Wardrobe Wednesday: Just Cruising

This is the last time I will make reference to my vacation on this space, I promise!  While I spent most of my week on the cruise looking like this:

or this:

or this:

I did wear some cute clothes on board when I wasn't freezing/hiking/whale watching. Here's a few outfits from our days and nights on board and in port. We had two formal dinners on the ship so I rocked my beloved lace and feathered frock from our friend's wedding last winter.

Dress - Jessica Simpson, Shoes/Sunglasses - Cole Haan 

 I wore this outfit on our last sea day and whale-watching in Victoria, British Columbia because it was the warmest day we had all week after we left Seattle. 

Hat/Earrings - Forever 21, Tank - Filene's Basement, Shirt- Marshall's, Skirt - Target, Sandals - Ross, Necklace - Gift, Sunglasses - RayBan via Nordstrom

I'm so glad I wore these pink pants and sleveless ruffle top in Seattle as we departed because I wouldn't have been able to otherwise.  These pants are on super sale at Loft (or they were at the beginning of the month.)

Shirt/Capris - Ann Taylor Loft, Jacket - Old Navy, Shoes - Ross, Purse - Macy's, Sunglasses - RayBan via Nordstrom

 How's your week going? I'm so glad it's almost Thursday! If you are heading back to school (or not) and need some new duds use this coupon code (CA20ASH) and stop by eShakti.com before August 31st! 

Skagway/Victoria: Wildlife Adventure

After seeing so much beautiful scenery in Ketchikan and Juneau, we were itching to see some wildlife when we docked in Skagway.  We took a bus, a ferry and another bus down the foggy fjord to the teeny tiny village of Haines, AK.  We spotted a bunch of seals, a humpback whale and two bald eagles on our ferry ride.  My science-loving self geeked out over the eagles, little did I know we'd see another 50(!!!) eagles on our raft trip through the world's largest bald eagle preserve.  It was so peaceful and beautiful  riding the river and spotting majestic birds around every bend. Did you know bald eagles stand 3 feet tall and have an 8 ft. wingspan?  They are ENORMOUS!

It was sooo foggy when we arrived

One of the preserve's mating pairs with their baby on the branch on the left. Eagles mate for life.

A young eagle, they are spotted as babies.

Just chillin

Floating through the preserve

This guy looked directly at us as we took his picture! 

Following our day in Skagway we had several sea days we filled with relaxing activities including on-board nature lectures. The lecture about orcas got us so excited about them we spent our evening in Victoria, B.C. whale watching.  We spotted a number of orcas that I once again geeked out over, too bad I forgot my zoom lens on the boat. As the sunset on our vacation, we got the most killer pink sunset on our boat ride home.

Two orcas, the one in the back is a male. 

Two females, one up, one coming up behind it

 

I hope you've enjoyed seeing/hearing about my trip to Alaska! We had such an amazing time and it was hard to pick a few pictures to share of the hundreds we took. We'll get back to normal crafts and recipes next week! 

Juneau: Day o' Glaciers

While we did not see Russia from our house balcony upon arriving in Juneau like Sarah Palin said we would, we did see several amazing glaciers.  Our second day in Alaska started at 5:30am when we cruised through the Tracy Arm fjord up to the Sawyer glacier.  It was gorgeous at every turn of the corner, totally worth getting out of bed for.  We spent the morning wrapped in blankets sipping cocoa and coffee, reading on our balcony and watching the world pass by.

Glacial ice loses its bright blue color several days after breaking off; this ice block is approx. 5 days old

The Sawyer Glacier - the cruise ship got SO close! 

Bundled up with a book and beautiful vistas

When we finally arrived in Juneau we helicoptered up to the Mendenhall glacier where we spent the afternoon hiking the glacier with guides for several hours. Our ride to the glacier was unbelievably beautiful; we saw waterfalls, mountain goats, a suicide glacier. We even had good enough visibility to fly over the ice field that feeds the glacier (apparently that almost never happens.) Flying over the ice field was like seeing the surface of the moon, I literally gasped at its size and splendor. Once we landed and were outfitted with cramp-ons for our boots, ice picks, helmets and harnesses we set off to explore the glacier.

Thums up, aka before I thought I might lose my lunch on the helicopter

There's a glacial stream flowing below us, hence why we are walking on the sides of the ice - not easy for shorties like me!

Cold, delicious glacier water

Everything really is bigger in Texas Alaska

The start of an ice cave/canyon

At the edge of a 1,000 ft. deep crevice...I was terrified.

I hope you enjoyed our pictures, we took literally a hundred that day.  I'll share pictures from Skagway and Victoria, B.C. this week, rounding out our trip.  I hope you all had wonderful weekends!

Sage's Suitcase: Tips for Vacation Packing

A few weeks ago my friend Sage challenged me to put together a post about efficient, multi-purpose vacation packing.  Since vacation season is fast approaching and I'm the world's worst overpacker, I accepted her challenge.  Sage is only taking a carry-on bag for a 7-day work/pleasure/road trip and doesn't want to look like she's wearing the same thing day in, day out.

