In California, no matter who you are, you’re lookin’ good because you’re cookin’ in the sun. The cute Cali boys who hang out on the beach doing the “Cat Daddy” are always cute in their muscle t-shirts and glowin’ sun-kissed skin.
Unfortunately, in the Pacific North West, we are stuck with the “Edward Cullen’s,” the ghostly pale men who listen to classical music and know everything and anything about the type of leaf on your tree in your backyard (sorry for the extremely, general stereotype).
It might be the guy with the copy of “The New York Times” at the coffee shop or the guy in the beanie taking a photo of the Space Needle. Clearly, the men here are artistic and therefore mysterious (and sexy because of it, ha!) but the whole bed-head hair-do and translucent skin isn’t really an instant “turn on.”
The horrific “zip-off,” water resistant pants frightened me so much when I first moved to Washington. I thought they were a sign from the heavens warning me to return to my native land of California. Slowly yet surely, these weird, unique, very North West-y characteristics started to grow on me. That is when I realized that there are some extremely attractive pale men in the great PNW. These men are what I call “the granolas!”
What is a granola? My Editor-in-Chief, Riley Hartwell, thought I was going to write an opinion piece solely on North West women who are all-natural. Wrong! The granolas are the men and women who are environmentally savvy, shop at Whole Foods, ride the bike to REI to pick up new hiking shoes, spend a Saturday hiking on Tiger Mountain or canoeing on Lake Washington, etc. etc.
On the Bellevue College campus, there are some granolas. The granola is the classmate who spontaneously decides to dedicate his/her summer to backpack in Europe while volunteering along the way. Or the classmate who is wearing TOMS, a shoe brand dedicated to preventing foot disease by donating a pair for every pair a consumer purchases.
A good example of a granola: Johnny Depp or Jon Hamm in The North Face clothing. Whoever he/she is, if you really think about it, a granola is a perfect mate. Not only is he/she good looking but they know how to be environmentally sustainable and socially conscious and responsible.
How hot is it to find a guy digging through the racks at Crossroads Trading Company, an environmentally conscious company that allows shoppers to bring in their gently used clothing for cash or trade? Maybe I’m super odd and find the weirdest things attractive but I know I’m not alone with this idea of “hot.”
I am Cali naturally grown and raised so it took me awhile to get used to the guy with the bold, nerdy looking frames with the Timbuktu messenger bag smiling across the bookstore. But after a few years in the Seattle area, I now instantly melt in the presence of a good looking granola.
During Earth Week, make sure you find your granola and enjoy the beautiful outdoors that we are so lucky to be surrounded by in the PNW! Nothing is better than enjoying a hike and then gazing at the stars-100% naturally. Please forgive the non-granola, city crawlers for the light pollution. Men in zip-off pants, JUST ZIP IT OFF! Just kidding. Green is so hot.