Tag Archives: travel

June 22, 2012 · 6:29 am

Visiting Vancouver

You might remember the girls’ trip I took with my friends last year. Well, we did it again. This time we chose Vancouver, British Columbia. It was out first international trip, even though it was probably the closest we’ve stayed to home.

The first thing we did when we arrived was check out the view from our hotel. We stayed at The Westin and it was wonderful. We were steps from Stanley Park (Cheryl ran its 6-mile perimeter during the trip), and we were only a few blocks from Robson Street, a popular shopping destination.

The second thing we did was find a patio and get drinks and food. I loved being able to order a rye and ginger and have the waitress know exactly what I wanted (rye whiskey–like Crown Royal–and ginger ale). The brews were local and the food was spicy. Yum.

After sustenance comes shopping. We hit Granville Street (we were saving Robson till Saturday) and looked around stores like Bedo, Plum, and Spank. We found a store that was promoting the Beagle Freedom Project in the windows display but the shop itself was closed.

Boboli had a unique stone entrance. They are a high-end boutique that carries Armani, Robert Cavalli, La Perla, and more. We thought just being near such designers made us more sophisticated.

The second day of our trip was also shopping-focused (which is why Autumn chose to visit Stanley Park and the Vancouver Aquarium–sorry Autumn!). We fought through the crowds at Brandy Melville (one of the only non-Canadian stores we visited).

We visited the oldest commercial corporation in North America: The Bay. The Hudson’s Bay Company was founded in 1670, and began as a fur trading operation. The Bay, and its quintessential striped logo are part of my childhood. Cheryl was going to buy some perfume but thought it might not fit in her suitcase.

Cheryl's perfume

Laura found great things at Bedo. Cheryl wasn’t as lucky. You can see her in the background, walking back to the hotel, empty-handed.

Vancouver is a true metropolis and has a great mix of old and new buildings. We enjoyed the architecture and public art. Every time I visit Vancouver I vow to go to the Vancouver Art Gallery but the weather’s always too nice to justify going indoors.

We got all dolled up for dinner and an improv show. On our way out, the valet offered to take our picture. I have three posed shots, but a funny comment from a passerby cracked us up and this last, candid photo shows us looking more genuine and happy. Can you believe we didn’t plan our outfits. Total fluke.

On our third day we explored more along the waterfront. Vancouver is a beautiful city, and a lot of fun. People rode bikes, picnicked, and played games. The towering condos offer a luxe life for those with a lot of money. It’s an expensive city too.

The public art brightened up an already fabulous day.

We even stumbled across the sculpture from the 2010 Winter olympics. I remember this piece from the opening and closing ceremonies. The flame is out now but it burned for the duration of the games.

The trip to Vancouver was so fun, but much too short. I’ll be back again soon. North Vancouver, Kitsilano, and Granville Island await.

4 Comments

Filed under Architecture, Art, Fashion, Photography, Travel

Tagged as fashion, style, travel, vancouver

May 20, 2011 · 12:39 am

Leaving Santa Fe

All good things must end. And so my trip to Santa Fe came to a close. It was a fabulous city, and a great location for a long weekend of art, shopping, food, and friends.

The day before we left, my friends and I tallied up the jewelry we’d purchased during our stay. It was impressive.

We found great pieces by local designers. Turquoise was the big hit, but we snapped up pieces in amethyst and other materials too. The morning of our departure, Cheryl and I wandered from our hotel, the Inn at Loretto, to the open-air artist market next door and bought even more jewelry.

We met two artists who collect semi precious stones and polish and refine them. They will wrap any piece in silver and create a ring or a pendent. Cheryl had a turquoise ring made. They made me a pendent. Here’s my pendant, and a trilobite fossil pendant I picked up from them as well.

The jewelry shops are pricier than the street vendors, but even by street vendors prices, these guys were reasonable. The pendants were $30 each.

