I always look forward to the holiday season, but I’ll admit, this one has gotten off to a rocky start. Between the traveling, moving, trying to find a place to rent, settling in, and bunches of it-sucks-to-be-an-adult type stuff to deal with, the Christmas spirit seemed to be eluding me. So Mr. F and I made a concentrated effort, despite him still being a bit under the weather with a cold, to seek out our lost seasonal spirit. First things first? A good sleep in nestled under cozy blankets.
lazy mornings are the best start to the day
Freshly baked Brown Sugar Cookies are a pretty delicious way to wrangle up some holiday joviality. There are no calories at Christmas, right?? A bit of a warming trend here in Idaho ( after single digits, yep, 39 degrees feels downright balmy ), meant we finally explored this little town a bit more, discovering another yummy breakfast and some of the finest pizza we’ve ever had. And saw a live theater production of A Christmas Carol at the University of Idaho. If that doesn’t get you into the spirit nothing will!
mr. f got his baking on while carols played
u of i’s a christmas carol production
I always find that as much as we love going out and making new discoveries, ending our weekends snuggled in at home helps us rejuvenate and reconnect just as much.
cozy afternoon reading by the tree
a beautiful moon wishing us a good night
Although it took a little effort, I think our Christmas spirit has made itself at home in us once again, and just in the nick of time! How was your weekend, Artsies? Full of holiday cheer?
Want to see more from this artsy life? Follow me on Instagram!
As most of you know, Mr. F and I find ourselves in a new spot every three to six months and each time requires a bit of effort to get settled into our new adobe. Add to the upcoming Christmas holiday & all that entails into the mix and we had a recipe for a busy, not so relaxing weekend!
The pared down possessions we travel with means there is no room to carry holiday decor around with us, but we always find a way to do a bit of budget & space friendly decorating ( more on that later this week! ). Now this little apartment in the snow feels so much more cozy and Christmas-y.
our sweet little tree & snow covered view
a forager must have glittery pine cones!
While Mr. F did fun stuff like getting the oil changed & changing over our renter’s insurance ( told you, big fun! ), I was busy doing a live podcast for iCreateFlix ( listen here ) in which I chatted with host Cara Rae about how Artsy Forager came about, the way the artist/gallery relationship is changing, how artists can use social media to promote their work and of course, gushing about how much I love Pinterest. My interview for the Thriving Artist Summit also went live yesterday! ( Get access here, only available now through Wednesday 12/11! )
it wasn’t all fun & decorating
But as the darkness was setting in on Sunday evening, the errands had been run and the business taken care of and we were finally able to settle in and relax in our new home. There may have been a little slow dancing involved..
mr. f got his cooking mojo back
beer experiments, always a fun way to end the weekend
The holidays can be such a hectic time of year, making time to slow down and enjoy each other helps to bring everything back into perspective, doesn’t it?
It has been so long, but I’m finally back with a recap of what Mr. Forager & I were up to these past few weeks. It was a roller coaster ride, for sure! The Friday before we were to leave WA, Mr. F thought he had a job in Ellensburg, WA sealed up, just waiting on the contract to be sent over. We waited and waited and finally got fed up and called the facility who’d wanted to hire him only to find out they’d changed their minds! So now we were leaving WA on a Saturday morning with no idea whether he would have a new contract at the end of our road trip. Stress!! But we decided to make the most of our trip anyway, taking a leisurely drive down the Oregon Coast. *Note: The Coast is beautiful anytime of year, but would have been much more enjoyable in summer. Brrr!
canon beach, oregon
We got in a cold but enjoyable walk along Canon Beach and made it to our car seconds before the downpour began. Trying to be budget minded on this trip, we tent camped the first night– we survived ( our sleeping bags are rated to 23 degrees ) but the wind ensured that Mr. F’s side of the tent, which is a bit more suited to backpacking in summer, got wet. That, combined with my whining, put the kibosh on the tent camping! We kept making our way down the Coast at a leisurely pace, stopping in Manzanita, Pacific City, Florence and a few other coastal towns I can’t recall at the moment!
view from a coastal town i can’t remember the name of!
