There are literally millions of blogs out there in cyberland and it can be hard to sift through them to find ones that are indispensable.  So I want to give a shout-out to a collection of local blogs that have become part of my daily routine.  In December, 2007, a Ballard couple who go by the moniker “Geeky Swedes” started MyBallard.com, a “blog about news, events, restaurants and shopping in Ballard and Crown Hill.”

It wasn’t long before their frequent and fascinating posts, combined with extensive participation from other Ballardites who added information in comments and the Forum, created a must-bookmark local resource.  I can’t even count the tidbits of useful information I have gleaned from MyBallard.com.  I learn about new restaurants before they open, community events, which streets are navigable during huge snowstorms, and pretty much all the local news that is relevant to Ballard.

Now Ballard isn’t the only lucky neighborhood, as the Geeky Swedes have branched out! Phinney-Greenwood has PhinneyWood, Fremont news is found in Fremont Universe, and even Queen Anne and Magnolia are getting in on the action. Each blog contains information particular to the featured neighborhood, but they all boast the Geeky Swedes’ fabulous blog design and usability.

If you live in near Northwest Seattle and like your news to be fresh and incredibly local, check them out. You may become another daily visitor.

One thing I’ll be doing now and then is posting about Mary Ann’s and my favorite “enclaves” in Seattle.  I thought I’d start with my very own microneighborhood, Whittier Heights, or as I call it: “Northeast Ballard, right on the edge of Greenwood, sort of Crown Hill.”  Hmm.  I guess Whittier Heights is a simpler name.

Nestled between 8th and 15th Ave. NW, and bordered by NW 65th St. on the south and NW 85th on the north, Whittier Heights is small, but very appealing in many ways.  It is a neighborhood comprised of modest, neat homes, a mix of residents from young families to retirees, and has one of the higher-rated elementary schools in the Seattle School District.  I also love that it is close enough to the Sound that you can sometimes hear Shilshole sea lions in the evening, and the sea breeze keeps it nicely cool on hot days.

Although Whittier Heights is officially in Ballard, the northeast corner where I live is also conveniently close to Greenwood.  I enjoy shopping at the Greenwood Market (where I can often find organic produce more reliably than at Whole Foods and cheaper than PCC) and the vintage Fred Meyer (it may have seen better days, but the workers are friendly and they have a *great* natural products section where you can find amazing deals).  We are lucky enough to be within walking distance of Top Ten Toys, which is hands-down one of the most fun toy stores in the city.  From my location near 8th and 80th, I can walk to Diva Espresso, Taco Del Mar, the Greenwood Library, and then up Greenwood to all the great new and old businesses along there (Neptune Coffee! Antique stores! Mud Bay Pet Supply! The Post Office!).

Recently, Whittier Heights has developed its own little walkable cluster of shops.  In a one-block area on 70th Ave. NW between NW 13th and 15th St., you can enjoy breakfast or lunch at The Neighborhood Cafe, enjoy a delectable pastrie at Honore, and peruse a trio of little shops for birthing, baby gear, and children’s books.

 If you are neighborhood shopping, Whittier Heights is worth a look.  Any readers live there, too?  What is your favorite part of our little slice of Seattle?

Hello! I have been working part time with Mary Ann since September of 2007. I came to real estate by a rather circuitous route. I moved to Seattle from the Bay Area in 1992. I loved living in Capitol Hill and working as a paralegal for a nonprofit, but in 1995, I was pulled away to Wisconsin to attend law school. I remained homesick for Seattle weather, geography, neighborhoods, people, and food, but I enjoyed my job in which I supervised law students who worked on legal cases for prison inmates. Just as my work contract ended in 2003, my son was born and I knew it was time to migrate my family westward again.

After a short stint in Fremont, Mary Ann helped us buy our house in the Whittier Heights area of Ballard. When my son started preschool, I wanted to find a gratifying outlet for my time (and earn some money to pay for that school!). I have always loved the process of house-hunting and I also came to the conclusion that being a good lawyer and being a good real estate agent have many similarities.

I believe, and we taught our law students, that a good lawyer is one who carefully listens to her client, finds out what that client really wants, and then tries to accomplish that goal with hard work, clear thinking, creativity, and the highest ethical standards. I expect those same things from a real estate agent, and I knew that Mary Ann shares those values, so I convinced her to let me learn the art of real estate by working for her.

I really enjoy the variety of tasks I get to do. Learning about real estate law brings out my inner “law geek”, and Mary Ann’s love of her work makes the job fun. And it doesn’t hurt that instead of visiting the inside of maximum security prisons, I now get to tour lovely homes around Seattle.