Born and raised in the Pacific Northwest I feel most alive surrounded by trees and breathing in the fresh mountain air.
When I am not working you will most likely find me spending time outdoors, volunteering with my church and exploring this beautiful planet with my family.
This is my place to share my passion for life and to encourage you to take time to find the extraordinary in your life.
Our memories are never as good as we would like them to be. I cannot tell you how many time photographs have played an integral part in jogging my memory of years past. Just this past week, after a hard rain storm I ran out to capture our cherry blossom tree in full bloom. I wanted to capture its brilliance before the wild spring weather turned its delicate petals into confetti all over our lawn.
I have three nieces all from the same family who have their birthdays within six weeks of one another. In order to keep the peace I have tried my best over the years to give them all similar gifts. As the eldest is becoming a teenager, this is becoming increasingly hard, so this year I decided to do something different and create Surprise Balls for them. For those of you who have never heard of these before, they are easy to recreate and adapt to the recipients age and taste.
One Saturday in March, we saw the weather was warmer in Portland was possibly going hit seventy degrees. Since we had the day free, we jumped in the car and spent the day eating, walking, shopping and basking in the glorious sunshine. As much as I am a planner, I appreciate the impulsiveness of my husband. When he is not working, he does not like to spend his time creating plans. This used to drive me a bit crazy, but I have decided in regards to his schedule he likes to be as free as the wind.
Do you like to hand out little Easter treat to friends, dinner guests or someone a little too old for an Easter basket? Then look no further, these scalloped window boxes are the perfect thing.
When beautiful weather combines with perfect timing and gorgeous flowers it is a wonderful moment. A couple weeks ago I saw the University of Washington cherry blossoms were in full bloom, and as luck would have it, it coincided with a breathtakingly beautiful Friday evening. We enjoyed strolling around my alma mater while I snapped photographs as if I had never seen a cherry blossom before.
We love spending time in the San Juan Islands and Orcas Island is one of our favorite. Like all places we visit frequently we have generated a list of our favorite places to go and things to check out.
When the sun comes out in Seattle we all shout its praises. However, when it is raining outside we often overlook how beautiful it is in its own right. Here are some images from a day trip we took earlier this month when the rain came pouring down all day long and every vista looked like a muted watercolor.
A couple weeks ago we enjoyed a picturesque weekend on Orcas Island. We stayed at the charming Turtleback Farm Inn and enjoyed solitude, rolling farmlands and excellent service. The Inn is located in Crow Valley and sits on the western side of Orcas Island. The proprietors, Susan and Bill Fletcher are energetic, friendly and as welcoming as can be. They simultaneously serve, entertain and engage their guests.
Procuring the gift bags was one of my favorite elements for the Seattle Bloggers Unite Spring Social. I had such a wonderful time working with such amazing local (and one not so local) vendors. Hours of hard work, time and talent were stuffed into each gift bag.
Last week I had the wonderful opportunity to cohost the Seattle Bloggers Unite Spring Social. It was such a wonderful evening and I always find the process of creating a vision and then executing it, so exhilarating. We hosted the event in Aran Goyoaga's studio since it was the first day of Spring we could not have had asked for a lighter, brighter or more versatile space to work with.
Recently, I had the fun opportunity to interview Jess Marie of Pine and Boon. I always enjoy being able to hear more about an artist's creative process and the real life struggle between paying the bills and doing what they love. Hearing a little more about the person behind the product always inspires me to do my part to support as many local artists as I can. Jess Marie makes beautiful products and her enthusiasm for what she does shines through in her work.
The past couple of weeks this blog has taken a backseat to life. I have been fortunate to have a hectic travel schedule this Winter and have been able to spend my time on many exciting projects. One of the most thrilling projects I have been working on over the past few months just wrapped up last night- the Seattle Bloggers Unite Spring Social. For any of you who attended last night, I would love to feature your recaps on my blog. Simply email me the link or leave it in the comments below. I would love to see all the different perspectives from the night.
There are so many exciting things to do as the days get longer and the weather becomes warmer. Here is a list of my top things to do this Spring:
Today I would like to highlight one such vendor, Erin Duncan of Wren Bird Arts, who tirelessly creates personalized, creative embroidered handkerchiefs, pocket squares, napkins, placemats and dishtowels. I am so pleased with the beautiful assortment of handkerchiefs she has created for our gift bags. I like the idea of ordering a stack of the "No ugly crying" handkerchiefs to have on hand for anyone I know who was getting married in the near future. The flowers, the elephants, the paper cranes. I pretty much love them all.
The Glass Cabin is the perfect jumping off point for exploring the Skagit Valley. You can drive into LaConner or farther afield and spend a day visiting farmlands, shopping or taking in the local culture.
Soon, the annual Skagit Valley Tulip Festival will be in full swing and thousands will descend upon this small town to see the tulips. We like to make it an annual tradition to visit the tulips and a few years have even made it for the daffodils. Here are some of our past trips in 2013, 2012, 2010, 2009 and check out my guide to LaConner and how to best enjoy the Tulip Festival. In order to see which fields are in bloom before you go check out the bloom map.
When I first stumbled upon this glass house, I knew I had to experience it firsthand. This is the type of house you see amongst the glossy pages of an architectural magazine, the type of house you pin on Pinterest or the type of house you one day dream about living in. I had planned our trip to the glass house many months in advance, so when the day finally approached I could not contain my excitement.
There are so many great day trips to take from Seattle. Some of our favorite destinations include locations like Coupeville,Friday Harbor and Orcas Island. All of these locations require ferry rides, which make getting there half the fun. There is something extra adventurous about going on a day trip which requires multiple forms of transportation. This Winter, we have made a conscious decision to break out of our routine of going snowshoeing every weekend and instead enjoy taking several day trips from Seattle. Usually, we usually save these adventures for better weather in the Spring or Summer time, but there is something inspiring about visiting a place during a different time of year.
Greetings from the Glass house!
Several months ago I stumbled upon this spectacular house and knew we had to plan a visit. I have been looking forward to staying here for awhile now and now that we are here I am giddy with excitement. From the wood burning fireplace to the heated bathroom floors I am pretty much in heaven everywhere I go. Although I would never classify myself as a homebody having so much exposure to the outdoors makes being inside downright dreamy.
As much as I love winter with its moody color palette and snowy adventures, I equally look forward to Spring. The temperature has started to warm up around here as it evident by the daffodils, crocuses and irises popping up out of the ground around the neighborhood. My favorite product of spring is the eventual blooming of our cherry blossom tree and our camellia bush. Having an excess of fresh flowers to bring inside never gets old to me.
A proven way to chase away winter blues is with flowers. The only trouble with fresh flowers is they don't last forever. A simple and easy way to bring the outdoors in is by creating an assortment of tissue paper flowers.
All you need to make tissue paper flowers are three simple items:
