travels || the south

This is a big year for a lot of my nearest and dearest women.  This is the year most of us, myself very included, will say hello to a new decade, the next little chapter, the big 3-0.
My friend Jessica (best to get to know her via twitter) was the first of us to greet thirty.  We met back in 2008 and just thinking about her and her accomplishments over these short 5 years is quite admirable.  Sometimes I think that we can all start to reflect a little bit when our birthdays come around, of where we thought we would be, or what we thought we would be doing.  Jessica is one of those ladies who is comfortable with where she is at and where she is heading.  And that is damn refreshing.

All of that to say, sometimes life takes you far away, all the way to New Orleans. That is where Jessica lives now and when we were all discussing birthday celebrations, she wanted a few of her nearest to spend a little beach vacation away from all the hustle.  We heard a lot of good things about a few beaches in Florida and booked our flights.  We met up with our all-time favorite, Amy (http://whyhello.tumblr.com) in NOLA and the vacation began...  The photos will do a better job than my words.  Here's to you Jessica, and your exciting new chapter.

Florida

New Orleans

travels || camping at nehalem

I've been camping at Nehalem Bay since I was about 16.  Just about every year since.  The first time I went was actually against my parents will.  Nehalem is located on the Oregon Coast and it was a 6 hour drive away from where we were living at the time.  My friends, my sister and I all told our parents that we would camp at a place about an hour away instead, but when it was time to leave- we all looked at each other and said "fuck it lets go to the coast".  It was incredibly magical and we never told our parents.  At least I don't think we did, and from what I can tell, no one is still eternally grounded.  Early September is the best time to go, but impossible to last-minute reserve; unfortunately i'm not much of a planner...

We visited during a windy weekend, but it was still sunny and warm.  Ian was looking forward a first attempt at salt-roasted branzini over the campfire, which was- as you can imagine, amazing.  It seems a bit extravagant to bring this camping, but was totally worth beating every ounce of egg white by hand.

After Nehalem, we drove along the coastline up to Seaside and Canon Beach to check out Cave Rock and the endless salt water taffy shoppes.  We crossed over the Astoria Bridge and winded back up to Seattle, where I am now, writing this post.

So what I'm really trying to say is this: go to the ocean, get sand in everything, eat too many s'mores, collect seashells, take the long way home; and for god's sake take photos.