We were transported back to winter last weekend…
The first part of this hike was warm and sunny, and the snow up top surprised us. I was extra glad I had my sunglasses and a jacket along as we trudged through dazzling snow-covered trails to reach the winter wonderland that was Lake Twenty-Two. Here’s a photo from the the warm sunny beginning:
Read the details of this hike here!
On Sunday afternoon I went to Golden Gardens Park in the Ballard neighborhood with friends for a picnic. We braved the crowds and had a beautiful time grilling, eating, and letting the Puget Sound waves splash our feet. The beach was warm but the water was cold, and there were a few people in bikinis swimming…I’m not sure if that seemed brave or crazy to me, but I’m leaning towards crazy. Brrrrr….
I was perfectly content to sink my toes into the sand and watch the sun sparkle on the water. It felt like a true summer afternoon.
The park was jammed, as I mentioned; I didn’t get a true sense of it and plan to go back and visit on a quieter day. So I don’t have much insight into the location, but for now my takeaway is simply this: don’t you think Golden Gardens is the loveliest name for a park?
Have you ever just needed a break from making? For someone who always has a crafty project up my sleeve, these past few months I’ve spent my time focusing on moving in, exploring my new city, and learning the ropes at my new job. I’ve poured so much energy and creativity into those areas of my life, I haven’t really made anything. (Unless you count cookies!)
Now that all my craft/art supplies are here in the new apartment and somewhat organized I get to dive back in. (By dive in I mean I started a craft group and we have our first meet-up next Monday night, where I will be teaching new friends to applique…that will be a post for another day!)
The confession that goes along with this post is that I ordered a sample box of wool from a local Washington farmer that I am so excited about, BUT it’s been in my storage closet for over a month, virtually untouched. Rather than guilt, I feel it is an exciting box hidden away for a quiet rainy weekend, and “test new wool” will never be a chore on a to-do list.
I’m focusing more on creating art when something really inspires me, when I have a fun Yellow Elm order to fill, or a new technique I want to tackle. It’s a much less proactive approach than my normal self.
If I want to take a walk in the park, or sit on the couch after a long day, that’s cool too, right? No craft in hand.
My current thought: sometimes it’s ok to say no—no to yourself, no to others. Save energy to pour into those things you say yes to, and make those “yeses” the things you are passionate about. What are your thoughts??
Ben talked me in to a camping trip last weekend, and it was the first time we’ve camped since our move. To be honest, I’m sort of a reluctant camper. The photo below of the toilet in woods should explain one of the main reasons I hesitate to camp…not sure if an outhouse is better or worse than no toilet at all.
I never regret going on a camping trip, but sometimes it takes a little persuasion…I kept “wondering” about the weather. Ha.
After a camping trip I come home and look at my pictures, reflect on the beautiful scenery we got to enjoy and the good conversations we have along the way, and it seems a few minutes of outhouse icky-ness was worth it after all. I almost threw up. It’s all just part of the experience, right?!
Oh annnnd I started and finished a book, minus about 40 pages, in one afternoon at the campsite. I think this is an obvious reflection of the lack of facebook instagram pinterest twitter distractions. Amazingly we did have a bit of wifi signal so I uploaded one instagram just for fun, but otherwise I had my internet turned off. It was awesome to sit quietly on a log by the lake and read for a few hours.
If you are interested in going on this trip, it was a 4-mile hike to the campsite. The hike was fairly level, with a few fun bridge crossings. We stopped for lunch at a really nice waterfall area about halfway in. As you can see from my photos, the Maple Grove campsite was gorgeous and right on the water with a fantastic view of Mt. Baker. There were designated campsites with picnic tables, fire pits, and toilets. You can read all the hike details here at the Washington Trail Association website.
I have tentatively promised, pending more research and more practice, to do a multi-day hike sometime in the future. Here’s to me braving more camping adventures!
Last Friday we went to the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival. It was a rainy, muddy day and we sloshed through a lot of puddles, but exploring the tulip fields and RoozenGaarde Display Garden was worth it! The tulips were so bright and cheerful against the gray sky, and the rainy day helped us avoid the crowds.
This will sound ignorant to any gardeners and tulip-lovers out there, but I had no idea tulips were so diverse. The variety at the festival was amazing. I enjoyed looking at tulips of all shapes, sizes, and color combinations. My favorites were soft pink tulips that had a ruffly edges and reminded me of peonies. This climate is obviously a great one for growing tulips (and I’ve seen my share of beautiful tulips around the houses here in Seattle). If I ever get a house here I will for sure plant tulips in my garden!
“When faces called flowers float out of the ground/and breathing is wishing and wishing is having—/but keeping is downward and doubting never/—it’s april(yes, april;my darling) it’s spring!” —e.e.cummings
On the Saturday before Easter the sun was shining and the weather was warm all day. Now it’s cold and rainy again, though we’ve seen a few peeks of sunshine and plenty of pretty spring flowers are blooming, so it’s not all bad. But seriously, remember that weekend of sunshine?? Sigh.