So much beauty to behold, you really need more like a month to make this trip, not the week that we gave ourselves. Despite the cold and rain, we loved every minute of it. We discovered the joys of yurt camping ( totally the way to go in Oregon ) and chatting with locals. Once we hit California, we figured out that we’d perhaps been a bit too leisurely going through Oregon, so had to make up some time. Mr. F also was able to secure another contract to begin in Idaho after Thanksgiving. I was a little bummed, not that Mr. F got a job because yay! but because I’d already been looking at rental prospects for the area and well, they were bleak. So some stress was added back into our fun.
We drove through stands of giant redwoods and inhaled the scent of eucalyptus through much of the Northern California coast. We spent the night in a hostel at Pt. Reyes, arriving at dusk and leaving just after dawn, so all we were able to see of Pt. Reyes itself was through a thick layer of fog. Bummer. But the little town of Pt. Reyes Station was a sweet little artsy spot, definitely worth a stop if you find yourself in the area. We continued our journey over the Golden Gate Bridge, heading for our next destination, Big Sur.
golden gate through the rain
But before we hit Big Sur, I had always wanted to see Carmel, so we stopped for a bite of lunch and a good leg stretching. I’d read about the architecture and charm of Carmel years ago and had always longed to see it. Let me assure you, it did not disappoint! Such a lovely little spot filled with fairy tale cottages.
carmel by the sea
And then came Big Sur. This place totally enchanted us. The friends we were headed to visit told us it was their favorite place and now we understand why. It is the most “Northwest” feeling of all the places we’ve been in California so far. We camped in a tent cabin along the banks of the Big Sur River and drove along Highway 1 with our mouths agape.
The clouds continued until we hit Santa Barbara and then it was like BOOM you are now in Southern California where the sun is always shining! After nearly a week of cold rain, it was a welcome change! Thanks to stopping in at the SB Visitors Center, we scored a nice deal on a sweet little boutique hotel for the night. Off we went in search of dinner and stumbled upon the Santa Barbara Funk Zone, a fun change after the more touristy center of town. But the best part was knowing that after a few hours of driving the next day, we would reach our friends in San Diego and be able to settle in for a nice long visit.
santa barbara mission
I’ve written before about our friends the Jameses and their boys. Any visit we have with them is sure to be filled with lots of food, fun and laughter. And always way too short. We began our trip back up to Idaho the morning after an over indulgent Thanksgiving!
afternoon at the park
The whole time we were in San Diego, we were still trying to secure a rental in Idaho. And no dice. It became increasingly frustrating, especially after we arrived in the area and saw one rental that was, well, lets just say the Craigslist photos were very deceiving! After three more hotel nights, we were finally able to move into our little apartment here in Moscow, ID. We’ve been so busy looking for a rental and moving in that we’ve barely been able to explore town. Hopefully I’ll have more to share from Moscow next week! Have a fabulous weekend, Artsies!
If you’d like to see more photos from our trip and from This Artsy Life, follow me on Instagram!
A big part of the adventure of living this gypsy lifestyle that we’ve chosen is in the unknown. We are never sure where we might be from one contract to the next and in these days of healthcare upheaval ( Mr. F works in physical therapy ), the unknown is mixed with a heavy dose of uncertainty. A lot of where we end up is completely up to chance– when Mr. F can start, what jobs are available at that time. It really is just a complete roll of the dice.
