If you're out of ideas for ways to stay entertained in these activity-restricted times, read on for our latest batch of suggestions, from the Fremont Soupocalypse Past Event Like List to new January book releases to check out (including the late Cicely Tyson's memoir), and from places to get movie theater snacks to accompany your Sundance Film Festival Like List viewing to spots to visit on National Croissant Day (like the ferry-worthy Saboteur Like List in Bremerton). For even more options, read our guides to the best online events this week Like List  and the best movies to watch this week Like List .

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Jump to: Food & Drink | Arts | Shop Local | Outdoors & Day Trips

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FOOD & DRINK

Attend Fremont Soupocalypse. There's nothing like a steaming bowl of something hot, brothy, and restorative to bolster your spirits and ward off the chill of winter. Luckily, Fremont restaurants have risen to the occasion with a new "neighborhood winter soup walk" called Fremont Soupocalypse Past Event Like List , allowing diners to safely get their soup fix and support local businesses during their slowest months of the year to boot. Simply amble through the neighborhood and enjoy dine-in and takeout specials like Creole crawfish gumbo from Mischief on Canal Like List , seafood bisque with an andouille corn dog from Triangle Spirits Like List , vegan Indian soups from Meesha Like List , and more. You'll collect a stamp on your passport for each soup destination—if you collect four or more, you'll be entered for a chance to win a prize basket that includes a free tasting for two at Fremont Mischief Distillery, shot glasses, a bandanna from Triangle Spirits, cacao bitters from The Barrel Thief Like List , and a $10 gift card to Shawn O’Donnell’s. The event runs through Sunday, January 31.

Order takeout from an Edouardo Jordan-approved restaurant. This week, for our Tell Us Something Good celebrity recommendation series, we talked to Like List James Beard Award-winning chef Edouardo Jordan of JuneBaby Like List , Salare Like List , and Lucinda Grain Bar Like List what it's been like owning a restaurant during COVID, his upcoming Soul of Seattle Past Event Like List event, and where he's been going to get takeout. Mioposto, Ban Hua Sai Like List , Don Lucho's Like List , and other spots topped his list—read all of his recommendations here Like List . 
 
Celebrate National Croissant Day. Saturday, January 30, is National Croissant Day, as good an excuse as any to get your hands on a buttery, crescent-shaped pastry. For flaky delights that will shed a trail of crispy shards down your shirt (as any good croissant should), check out Sea Wolf Bakers Like List , Temple Pastries Like List , the London Plane Like List , Crumble & Flake Like List , Fuji Bakery, Celine Patisserie Like List , or Coyle's Bakeshop Like List . If you're looking for a weekend day trip, Saboteur Like List in Bremerton, which is run by a pastry chef who's worked at Michelin-starred restaurants, is worth the trek. Or, if you want a kitchen project, try pastry chef Rachael Coyle's free online croissant class. (For inspiration, revisit the delightful scene from the Nancy Meyers classic It's Complicated where Meryl Streep and Steve Martin bake croissants while stoned.)

Or National Hot Chocolate Day. The day after Croissant Day is National Hot Chocolate Day, so there's practically no excuse not to have an indulgent weekend. We've rounded up a list Like List of some remarkable ways to get your hot chocolate fix around town, from Mexican drinking chocolate at the new shop Rey Amargo Chocolate Shop Like List to the hot cocoa bombs that have exploded (literally) on TikTok. 

Try new beer collabs. Seattle's beer scene is always bubbling with activity, and some of its breweries have been teaming up for some unique releases. Bottleworks Like List , Lowercase Brewing Like List , and Full Throttle Bottles Like List have joined forces with Nacho Mama's Like List to create a new gourmet fermented hot sauce with serrano peppers, When Sauvs Cry Sauvignon Blanc Pilsner, white wine vinegar, Asian pears, lemongrass, lime, and lemon verbena. Meanwhile, Reuben's Brews Like List has dropped Bear Mug Coffee Porter, a collaboration brew with Kuma Coffee. Share some with your quaranteam for a cute we're-all-in-this-together moment.

Other notable weekend events:

Back Patio Grand Opening Past Event Like List
The cozy Ballard brunch standby will unveil its new heated patio and celebrate with happy hour specials all weekend, including $3 Mimosas and $5 Bloody Marys. 

Lola's Greek Dinner for Two Past Event Like List
Miss the fresh, modern Mediterranean flavors of Tom Douglas's Belltown restaurant Lola? Hark back to pre-COVID times with a takeout meal of freshly griddled pita bread, a hearty Greek lamb or mushroom stew, halloumi and fig kebabs, fennel and green olive salad, olive oil cake, and spoon sweets (preserves served in a spoon at the end of a meal).