In my rush to get authentic Southwest jewelry while I could, I snapped up a few pieces of Native American jewelry from another artist. His prices were terrific too, and all the pieces are made by him. I bought a bracelet, two necklaces, and three pair of earrings. Their style was similar to a bracelet (also in the following picture, in the upper-right corner) I bought earlier at the Farmers’ Market.

While browsing the outdoor market, I met Takako, a Japanese expat living and designing in Santa Fe. I bought one of her fantastic silver and amethyst rings.

My other pieces, that I’d purchased earlier in the trip, include a fair-trade, hand-woven bracelet by Lilybead…

And an enameled metal necklace from Dancing Turtle Studios. I found their booth at the Farmer’s Market too.

I really enjoyed meeting the artists who created these pieces. The jewelry is a souvenir of my trip and will always be special to me because each piece has a story behind it.

The end of our trip wasn’t all about bling. Before we left Santa Fe, Autumn made delicious, refreshing drinks for the four of us. We named it The Blue Loretto. Here’s how to make it:

Four parts Trader Joe’s Sparkling Blueberry Flavored Juice Beverage
One part Vodka
Fresh blueberries
Ice

Directions: Throw all the ingredients in a glass and enjoy. Simple!

I miss Santa Fe. The sun, the art, the adobe architecture, the friendly people. All of what the city offers makes me want to go back. I hope you get to visit too.

1 Comment

Filed under Art, Crafts, Fashion

Tagged as bracelet, earrings, fashion, jewelry, necklace, Santa Fe, style, travel, turquoise

May 19, 2011 · 1:06 am

Santa Fe Art Walk

Canyon Road is Santa Fe’s premier art district. It’s an old part of town and boasts over 100 galleries (and a smattering of shops and restaurants). It’s an incredible place. The rows of adobe houses-turned-galleries offer art to view and purchase. Of course there is classic Southwest art, but there are a lot of other styles too: abstract, photorealistic, sculpture, glass work, jewelry, pottery and more. Truly something for everybody.

To me, even the buildings on Canyon Road are pieces of art. I photographed the structures on the walking tour I took with my friends. It didn’t hurt that the weather was perfect.

On our walk, I noticed an unusually large quantity of animal sculptures. Mostly horses and cattle, with some bears and rabbits thrown in the mix. These animals seemed representative of the local fauna.

Yes, Laura, Cheryl, and Autumn are following the herd. It takes two to tango and apparently three to can-can. Well, four can play that game.

Dress: Forever 21 via thrifted
Wrap: NYC Street Vendor
Sunglasses: Target
Shoes: Timberland

Leave it to me to shift the conversation to fashion. Today, however, I saw a fashion/art connection, as you can see by the dresses at various galleries.

Canyon Road was probably the highlight of my trip. At lunch, I had the best veggie burger in the world at The Tea House. It was homemade and so delicious. They make a mean latté too. On the way back, I couple of other pieces of art captured my attention: The honeycomb and bee pattern is similar to the dress Laura wore yesterday.

Glass is a popular art medium in the Pacific Northwest and that’s probably why these sculptures drew me to them.

Prices for art ranged from less than $100 to well into five digits. There was a variety of things to look at and a few pieces I could actually afford. Mostly, I found the day inspiring. I’ve already pulled out my paints and canvases and have a few plans. Just in case my plans fall through, I wrote down the number of one of the galleries. There’s a wonderful abstract painting at a manageable price—and they ship.

87 Comments

Filed under Art, Fashion

Tagged as art, art gallery, Canyon Road, fashion, painting, photography, Santa Fe, sculpture, style, travel

May 18, 2011 · 7:35 am

Shopping with Friends in Santa Fe

Arriving in New Mexico was terrific. The sky was blue, and the temperatures were in the high-70s. After eight months of winter, my three Seattleite friends and I deserved a break from the rain.

We ditched our dreary, dull NW clothes and arrived in NM with our luggage full of sunny SW colors. On our first morning, Cheryl and I climbed a hill with a nice vista of Santa Fe. It was windy, but gorgeous. Cheryl wore a bright orange sun dress with embroidered accents at the waist and paired it with braided strappy sandals and a coordinating brown Hobo bag.

