Austin, TX

First I want to say thank you for sharing in this journey with me. I read your comments and know that I am missing much of what's happening in your corners. I do apologize for neglecting you!! I will be back as soon as our dust trail settles.

There is no better way to describe the impression that Austin has left on us other than vivid, vibrant, and energetic. What a fantastic city. Like an unexpected fling, Austin took us for a spin, enamored us and delighted us, flaunting its delectable culture of food, style, and people. From its hills of mountain laurels, the hidden yet busy hike and bike trails, to its independently hip stores perfectly balanced with vintage, antique and bohemian flavors, a day and a half is not long enough for a love affair with Austin, TX. Fortunately, we had an amazing guide. Wally, a 78 year old former mentor and teacher of my husband's, had our visit planned literally from the moment we hopped out of our car on Friday afternoon, to the moment we climbed back in on Sunday morning. To say he had an agenda was an understatement. Wally, a wanderer himself having criss-crossed this country 65 times, splits his time between Stowe, Vermont and Austin. He is a naturalist, hiking and biking enthusiast, and all around cultural and historical encyclopedia. We were in good hands.

It began with an hour and a half hike in the urban hills of south Austin, over rocks, creeks, and wildflowers, taking us to cliffs and overlooks worthy of any popular mountain range.

The history museum and an IMAX film on the "The Story of Texas", the art museum, a sculpture museum, a walking tour of downtown Austin...

A stop at the toy store "Toy Joy", just for fun...

And then there was Boomerang's, where I had the best curry veggie pie ever...A great concept of only selling meat and veggie pies. Can anyone say "franchise", please?

Wally has a sweet tooth, so he made sure he took us to try two of his most favorite blueberry pies in the country, both vegan, both sinfully delicious.

Banjo players on the streets, peacocks wandering in gardens, stores like Uncommon Objects full of found items I could fill my home with, and people exercising, loving the outdoors, loving the city that they live in, absolutely everywhere. I know we had just enough of a taste of Austin to force us to look over our shoulders with one last, longing glance that shouts "until we meet again ..."

We have hit the road again since Austin, and several hours and miles later we are now in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Santa Fe is next, and I can't wait since everyone keeps telling us how amazing Santa Fe is. I will let you know :).

cheers
♥

Linking with Amanda...

our road to the rockies

Wanderers

For me, the faces of the artisans tell a story 

far beyond the beautiful handcrafts they create. 

Their countenance, weathered and lined, 

their hands, worn, calloused and thick, 

proudly reveal a passionate heart, 

nonpursuant of money or fame,

though a few dollars would prove 

that someone else can love a craft

the way that they have loved it. 

As we walk from tent to tent, 

I feel the hopeful, almost pleading eyes 

eager to share, eager to show, eager to give... 

A crocheter, a potter, a woodworker, 

a painter, a palmetto scrub maker, 

a poet on the stage, 

a fiddler in the wings...

They don't eat by the money they make,

they don't drink by the miles they drive,

yet they breathe to travel, wander, and

live by their love to create,

and to offer a piece of their heart to 

any stranger who walks by,

anyone who cares to stop, cares to ask, 

and cares to wonder 

how and why...

Weekending with Amanda...
Hope you had wonderful weekend
xoxo

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

This Moment and more...

Joining Amanda for This Moment, something from the week worth remembering...

I really wanted to put up Joy Pockets this week, and maybe I'll still find time before we board the plane tomorrow. It's been an amazing 10 days, and I can't wait to share the highlights with you as well as giveaway some souvenirs I picked up along the way.

For me, the pacific northwest is one of the most wonderous places I have ever traveled. Aside from the richness it provides in activity, the delectable food culture, the progressive attitudes, it's the breathtaking and emotionally moving landscape that strikes us the most. To be able to see the Puget Sound, Mt. Rainer, the Olympic mountain range AND the Cascades all from one place, is like a spiritual awakening--we become silent and paralyzed as we try to memorize nature's masterpiece. We are all sunshine and heat in Florida, palm trees and oceans, and I do not believe I have taken it for granted. But the access to the woods and hidden trails, the majestic tall pines, the blackberry bushes along the paths, the soothing sound of a wayward creek, the whispering quiet of the canopy that lay overhead...these things unlock something primal in me, in all of us.  Away from the video games, the computers, the television, and the intrusiveness of modern living, the children come alive by watching their leaves flutter then float down the stream.  We watch them beg to climb the moss covered rocks and get lost in the grandfathers of all trees...and with yet the civility of adulthood taking hold, they become wild and alive, they become nature's children once more...

much love to you all and have a weekend full of wonder
xx oo

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 from Portland, day 2

Portland day 2 itinerary:

Coffee and muffins: couldn't find local so Starbucks had to do yesterday.

Wahkeena Trail and Falls, then Multnomah Falls:

Met the biggest slug we've ever seen (so far)!!

After a fantastic breakfast at Multnomah Falls restaurant, the Japanese Gardens!

You can find peace here, among the trickling water and mossy green, the stone steps and the pebble gardens, the graceful coy and the Japanese maples...

And by lunch, we had gone on 3 hikes...

No color correction here, I swear!

There are roses still squeezing in their last bloom in this city, stunning, brightly colored faces begging to be noticed and appreciated in the grandest moment of their lives.

Then the Oregon zoo, a promise to my animal loving youngest. As far as zoos go we were pleasantly surprised. The animals had large, open and very natural spaces. The larakeet exhibit was wonderful and uh...interactive?

the larakeet was fascinated with this lady's phone

But the lioness is what we will remember the most. She came right up to the window, as curious as we were, raising her nostrils to try to get a sniff of the shadows in the glass. She was oh so close, can you see the corner of the glass?

Then, Powell's bookstore, THE largest independent new and used bookstore in the WORLD! No disappointment here. Helena, I took a long deep breath in here for you...:).

Here's a fact, we have had 3 meals here in Portland so far, and in every single place the food did not disappoint! The first was Deschutes Brewery, the second Multnomah Falls Restaurant and the third Karam's Lebanese restaurant, pure deliciousness...

And now we are on day 3.  Welcome Autumn!!! Cannon Beach, the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry are planned, and of course some hiking.

I have been picking up some souvenirs along the way for you!! I'll host some giveaways when we return. Things are all happening at once it seems. We will know if our house's appraisal has gone through to confirm the contract or not by the time we get home. Maybe we will know a little bit better where we will move to by then. This is a scouting trip Ivey as you so aptly surmised :). We are taking recommendations by the way! Do you love your city? Let me know and maybe we'll come visit. I just asked Hubs how to describe what we are looking for and he said "Like Portland, but with great weather." He he.  I know better than to think Shangri-La exists, though Portland hits pretty close so far  :)...

Have a great weekend my friends, hope it's filled with much peace and happiness!!

Love and light to you

xx oo