One look at Gaby Basora’s personal style and it is evident that she is a Seattleite at heart. From an early age, she was influenced by the city’s street style, an inspiration that continues to this day. Although she has lived in New York since graduating college, the designer  still considers Seattle home.  We caught up with her to learn the ins-and-outs of the city.

FAVORITE THINGS: Peter Miller Books and Pioneer Square. Peter Miller Books is a beautiful book shop, gregariously and generously owned and maestro’ed by Peter Miller. If you are lucky to be there at lunchtime, Peter “cooks” in the shop and shares the recipes in Abrams published book, Lunch At the Shop.

LEAST FAVORITE THINGS: The hills and the rain. My mom insisted we had to learn how to drive stick if we wanted to drive.

MUST DO: Pike Place Market has been open since 1907 and is filled with artisans, farmers, and craftspeople. Other spectacular things to do include taking a ferry to Bainbridge, visiting the Space Needle, walking around neighborhoods in Fremont, or taking a hike on Mount Rainer.

MUST SEE: Bruce Lee is buried in the cemetery in Volunteer Park near where I grew up.

WHERE TO EAT:  Visits are more about reliving childhood memories. Some of my favorite eateries are The Pink Door, Piroshky Piroshky for Russian pastries, and Jalisco Mexican.

WHERE TO CHILL:  People think it never suns in Seattle but when it does, the Evergreen State glistens. Volunteer Park, Greenlake, The Pike Place Market, Fremont, The Houseboats on Lake Union, and Pioneer Square are all lovely places to hangout.

BEST STREET STYLE:  Plaid flannel, jeans, and independent energy define Seattleites. Posters from Streetwise, a documentary that Mary Ellen Mark did on Seattle homeless youth in 1984 captures the Seattle of my teens, the Clash at the Paramount, Punk, indie rock scene. I’m not glamorizing drugs and prostitution, but there’s no doubt that the Seattle youth scene and the music scene infiltrated generations’ minds and styles.

ON MISSING SEATTLE: I spent my childhood in Seattle. I have heard it said that we are who we are going to be at five years old … personality … and, in my case, style too.