« April 2010 | Main | June 2010 »
Small moments in my life recently...
so i guess they are related?
::wheat fields in the california countryside::
::my mom's wooden spoons::
::farmer's market eggs::
::roses in portland::
::downtown of my hometown::
What are some small moments you've been noticing lately?
I'm not a fan of long goodbyes.
Who is?
I really do love this song, though.
The nice thing about saying goodbye to Portland people and places was knowing that I will return there this November for a very special event.
Right now I am putting together a little book of all of my favorite things about Portland. It's actually gonna be a bit bigger than little-but you get the idea. Just something self published-nothing fancy-but it'll keep me busy for awhile.
These photos feature three fun Portland things; Byways Cafe, Powell's Books, and my friend Summer.
Hope you are having a lovely Sunday!
** ** ** ** ** **
and P.S. I've gotten some inquiries about when I'll be reopening my photo shop and my etsy shop. I'm not exactly sure-but email me at abbytryagain(at)gmail.com and I'll send you an email when I do. Thanks!
(Good morning! Well, there's a reason people say "save the best for last", right? Today I am featuring a post written by one of my lovely friends, Julia of the minecreations blog. Julia is one of those people that shines in all that she does-I feel lucky to count her as a friend. Be sure to spend some time at her flickr, too-this baker, knitter, photographer and all around awesome gal will win your heart. There's been such a great response to the guest bloggers that I may bring some on board as a regular feature. We shall see...for now-I hope you enjoy this fun post. Thanks, Julia!)
Hey Everyone, Julia
here! I'm so psyched that Abby asked me to guest blog for her while
she and James are on their big drive down to Texas. I wish them both
the best down there, and I can't wait to follow along as you explore
Austin and the entire Southwest, Abby!
Almost four years ago, my boyfriend Jared and I made a big drive from
San Francisco (where we were living then) to Minneapolis (where we live
now). I had never taken a big road trip before and was really excited
to get to see some of "the middle" of this huge country we live in.
Jared grew up in MN and had made the drive back and forth to San
Francisco quite a few times so it was slightly less exciting for him,
but we had a great time.
To start out, we cashed in a gift certificate that my old boss had given me to Harbin Hot Springs.
What better way to start out a big road trip than to spend a few days
at a hippie hot springs? It was perfect. We got all nice and relaxed,
cooked up a bunch of travel food in the communal kitchen, and hit the
road. It was mid-October and my big idea was that we would camp along
the way, unfortunately it was pretty cold so even though we camped two
out of the three nights, it wasn't very enjoyable.
Another big challenge we faced was that our 1983 Mercedes station wagon
runs on biodiesel (though it can run on regular diesel if necessary)
and we were determined to find as much biodiesel along the way as we
possibly could. We had three 5-gallon jugs that we carried with us and
always filled up an extra tankful in the jugs whenever we hit a gas
station with biodiesel. Since we were mostly along trucking routes,
there was actually a lot to be found, though most of it was just B5 (5%
biodiesel and 95% regular diesel), which is the minimum required in
some states. Along the way, we ate a lot of rice cakes with peanut
butter and raisins, made our own coffee at the gas stations, and
supplemented our snacking with bean burritos from Taco Bell (there's
very little vegetarian, and even less vegan food available at those
rest stops!). Since our car is so old, it doesn't have a CD player.
We got an old school tape adapter for the ipod, but when the battery
died we reverted to listening to my middle school mix tapes and the
soundtrack to Free To Be You And Me. When we got tired of that, we
read out loud to each other.
The first day after leaving the hot springs in Northern California, we
headed straight for Salt Lake City, where my freshman year college
roommate and her husband were living at the time. We had a few
technical difficulties getting there, but we made it and it was great
to see some old friends and have a nice bed to sleep in that first
night. The next day we headed towards a state park in Wyoming where we
set up our tent in a completely empty campground and shivered all night
long.
The third day, we headed towards the Badlands. This place was
incredible, seriously. I don't think I'll ever make it to the moon in
my lifetime, but the Badlands is a pretty close second. There were a
few other folks at the campground there, but it was so cold and dark
that by the time we got there to set up the tent, we both just looked
at each other and decided to sleep in the car. Since we were moving to
Minneapolis, the back of the car was packed full with my stuff. So we
just slept sitting up in our seats and piled on the sleeping bags. In
the middle of the night, we even started up the car to heat it up a
little bit! (I don't think the other campers appreciated that, oops!).
In the morning, when we were driving out of the park, it was quite
early and all the bison were out and about. As we were driving along
the road, a pack of bison started running alongside the car. I made
Jared stop the car so I could take a photo and when he did, the bison
stopped running. When we started to drive, they started to run. We
kept on like this for a few more minutes. It was like magic.
I'm not sure what it is that's so special about road trips, or how
they've become such a central part of the experience of growing up,
especially--though not only--in this country. Especially when the trip
is because you are moving your home, that journey can mean so much.
The journey home is the best journey of all.
(Happy Saturday! I realized yesterday that I hadn't scheduled my guest posts quite right and I had a few more road trip posts from friends to share with all of you. Today's post features photos from Jen Causey. Jen is a Brooklyn based photographer and author of simply photo and simply breakfast blogs. She has a nice etsy shop here and a very sweet new kid's site here. Today she shares with us a visual trip to Asheville. Thanks, Jen!)