For a control freak like me, it involves giving up a massive amount of security. Over the past two+ years, I’ve learned to deal with the loss of control pretty well. There is usually a bit of a freak-out involved at the beginning, in the race to find and secure a temporary rental, packing, unpacking, etc. Right now, I’m in freak out mode, ya’ll. Mr. F is interviewing today for a contract in a less-than-ideal area. But the contracts have been scarce this go ’round and although we could wait for something better to come along, we have financial goals over the next few years and want to keep on top of them. So I’m struggling today to let go. To let go of my fear of not being able to find a decent place to live, of spending the holidays far from family and friends, of the temptation to persuade Mr. F to turn the contract down if offered.
But that practice of letting go isn’t just a product of this lifestyle. It’s what marriage or any relationship is about, too. Releasing our own expectations for the greater good, what is best for both. It can be painful at first, but hopefully each act of letting go leads us somewhere we might never have gone on our own.
All images by Artsy Forager. See more from This Artsy Life by following Artsy on Instagram.
Fall back weekend is my favorite weekend of the year! An extra hour of sleep is always, always a good thing in my book. And even the extra darkness at night meant that Mr. F & I ate an early dinner and enjoyed music and reading while cozied up on the sofa. The shorter days can be a difficult adjustment, but really, I don’t mind so much. Lately, it seems like we need that extra time to wind down and calm our minds.
We are entering our next to last week here in this little corner of the Olympic Peninsula. Mr. F’s contract here will end next Friday and we’ll be moving again, to parts as yet unknown. This is always a bit of a nervous time for us, waiting to hear from recruiters for Mr. F, deciding where to head next.
This quiet little place has been just what we needed following a crazy, fraught-with-life-changing-decisions period in Seattle. Being away from the distractions of the city has helped us in so many ways, not just in the slower, more relaxed pace, but it’s also granted us the gift of time and space– time to be together, time to explore what we want to do, what we want to work on, where we want to be.
There is always a bit of a crossroads type feeling at the end of our time somewhere.. we’re moving forward, but momentarily transfixed as we await direction. Not only are we waiting to see where Mr. F’s career will take him next, but with the launch of Forager Services, opportunities are popping up for me, as well, leading to more decision making turning points.
But if there is one thing that this way of life has taught us, it is that our lives go through seasons, just as the world around us does. Some things, like our love and reliance on each other, remain constant and unchanging, while other things like financial worries and job stresses can be as changeable as the leaves in the Fall. As long as we hold on to the constants, the looking ahead isn’t nearly as scary.
The end is fast approaching, ya’ll. In less than 4 weeks, we will be setting off again to parts as yet unknown. While there isn’t much to do in this little town during the week, there is an overwhelming amount of awesome places to see within a day’s drive! Which means that we’ve been trying to explore and check stuff off our list before our time here is up. This weekend we decided to hit up our second favorite Northwest city, Portland. And after seeing it in the Fall, I must admit.. it might just take over the #1 spot. Sorry, Seattle!
I don’t know what it is about this time of year that makes me long for big cities. Maybe its the mix of falling leaves, steel and concrete. Maybe it’s how very alive cities feel in the Autumn, when there is so much going on. We ran a few errands then headed to the Pearl District to do a little gallery-hopping. I’ll be sharing more about some awesome shows and galleries in a separate post. Gallery-hopping is thirsty business so we went over to Powell’s Books, a must-do whenever we’re in Portland, for a cold beverage and some book browsing, followed by vintage clothing browsing and record store browsing while waiting for Tugboat Brewing to open. ( Beer is always Mr. F’s reward following an afternoon spent in galleries ). We jammed a lot into those ten hours in Portland. But anytime we’re in a place we love, it’s never quite enough, is it? Time just goes by too fast and we’re always a bit nervous that the next destination might not be as lovely.
There is still so much we want to see and do before we leave this area! I’m not sure we’re going to be able to get to everything on our list. How did our time here slip away so quickly? We’re determined to savor what’s left. A lesson we can take into every day we have, yes?
If there’s one thing I’ve learned in my several decades of life, it is never say never. Now I might say I highly doubt that will ever happen.. but I’ve learned that just when you think never is the only answer, you change, circumstances change and you find yourself thinking.. ok, maybe.
