A Greek Seattle Summer
A gathering of Muses bringing Greece to the Pacific Northwest
In October 2025, I met a lovely group of women at a writer’s residency in Nikiti, Greece.
After our week-long immersion in memoir reading, writing, and critiquing, we stayed in touch through a group chat, cheering each other’s efforts and celebrating our successes.
We also rallied to support members of the group as they experienced hardships and large transitions.
One woman took the lead to keep us connected as much as possible and scheduled Muse Catch-Up Calls in which we gather on Zoom to see one another’s faces.
Then she stepped it up.
After a momentous transition of her own, our Muse, Emilie, sent out the Sirens’ call for the Muses to come together at her new home just north of Seattle for the summer. She was gathering her tribe.
And, as any good Sirens’ call would, it did not allow us to resist.
The Muses in Seattle
We are a group of six, spread out across the US, Canada, and the UK. Unfortunately, our Muses in Canada and the UK were unable to join us. Still, Romi from New York, Kaylee from Virginia, and I from California came together in Washington to join Emilie.
Kaylee and I arrived in mid-July, ready to stay as long as we could get away with. Both of us are educators and have a lot of flexibility this time of year. When Emilie said, “Why don’t you just stay the summer?” and Kaylee said, “I’m buying a one-way ticket!” I said, “Shoot, me too!”
We were effectively roommates, with Kaylee and Romi taking the bunk mattresses in Emilie’s son’s room while I slept in the guest room on the other side of the house. When Emilie’s son was with us, he slept in his mom’s room. We shared one bathroom, one kitchen, one car, and occasionally checked in with one another to see who wanted a coffee or something from Target.
It was very communal, and while I’ve never lived with roommates before, if I did, I’d want it to be like this. I suppose it felt more like family. Like a sisterhood.
On our second night, we threw together a “girl dinner”—aka, a charcuterie board—Greek-inspired, of course, with pita chips, hummus, tzatziki, and olives. It was perfect.
Bookstores and Books
We started with Third Place Books and then Barnes & Noble. We also visited Edmonds Bookshop and East West Books & Gifts in Edmonds, Eliot Bay Book Company in Seattle, Eagle Harbor Book Company on Bainbridge Island, and Powell’s in Portland.
Because of course we did. What else would you expect of Writer Muses? I’m proud to say I only bought four books. It was hard, okay? I showed incredible restraint.
Edmonds with Cat
Another friend from Greece who had been in our memoir group, Cat, lives on Bainbridge Island and ferried to meet us in Edmonds. Because we were bringing Greece to us, we ate at a Mediterranean Tapas restaurant called Demetri’s Woodstone Taverna.
Unfortunately, the crazy lettuce scare was on our minds, so we didn’t eat any for the first two weeks. I’m happy to report we were not affected.
Later that same night, we went to a Mariners game at T-Mobile Stadium in Seattle. Out of respect for my Muses, I am consciously not adding the videos of us singing along with Outkast while fireworks exploded at the end of the game. Instead, I’ll share the Seattle waterfront view.
Emilie’s Birthday Party
After the Mariners game, we said goodbye to Cat and ubered to the airport to pick up Romi. Before Emilie’s birthday party the next evening, we had lunch at Diamond Knot Brewpub.
Many hands make for light work, as it did for Emilie’s party. Her parents brought tables, tablecloths, and adornments. Soon, her backyard became a comfortable, musical, and joyfully lit space for her friends to gather.
For entertainment, Emilie hired Lady Merlin to give psychic readings. I asked about my love life, broadly speaking, and the dice told Lady Merlin two things:
I was going to come into some money soon.
I laughed at this and said, “In my love life? Ha! Not likely.” But to be fair, my partner works in the financial aid office, which will disburse my student loans soon. Maybe that’s what she saw.
Something is going to happen in November. I’m not going to like it, but it needs to happen. I got nothing here. Guess I’ll wait and see.
Later, I came back to ask her what’s going on with my Ph.D. After she laid the Tarot cards out on the table, she sighed, “Oh.”
“That can’t be good.”
“You will feel unstuck in about a month,” she said. This tracks. “And you need to talk to your advisor.” Ugh. “Talk to your advisor,” she repeated, her eyes intense. “And you’ll finish before you think.” I hope she’s right about this one.
Later, I received a request to review an academic article in a journal where I hope to publish my research tool paper. I emailed my advisor for advice and received a quick and favorable response. See? I’m listening, Universe.
In a large basket, guests picked out party favors: sunglasses, hand lotions, evil eye bracelets, and scented candles. We ate delicious Greek catering and three different types of pie, then danced to upbeat music. We laughed through a charades-like game in which we guessed words we’d written on slips of paper and put into a bowl.
The consensus: No men at the party likely contributed to the totally good vibes.
FIFA World Cup Watch Party
The next day, we took the Light Rail to Seattle for a giant outdoor watch party. The crowd was insane! But aside from a couple of unnecessarily rude, tall people who effectively split our foursome in half until I told them to move it, we had a great time.
After the first half, we found our way to a bar where we watched the game spill into overtime.
A cute guy who was eyeballing one of my friends caught her eye too. I asked him if he was single (he was), gave him my friend’s number, and told him to introduce himself. He never did. Boy did he lose out, cuz later that night, she went out with a man who was making her blush for days. 💖
Afterwards, we walked around downtown Seattle, went to the Public Market, and saw the gum wall. Which… eew. Love to see the collective goal, but man that’s nasty.
Portland, Three Times
I couldn’t possibly go to Seattle and not find my way down to Portland to see my daughter Rose.
