About
Adrianne Dow Young
writer. cook. kitten wrangler. grower.
Maui born and Northwest raised, I grew up at an eclectic table surrounded by a creative family. My work is informed by a life of following my curiosity and by turning my passions into businesses.
As a career-long writer with boutique agency roots, I have created taglines, brochures, web content and ads. I've also published non fiction manuscripts. While I have written it all, my work is now focused on helping people to thrive with the planet instead of on top of it.
I am also the owner and operator of Bitte Bitte Leavenworth, a busy private chef service that provides allergy sensitive meals to arts and environment organizations. A passion for life at the table has allowed me to own a deep organic farm, a restaurant, and a career as a travelling chef. In my spare time, I create clean-minimal ingredient skincare under the label Persephone's Ball. (As a fulltime, solo parent, I don't have a lot of spare time.)
On the perpetual side of life, I socialize feral cats and for placement in indoor-only homes.
About the Photos
My great grandmother, Sara, was a people-watcher. Our favorite thing to do together was to sit in the Impala and watch a busy parking lot. She'd do the crossword and make up stories about the people who passed by.
"He's just bought that coat," she'd look up from her lap and say as if she'd been watching the young man all along. "He had wanted to impress that lady over there but she's gone and bought a dog, you see."
And there, right in front of us would be a geriatric woman gently shooing her dog out of the driver's seat.
Sara's ability to see and craft instant stories came from a life of people-watching. Her travel photos from the 50's and 60’s (the ones on this site) document her expertly leaning into other people's stories by becoming part of the crowd. Some of the images can be seen as unfocused or for lack of subject, but often, siting in a distant chair, is Sara – the people-watcher with a broken hip gamely traveling the world with her husband Bill.
For me, the photos also represent foundational Impala time with a sage and where I learned that creating curiosity is a superpower.