Mr. F and I are learning to always be open to where the next turn in the path may lead. What we might think is a step back, may end up being two steps forward in a different direction. We spent some time this weekend, as we seem to do every weekend, exploring around us and playing a familiar game.. “Could we live here?”. We were in this area when we first came out to the Northwest together and I was still adjusting to traveling, to married life, to being away from my family and in a completely new setting. We have some very fond memories of that time, but it definitely wasn’t the easiest for us. When we left I was close to “nevering” this place, well, that other little town in particular. But now, after experiencing more places, this rainy, beautiful peninsula does have its draw.
We explored one of our favorite little towns, Astoria, OR and I remembered thinking how we’d kind of crossed it off our list as just a bit too rainy.. never say never. Then on Sunday, we drove up Hood Canal and Mr. F took me for a little tour of neighborhoods higher up in the mountains where the air is a bit drier, a bit crisper, the towns much smaller, but the homes way more affordable.. never say never.
[ fall day in Astoria ]
[ beer..a “never” I broke after Mr. F & got together ]
[ taking these paths together ]
[ views like this might never get old ]
We are incredibly blessed to be living a life that is so wide open. There are friends who say they could never live this way, but to them I say never say never! Freedom has its advantages.
Want to see more from this artsy life? Follow me on Instagram! PS– found a fantastic Frida Kahlo shrine in Astoria! Head over to Instagram to see. 😉
With every new place, we make out a list of our “must sees” while we are there and this weekend, the sun finally came out, so we took full advantage and happily crossed a few items off our list! One of our favorite “perfect day” activities is to do a little wine tasting. So we headed down to the Williamette Valley in Oregon to enjoy some Fall color and hit a few vineyards. You might remember we did a little wine tasting while we were in Southern California and while a day spent tasting wine is never a bad thing, we did find the SoCal style, with cavernous, crowded tasting rooms and glamorous, perfect people flitting about a bit off putting. We like a quieter, cozy atmosphere, one where the winemaker himself might proudly take you on a tour of his vineyard, where staff take the time to chat and get to know you. Maybe we’re a bit biased towards the NW, but there is just something about the wine country atmosphere up here that just feels more inviting.
So we spent a beautiful, cloudless day exploring the Oregon countryside and finished the day with a quick detour into Portland for dinner at our favorite Thai restaurant, Pok Pok. I swear, Mr. F fantasizes about the Vietnamese Fish Sauce Wings. This is one place where, though the atmosphere is definitely NW cool, it is all about the food. They could serve their yummies out of a brown paper bag on a street corner and we would still line up to eat it.
So many of our Sundays these days seem to be spent catching up and running errands, and we got a bit of that in, but took the afternoon to make the drive over to the coast, hoping to catch one of our former landlords at their coffee shop, Tinderbox Coffee Roasters in Westport. Have you ever run across people who were just instant friends? Tara & Nick, the owners of Tinderbox, rented their house to us a few years ago, my first time living in the Northwest and being away from Florida. Friendly, warm, genuine people that we took an instant liking to. The kind of people who get it. And it shows in the coffee they brew and the atmosphere they’ve created at Tinderbox. Unpretentious, cozy and full of life, just like them. If you find yourself in Westport, or passing through Aberdeen/Hoquiam ( where they have a drive-thru stand ), make sure you stop and get a cup of java. It will warm you inside and out.
There is a strange bright light coming through my window.. I think it might be the sun! Hello old friend. Where were you this weekend, huh? The rain came down hard and often all weekend long. We braved the weather to make the picturesque drive up along the Hood Canal to one of our favorite spots, the beautiful artsy Victorian seaport town on Port Townsend. It had been over 2 years since we’d been there last, so we wondered, would we still love it like crazy? The short answer? Yes yes yes! Even in near nonstop rain and gusting winds. The conditions meant that we didn’t get to enjoy the PT scenery as much as we would like, hence the lack of outdoor snapshots for you, but it made for a relaxing day darting in out of the rain and then slow, casual browsing and lounging.