When packing I always lean on neutral, packable fabrics.  I use neutral pieces in cotton and denim that can be mixed and matched and played up with fun scarves, pins and jewelry. Another tip for easy packing is to stay in one color family. By packing things in the same shades, you can almost guarantee everything can be remixed.  For Sage's suitcase I relied heavily on a base of black, white and navy and supplemented with pops of green, pink and yellow.

I built Sage two business casual looks using a pair of smart flats and two well cut blazers.  I added slim black pants, a printed skirt and two bright blouses with details along the neckline to tie the looks together.  I accessorized with office appropriate jewelry.
                               

For sight-seeing, I wanted to give Sage three looks that could transition from a day at the museum to dinner and drinks. I remixed the navy blazer three ways; pairing it with a casual green top and the patterned skirt, an easy striped dress and colored jeans with a casual peplum top.  I added another flat shoe in a fun color for comfort and some playful jewelry.
                                      
Long car rides require comfortable clothes however you will not find sweats in this post, because that's not how I roll drive.  I picked pants with some spandex in them to ensure comfort for a long day of sitting.  Both tops are cotton and loose-fitting, perfect for disguising that road trip-induced food baby.  The scarves and blazer are easy accessories that can be put on/taken off depending on the temperature in the car.  I also love balling a scarf up as a makeshift pillow when you need a little passenger seat nap.

If you've never visited Sage's blog, I HIGHLY recommend visiting her sweet space.  Her blog is full of fun pictures, sage advice and great links for simple ways to living a better life.

How do you pack? Do you have any packing tips that you live by?  I would love to hear them!  I also love making these collages, so if you have a fashionable challenge email me!

My Week in Aruba: Pictures and Highlights

Bonbini mi dushis! (That means Welcome my sweets! in papiamento, the language of Aruba)  I hope you had a great last week, I certainly did basking in the sun and sands of Aruba with Jamie and 4 of our friends. Most of the week we hung by the beach sipping frozen drinks and splashing around in the crystal clear waters.  One day we ventured off the beach to rent ATVs/Jeeps to off road on Aruba's wild northern coast and then another day we went sailing and snorkeling on a shipwreck where I saw a squid!  It was a really relaxing week full of laughs, smiles and good times.  I am so not ready to go back to work tomorrow!

At Bugaloe Beach Bar for Sunset

Eagle Beach

California Lighthouse from the desert

ATVing with my hunny 

Natural Bridge out in the desert

Salt Spray

Some furry friends at the Donkey Sanctuary

At Baby Beach on the southern coast

The end of another gorgeous day on Aruba

Hanging with Snatch the parrot post-snorkel

Back to work and marathon training tomorrow.  This week I'll be sharing a new soup recipe, more outfits and a new craft project so stay tuned!

I left my heart (again) in San Francisco

After two and a half wonderful yet exhausting days in Yosemite, we drove to San Francisco by way of the Pacific Coast Highway and my husband's true love, In-and-Out Burger.  Upon our arrival, San Francisco welcomed us with foggy, cool weather but we did our best to bundle up and enjoy our time there.  I visited San Francisco several years ago and almost didn't come home, and this time was no different.

The beautiful, yet chilly California coastline

Friday we re-visited all of the beautiful San Francisco sites like Fisherman's wharf, Ghiradelli Square, Coit Tower, Chinatown, the Presidio and Golden Gate Park.  Afterwards we freshened up and headed to dinner at Hubert Keller's Fleur de Lys for our final night.  It was a great way to bid our vacation adieu...

Chinatown's festive streets

Splitting Chowder and a Crab Melt on the Wharf for lunch

Sea Lions = endless entertainment

And then splitting an ice cream...good thing we did a lot of walking

Japanese Tea Garden in Golden Gate Park

(Un)fortunately, Hurricane Irene thought we needed one more vacation day, so our flight home was re-scheduled for Sunday.  With our extra day we walked through Union Square, trollied to the Castro for sandwiches at Ike's where we picnicked in a park, walked to Haight-Ashbury and then walked through some darling neighborhoods.  My husband wanted a nap so I spent several solo hours strolling and shopping along Fillmore and Union Streets.  We met up in Chinatown where we ate delicious Chinese food at a hole in the wall, best dumplings ever!

My A Heart in San Francisco

A cool mural in the Castro

Castro Sunflowers

Cultural Crossroads

My birthday is coming up, this would be a lovely present! 

San Francisco song lyrics door

Needless to say, I adored my time in San Francisco and left another piece of my heart there despite the cold and fog.  It's such a vibrant, colorful, diverse city buzzing with life.  I highly recommend it as a vacation destination.  I enjoyed sharing my vacation with you.  Live up your holiday weekend marking the official end of summer everyone! I'm heading to Boston tomorrow for my oldest friend's wedding but I'll be back next week with at least one new recipe and maybe even a craft project!