ducklings in the pond at Golden Gardens.  Here's one paddling around.  It was so adorable we just had to share it. Go see them while they're little!

The Waterwheel is Growing a Lawn

 TheWaterwheel is closing their parking lot starting Memorial Day Weekend.  Why?

Well, they're creating the self proclaimed largest outdoor drinking area in Ballard.  They'll be laying down turf and creating an outdoor drinking "garden" for all of us to enjoy.  With scenic views of the roaring 15th Ave NW, we cannot wait!

Lawn darts anyone?



Here's what Stu is promising:

• Live Music EVERY SUNDAY from 1:00pm to 4:00pm feturing the area's greatest cover bands, as well as some specialty weekends (All 80's, Rockabilly Wheelfest 2010)!
• A FULL BAR outside until 10pm !
• Outdoor Ping Pong Tournaments!
• Lots of giveaways throughout the Summer!

Sounds like a grass-tastic time to us.  At least it gets rid of the double parking problem in that crazy lot. Hope to see you there.

City to Rename Ballard - They Want To Call Us Bergen?

City of Seattle is officially renaming Ballard in honor of our sister city Bergen. 

In a shocking move the city council has decided to rename our neighborhood to honor the Norwegian city.  Mayor McGinn said that this strong relationship has not received an honor since 1970 when the Seattle Bergen relationship was recognized as the best overall Sister City program.  "It's about time we started getting recognized for our strong Norwegian ties.  Renaming Ballard is the right thing to do now for our city.  Our new neighborhood of Bergen's time is now."

So far, the Mayor of Ballard has yet to comment.  We'll keep you posted on the latest developments.

MyBallard singles meet up

On May 7th at 6, at Shelter, there is going to be a singles meet up. This is for people in our neighborhood that love the myballard.com and ballardgossipgirl blogs. Come out and meet some great singles in the 'hood.

Ballard Bridge Lane Closures

Our friends at the Magnolia Voice or as some BGGers like to call it, the Magnolia Vice, have posted some info on upcoming lane closures on the Ballard Bridge. Check it out...

My Favorite Bartender in Seattle gets some Props

Hey Folks, if you haven't visited Moshi Moshi yet, well what is wrong with you? Besides having the BEST sushi in Ballard and Seattle for that matter, they also have the best F'n cocktails around! And finally some people at Seattle Metropolitan Magazine are taking notice....check out this link.


Try the Vesper while you are there....my Favorite!!!

Seriously, Who Goes There?

Cobblestone Salon

Today we bring you another installment of our Ballard series entitled, "Seriously, who goes there?!" We were driving by the Cobblestone Salon the other day and couldn't help but wonder, who gets their hair done in that salon? It occupies a great space on Market Street near Snoose Junction, but we cannot recall ever seeing anyone go in or out.

In fact, it's shockingly non-digital with nary a review on Google, Yelp or Citysearch. Is the clientele strictly off line? Do they cater to the anti-technology crowd? Is it a front for a sinister shampoo laundering operation? If you are a coiffed customer of Cobblestone, contact us and let us know what that joint is about. Because we can't help but ask, seriously, who goes there?!

Update!  Someone named "Nikita" from the Cobblestone contacted us to say they are busy doing hair all the time and have been for 30 years!  Wow.  Evidently they open at 7 a.m. and do foils and up-dos.  We are really excited to see that there are actually people getting their hair done, but honestly, we still can't recall seeing anyone in the salon.  If they open at 7 does that mean they close early?  We are just super curious since we couldn't find any info about them online.  Oh, and they're really offended by our curiosity.  Sorry about that.  

Does the Media Really Burn Your Butter?

We thought we should tell you about an event happening today in Ballard. It's the Indy Media Mini-Fest taking place at the Foundry this afternoon - Saturday, March 13th!

Being a neighborhood blogger, we believe in the power of free speech. The Indy Media Mini-Fest will have workshops during the day, a panel discussion and then some bands! And it's all free (with the exception of the after party for which you can donate according to your budget.) We have been to some parties at the Foundry and they have been epic and awesome. Here's the schedule:

3:30 pm Doors open
4:00 pm Workshop: Basic camera
5:00 pm Workshop: Basic editing
6:00 pm Workshop: Using the Web (video distribution, blogging, social media)
7:00 pm Open Panel Discussion: Becoming the Media You Want to See in the World--Three independent media veterans briefly share their experiences followed by open discussion with an emphasis on tactics and real-world practices.
9:00 pm-ish Badlands
10:00 pm-ish Koozbane
11:00 pm-ish DJ Dr. Rich Lehl and Port-a-Party

You can check them out on Facebook by clicking HERE or visit the thinksmall.org Web site. The Viking Fire Foundry is located at 4710 Ballard Ave.