It was one of those blissful weekends in which we didn’t spend much time on the laptop or iPad, more time spent talking than typing. And can I just say that if the rain leads to weekends like this, then keep on fallin’! 😉
Hope your weekend was just as wonderful, dear Artsies! If you’d like to see more from This Artsy Life, follow me on Instagram. Let me know your Instagram handle in the comments so I can follow you, too!
We check the weekend forecast religiously throughout the week. Here in the Northwest, especially in the Fall, the weather can change on a dime. All week, the forecast was calling for periodic rain for Saturday. So no hiking or biking for the Foragers! We decided instead, to take a road trip down to Astoria, one of our favorite little Northwest towns. But our MacBook, it seems, had other plans.. internet connectivity issues forced us to forgo a lovely day of traipsing around Astoria in the rain in lieu of a smack-dab-middle-of-the-day Genius Bar appointment in.. wait for it.. Tacoma. Woo. No offense to Tacoma, but it just hasn’t been very high on our list of places to see. Actually I don’t think it’s been on Mr. F’s list at all. I suspected hidden potential.
Imagine our surprise when we awoke to sunny skies on Saturday. We decided to make the most of our Tacoma day, lining up some well reviewed eateries, but deciding to skip the Tacoma Art Museum because the Museum of Glass was closed for a private event. We’ll go back when we can hit them both. So it would just be a day for errands, eating, and exploring.
After a rocky start– an hour long wait to be served breakfast meant we sped to our Apple appointment sans nourishment in our bellies– we finally explored a bit of the Tacoma Theater District on the unexpectedly sunny day. Lots of lovely little antique shops ( oh how I wish my sis-in-law & fellow browser had been with me! ) and fantastic architecture, along with a very cool public art installation– The Garages, where it seems the city? owners of the garages? have given over the walls of the structure as a place for creative expression in the form of street art and graffiti.
Though we were a bit disappointed in our food choices, we were pleasantly surprised by the part of Tacoma we explored. We treated ourselves to a movie that evening, not much else to do at night in tiny Shelton and Sunday was spent running more errands and catching up on work. Do you ever have weekends like that? Ones that you look forward to all week, only to have them sabotaged a bit by the mundane problems of modern life? Oh well. High hopes for next weekend!
Want to see more from glimpses into This Artsy Life? Follow me on Instagram!
![This Artsy Life: Weekend 50 [Seeking the Spirit]](https://artsyforager.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/IMG_1821.jpg)
![This Artsy Life: Weekend 49 [Catching Up & Settling In]](https://artsyforager.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/IMG_1748.jpg)
![This Artsy Life: Weekends 46-48 [ Equal Amounts Fun & Stress ]](https://artsyforager.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/IMG_1734.jpg)
![This Artsy Life: Weekend 45 [ Lessons in Letting Go ]](https://artsyforager.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/IMG_1696.jpg)
![This Artsy Life: Weekend 44 [Falling Back, Looking Ahead]](https://artsyforager.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/IMG_1626.jpg)
![This Artsy Life: Weekend 42 [ Time Keeps on Slippin’ ]](https://artsyforager.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/20131021-102711.jpg)
![This Artsy Life: Weekend 41 [ An Artsy Never Says Never ]](https://artsyforager.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/IMG_15461.jpg)
![This Artsy Life: Weekend 40 [ Atmosphere is Almost Everything ]](https://artsyforager.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/IMG_1500.jpg)
![This Artsy Life: Weekend 39 [ Rain-soaked Northwest Days ]](https://artsyforager.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/IMG_1452.jpg)
![This Artsy Life: Weekend 38 [ when nothing goes as planned ]](https://artsyforager.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/IMG_1430.jpg)
