Sooooo cooool!! And something for you....

We got back to Florida Saturday night, full of good feeling and our minds bouncing around with possibilities! We did love Seattle, and we did love Portland, but did we decide to move to either place? More on that later :)...

Meeting up with Rain again at this adorable cafe, and then for the first time with Stacy and her little Mica at Gas Works Park were both treasured highlights I'll keep for a long while :). They are both soooo cooool!!! Blogging has blessed me in so many many ways...

Just so you know, it did rain the first day we arrived in Seattle, but then, it was clear skies for the rest of the week (sorry to my friends in the east who experienced quite the opposite :(...).

Mt. Rainier was clearly seen across Puget Sound...

We did a little "digging" for the troll under the Fremont bridge. I think he has seen better days as the bridge is getting some TLC...but what an amazing landmark for Seattle, truly...

And then there is Beecher's Handmade Cheese. Now, me and cheese don't always get along very well so I usually steer clear, but when my beautiful friend Naomi promised me that it was the best mac-n-cheese on the planet, how could I resist? She was sooooooo right.

Then there was this fantastic building where the Dutch Bicycle Company is housed, with a cute cafe in front, and two restaurants around back. One of the restaurants is an oyster bar called the Walrus and the Carpenter.  F. and I are seafood junkies and if you say "oyster", we'll say "WHERE!?" And that's how we landed at the Walrus. And if your curious about where the name came from like we were, take a look at this poem by Louis Carroll found on their website--soooo coooool!!!

And there's more I could show you, including the Seattle Art Museum, Carkeek Park, more hiking trails,  etc., but I think I have reached my limit on using the word "cool" in one post. I have so dated myself at this point, I know I know... So I'll stop here and leave the rest up to you. You MUST visit the PNW if you haven't. You must. Summer is best. You will not regret it and you will get your fill on cool-ness, I promise. Maybe I'll be there to greet you! Maybe...

And now the GIVEAWAYS!

I have 3 things to give away, some souvenirs I picked up for you:

sorry for the fuzzy pic!

1) A beautiful "Blue Wave" garden bell (about 1 1/2 inch tall) from the Portland Japanese Gardens. I've  had an owl bell for 5 years that dings above my Buddha when the wind blows, it's a lovely sound :)...

2) One book from Powell's City of Books!! Now, I know you can get these on Amazon or at the library, but these have lived and breathed on the shelves of Powells book store!! The best place for bibliophiles--EVER.  But I digress... First to giveaway is a wonderful poetry and essay book by Mary Oliver called Owls and Other Fantasies. "Wild Geese" is the first poem in this book, one of my favorites....

You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
For a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about your despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting --
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.


3) And the second book to giveaway is Make Your Place: Affordable, Sustainable Nesting Skills by Raleigh Briggs and the Powells bookstore shopping bag. I also bought a copy for myself and I may be one of the last people on the planet that doesn't have it! It's a wonderful how-to book on making everything from your own salves and first aid, dish and laundry liquid, gardening, using essential oils, making shampoos, furniture and wall cleaners, pest control and more!! Anyone interested in sustainable living must have this book!! And if YOU are the last person on earth who doesn't have this book then enter, go go go!!

HOW TO ENTER: Closed

There will be three separate drawings for each item. Just post a comment on which one you would love to have. That's it. AND... if you don't care which one you want, tell me so and you will be entered in the drawing for each of the three...Sorry, you can only win once though :). You have from today to Thursday night to enter. I will draw the winners and announce them on Friday!!

I'm linking with Amanda's Weekending, it's been too too long since I have!!

So glad to be back, I missed ya...
much love
xoxo

Where we've been

Up in the trees picking apples...

Walking Seattle streets, watching the signs...

Eating gelato that tastes too good for us to care if goats have anything to do with it...

Touching starfish and hypnotized by anemones...

Watching market fish fly and statues light the wall...

Flowers on fire...

Salmon climbing ladders...

and skipping stones across the water...

The streets and shores of Seattle have kept us busy. It's such a beautiful city and the sun seemed determined to prove that this place has every right to be a top contender for home.  We have heavy influences for Seattle, including our best friends that moved here a year ago, old friends from high school, and sweet blog friends (nice to see you again Rain)! We have much less time to think about it now that the appraisal went through and the deal confirmed!!!! We close Oct. 30 :).

So where to next? We really have no idea, though I appreciate all the suggestions from the last post :). I guess I won't worry about it for now. I'll just try to figure out how to make tender moments like these last as long as we are here...

much love
xx oo

Postcards II

To the market we go, with my good friend N. keeping an eye out for me.

Beecher's cheese...

The original Starbucks

Puget Sound

...so little time.

Luly Yang

Seattle Downtown Public Library

Gasworks

Thanks N, for this great shot :).

And as if this day wasn't amazing enough, we had the pleasure of meeting Rain and her son from Rainblissed.  So nice to meet and spend time with you Rain!!

Today is our last day, but we have another full day planned.  I won't be back in this space 'till Thursday as we'll be on the plane all day tomorrow.

Bittersweet, endings are... sad to leave but looking forward to catching up on all that's been missed...

much love
xx oo

Postcards

It begins with coffee, because in Seattle, that is how it always begins...

And then comes the rompus...

With friends whom we've have missed...

Dearly missed...

A few walks and my eyes were filled with color. Flowers, gardens, and green everywhere, balking beautifully at any gray that lay overhead...

And then a market, oh, that market, enough to overwhelm all sense of sight, smell, and taste.

The sweetness of donuts made right before your eyes, then salted caramel, fresh fruit, honey, and cider...

Craftings of colorfully knitted and felted nature, as a master clicks away in the corner.

And as I basque in the bursts of brightness everywhere, I then take in the most delicious smell...

Of fresh baked wild caught salmon...I never had salmon that melted away so willingly in my mouth.

Discovered...foraged fiddleheads, among other things found...

I love this place so far, and I have barely tapped in to this city. There is a spirit here that is undeniable. A place that says "I don't care what the sky looks like, I'm here anyway, and I'm thriving. And as if tired of fighting, the clouds eventually break open and say "Okay, you win for now..."

much love
xx oo