* * * *
As you can imagine I had a lot of time to think about things while on our road trip.
One of the things I was thinking about was this blog. I thought a lot about why I do it, why I want to do it, what I get out of it, what I want to get out of it and how much it has changed and grown over the past five years.
I know this is nothing new; people are constantly bringing up this subject-and why not? People always grow and change.
So you might start noticing some changes around here. I'm planning on posting smaller, more frequent photo posts with some writing here and there. And maybe a few new things that are still in the works. I hope you'll enjoy...
Thanks for all the well wishes yesterday! We are loving the new place.
(I do have one question-anyone have any special remedies for fire ant/ mosquito bites? My legs are full of them and I'd love to hear any tips about relieving the itchiness. Thanks!)
Happy Friday to you all.
Hello.
Well, here I am-starting at the end of our journey.
Or is it the beginning?
After seven days and 2400 miles we are no longer Portlanders, we are Austinites.
I've got over 100 road trip photos to share but I felt like starting here with these little scenes from our new neighborhood.
We chose to live in a vintage duplex on the "artsy" (or as some would say rough) side of town. James and I both hoped it was the right choice-although secretly I was a little scared the the place we would call home would turn out to be a bit frightening.
Luckily within just a few hours of arriving we met several of our sweet neighbors and were welcomed by some new friends. As we walked around the new 'hood we found a fun place to hang out, a yummy Mexican restaurant, a nice health food store and the perfect coffee shop for me.
I was amazed at all of the different caterpillars, butterflies, birds and plants we saw. I can't wait to explore more!
Thank you to all of my lovely friends who guest blogged while we were on the road. And a super big thanks to all of you readers out there who wished us well!
:)
I think of the positive vibes worked.
I will share some bits from our road trip soon. For now I am gonna go relax with a big glass of ice water!
(Happy Thursday! Today's guest blogger is my very dear friend, Cori Kindred. Cori has many talents; she is one of the best Polaroid photographers, makes beautiful hand made creations and finds the neatest vintage goodies for her online shop mushroom and moss. You can read all about her adventures over at her journal. Thanks, Cori!)
i rode along side till you lost me there in the open road
like abby, i *love* a little (or big!) road trip. there's nothing better than a change of scenery to get inspired. the majority of my favorite polaroids were taken on trips!
this past winter my boyfriend jeremy and i drove 1000 miles south to ventura, california to meet my family at a beach house for new years. mind you, none of us actually live in california so this was a pretty big deal. we played on the beach, cooked each other amazing food, stayed up late watching old movies and fell asleep to the sound of the waves. plus i got to welcome in 2010 with my favorite people!ps - don't miss two of my favorite road trips abby and i took together: bosky dell and st. john's
(Hello out there! Today's guest post in a peek back in time of Eva's life. Eva is one half of the duo behind Sycamore Street Press. She is the author of a fun blog of the same name. You can check out her cute and quirky letterpress goods at her shop. Thanks, Eva!)
I found an old scrapbook with photos from my very first road trip.
I was only 2 months old when my parents and I drove from Redondo Beach in Southern California to meet up with my grandparents and aunt in the Bay area. San Francisco is still one of my very favorite road trip destinations!
Kirk and I are having our first baby this November, and I think that the city by the bay will be one of the first places we take the little one.
(Eva!! Congratulations on the baby :) and thanks for this peek back in time, xo Abby)
(Hello and happy Tuesday! As we pull into west Texas today I am excited to introduce this post from Rachel of Buttons Magee blog. Rachel is a Texan herself! She is also a talented photographer, mom, wife, and all around awesome homemaker. Thanks for the post, Rachel.)
When is taking a road trip NOT a good idea? That's always been my theory. Ever since childhood, the best memories happen while en route. When you live in Texas, every trip involves at least a three hour drive. I can't even count the times I've traveled the road between Austin and Houston, or San Antonio to South Padre, and each of them has some kind of crazy moment.
Those trips to the beach will probably be my favorites. Over the years the people changed, but the sense of adventure and freedom always had a seat in our car. From a very young age we took family trips to South Padre Island, long before girls went wild and people threw patio furniture into the pools. I still can feel the prick of my grandmother's rattan travel bag against my arms as my cousin and I sat packed in the back of a rental station wagon along with the luggage. Over and over I convinced my 4-year-old cousin to sing the same song, a song she recalls to this very day.
I remember driving home from the beach with an awful smell permeating the car only to find that all of the miniature muscles my brother has collected along the shore were shoved into the trunk and now completely dead in the 100ºF weather.
In all honesty, I probably remember more moments of the road trips than the actual vacations. Fighting over who got to lay down. Singing along with my walkman so loud my parents had to yell at me to be quiet. Family sing-a-longs that would go on for hours. Oh, and the gas station stops! When does a store full of junk food ever look as good as when you are traveling? My snack of choice has always been Potato chips con limn (a south texas treat) and slim Jims.
As I got older the trips usually involved my husband and a car full of our friends, doing those rights of passage all teenagers love. Those usually involved many gas station stops, sometimes for things we shouldn't have been buying, Music booming our of sub-woofers, and jokes that really were only funny to us.
Maybe it was the knowledge that we were embarking on a week of sun and surf. Maybe it was the dense humid air of South Texas. I don't know. All I know is the minute our car hits the road toward the south I always feel like live can't get any better. ..that this is where I belong.
