Out and About Adventure - South Lake Union

South Lake Union is great for an afternoon of free entertainment, strolling, seeing and for me it turns out, swimming (more on that later). Boats of all shapes and sizes dock together on the south end of the lake by the Center for Wooden Boats (free!) and many will allow you to come aboard and tour! They also have a wooden canoe on display as it's being made and a small pond with motorized boats to play with. We brought some snacks and sat down by the water watching the seaplanes take off and land. There's a tiny dot of a plane getting ready to land while this one takes off, and yes, that huge storm on the left eventually did come for us.

Love the kitty on this boat! I've actually been down to the center and on the boats before but this time there was a particularly wonderful boat, whose name I can't find but I will, that I really enjoyed seeing. The boat is an inn that you can stay on, decorated like a little oceanside B&B with a lovely common room. Some rooms were occupied while I toured but each room I did see was so quaint and inviting, I really loved it! 

I did not enjoying getting off the boat, as my wonderfully clumsy foot stepped into the space between the dock and the boat which causes one to fall off of the boat, hit the dock and land in the water, or like me suspended between with bottom half in and top half holding on. It was hilarious and cold and painful all at the same time. I think I frightened the boat keeper with my hysterical laughing, it was just too funny. I had a big purple bruise up the inside of my leg and under my butt for about two weeks, ouch!

But how cute are these rooms?! The first picture I think is the main suite but I love the little bunk beds just as much! I love boats/houseboats because all spaces are functional and purposeful, but they also took great care in adding special details to make each room welcoming and comfortable. 

Orange You Glad

Ok so this isn't the best photo, cause it was blown out so I just decided to play with it, or the best 'outfit' but I'm posting both anyways because I love that my toenails match my agates in the window, I love that these leggings and tee are so soft and so comfy I want to fall asleep in them and I love love love this new necklace. I did some work trade a while back for some gorgeous pieces from Nature's Twist in Seattle and I'm enjoying creating outfits around the pieces to let them shine! This outfit is a fairly simple, easy, comfy day kinda outfit for me, but of course I gotta pile on my gypsy jewelry! Vintage silver bangles plus a few others, still lovin' on ma cicada ring and of course, my twisted Tree of Life Labradorite pendant. 

According to an Innuit legend, the Northern Lights were once trapped inside the cliffs up and down the coastline. As two great warriors were fighting, one struck the stone with his mighty spear, releasing some of the shimmering lights into the night sky, but not all the light could escape and the rest is found as Labradorite stone.

I love wearing this pendant, it's like wearing the Northern Lights! 

A Spoonful Of Sparkle

These earrings are sooo great and I knew immediately that I wanted to pair them with this crazy cloth that I thrifted for 2$!! I think it's supposed to be a tablecloth type thing but I wanted to wear it as a scarf! It's the pom poms! I LOVE them! Pom poms, crazy costume crystals and glitter cheeks - welcome to A Spoonful of Sparkle haha!I wasn't sure how to wear this scarf but I figured all black would cause a good pop which works for me, I'm incredibly comfortable in this outfit. Boots, comfy pants, easy tee..and yes, it all happens to be black. I'll definitely be wearing this combo again in the future when I have some really special jewelry to showcase.

Just some purse detail and smiley faces. I really love etched leather, a trade I wish I could learn one day, and this purse has the perfect amount and a great floral design. This goofy face below is my trying not to laugh face, haha!

Cat Lady

I absolutely LOVE that I'm working outside a few days a week. With decent weather its been light jackets and bare skin! Hooowever, I have already received my first slap from the sun as a harsh reminder to WEAR SUNSCREEN!! My face got a little toasty too, ouch.

 

I just got this cicada ring, which I'm loving! And these earrings, which are thrifted. I also grabbed this tank on super sale but didn't even realize the back detail until I tried to put it on at home, ha! Only I would be completely oblivious to this style until my arm was awkwardly not fitting on one side..then that whole self conversation - "What is happening?! Waaait..Oh, ohhhhhhh, oh!" Hee, what can I say, I liked the color!

This kitty bag was my very first H&M purchase ever - before I even lived in San Francisco, when it was the first West Coast city to get an H&M. I've loved it ever since! It's the perfect canvas bag, and the kitty tail/strap is just too cute. Meow! 

Wandering in the Paisley Forest

What a beautiful green forrest, what a great green adventure!!!

