The Scenic Route

Travis and I headed up to Vancouver, BC this weekend for his niece Fiona's 1st birthday! We drove up the Olympic Peninsula and drank in the mountain views, verdant meadows, and made sure to pee outside as much as possible. Gas station bathrooms are so grody! When you commit to finding perfect hidden spots among the trees, think of all the fresh air and good stretching you can get! Travis and I marvelled at our amazing idea. I'm sure I am grossing out many of you, but we had a blast. Best adventure buddies ever.



Travis's binoculars have become one of our favorite accessories... We were able to see the elk grazing, napping and showing off thier huge white bums. What sweet, deliberate animals. All the male elk seemed to run off and hide when we showed up. I saw a couple fuzzy antlers at first but then couldn't find them again! Maybe some kind of territory thing. The ladies just plopped down and said "this is our spot, suckas. just try and come over here. see what happens." We declined the challenge.

When we finally arrived in Vancouver, it was party time!

Gramma's balloon was the best present all day!

Big sister love

Carson and Uncle Travis play ball... such stylish dudes!

Such a ham! 

Look at all those teefs!

hi, how are you?

Confession: I have a horrible, unnatural, unexplainable phobia of needles. I am ok at the dentist, I just close my eyes and breathe. But for some reason it is impossible at the doctor. I panic, cry, and freak out. I have plans to undergo hypnosis and they even prescribed anti-anxiety pills so I will go in and get my tetanus booster. But I keep seeming to find excuses not to.

Unsurprisingly, I do not have any tattoos. Living in Austin, a super creative and half naked city (oh Barton Springs, I miss you so) there were many tattoos to be admired. I remember one shop girl at my favorite local boutique that had this cap sleeve pattern on her shoulder. It was red ink, and just the outline of a floral, leafy pattern. I don't know if she planned to fill it in, but I found it perfect in its simplicity. Its always been the idea of what I would get if I grew the cojones.

This ramble was sparked by Elsie's post yesterday, featuring this awesome, Austin-y tattoo.

{flickr}

Melissa's tattoos are adorable

And who hasn't seen  Amanda Wachob incredible work here or there yet?

And while Amanda's work appeals to the painters, Jessica Hische is the modern wonder woman for all of us typophiles...

via {cup of jo, via walks with roxy}

But the club I really want to join is the Jill Bliss tattoo club.

Maybe this guy on my back?

An octopus on my tummy

or some succulents on my thigh

artwork from {jill bliss}

So... perhaps. Someday. 

fuzzy friends

A very special little lady is turning 1 year old this weekend, and I found a book on knitting toys for babies just in time at the library! However, my enthusiasm waned after I cast off several rows too early. (no head for that bunny...) I have since observed cute little friends in the crafty commmunity, and Swedish artist Camilla Engman has caught my imagination.

The use of color and dimension is perfect!

quite a friendly bunch

best fwends

{clicking images will take you to the Source}

So for now, I appeased my over-gifting self with an adorable Liberty of London baby girl dress, and will have something whipped up by the time we visit next! Shopping for babies is so fun!

blue skies

what an amazing daylight savings day!
jenny and i raced out to target only to be disappointed by the hype
travis and joel whipped up a fantastic brunch
drove out to the columbia gorge for an amazing hike at hamilton mountian
used up every last minute of that extra hour of sun!















you can click on any of the images to see more on my flickr!

escapism

An exclusively maritime adventure I have added to my list of favorites is ferry time! These engagement  pictures by Kristen Marie capture the romance of ferry rides...

a floating reverie

until... 

the time comes to frolic in the island woods with loved ones!

oh yes, I love ferries

and this silly boy

big skies

Recently I flew to Texas for a whirlwind weekend of family, friends, and a wedding! I was able to see all my favorite people in the world that live thousands of miles away. (except of course my hermana who I don't see nearly enough!)
The amazing bride is a fantastic photographer, blogger, and all around stylish lady. I knew her fiesta would be a blast. The photobooth was hilarious, with moustaches and props! We cut out our favorites and glued them to a scrapbook with handwritten messages for the bride & groom. She's so clever!

Aren't they they most dashing couple??

The ceremony was held at Austin's Barr Mansion, the nation's first certified organic events venue which featured the most magnificently restored barn with floating candles, star lanterns, vintage glass lanterns all dangling from the ceiling. The ceremony was outdoors, with paper lanters hung from the giant oak that sheltered the party. As the sun set in the distance while the bride and groom pledged their forever love, I (almost) missed living in Texas.

Kisses for my sweet ladies

I miss my Dani cakes!

Got to meet Miss James's main squeeze

Kim's travel pal and awesome roomie, JJ + silly Oscar

Austin, TX represent!

Kim-possible and Diva Dani, I love you gals!

And with Becca and Luke around, we parties like rock stars!

So Fly

I'm sure more pics will be coming soon on the blog of the Mrs...

Her hairpiece, that dress... the shoes I couldn't even see until she kicked them off for boots, awesome!

floral

My life is finally inching back into a normal routine... yoga after work, knitting/blogging by the fire before bed... Although I am jumping with joy about the early spring and happy flowers it brings, I am grateful for the cold fronts that blast through, so we can use up our firewood supply! Although, I am sure with all the coastal camping we are planning for this summer, it will get good use then too.

I just bought my first pair of floral tights... on the bandwagon for patterns!
Once I finally wear them out I'll take some pics to share... till then, dream of flowers!

Oh and watch this hilarious video! Then go buy me one.

yarn bombing

{roses and pearls}

Found a sweet group on flickr called urban knitting. I encountered my first yarn bomb walking in the Pearl last week, and I look forward to participating someday! My roommate Eric bought a book for his crafy brother all about yarn bombing. It has many great tips about knitting the piece, and designing for quick installation! Perfect summertime sunshine project when its too hot to wear all my darling hats.

{likethegoddess}

buttons!!

{kwiatkowa}

wowwwww... what a happy tree!

{grrl+dog}

and... I just saw AVATAR so I totally want to make 2 of these

{grrl+dog}

all the mountains

Saw several globes gracing the tops of shelves this week. I like.

{poppytalk}

My parents kept a vintage globe in our house that resembled the dusty colored ocean globe on the far left of the image below. I think it was even a topographical one, and you could feel the mountains under your fingertips as you spun the oversized orb in its stand.

{smile and wave}

Apologies for my lack of blogging, haven't had much time in the evening to catch up on my blog reading! I have also been trying to downsize my Google-Reader-ship. I had over a thousand blog posts to read after my week of jury duty and vacation. I am the type that sees that number and fees compelled to bring it down to ZERO. Just like my inbox.

If there is an email sitting there that is not in a folder or tucked away somewhere else, it is considered a "to-do" and can be archived only after replying, or following through (such as picking up a library book on hold!) This is very similar to my house-cleaning style. I have to make the bed before I can fold the laundry. Shoes, keys, letters and pony-tail holders all have a home, and should be placed there consistently.

Moving in with my dearest Trav has probably been a sea change for his cleaning habits... I don't think I come across to people as a neat freak, but boy do I love a clean house. Lets the chi flow ;)