I recently had the chance to have a girls night with some of my favorite women in the world. It was a perfect Indian summer evening, the light all golden and warm like it gets in August. We walked downtown and shared a bottle of wine on the back patio of my favorite little wine bar. These women never cease to inspire and amaze me with their beauty, smarts, bravery, compassion, wit and determination. I might be repeating myself, but I'll say it again: I have the most amazing friends in the world, and I am constantly grateful for all of the spectacular people in my life.
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Glorious Summer Time
Our August here on the Oregon coast was particularly spectacular this year. Full of clear blue sky days, sparkling waves and, everywhere you look, bright green growing things. It was also, for us, full of friends, family, good food and adventures. We were lucky enough to have some dear dear friends come stay with us for a few weeks, and we spent the time surfing, hiking, potluck-ing, brunching, camping, talking, laughing, and generally enjoying each others company. It was so grounding and important to spend time with such good friends, and I am undoubtedly blessed to have so many amazing humans in my life.
Enjoy the photos!
Hamapalooza 2012!
We don't have a freezer in our new place yet, so when I moved out of my apartment recently we had a bunch of food, including a whole ham, that needed to be eaten. This seemed like the perfect excuse to have an afternoon potluck, and thus Hamapalooza was born! It was a perfect, sunny summer afternoon full of good friends and family, food, beer and laughter. The evening light was amazing and I captured a few images that I really like, so I thought I'd share. Enjoy!
One Lucky Girl
Last night I took the evening off, something I have't done in awhile, and spent it catching up with a few dear friends. I have the most amazing friends in the world, and I always feel so lucky when I get to spend time with them.
Coconut rice, curried chicken, mason jars of wine, a balmy sunset walk on the beach, and lots of chatting and giggling ensued. I can't say how happy I am to have these beautiful, intelligent, funny, inspiring women in my life.
I am slowly learning how to manage my time and balance work and play as my business starts to take off. Spending time with good friends is always a perfect reminder of what matters in life and a way to clear my mind. All around it was a lovely evening.
New Adventures
You know how sometimes when it rains it pours? That if you have a little bit of something pretty soon you'll have a lot more of the same, all at once? Well these days the universe has been raining big changes in my life. Things are shifting, moving, happening; exciting, wonderful things that make me want to jump up and down and holler happily.
The Photographer and I have recently decided to co-habitate and I couldn't be more excited about this move and everything that it brings! Consequentially a lot of my time lately has been taken up by the process of moving; purging closets and overflowing drawers, lugging boxes to and fro, rearranging and organizing.
There is (almost) nothing I love more than nesting and making spaces. Our new home is a lovely little 13-sided, dome-shaped cocoon of a dwelling and I am so excited to make it into an amazing, warm, inspiring little world in which to create and live.
I have also had a lot of exciting developments in the world of Roots & Wings Jewelry this summer! I am currently in the process of filling some larger wholesale orders for new shops who will be carrying my work, preparing for a photo shoot, maintaining my Etsy shop, and thinking deeply about the prospect of quitting my day job sometime in the foreseeable future (just to name a few things).
While all of this is the dream I have been working towards-to make a living and a successful business doing something I love-I sometimes have a hard time believing it's actually becoming a reality. My plate is immensely full and overflowing, a state that is usually followed closely by feelings of stress and worry. This time around though, perhaps because I am so excited about it all, I have been able to (on most days) keep those emotions at bay and focus on my giddy joy and enthusiasm for the everything to come.
I look forward to sharing more with you very soon, and until then I hope you're enjoying all of the deliciousness that summer brings with her. I'll leave you with some of the literal summer deliciousness in my kitchen today-homemade fermented dill pickles! Yum!