We had a few hours to enjoy an evening stroll through the woods! Evening now for me extends from after work about 6 or 6:30 to 8:30 when the sun is finally starting to set  - these few extra hours of light are so wonderful to have! My post yesterday covered the hiking details but I also wanted to share a few of this outfit since I unintentionally matched my surroundings quite well! And also...LOOK AT THOSE TINY LITTLE TAILS! Yea, still getting used to SHORT HAIR!!  : D

 

 

I bought this shirt a few weeks ago when some friends invited us out to the Neptune, a 90 year old Seattle theatre, to see Keller Williams who I had never seen live. It was a good show and a beautiful venue, with a cool mermaid bathroom! We're slowly checking off the local venues, but I can't wait to go back to the Neptune. 

These two shots totally encompass the feeling of this thrifted skirt, swirly, twirly, jumping, dancing fun! Paisley can be intense, chaotic and dare I say outdated?! But, still love it, even if it clashes with all the green. Like I said it's thrifted, so it is currently missing a top button but I couldn't wait to wear it so voila yellow belt! My favorite part of the outfit though are these Tree of Life earrings from Nature's Twist in Seattle! So beautiful and so sparkly! 

And I have to end this post with the glorious birthday backpack because I truly do love it. It was a such a wonderful, thoughtful and functional gift! I'm super pumped to break it in the summer, rub sum durrt on it!!

This Beautiful Place - Carkeek Park

Life lately has been a fairly good balance of working hard and playing hard. My new summer schedule is underway and I'll still be adjusting over this week but it's been working out so far. I recently had a birthday and today my special present came! So, in celebration, and because it's Saturday, and because it was absolutely gorgeous out AGAIN, and because we both had the day off...we set out to test the new pack, to Carkeek Park! This park has great beach access but this time we took the South Ridge Trail to the South Bluff Trail for an amazing view of Puget Sound and the Olympic Mountains. The woods are vibrantly lush and knee high grasses are thriving under the tall tree canopy, which tickled us with fluttering leaves and it felt like if I twirled fast enough in this magical green place I could fly away with the leaves too. At the end we laid in the grass and laughed at the daisies.

This picture doesn't really look like anything but lots of green and a leaning tree. But it's really domino trees! We actually heard these two leaning trees, creaking loudly with the wind, before we came across them and I bet they don't last much longer, especially if we do end up having some stormy weather soon. I definitely want to go back and check soon! Other things of note on the walk: an occasional burst of rhododendrons (and/or azelias?!), heavenly smelling lilacs, the sun on the Sound, a big brown slug, some freaky trees, and the wandering path - I love coming into a clearing and looking back into the wild, before heading into it again.

 

 

 

Happy Adventuring!

Succulents!

I love having greenery indoors! Plants are the easiest way to bring your indoor space to life (heh, get it?!) especially if you live without an outdoor garden or space to use. Succulents are pretty much level one for hardiness/easiest and you can create them with just about any container you can get yer paws on. There's no wrong way to put a plant container together and you can either buy or forage materials if you're crafty *cough cough broke* like me! 

Containers that can drain are ideal but if you have an abundance of thrift store goodies/glass (said with a wicked sneaky smile) or other unique container, you can still use it! 

To help with drainage layer the bottom of your container with about 3/4"-2" of materials, depending on your container. You can use small pebbles, gravel, aquarium gems, seashells, etc. and I also recommend spreading a layer of activated charcoal, aka aquarium charcoal or activated carbon, across the bottom of your drainage surface. 

Care for succulents is easy as they are hardy lil plants and can deal with it if you forget to water them once and a while - also remember they really only need to be watered about once every two weeks or whenever the soil completely dries out. Light wise, succulents are happy just about anywhere, even in partial shade. I often move mine about the house so feel free to experiment with location. 

Plants! I only brought a few plants with me and a couple of those had died during the moves. Home Depot finally has a great selection of succulents and house plants so I picked up a few new ones to fill the empty jars of dirt in my window...which are totally sad looking. I also got a basil plant for the kitchen : )

My big terrarium used to be teeming with life but without my care over the summer, well...jar of dirt. Technically none of these are really terrariums, since terrariums are usually enclosed so they are self sustaining but terrarium is fun to say so go with it. 

When your ready to plant your succulents just slowly wiggle them out the the plastic container and roll/squeeze the plant in your hand a bit, allowing excess dirts to collect in your pot and the roots to loosen up. 

Fill your container most of the way with soil and dig out a little hole for your succulent, deep enough to cover all of the roots and a bit of the stalk. Most succulents can be potted together but allow some room for them to grow or plan to repot them. I added some spikemoss just to see if it would grow well so we shall see if it works! 

 Another great thing about succulents is that they can be grafted or regrown very easily. During my potting a few pearls from the string of pearls fell off so I tucked them inside this shell where they will grow an entirely new plant! 

 

There are so many neat and creative terrarium ideas out there; there isn't a wrong way to make one! You'll see in mine I've added some extra adornments, shells, crystals, found organic bits, and so on so just  have fun with it!