Be There: The Queen Anne Dispatch Friends & Family Event is November 11th

Photography by Kirsten Beeksma Morse

Back when my husband and I were first married, we decided to throw our first party, a Valentine's Day themed affair. On Thursday of each week we taste tested a different label of champagne to figure out what we liked best. Even after the party was done, we continued our tradition of "Champagne Thursday". Happily, it continues to be "our thing" some 20+ years later. My older brother even wrote it into his movie, "Failure to Launch", where the characters played by Sarah Jessica Parker and Zoe Deschanel had their own Champagne Thursday! And I once found the saying on a birthday greeting card. All this had been very fun to see, but it originates with David and I. 

After what has been a very rough week for most of us, it is time to focus on the positive. Community, family and friends are important to all of us, and we have it right here on Queen Anne Hill. I love that everywhere I walk I see someone I know, that we share keys with our next door neighbors to help each other out, that I know I have friends a stones throw away. Whether you live here or elsewhere, now is a really good time to reach out to the people around you and find community wherever you live.

Queen Anne Mail and Dispatch has been part of the community since 1987, when it was founded by Jan Paolini. Inside a former grocery store, the business began as a personal mailbox and shipping place and has gone on to be the hub of community on Queen Anne Hill. Jan's daughters, Tara and Sabrina, have grown the business to include gifts, beautiful clothing and shoes, accessories, outdoor gear, things for baby....the list goes on and on. While still a full general and specialty shipping business, as well as personal mailbox and packaging supplies, they go beyond the ordinary. Tara has helped me figure out how to ship something I sold on Ebay, and Sabrina's fashionable eye has lead me to the perfect birthday gift. Those girls have got it going on, and so does their store.

I, for one, could use a good reason to pop a cork of bubbly and feel a sense of community surround me. Luckily for me, and for you, the annual Queen Anne Dispatch Friends and Family Event is on Friday, November 11th. The 20% storewide discount is good all day, but swing by after work or school from 6-9 pm to listen to music, catch up with friends, have a cocktail and a bite. I'll be there getting a jump on my holiday list, because it is where I always go to find things like hostess gifts and laugh out loud cards for all occasions, not to mention fabulous fashion.

And speaking of fashion, this is the perfect time to be thinking about holiday attire as well as gifts. I am a big fan of the tulle skirt, but because most of them go out in a puff of fabric, they aren't that flattering on my curvy frame. This O2 Collection skirt is the perfect tulle skirt. It is layered in beautiful ombré tulle that cascade down and not out, making it work beautifully. We layered it with a super soft cream knit mock turtleneck tank, and a gorgeous cashmere wrap cardigan sweater, all from Queen Anne Dispatch. The cashmere cardigan is a cocoon shape, but I wrapped and tied the front in a ballet sweater fashion. I also grabbed a pair of my own sparkling heels and a leather fur trimmed jacket to show how versatile this beautiful skirt can be with so many things you may own already. As for the pink bubbles, you can find a fabulous selection of those at Ken's Market, right around the corner at 2400 6th Avenue West. Love the Hill. 

Join Queen Anne Dispatch for the perfect end to a long week: friends and fashion, discounted shopping, music, drinks and so much more. See you there, friends. 

Queen Anne Dispatch Friends & Family Event 

Friday, November 11, 2016, all day discounts, festivities are 6-9 pm. 

2212 Queen Anne Avenue North, Seattle, WA 98109