The first time, Kaylee came with me on the 3.5-4 hour drive to Portland. Rose and Kaylee hit it off, as I knew they would. We followed Rose to a record shop, then a witchy speakeasy where we got lattes and used a dagger to unlock a secret door.
The second and third times were an adjustment.
Rose was supposed to come up to Seattle with her boyfriend during the last week of this trip, but the bus we scheduled canceled at the last minute without any alternatives for her limited availability. So I drove down to Portland, picked up Rose and her boyfriend, came up to Seattle, then up to Mountlake Terrace for Rose to meet Emilie and her son, then back down to Portland to take them home. It was about 11 hours of driving in one day, so I stayed the night at a hotel in Beaverton before driving back the next morning.
Sunset Dinner and Writing on the Beach
On Romi’s last night, we went to an adorable spot overlooking the water: Turning Paige Bistro. We thought “Turning Paige” was a play on words because shelves were lined with classic books, including The Odyssey, but it was actually named after her daughter, Paige. The owner was the cook, server, and bartender that night. The food, drinks, and service were all excellent. I hope to return someday.
Afterwards, we parked ourselves on the sand and wrote until we could no longer see our pages.
This may have been my favorite activity: writers writing together on the beach under the bright moon. Perfect.
When we returned home, we each wrote on a piece of Wish Paper, lit it, and watched it float through the air.
The Odyssey, Three Times
Yes. We watched The Odyssey three times.
Obviously, being the Muses that we are, we had to go see The Odyssey.
The first time, we saw it at the AMC Dine-in Theater. I had wine and vegan chicken nuggets. The movie was so good, I stayed put for the full three hours. I did have to look away a couple of times, though.
Next, we saw it in the 70mm IMAX SIFF theater while eating CHOCOLATE POPCORN. This time, I didn’t look away.
Finally, we saw the movie in 4D, where every time the boat rocked, we got sprayed with water (not much), and every time someone stabbed someone else, we got punched in the back (the way a massage chair does).
Would I see it a fourth time? Hell yes.
Please enjoy this collection of funny memes related to The Odyssey that came by way of my friends’ Twitter or Instagram feeds:
Bainbridge Island
We went to Bainbridge Island to spend some more time with Cat at her lovely home, do some shopping, take pics with a troll, and finally eat lettuce again at Bruciato.
The Bite of Seattle and a Mass Shooting
We Light-Railed our way to the Bite of Seattle food festival, held just under the Space Needle. We listened to live music, ate, drank, and then walked around a bit, looking for a bar to patron once we had had our fill. We weren’t pleased with any of our options nearby, so we took the Light Rail down a couple of stops. After circling the block, we gave up and decided to have drinks at home while watching Practical Magic.
Once home, though, Emilie and Kaylee quickly learned, through Instagram, that the Bite of Seattle had become the site of a shooting somewhere around an hour after we had left.
We took some time to process the news, comforted one another, and called our loved ones to let them know we were safe.
I am intentionally not saying more about that incident here. We weren’t there when it happened, and for that, I am deeply grateful.
Peaceful Walks
Each day, especially if we didn’t have anything formal planned, I walked to Balinger Lake. About a mile and a half from Emilie’s house, the lake was perfectly distanced to get some exercise and enjoy the Pacific Northwest scenery.
Hercules, One Time
Summer movies in the park are a sweet community gathering activity I love in Claremont. Moutlake Terrace has these too, and they happened to be showing Emilie’s favorite movie of all time: Hercules. The Muses were prepped with chairs, blankets, popcorn, and drinks.
Lindsey Sterling Concert
Emilie and I went for a delicious plant-based dinner and cocktails at Life on Mars before the concert. I had a Tofurkey Club (yum!) and my One Man Band cocktail came in a heart-shaped glass, which I sipped from while two men, twenty-plus years our senior, chatted us up at the bar. Then we escaped for a Cherry Cardamom Latte at the Gemini Room. In between these two places, we passed by the perfect neon sign.
I had watched Lindsey Sterling on YouTube, but had never seen her live. I was not disappointed! In fact, the opening band, Pvris, was pretty good too.
Coming Home
In three weeks, I spent real quality time—much of it not even captured here because it took place in the in-between moments hanging out in the backyard or walking Apollo—with women who, though all from different backgrounds, shared a collective strength.
We had one another’s backs. While there were tiny moments of tension here and there, and a couple of bigger ones, we never fought. We were never catty. We were always looking out for one another’s best interests. We talked about men plenty, mostly in heartache or jest, but they were rarely the focal point of our energies. We talked openly about sex, money, having children or not. We talked about food, sobriety, indulgence, and magic. We played games, did Tarot readings, and crafted journals with the dried flowers from Emilie’s birthday party. We took turns crying when we needed to, but laughed more than anything.
While there, I finished three books and wrote my way into a new journal.
In September, our Muse Esme from the UK will be in Seattle for a few days on a work trip, which overlaps with my birthday. Kaylee will have likely moved out there (she was in the process of signing a lease when she left!).
How could I not go back?
Thank you for reading What We Have Learned
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The joy the joy the joy!!! I’m just so pleased you could be there for one another IRL this summer, it GENUINELY makes my heart happy. I’m in awe how the universe brought us together and the ways we’re all refusing to drop the thread. Muses summer forever 🧡
reading this with joy in my heart & tears in my eyes. i love you heidi!!! i love our precious time we got to spend together. i knew in greece it wouldn’t be our last time seeing one another & now i’m endlessly sure you’ll be in my life forever🥹i love you💓🤞🏻