HOW I KNOW I'M HOME

Exhibit A: Snowy Mt. Rainier out the window of a jet plane. At one point I could see Rainier, St. Helens, Adams and even a tiny speck I'm sure was Mt. Hood off in the distance, all at once. Sound the trumpets in my heart!

Exhibit B: The first little bouquet from my parent's garden up in my attic room: Buff Beauty, honeysuckle, lavender, oregano flowers. Grandma's silver teapot. Many more to follow.

READY TO GO

In just a few short hours, I'll be boarding a big hunk of steel and going up into the air and, eventually, winding up on the other side of the country. Here is my travel outfit, carefully selected this afternoon. The only bummer about wearing sandals to the airport is having to walk barefoot through the security gate (gross I know, but I buy and wear second hand shoes on a regular basis so really, how much worse could it be??) but, even at 2:03am, it is is still TOO HOT to wear anything else. Although it will probably be raining when we touch down in the PNW and I'll have to change into boots. With pleasure.

Thankfully I am NOT bringing my computer, but I will be keeping in touch and probably even posting now and then. See you all on the flip side (of the continent!) Stay cool!
♥
s

UPSTATE + OF A KIND

One of the (many) things I'm most looking forward to this time back home is getting down to some serious arts & crafts with my best friend (or as Alan Shemper used to call it, arts and farts and crafts!) I started doing a bit of experimenting with very basic shibori techniques last summer, and I'm definitely looking forward to learning more this year. So I was excited when Kalen, one of the designers behind Upstate, got in touch to let me know about this little collaboration with Of A Kind. The beautifully dyed crop top, pictured above, is limited to a run of only 30 pieces will be available starting tomorrow morning.

Read more about Upstate here and watch a great little video right here.

NORGE

It's been hard for me over the last 48 hours to process what's happened in Norway. On the one hand, I have to admit to being frustrated by the lack of acknowledgment of the tragedy in the non-Scandinavian blogosphere--BUT that said, I also understand that not everyone feels like a blog is the ideal platform for expressing these kinds of sentiments. I guess I just feel weird not talking about it here when it's affected every other part of my life.

I've never been to Norway, but I have strong Swedish and Norwegian ties on my father's side (the marriage of a Thorson and an Almqvist.) I'm also supposed to be in Oslo for a day during the upcoming Øya festival. I'm still incredibly excited to finally be visiting one of the places I've wanted to travel to for as long as I can remember, but now my mind is also heavy thinking of the shock and sadness that this country, this city, and these people have undergone. My ♥ for all of you.

(photo found via Vanilla Scented)

DIP ME IN THE WATER

I've said it before and I'll say it again: I never understood how anyone could profess to "hate summer" until I moved to New York. Brooklyn is baking. There's no other word for it. I'm lucky in that I've been primarily in either an air conditioned office building or a cool, cave-like basement apartment for the last few days, but the train trips in between, walking the dog I'm looking after, going to the corner to restock on watermelon and down the street for groceries? Hellish. Hell-esque.

All I can think about right now is water. Cool, crisp, sparkling water from the sea. Looking at the top photo, I can actually feel the shock of dipping my feet in that icy northwest current, the numbness as it slowly sets in, and finally my toes like little ice cubes when I pull them back out and rest them on the hot rock beneath me. I crave it, I need it. I've dreamed about it for the last week, at night and in the day. GET ME OUTTA HERE.

(All photos taken by me on a Canon AE-1 Program)