A Few Days to Get Away

A couple of weeks ago Jeff and I took off for Calistoga. We stayed at the Indian Springs resort spa. Ahhhh, so lovely. It was my belated birthday celebration for just the two of us. 

It's a gorgeous drive getting out there, but not so far that you're stuck in a car for hours and hours. Even if all you have is just a day, I highly recommend it as a way to re-charge one's batteries, so to speak!

we had dinner at Goose and Gander in Saint Helena one night

left: a small coffee roastery in Calistoga, right: strawberry mojito (for me) and draft beer on tap (for him) on our first night of freedom 

cheesy selfies =)

We spent an abundant amount of time lounging poolside, reading poolside, eating poolside, oh and floating in the actual pool!

Until next time, enjoy your days!

Trying to Do it All

I feel like I write about this a lot here: the striving to find balance that is a constant when one is trying to run and maintain one's own handmade business. Or, at least, it is a constant for me. Recently, I visited family in Idaho and was able to really slow down and relax for the first time in a long while. It helps that this was my view most days:

My mom and I stayed at my Aunt Mary's house. It is surrounded on all sides by these gigantic pines. Gorgeous!

It's funny/obvious how getting away from my regular day-to-day life helped me gain some perspective on things. Mainly this: it helped me see how lucky I am. I love living in Oakland. I love that I am surrounded by creative and daring individuals to whom success is not defined by a paycheck but rather the level of joy and satisfaction they get out of their lives. This is good living.

Upon getting back tho, I knew I had some big decisions to make about Tangleweeds. Basically, I have a pretty awesome business opportunity, but I'm not sure if I want to take it. I can't really get into the details of it here, but the gist of it is that I feel like I may be taking on a bit too much given where I'm at with Tangleweeds currently. I don't want to grow to big too fast and have everything get out of control. 

Which brings me back to how I opened this post: balance. I feel like this decision I have to make is going to sincerely test my balancing skills.

So, there's all of that. Sorry to be so vague and cryptic, but I'm sure you fellow creative souls understand.  In the meantime, here's some kitty-cat goodness to make your day that much brighter!

His name is James and he's part rag doll part Siamese, my Aunt's cat. He was my alarm clock!

K, now time for some soul-searching-decision making. . . 

The Eel River

This last week I scooted off to the woods with my boyfriend and his son. It was a much needed respite from work, and the regular 'ol routine of life where it always seems like there's twenty different things needing to be done all at once. 

We stopped at this goofy little rest stop/convenience shop along 101 on Friday. All of the buildings, including the bathroom, were painted in these sort of New-Agey motifs. 

Meals and campfires. . . 

\

The trip went by really really fast, but I'll say that's usually the case when kids are involved! You have yourself and this other being to take care of, and that makes the minutes and hours fly by. But it was relaxing in that way that only camping trips can be: little to do but swim, read, write, sketch, eat, and hike. 

And getting away for a bit always gets me super excited to get back to making more jewelry. . . 

Calistoga get-away

As promised, I have many photos to share from Jeff's and my trip to Calistoga last week. We stayed at Indian Springs, a resort-spa, for four days and three nights. It was delightful and just what I needed!

We spent a lot of time poolside, lazing about, reading, eating delicious lunches with the random smattering of tasty goodies we picked up from the local grocery store.

Jeff's reads

My reads

Oh, and of course we spent a lot of time in the pool! Naturally occurring geysers keep the mineral pool heated to 102 degrees.



We also traipsed around town, trying out different restaurants (when we weren't barbecuing) and slurping up delicious smoothies at the Calistoga Roastery.

On our last night there, we went out for an amazing dinner at the Martini House in St. Helena. But we had time to kill so we stopped and had some snacks and beer at the Silverado Brewery. They had a pretty tasty ESB.



On the way back we took our time, stopped at a winery, had lunch at another winery, and enjoyed the lovely back roads of the Napa valley area.

I'm still feeling refreshed from the getaway. And I'm looking into The National Holistic Institute for affordable massage options for a semi-regular basis. Trying to maintain that balance I'm always striving for.

Vacation time

Well, it's about that time. Time for a much-needed, relaxing vacation. So it's off to Calistoga for mud baths, massages, sleeping in, time with my boyfriend, and just overall a lot of R&R!

There will be no Wednesday Item of the Week today. But check back next week for a new installment!

~Have a lovely day!