Dress: Max Studio
Sandals: Madden Girl
Cross-body bag: Hobo (at Burnt Sugar)

Here I am on the same hill. I chose a sunny marigold tank top and a reversible skirt. This side, with its orange, green and gold florals, looked nice next to Cheryl’s orange dress.

Tank: Wet Seal
Purse: Coach (via thrifted)
Reversible skirt: Zand
Sandals: Naturalizer
Sunglasses: Target

Later, we met up with our friend, Autumn, who embraced the southwest vibe with a turquoise tank and matching pedicure. We were on the Turquoise Trail after all! Jewelry purchases wouldn’t be far behind.

We walked to the Santa Fe Farmers’ Market where we found pastries, herbs, jewelry, paintings, textiles and yarn, and lots of other neat things. Cheryl grabbed coffee that even a Seattle coffee connoisseur would approve of, and I found a giant goose egg!

Jacket: Betsey Johnson via thrifted
Earrings: Shirazi

We walked back to Santa Fe’s plaza, where we found more street vendors, musicians and dancers, and our other friend, Laura. Laura wore a sky blue dress, white cardigan, and black accents. From afar, you might not be able to see the neat bee and honeycomb design on the dress, but check it out in the close-up. It’s really unique!

Dress: Smoking Lily

By the end of our day, we all had jewelry (among other purchases). I’ll devote an entire post to all the great accessories we scored in Santa Fe. But first I have to ~~finish~~ start tomorrow’s post about the Santa Fe art scene.

6 Comments

Filed under Fashion, General

Tagged as dress, farmers' market, fashion, reversible skirt, Santa Fe, shopping, Southwest, style, travel, travel style

May 17, 2011 · 2:28 pm

Sunshine on My Shoulder

If sunshine on his shoulder made John Denver happy, you can imagine my elation at this: I have a bright yellow shoulder bag and I just went to Santa Fe! Now, full disclosure: I was there this past weekend and I’m back already, but for the next few days, I’ll get you caught up on the happenings. I’ll start with an uneventful trip to the airport, aka, “what I wore on the plane.”

A few weeks ago I bought a fabulous vegan shoulder bag in the brightest yellow possible. I found it at Strut, a shoe-and-accessory store in Seattle’s Phinney Ridge neighborhood. The bag is by Portland designer, Michelle Kline. I couldn’t wait to use it, and thought it would be a great carry-on bag. Plus, in Santa Fe, it would be a great purse for my shopping trips and art gallery walks.

Last week I also picked up this tunic at Damselfly in Ballard. It could be worn as a dress, but I’d probably save that for fall and pair it with tights. It will make a great bathing suit cover-up in Santa Fe, and it’s a comfortable shirt to travel in.

Tunic: Damselfly
Jeans: Bluenotes
Belt: Thrifted
Cuff: Gifted
Bag: Snap Design
Shoes: Timberland
Wrap: Street Vendor in NYC

I always try to pack light (one suitcase, carry-on size). I also try to pack items that I can mix and match so I have a lot of choices with a limited number of pieces. For Santa Fe, this included: cropped jeans, leggings, tunic, casual dress, evening dress, reversible skirt, three tank tops, maxi skirt, denim jacket, cardigan, bathing suit, ballet flats, flat sandals, chunky sandals, heels for evening, two wraps, sunglasses, shoulder bag, cross-body bag, clutch.

I could have packed less, but I wore all my pieces. During the day, the temperatures in Santa Fe were in the high 70s, but in the evenings it dropped to mid-40s. I needed a variety of styles (shopping, dining, galleries), and I needed layers.

One thing you shouldn’t forget, no matter where you are this spring and summer: Sunscreen. Sunburns and premature wrinkles (not to mention skin cancer) are never in style.

Tune in tomorrow for Shopping with Friends in Santa Fe.