bouldering in leavenworth

On Sunday Dan and I took a day trip up to Leavenworth to go bouldering with our friend Brandon.  We woke up at the ass-crack of dawn, piled our gear into the car and headed out as the sun began to rise.  Neither Dan or I had ever been to Leavenworth, so we were excited to see what the bouldering was like.  We'd actually never been bouldering outside, but Brandon was a seasoned veteran and had been to Leavenworth countless times, and showed us a bunch of great bouldering spots with routes at our skill level.  
The terrain was pretty mind blowing.  Giant boulders the size of houses littered the valley, a gorgeous river cut its way through the mountains, and huge pines rose up from the forest floor.  Just thinking about each one of those boulders barreling down the sides of the mountain to where they currently rest was awe inspiring.  
I'm so excited about how many times we've been able to get out and into nature this year so far.  I think we've gone out just about every weekend these past few weeks.  There's something that's so wonderful about getting into nature, getting away from technology, and resetting.  Fresh air, tromping on soft earth, my fingers touching something other than a key board.  It's so easy to get stuck in the rut of working constantly and forgetting that nature is what keeps me sane and inspired.


 

Bouldering outdoors is such a different animal than bouldering in the gym.  There's less of a sense of safety, gripping rock is much different than gripping plastic holds, and having a great spotter is way more important.  You really have to trust your spotter and when I'm in the gym I rarely even have someone spot me unless I know I'm going for a move that is inverted or feels like it could result in a sketchy fall.  Having crash pads is paramount, and thankfully Brandon had plenty because we haven't invested in any yet.  I love how climbing is such a friendly and communal sport.  There were tons of people around and were so friendly, letting you hop in on a route they were working on, sharing crash pads, offering beta and helpful suggestions.  Dusty was a fan of how many climbers brought their dogs.
There was a 60-80% chance of rain, so we made it about five hours before it started drizzling and forced us to quit.  Climbing in the rain on slippery rock isn't great, so we called it a day (my damn sprained toe was pretty spent anyway), and headed back into town to fill our empty tummies with beer and brats.  It's only the natural thing to do when you're in a Bavarian village, right?  Munchen Haus fulfilled our desires (sauerkraut FTW) and we hit the road back to Tacoma.  A day well spent, in my book.

 

moorea seal flagship store opening!

On Friday I had the pleasure of getting to go to Moorea's flagship brick & mortar store soft-opening party to preview everything and celebrate with her.  I first "met" Moorea when we both worked for Freckled Nest Design creating blog designs.  I realized that she lived in Seattle and started reading her blog and lusting after her beautiful jewelry creations, which at the time she sold in her etsy shop.  We've become friends over the years and I love getting to hang out with her at blog meet-ups and blogger conferences.  Last year when she launched her online retail store she used my home for a product photo shoot and I basically wanted to steal everything she brought for the shoot.  I was so impressed with the caliber of designers and the curation of products she'd chosen to sell and was so excited for her.   One of the things I adore about Moorea is how she's constantly thinking of ways to give back.  Her store donates a portion of every sale to amazing causes and she's completely committed to empowering women and helping people, which I deeply admire.  When I heard that she was opening a brick and mortar shop in Seattle I was so thrilled for her.  I knew it would be stunning and as I walked through the doors on Friday my expectations were exceeded.  This woman is a powerhouse and I love her vision.   Her grand opening party is this Friday, May 9th from 6-9, and the first 100 people get a free Moorea Seal tote bag, so if you're local to the area make sure to head over, and bring your wallet because you're probably gonna want to buy everything (I did.  It was a practice in self control being in there!).  Here's a little taste of all the gorgeous items you can get your paws on!  If you're not local, you can still shop on her online shop here, full of the same beautiful items!

 

 



Moorea Seal Store
2523 3rd Ave, Seattle, Washington

BACK TO BASICS // denim top two

It's felt like we've been living in a dream all week with the heat and sun, and now we've woken up and are back to the same ol' cloudy, dim, rainy days again.  It was magical, though, while it lasted.  I think we've got at least another month or two until Summer is here to stay but these little pockets of summer have been keeping me going in the meantime.  On Thursday it was over 80ºF and we took full advantage of it.  Masa's sundeck opened and we cycled down during the evening to grab some Coronas with chips and salsa and enjoy the last bit of sun.  We weren't ready for the day to end yet and it was still warm after the sun went down (warm nights might be one of my top 5 favorite things in the world), so we rode to Red Hot for another beer before calling it a night.  It was much too hot during the day for this denim top, but I brought it with me when we rode to Masa because I knew it'd cool down after the sun set.  It was the perfect layer to throw on as we biked home.  
The hot weather has ignited a love of iced tea in me that never really existed before.  Last summer I'd bought some raspberry iced tea bags with the plan of making it and never did.  After organizing my tea stash a couple weeks ago I found it again and vowed to actually use it.  I'm not a big water drinker, which is a problem because I'm probably perpetually dehydrated.  Anything with flavor, though, and I'm all over it.  I'm pretty sure I'm incapable of drinking juice at a normal pace.  It's chugging or nothing with juice.  When I'm dehydrated while sleeping I have dreams about juice.  Seriously.  I've been loving this iced tea business though.  Still tasty and flavorful, and it's damn refreshing on an 80º day.  I think 2014 will be the summer of iced teas.  Do you guys have any favorite iced teas? 

