going to the city

We live far away from things.
Not in the way that the nearest grocery store is fifty million miles away. But things that I got used to having in California and Oregon are a DRIVE to get to.

Our first stop was REI, to feed my outdoors-y exploring side. There are walls of sleeping bags, kayaks, and various camping and backpacking supplies. I drooled over the Appalachian Trail books and North Carolina camping guides. It was awesome.

We went to Trader Joes next. We always get very excited about things like dried mangoes and Mochi ice cream.
Seriously. We bought mochi and ate an entire box in the car. The powered sugar exploded all over my sister in her excitement.

Our last stop was World Market, because it is the greatest store known to mankind. It is primarily a furniture store, but it also has a fantastic international food section. I got my hands on some Japanese and Canadian food, as well as a couple cute things for the apartment I will get one of these days.

Our first mini-road trip of 2016 was pretty tame. There was some rain, the humidity killed my hair, and the food was divine. All-in-all, no bad times were had an it was a win.

Here’s to a good kick-off to 2016 and to many more where that came from.

Keep an eye out for my January favorites on Wednesday and tales of surviving Hashtag Snowmageddon2016 next week.

Until next time,
❤
Jamie

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sister dates and festivals

I’m not a big fan of sitting at home all week. I like trying new things and breaking up the routine, especially on the weekends. For an introvert with social anxiety, it’s a little contradictory, but luckily my sister is usually down with getting out and exploring.
My brother-in-law has had a very busy work schedule this semester, so Kasey and I went to a couple festivals in September for sister dates.

The first festival we went to was a Greek festival. There was authentic food, dancing, and jewelry. We bought some baclava and gyros and enjoyed a break in the rainy weather.

A couple weeks later we went to the folk festival, which is very food focused. There are all kinds of booths with food from different countries. I had been sick for a couple weeks so I didn’t eat a lot, but we made sure to stop for some Thai and some German before we found ourselves at a honey booth. I accidentally bought a $20 jar of the most amazing honey I have ever tasted. Tupelo Honey, for all of you aficionados, is incredible.

After the folk festival, we stopped at Starbucks to finish our book we were reading for our book club.

I’ve taken a small break from blogging to go on some autumn adventures. I will start blogging about our trip to the mountains soon, so stay tuned!

Until next time,
❤
Jamie

may randoms and favorites

Guys, I’ll be honest. I don’t remember a lot about May. It’s kind of a blur of sunshine and hot weather. There were storms and beach trips and family time in the hammock. I joined/co-created a book club (more on that later) and just generally enjoyed life.
They opened a new store in my town that reminds me of Sprouts in San Diego.  Natural, organic deliciousness. We got some hotdogs and root beer, because why the heck not? Afterwards we went to a new and used book store where I bought some gems.

Favorites of May:
Artist // Ed Sheeran, song “Photograph”
Album // Guardians of the Galaxy soundtrack
Book // “The Fault in Our Stars” by John Green
Movie // The Avengers: Age of Ultron
Quote // “You must love in such a way that the person you love feels free.” -Thich Nhat Hanh
Tweet // I do a mean Gollum impression when someone steals office supplies from my desk.
TV show // Supernatural

Remember, don’t get mad. Don’t get even. Do better. Much better. Rise above. Become so engulfed in your own success that you forget it ever happened.

Until next time,
❤
Jamie