The Season Opener: Wild Game Feast Past Event Like List
Tavolàta invites you to "embrace the call of the wild" with a multi-course meal that includes elk tartare, boar ribs, nettle soup, braised rabbit and foraged hedgehog mushrooms campanelle, quail, and venison chops. 

ARTS

Catch up on January book releases. As the month winds down and at-home activities continue to reign supreme, this weekend is an excellent time to pore over this month's biggest book releases—or at least pick them up from local bookstores (or the Peak Picks selection at your nearest operating branch of the Seattle Public Library). Nadia Owusu (a recipient of the 2019 Whiting Award) released her debut memoir, Aftershocks, to much acclaim, zeroing in on two events that changed her life as a seven-year-old living in Rome with her father, stepmother, and younger sister—one of which was the sudden reappearance of her birth mother. Living legend Joan Didion flexes her greatest talent in this week's new release Let Me Tell You What I Mean, a new collection of old essays, half of which appeared during the '60s in the Saturday Evening Post. George Saunders (who won a Booker Prize for his historical fiction novel Lincoln in the Bardo) released A Swim in a Pond in the Rain, a book of essays (or a "masterclass," as he calls it) that offers a version of an MFA class he taught at Syracuse University on the Russian short story. André Aciman, the author of Call Me By Your Name, also returns to the essay in Homo Irrealis, in which he parses through his thoughts on time, the creative mind, and great lives and works. And Robert Jones, Jr.'s veritable epic of a debut, The Prophets, contains "a dazzling gallery of unforgettable portraits," according to the Los Angeles Times. If you're an audiobook person, head to indie bookstore-supporting Libro.fm to download a copy of Cicely Tyson's memoir Just As I Am, released this week just two days before the Hollywood icon died at the age of 96—it's narrated in part by Tyson herself, as well as the Oscar-winning Viola Davis and Robin Miles, who narrated Isabel Wilkerson's Caste, Hidden Figures, and other prominent books by Black authors.

Upgrade your movie night with theater snacks. Nearly a year into quarantine, it can be tough to make movie nights feel fresh, but with the right accouterments, you can almost convince yourself you're at a theater. Queue up a film from the Sundance Film Festival Like List (or another movie of your choice Like List ) and hum "Let's all go to the lobby!" as you settle in with some snacks: perhaps some soft pretzels from Kaffeeklatsch Like List , garlic truffle popcorn from Oliver's Twist Like List , or a hot dog from Dirty Dog Like List ? And if you miss the aroma of artificial butter, check out Seattle Times food writer Bethany Jean Clement's recipe for recreating movie theater popcorn at home. If you're still missing the big screen experience, drive-in movies are still going strong at The Blue Fox Remind Like List in Oak Harbor (playing The Little Things Remind Like List and Groundhog Day Remind Like List this weekend) and Rodeo Remind Like List in Port Orchard (where you can see the excellent new Carey Mulligan flick, Promising Young Woman Remind Like List ).

Other notable weekend events:

Estefania Velez Rodriguez & Michael Siporin Levine: Like Apples and Knives Past Event Like List
Through paints, drawings, collages, prints, and video, the artists explore "autobiography, abstraction, and narrative" related to their new routines.
SOIL, Pioneer Square (Friday-Sunday)

Holding Hope
The Downtown Seattle Association has installed a group of six-foot-tall, brightly colored aluminum sculptures in Pike Place Market, Westlake Park, and other downtown parks, "meant to inspire unity and community as we move forward in recovery." If you take a selfie with one and use their #HoldingHopeSeattle hashtag, they'll make a $10 donation in your name to the Pike Place Market Foundation—up to the first 500 social posts on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook.
Downtown, (Friday–Sunday)

Parable of Gravity Past Event Like List
Seattle-based artist Casey Curran postulates about an idealistic future on Earth through large sculptures, including one in the likeness of a suspended aluminum asteroid, inspired by Galileo’s mission to Jupiter, as well as an otherworldly kinetic garden.
MadArt, South Lake Union (by appointment)

Repetition Suppression Past Event Like List
Seattle artist Natalie Krick's photographic works slice and reconfigure bodies in suggestive ways, pulling the viewer into her beautifully saturated and colorful pieces. Her photos best reflect the experience of being a woman and being seen: fragmented, pieced together, more than the sum of our parts. There's an elusive sensuality to her work that subverts expectation. In her show, Repetition Suppression, Krick plays around with the idea of the femme fatale from Hollywood crime melodramas of the '40s and '50s, crafting mysterious and alluring figures in each photo. The exhibition title alludes to a phenomenon called repetition suppression, a reduced neural response observed when certain stimuli are presented more than once. It's an acknowledgment of the femme fatale as a now-common trope of an unknowable, ambiguous woman. JASMYNE KEIMIG
Specialist, Pioneer Square (Friday-Sunday)

