Adventures in Oregon: Camping in Mt. Hood National Forest

Two weekends ago, the mister and I took our first official camping trip together. We got really lucky and scored a wonderful campsite in a gorgeous campground, Kingfisher, which is located in Mt. Hood National Forest, about an hour southeast of Portland. We were able to book it just two days ahead of time, right before the Labor day weekend! Such a score. Sitting near natural hot springs along the Collawash River, we had access to dipping our feet in the refreshing, crisp water, and also going up the road seven miles to take a soak in the renowned Bagby Hot Springs. A mile and a half hike in and back, you could soak in a wood bathhouse in the middle of a heavily wooded area. With a little bit of a wait and patience, you can have a room all to yourself and a lovely few of the surrounding greenery. I’d highly recommend it.

We also took a wonderful 7 mile hike earlier that day following along the river. It was absolutely breathtaking. The river was so clear and colorful, it was tempting to drive right in!

For one of our dinner meals, I insisted we make one of my favorite childhood camping meals, salmon burgers. My stepmom gave me the secret recipe so I could finally make them myself (recipe after the break). They definitely hit the spot. We used my cast iron Lodge for all of the cooking… you really don’t need much else. It was especially great for cooking sausage patties, hash browns and eggs for breakfast!

If you live in or around the Portland area, I’d highly recommend a trip into the woods in this national forest! It’s quite a beautiful sight to behold.

A Few Things That’ve Been Keeping Me Going

Where I wish to be someday, this time of year, when the leaves change: Vermont.

Just the very thought of it makes my heart full of delight.

It’s on my list of things to do.

Adventure into the forests and backwoods, photographing the rich hues of fall foliage.

Ahhh, I can’t wait!

While I’m at it, I’d also go to Acadia.

Ever since I saw a feature in National Geographic years ago, I’ve had dreams about this mystical place.

I’m also getting very excited about Fantastic Mr. Fox!

I absolutely loved this book as a youngster.

Turns out there’s a character named Kylie! Random! Haha, maybe in my next life I’ll come back as a hamster/mole/rodent (I’m not really sure what it is) and be George Clooney’s (Mr. Fox’s) loyal accomplice.

Yay, Wes Anderson!

I’m also really digging this band I’ve just discovered, Plants and Animals.

Check out this Blogotheque video.

(I’m a sucker for whistling.)

Also, I’ve had this as my cell phone wallpaper for the past week or so and it has been a very helpful reminder.

Photographic Inspiration, Words of Wisdom

Just some lovely random images and words I’ve come across lately that inspire me and bring a smile to my face.

Camps & Cottages

I apologize for my lack of updates. I’m just not able to keep up on this as often as I’d ideally like to. I’m not going to get into excuses. Instead I’ll just get right into a great thing I did in celebration of my birthday last month.

My stepmom and a great friend of hers go to Carmel often to this fabulous woodsy cabin country style store known as Camps and Cottages. Several times, she has brought home these fantastic bird prints that now hang above our fireplace in the living room. What she has told me about from her visits has made me anxious to visit. So, for my birthday, they took me there! Let me tell you folks, just about every single item and piece of furniture in there resonated deeply with my obsession for owls, the forest, deers, birds, art, photography, you name it. Basically, EVERYTHING I LOVE. Warm, comforting, calming, and refreshing pieces everywhere. The owner, Molly English, collects and combines old and new, vintage and refurbished. I wanted it all. 

What I couldn’t live without most of all was this antique gold owl lamp, with the vintage lamp shade included. I literally died inside. I knew I couldn’t ever possibly find something comparable like that on eBay if I tried, and now was my chance. It was now or never. The $200 price tag was making me indecisive. Once I expressed interest, she told me it was on sale ($100!) and I started jumping with joy. I whipped out my Visa faster than I could blink my eyes and before I knew it, that owl was mine. 

Additionally, I ended up buying this cute little bird purse. I couldn’t resist. 

A few of the other things that were in the shop:

Some other cool places I went to in Carmel included Earthbound Farms, Anthropologie, and a few other boutique stores that had lovely decor:

(And this is new owl purse was a birthday present to myself, courtesy of Etsy!)

I had a really great time in that shop, as you can tell…
I would share more but that’s all I have time for for now!

Decoration!

Just had to share a few of my recent purchases that will be making my room even more like my own nest. Right now I’m on one of those spending/decorating rampages where I’m just so inspired by everything and want to make my living space as enjoyable as possible. Because I deserve it, especially after taking a summer class (which finally ended yesterday! woohoo!). My room is seriously turning into a forest full of birds, nests, and trees. I know what I love, and that’s a good thing. It’s all pretty much coming together. 

This log lamp base from Urban Outfitters.

Matched with this forest-themed lamp shade.
Vintage bird duvet sham with two bird pillows and euro forest pillow from West Elm.


And seven (five pictured) vintage bird prints I just scored off of eBay recently!

So yeah, I’m pretty stoked. Everything is going to be matchy-matchy. Here are some other cool things I’m drooling over…

These awesome photorealistic reproductions of wood floor mats from Urban Outfitters. I love the distressed log cabin and painted floor look!

This birch tree wall mural! UO has some really cool stuff right now…

This pillowcase set from UO that I originally had my eye on… I’m glad I waited though and purchased the one from West Elm.

This dandelion bird wall art!

These wall decals on this dresser!

This tree stencil which you can use on pretty much anything (don’t let me get a hold of that…)

This “Deer In The Forest” wall art.

This birch tree light pendant from Pottery Barn.

These leaf plates (on sale!) at Pottery Barn.

Another birch tree mural…

This harvest branch mirror from PB.

This antler wall shelf from West Elm.

These two mirrors from West Elm: the Branch mirror and Faux Bois mirror.

There’s so much more to show but this is all I have time for for now!

Trees, Trees Everywhere!

Ok, so I know this is bad. I should be writing a paper for anatomy right now, but, of course, I got distracted and found myself endlessly clicking through furnishings and other beautiful decor. I figure these distractions usually make me more productive in the long run. I just now stumbled upon some new things at Urban Outfitters that really caught my eye. Like, tree things. Have I not yet spelled out my profound passion for trees? I. Love. Trees. Symbolically, metaphorically, physically, they represent so many wonderful, meaningful characteristics. Wisdom, strength, independence, growth, faith. The presence of nature is my role model. So it’s no wonder why I consistently gravitate to decorative-like objects of trees or nature of any sort. Anyhow, I  just had the sudden urge to compile all of the beautiful things that I’d like to surround myself with in my future life once I get my own home. I can’t help myself, I like to dream. Hopefully you may enjoy them, also. 

More to come later!