Lake Wenatchee

As a child, I grew up just 10 minutes from Lake Wenatchee and spent countless summer days swimming and playing in the water, having picnics, and exploring the surrounding area. It"s located about 2.5 hours from Seattle, and as of late, become an incredibly popular locale for many northwest photographers. Continually seeing all of these pictures pop up in my instagram feed from this childhood favorite makes me feel incredibly lucky to have grown up in such an underpopulated, untouched, part of the world.

photo diary // Sechelt, BC

home away from home - that is what the special town of Sechelt, BC is starting to feel like. seven years ago when i first visited, i never thought it could capture my heart the way that it has.  to have a peaceful, restful, environment to escape to and have family time is definitely a blessing.

we are in the process of rebuilding our cabin, so this was just a quick trip up with part of the family to check the progress and help pick out the important small details, like paint colors.   i tried to talk them into building a balcony off of our upstairs bedroom, but was quickly shot down!

soon the cabin will be finished and ready for summertime.  i look forward to many many more trips up, so expect lots of photos from the beautiful Sunshine Coast :)

travel diary // Park Guell - Barcelona

Park Guell is one of those places you read about and see pictures of, but none of it prepares you for the sheer awesomeness of it all; its almost unfathomable how intricately the park is designed.  and you realize what a genius Antoni Gaudi was and just how small you are in the grand scheme of life.  It was quite a special day to be able to spend time walking through history like we did.

My favorite part of the day was when my husband said "didn't they have a top model finale here?" when we saw this covered walkway!!! I've inadvertently taught him well :)

travel diary // Monte Carlo

While staying for a short 48 hours in Nice, we had just enough time to take the train to Monaco, home of Grace Kelly, for a short walk around Monte Carlo.  Inside the world-famous Casino Monte-Carlo, they take all of your belongings so that you can't take pictures or spill food anywhere.  Luckily, i still had my phone in my pocket, so I was able to snap a picture of the ornate ceiling inside :)  We sat outside of the hotel for a drink to just watch the people milling around, hoping to spot some celebrities, but alas, they were probably all tucked into a private poker room in the casino.  Still, a beautiful day trip! 

gorgeous detail on the ceiling in the casino

this poster in the train station made me smile