On Holiday

We're off to Istanbul! It's a place I've never been before and I am so so excited. Will you be going anywhere for Spring break? Where would you go if you could go anyplace?

I had all these aspirations of scheduling posts and making sure there was something wonderful here for you to see all the days that I am gone. Alas, it just didn't happen. And without a laptop, it's unlikely that I'll be blogging much while on holiday. I will most certainly be posting photos on Instagram though. My handle is moody_is_my_cowgirl_name. Come and find me and I'll take you traveling through Turkey!

Turkish Delight

Doesn't Istanbul look absolutely dreamy in these photos? I can hardly wait until Spring.


Happy Friday folks. I hope this weekend finds you dreaming of far away places.


{photos by Allison}

boy, are my arms tired

Well, I just flew in from Portland and boy...

I had the window seat this time. Oooh I just love the window seat. Everything looks so dreamy when you see it from high above.

I am missing my loved ones in the Pacific Northwest like crazy today. But the sun is shining and Ventura is absolutely glorious. And it's hard to beat spending the day in the garden, getting dirty with my honey.

What did you all do this weekend? I'd love to hear of your adventures.

and back again

We're home from our Americana road trip. I'm just catching my breath, but once I have all my photos and thoughts collected I hope to tell you all about the trip.

{photo from The Library of Congress photostream}

Independence Day

Happy 4th of July to my American friends and neighbors. Hope your weekend is full of fun and fireworks. And for those of you in other countries, happy Sunday.

I once spent a Sunday 4th of July in Salt Lake City, Utah. Nothing happened. Everyone pretended like it wasn't Independence Day at all. We celebrated on Monday instead. By then it was the 5th of July.

{images from the Library of Congress}

Return to the Seaside

Our mini vacation is over. We left San Francisco yesterday and awoke this morning at the beach. I love love love the city, but I must say, it is beautiful here in Ventura. And the weather is always fine.

{found image from the movie Sweeney Todd}

view with a room

Did I mention that I'm in San Francisco? This is what I see from my southwest window.

Home Sweet Home

Just drove in from Phoenix, Arizona, and boy are my arms tired. As soon as I catch my breath I will tell you all about our desert vacation and show you pictures of the historic hotel we stayed in.

from the car window

As we drove back across the Canadian border to Washington, I took pictures out the car window. The clouds and fields were amazing.

oh, Canada, cont.

Other things we did in Canada included, but were not limited too...

... watching black cats and summer dresses in Gas Town...

... taking an Aqua Bus across the water to see our good friend Carol...

... playing with rare antiques...

... and of course, visiting the bars.

oh, Canada

Did I mention that while up north we made a run for the border and found ourselves in Vancouver, BC.

We were there for 2 nights and 3 days and most of our photos from that time were taken in the Chinese Garden. Such a lovely place.

I loved these ladies in their hats and couldn't help but watch them.

Ian felt the textures of leaves...

... and I did a bit of bird watching.

at home with hydrangeas

Our first day back home is coming to a close and the sound it makes is ahhhhhhhhhhh

These are our backyard hydrangeas as they looked before we began our summer travels—glowing and glorious. I would show you what they looked like at the end of our escapades, but the adventure continues...

Ready, Set, Go Again!

We arrived home Saturday after midnight (so technically Sunday) and were on the road again by Thursday. Now we find ourselves looking out our hotel window at that gates of San Francisco's China Town. I'm so glad we took our friend Tanya's advice and decided to take a breath of the fresh sea air some where in our own downtown before we left again. It was even her idea to wear the giant sunnies.

Tomorrow will be our one year anniversary. Any ideas of what we should do in the city? We're up for (almost) any kind of adventure.

Surprise!

So, it all payed off—all the finishing up and running around and last minute planning. We made it to Olympia, Washington to celebrate my big brother's birthday and spend Father's day with the fam. The best part: both my dad and my bro were totally surprised.

That's my brother above. Isn't he a cutie? Happy birthday Jabe.

early mornings

Why is it that on mornings when I can sleep in I'm awake with the sunshine and on days when I have to be up early I never want to get out of bed?

Here's a photo of my mom sipping her coffee in Santa Fe on a much more leisurely morning.

last of the light

sometimes all it takes for a dark Monday to get bright is a stroll with your lover in the last of the light

I couldn't find the perfect image of Ventura in all it's late afternoon glory. But this photo of Santa Rosalia fits the mood of the evening. This was taken from a hotel on the hill above a little French colonial port town in Baja, California. From here you can board a ship to mainland Mexico and wave goodbye to the little European style square and the tin church designed by Gustave Eiffel. Just after the sun goes down the water off the coast lights up with the lanterns of fisherman, like fireflies floating on the Sea of Cortez.