Today I’m home sick and as I said, it’s grey outside. If I was feeling better I would be in the car right now with friends driving to a cabin at Mt. Rainier to build a fire, play games, eat, and snowshoe. So being sick today makes me feel like a first-grader missing out on a school field trip, but without my mom around to make chicken soup, turn on movies, and bring me medicine at all the proper times. Now I’m a responsible adult who has been blowing my nose with toilet paper because I don’t even keep tissues in the house…what I wouldn’t give for a soft tissue with lotion right now. Bleh.
So to re-focus on happy weekends I bring some sunshine here to the blog. That sunny Saturday in March seemed like a good day for some ferry rides. Seattle-Bremerton is the longest ride from Seattle, about an hour, so we got on that boat, ate lunch in Bremerton, and then took a small foot-ferry to Port Orchard.
Port Orchard was super quaint. So much so that we couldn’t even find a coffee shop (what?!!!!). We wondered into a few antique stores, but it was mostly the boat ride over and back that made it worth a visit to us.
We spent all day riding ferries without any real destinations, soaking up the sun, and walking to and from the port. That sure was fun. …now back to blowing my nose :/
I got the most adorable invitation in the mail a few weeks ago for a baby shower. The theme was handmade, and all the gifts were to be handmade. This is obviously right up my alley, and though I couldn’t attend the shower in person I sent my love from Seattle to South Carolina in the form of handmade bunting and pom poms.
Isn’t that a fun idea for a baby shower? I asked my friend today if I could share some pictures of her nursery here on the blog when it is complete, so stay tuned for that!
You know how Portland is one of those cities you’ve known about forever, and wonder if what everyone says is true? (More specifically, you wonder if the ever-hilarious Portlandia is telling it like it is?)
We decided to go to Portland yesterday and see for ourselves. Our spontaneous trip was mostly centered around food, and let me tell you it was a day of good eating: we started with Thai lunch at Pok Pok, then got coffee at the original Stumptown, waited in line at Voodoo Doughnuts (worth the wait, in my humble opinion!), and ended with dinner at ¿Por Que No? Taqueira.
Our very last stop was to grab a take-out cup of Stumptown French Press from one of the awesomest coffee shops we stumbled upon, Albina Press Coffee…our only regret was having to head back home and not spend an hour sitting in the coffee shop at the end of the day.
So what did I see in my short time in Portland? Bikes, beards, converse, bikes, glasses, dogs, plaid shirts, bikes, rivers, graffiti, cute craftsman houses, tattoos, amazing artwork, bright lipstick, bikes, and rain. Did I mention how bike-friendly it is?
We only scratched the surface in our explorations of Portland so we’ll have to plan a trip back soon! Also since it was rainy most of the day we have a lot of outdoor things to do…next time we need to rent bikes.
A special comparison for my friends from back home: Portland felt a lot like Asheville, NC, except bigger.
I was a proud baker this weekend. I saw a photo last week on instagram of an adorable cupcake with a pretzel nest on top and thought “I could make something like that!” —so I got creative in my kitchen and made pretty Easter nest cupcakes to take to an Easter lunch that I was invited to.
To make the nests, I melted chocolate chips, dumped pretzel sticks in the melted chocolate and stirred it around, breaking a few pretzels on purpose.
Then I formed the pretzel nests on top of a cookie sheet and wax paper, put 3 candy-coated eggs in each one, and put them in the fridge.
Next, I baked chocolate cupcakes in a white cupcake liner, leaving extra room in the cup for the nest.
After the cupcakes were cool, I piped pink buttercream icing on top and put an Easter egg nest on top of each one.
And the photo below I snatched from my friend Elisabeth’s facebook page is me holding the tray of cupcakes…notice the short sleeves and sunshine. The weather for our Easter weekend here in Seattle was anything but gray and rainy!
Since daylight savings time (and since we got back from our trip to Georgia) I’ve been wandering around the city more after work, taking advantage of the longer days. I decided one day last week to walk toward the water with no specific plan and found myself in Myrtle Edwards Park, where I had a long melancholy walk by myself. Putting one foot in front of the other, pondering life, listening to the waves and the seagulls and watching the boats and the clouds. That sort of thing. Then the rain clouds I had been watching arrived and I abruptly ended my walk and hurried back home, wet and cold and in desperate need of a cup of hot tea.
Ben and I also walked about 5 miles on our day off, exploring the city mostly around Pike Place Market and on Queen Anne hill. There is something so healing and simple about walking, breathing fresh air, buying only what you can carry home.
Spring is subtle here in Seattle; cherry blossoms and daffodils coloring the grey landscape, braving the cold wind and light rain. In the South spring descends rapidly, with an explosion of green leaves, yellow pollen dust, and warm sun. It’s fun to be experiencing a completely different climate.
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