Happy Friday! Enjoy the weekend.

☁️ Today's weather: Mostly cloudy, with a high of 80.

🎂 Happy birthday to our member Christy Taylor!

• And happy early birthday to our members Petra Barclay, John Chirapurath, Teresa Hall, Chelsea Nesvig, Alaric Bien, Gayle Wooster and Sudha C!

This newsletter is 821 words, a 3-minute read.

It’s hard not to love Seattle when strolling through the Olympic Sculpture Park, surrounded by art and views of Elliott Bay. Now, you can add minigolf to the experience.

Why it matters: Playing on an artist-designed course at one of the city’s coolest outdoor spaces is peak Seattle summer — and you’ve still got a few weeks to give it a try.

Zoom in: Each of the course's nine holes is designed by a Seattle artist.

• Some explode with color. One is a kinetic sculpture, which requires you to crank a wheel to move your ball through the middle. (Somehow, my 6-year-old managed a hole in one on this one — don't ask me how).
• Another course is set up like a pinball machine, adding to the whimsy.
• You can keep score or not — for us, most of the fun was in teasing each other over our bad golfing skills.

What to expect: A $15 ticket buys you one round through the nine-hole course. (Kids 6 and over are $11; younger kids are free). Buy tickets in advance, as tee times often sell out.

• Once there, don't rush the course — linger to enjoy the artworks, make conversation and draw out the experience.
• Parties of up to eight people are allowed.
• Don't bring your own putters. The course provides them (and the golf balls).

If you go: Minigolf at the sculpture park runs through Labor Day (Sept. 7).

• Hours are noon to 8pm Wednesday through Sunday, with the last tee off at 7:10pm each day.

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Some Seattle-area residents are turning laundry into a side hustle to help bring in extra cash.

Why it matters: Unlike food delivery or other gig jobs, laundry service Poplin can be done largely from home, making it an option for parents and others in need of flexible work.

By the numbers: The nearly decade-old app-based service — essentially an "Uber for laundry" — now operates in more than 500 cities nationwide, including Seattle.

• More than 1,700 Poplin "laundry pros" are in metro Seattle, company spokesperson Pete Bahrenburg tells Axios.
• The company has served more than 3,200 local customers — scrubbing more than 1.1 million pounds of Seattle-area laundry.

How it works: Poplin charges customers $1 a pound and workers keep 75% of that, plus all customer tips, per Bahrenburg.

Yes, but: The work comes with costs traditional employees don't shoulder.

• Poplin workers, like most gig workers, are independent contractors responsible for their utilities and transportation, plus wear and tear on their appliances.

Go deeper

🐟 Cars could return to Pike Place Market four days a week this fall and winter under an SDOT proposal that would keep pedestrian-focused restrictions on weekends and during special events. (KOMO)

🪓 Starbucks is laying off 224 employees, including 120 who declined moves to Nashville, as it carries out a restructuring plan announced in May. (KING 5)

🧢 The Mariners lost 7-4 to the Brewers yesterday, dropping the three-game series that began with a brutal 22-0 loss to Milwaukee on Tuesday. (MyNorthwest)

🏏 The Seattle Orcas' inaugural women's T20 cricket tournament continues through Sunday at Fairfield County Park in Monroe, featuring the Bellevue Blazers, Redmond Raptors and Washington Waves. (Seattle Orcas)

Alaska Airlines yesterday announced new nonstop flights to Athens and Paris from Sea-Tac beginning next year.

• Our airport, aka SEA to some, is increasingly becoming a major international gateway, giving Seattle travelers more places they can reach without a connection.

By the numbers: SEA/Sea-Tac offers 63 nonstop international service options to 37 destinations on 29 airlines, per the Port of Seattle.

• Six new intercontinental services have debuted this year, including new connections to Hong Kong, Rome, Barcelona, London and Reykjavik.

Mr. Benito Pawblo Escobark loves hiking with his parents on sunny days, owner Annette T. tells us.

But his signature move comes at bedtime. When he gets his evening treat, "he must always throw it down on the floor like a drama queen and bark at it 12 times."

• Only then will he pick it up, carry it upstairs and enjoy it.

It's an evening ritual Annette says no one will ever break him of.

📸 Got a pet that deserves the spotlight? Hit reply and send us their name, some cute pics (horizontal if possible) and what they most like and dislike. They might just become our next featured star!

🧺 Melissa hates doing laundry, but at the same time can't imagine outsourcing it through an app.

🥘 Clarridge is looking forward to lunch with Melissa, her son, and Meira from Portland.

This newsletter was edited by Geoff Ziezulewicz, who will always call it Sea-Tac.