See you there!

p.s. We're looking for writers who live in Ballard. If you're interested, send us an email and tell us why you think you should be a writer for Ballard Gossip Girl. The only requirement is that you live in our hood and you get out of your house every once in a while.

Matador - Fool Me Once, Shame on You. Fool Me Twice, Well, Still Shame on You

Last week I enjoyed an afternoon at Matador with a fellow BGGer. We had a couple of drinks, some apps and watched some Olympics. When it was time to go, we did what most people do, gave two credit cards and asked them to split the bill down the middle. We each signed our slips, left a nice tip, and off we went. So imagine my surprise when later in the week I was looking at my bank statement online and there appeared not one, but TWO charges from Matador. Instead of splitting the bill between two cards, they put both charges on mine!

I probably wouldn't be so irate if this wasn't the second time they did this. On March 30, 2008 I blogged about this exact same thing!

Seriously, how hard is it to run two separate credit cards?

Google Friends and Fiber Network in Ballard?!

We would love to participate in a trial for super-high speed internet. Imagine how fast the snark would fly if we were wired for speed?

We personally hate Comcast with a vengence and would love some competition in our neck of the woods. Bring it Google!

Remember, the internet is not a truck. It's a series of tubes. And sometimes those tubes get clogged. So, bring your tube clogging solution to Ballard and let us see what you've got.

Help us campaign, Ballardites! Apply here!

Seriously, Who Goes There?

Dish D'Lish

It's time for a new post dear readers. This is the first in what we expect to be a long running series called "Seriously, Who Goes There?" This week we'll start out with one of the biggest curiosities on Ballard Avenue - Dish D'lish.

With it's cutesy apostrophized name and pricey sauces, we just can't help but wonder....seriously, who goes there?!

Hello Dear Readers! We're Back!

We missed you and we're sorry we were away. We were having a fight with our mortal enemy, DNS. You know, Domain Name Servers, those evil persnickety bastards that control web sites.

While we were away, we really wanted to tell you about the Haitiwood event this week. We hope you went. They raised $2,567! We're so proud. If you did miss it, and you want to show your support, you can attend Lovin' Haiti at the Tractor. This even will feature Tripwires, Cute Lepers, Whalebones and Demon Rind. It's on Sunday, January 31st at 8 p.m. 100% of the proceeds will go to the Red Cross for relief for Haiti. Click here for more.

We also wanted to tell you about the Magnolia Coyote. A State Fish and Wildlife agent killed the male coyote today. We're kind of sad the coyote and his bride couldn't live in peace amongst the people of Magnolia. We know one of them attacked a dog, but that still makes us sad.

And we wanted to talk about the Sunset Bowl being torn down. There have been many a night recently when we though we really wish we could head to the Sunset Bowl and belt out a few songs or roll some balls. Alas, our bowling days, much like Kingpin's hand, are in the past. Pour one out for the Sunset this weekend, folks! Keep her forever in your hearts.

It's Beard and Moustache Time Again!

Throw out your Razors!

We're so very excited to let you know that the Beard & Stache Fest is once again getting underway next month. It's a hairy contest that raises money to help out foster kids.

If you have a beardtastic face and want to compete in this wonderful non-profit event, you have one last chance. Take your hair filled face over to the Beard & Stache Web site's registration form. The photography session is TOMORROW, January 6th, in the U-District, so hurry up.

For those of you who don't have beards or groovy staches, you can participate as well by supporting the beardy contestants at a series of events in February. We have to say that we went to some of these events last year and they were tons of fun. I don't know if it's just because we happen to know last year's winner or what, but we found these stachetastic events are filled with big-drinking fun-having friendly folks. And it doesn't hurt that mustaches really tickle our fancy!

Happy New Year from BGG

Happy New Year from all your friends at Ballard Gossip Girl. Last night was fantastic and I actually woke up in bed that wasn't my own.

We wish you a peaceful, prosperous, and gossip filled 2010.

Happy New Year...now let's recover.