 

red top/courtesy of lulu's :: shorts/courtesy of modcloth :: denim top(similar)/thrifted shoes/minnetonka :: shades/courtesy of bonlook :: photos by Dan

BACK TO BASICS // denim top one

On Saturday I finally got down to Wayzgoose at King's Books!  The last few years I've missed it, which is pretty embarrassing as someone who graduated from college with a degree in printmaking.  Wayzgoose is an annual event celebrating printmaking and book arts with tons of fun interactive events like getting to print pull your own little prints with local printmaking studios, paper-making, and watching the steamroller printing huge 3x3 linoleum block prints!  It's been so long since I was around printmaking in such a hands-on and visceral way and man do I miss it.  I always told myself I'd have a printmaking studio in my garage, so maybe I'll make it a goal this summer to make a little printmaking studio.  Anybody looking to offload a cheap printing press?

 


We've been working on getting the Winne "freshened up" because we're going to have my best friend live in it for a while!  I think eventually we might have it be an Airbnb rental, but it needs some fixing up before I'd feel okay having strangers stay in it (it has some... quirks).  Anyway, I was over at her apartment the other day and we were talking about downsizing stuff to fit in the Winne and it took me back to when I lived in it and had that tiny closet.  She was saying how she really wants to pare down her closet (and she'll probably need to at least a little bit to fit into the Brave), and I've been wanting to simplify my closet a bit as well.  I always have the problem of thinking that, hey, maybe someday I'll want to wear that again.  I know the general rule is to give away anything you haven't worn in a year, but I'm pretty sure I had these shorts in my closet for about a year before I wore them.  I bought them on a whim, then didn't wear them for about a year.  But I know that I like them and even if I don't wear them very often, they're still cute and feel like my style.  They are probably way too many items I haven't worn in a year sitting in my closet but I just get so nostalgic about them when I go to throw them in the donate pile.  And I also have the problem of looking back at old photos of my mom when she was younger, wishing she'd saved some of her cute clothes.  So of course I feel like I have to save cute or significant pieces for my future hypothetical daughter.  You guys can't tell I'm a pack rat at all, can you?  Don't worry, I absolutely didn't save every single geometry assignment and test from 9th grade.  Nope.  Not me.  That would be ridiculous.  
 


top(similar)/thrifted :: shorts(similar)/forever 21 :: tights(similar)/target scarf(similar)/modcloth :: boots(similar)/courtesy of blowfish shoes

mt. ellinor

This year we're making an effort to actually get out and explore, rather than just saying we will and then getting to October and realizing we only hiked once all summer.  Not that we did that last year at all.  Anyway.  So far this year we've gone on two hikes and we're finally all geared up to go on an overnighter here pretty soon!  The weather is still a bit iffy and chilly for our first backpacking trip, but by the end of May we'll absolutely have at least one under our belt! On Saturday we woke up around six and sleepily shoved all our gear in the car, piled Dusty on my lap and went to pick up two friends who were also accompanying us before fueling up with some fresh coffee and heading south.  Mt. Ellinor is pretty close, just off of Hood Canal, and the drive out is tree lined and beautiful.  We got there around 9, slipped on our hiking boots and hit the trail.  The first part of the hike is a relatively shallow incline through giant evergreens and open, mossy terrain.  As we started to get higher some dusting of snow started appearing below our feet, and eventually we were hiking on foot-wide path through snow drifts.  



 
Eventually you emerge from the forest into more sparsely treed, much steeper terrain.  The snowy trail transformed into a stairway made from footsteps and some portions felt uncomfortably close to vertical, but the views of mountain ranges and Lake Cushman were breathtaking.  Dusty was a hardcore little trooper and stuck with us the whole time.  I think if we'd known how steep the end of the hike was going to be we probably would've left her at home, but her tiny little legs carried her all the way and she had a blast.  When we decided to get a Corgi we thought that it might not be the best dog for taking with us on hikes, since they have such short legs and are pretty small dogs, but she's turned out to be such a wonderful adventure-Corg.

 
The weather was amazing until we got to the top and it was so socked in, visibility was barely at 20 ft.  Everything was pure, bright white except for a few blurry trees.  We couldn't really tell where the trail went so we ended up turning around a couple hundred feet from the peak, but there wasn't a view anyway.  I think we might try to go back and take the summer trail up to the peak later in the year.

To go down the steep snowy incline we hiked up, we had to glissade down, which is basically just sledding down without a sled.  None of us knew how snowy it would be so we all had just regular pants on, which meant that my butt was frozen by the time we got to the bottom, but it was pretty exhilarating.  One of our friends took a GoPro video of the glissade, but I haven't seen it yet, so here's a youtube video of the Mt. Ellinor glissade to give you an idea (edit: he just uploaded it!).   As we got down into the trees again we got to watch a flurry of snow make its way across a valley, eventually surrounding us with gentle white flakes.  By the time we made it back to the car we were ready to peel off our wet socks and replace them with warm, dry, fresh pairs.  We stopped in Hoodsport to grab some food from the grocery store deli.  I'm pretty sure no food is more delicious than whatever you eat after a big hike.  We sat at a picnic table, soaking in the spring sun, drinking bad coffee and eating chicken strips, corn dogs, and pizza.  The drive home was rainy and the car was full of sleeping hikers.  I spent most of the rest of the day laying in bed working on my laptop.  After hiking 6 miles and ascending over 3,000 ft. I decided that being horizontal was they way to spend the rest of the day.  This week is supposed to have gorgeous weather, so we might have to find another hike to take advantage of the sun!