Winter Crafts To Go! Past Event Like List
If you have little ones at home (especially those between ages four and 10), outsource their entertainment and stop by BAM to pick up one of the 1200 craft-making kits they'll have outside the museum. The kits will include "two art activities, an imaginative treasure hunt, and additional learning resources to make even the sleepiest hibernating animal have fun."
Bellevue Arts Museum (Saturday)

SHOP LOCAL

Visit the new Sub Pop store. That's right: The legendary label that brought you grunge acts like Nirvana and Soundgarden has launched a flagship store Like List in South Lake Union. And, as the company's official blog post announcement quips, unlike the shop's "practically world-famous" Sub Pop Airport Store Like List inside SeaTac, you "don’t risk a cavity search to get in." Riffle through vinyl copies of every release currently in print from the label and its offshoot Hardly Art, plus T-shirts, hats, hoodies, and other merch. You can also sign up in-store for the Sub Pop Mega Mart mailing list for a chance to win a $50 gift certificate towards any of the store's offerings (two winners will be drawn on February 28).

Subscribe to a local snail mail service. Unless you only associate with Luddites (no judgment), it's easy to check in with your loved ones via social media or texting. But anyone who's ever received a letter from a long-distance pen pal knows there's no better feeling than opening your (IRL) mailbox to find a handwritten note tucked between health insurance statements and internet bills. If the only thing stopping you from exchanging hard-copy missives with your friends is a lack of materials, opt for Seattle-based snail mail subscriptions: Sign up for Dahlia Press Like List ' Stationery Squad (which has the option of adding on postage) or Constellation & Co.'s Card Club (which doesn't include postage, but does have a sticker add-on) to secure a monthly supply of everything you need. 

Or send care packages to friends and people you miss. You don't need to wait until Valentine's Day to shower your loved ones with confections and messages. Lowrider Cookie Company now offers nationwide shipping, so you can send a spontaneous sugar rush to anyone who could use some cheering up. Hello Robin also has lots of delicious cookies that would travel well, and the neighboring general store Cone & Steiner is full of assorted gifts and sundries that would be great additions to a package—check out the Central District's Black-owned shipping center The Postman Like List to send off your box. In addition, Savor Seattle Like List has lots of market boxes packed full of local treats to send to friends and offers national shipping.

OUTDOORS & DAY TRIPS

Take a day trip to Port Townsend. The Stranger's Charles Mudede once wrote, "Here is what you have to do: drive down to the ferry dock, drive onto a ferry, cross the bay on this ferry, exit the ferry, drive across the island, cross some bridges, stop at a gas station for something fried, salty, and not good for you, eventually enter Port Townsend, and, before heading to Fort Worden State Park, admire a number of the town’s Victorian-style homes." He was talking about the Jazz Port Townsend Festival, but this schedule of activities for a trip to the Olympic Peninsula town holds up for any occasion. The echoing chambers of the aforementioned Fort Worden State Park, the former United States Army Coast Artillery Corps base constructed to protect the Puget Sound from invasion by sea, are perfect for socially distanced exploring. If you plan ahead, you can even book a stay on the park's charming grounds. Otherwise, head to the right when you exit the forts, follow a short trail down to the rocky beach, and bust out the snack provisions you picked up from the co-op Like List . Then, head into town to warm up in William James Bookseller, the most charming purveyor of used and out-of-print books in all the land, before treating yourself to a slice of pizza from the counter-service Pizza Factory to enjoy by the water. Hit up the Port Townsend Antique Mall for some souvenirs before swinging by Cafe Tenby Like List for a strong cup of tea and a pastry to go before heading back to the ferry. 

Take in winter blossoms, foliage, and bark at the Washington Park Arboretum. Just because it's not cherry blossom season doesn't mean there's nothing to see in PNW nature. The Washington Park Arboretum Like List is teeming with wintry beauties like Northern Chinese Red Birch trees, bright red Camellia "Jupiter" flowers, and blue and yellow Arthur Menzies, whose seedlings originated at the Arboretum. Don't forget to pass by the Pinetum area to see a range of conifers, as well as the Joseph A. Witt Winter Garden for a fragrant bunch of honeysuckle and witch hazel.

Reserve a McMenamins Day Pass. Want to indulge in a mini-getaway without packing an overnight bag? McMenamins' Anderson School location in Bothell now offers passes for the daytime (10 am-3 pm) and evening hours (5-10 pm) that get you a hotel room, pool access, and food and drink credit to use at onsite restaurants. Passes for each day are limited, so call ahead within seven days of your desired visit.