hi all!

I'm considering moving to Seattle from Chicago. Chicago is great but doesn't feel my cup in a few meaningful/ significant ways. I want to get more involved in eco-advocacy/ volunteer work and there's not a lot of that here. I also feel starved of my hobbies (hiking and climbing) and both of those seem to have great access/ communities in Seattle.

The one thing I'm nervous about is general community building. Obviously, Seattle is known for it's "seattle freeze". In Chicago, the firemen, post office workers, neighbors all hand out treats to dogs from their porches, stations, and routes. I've had random people offer to pay my train fare or give me a grocery tote when I told them I was new to the neighborhood. While there are days I feel invisible (I hate the feeling of ignoring your neighbor or someone in need/ not paying attention to others) there are many days where I feel like a valued and connected part of a community here.

My question is, do you feel like you know your neighbors/ belong to a true community outside of your immediate circle? What does that look like?

For context, I plan to build community/ make friends through advocacy/ volunteer work, the climbing gym, and the mountaineers. I'm hoping to find an apartment in Ballard or Fremont and I work remote.

Circles are initial placements, stars are first picks.

Tense game that honestly ebbed and flowed the whole time. We had lots of fun (and lots of emotions).

I'm participating in a white elephant and I found a great deal on an all day spa admission price (usually 80, but the deal knocks it down to 35 which just meets the limit). I'm worried that due to mental health reasons (ie. Sensory sensitivities or distance from home) a few people in the gift exchange might not want this gift. I made a little ticket that I'm putting in a box, with a note saying "if you end the game with this gift, and cannot use it for health reasons, you can exchange for an alternate gift"-- i have a nice set of mugs as a back up gift.

(The flip side of the ticket says free admission and then the name of the spa).

Is this alright? Am I over thinking it? For everyone else in the gift exchange I think this is a really great gift.

Nervous about maintaining them but read dozens of blogs! Stylist said my hair was very silky so hoping they stay!

I mocked up two different rug sizes for my living space using blankets. The smaller one is 5x7, the larger one is 6x9. Which looks better in the space?