So for this month, we’ve decided to share a quick list of some great ways to keep active mentally and physically.

It’s been a hot minute since Ginger and I have posted, and this month we’d like to do something a little different: a joint post about what we’ve been up to, what we’ve been reading, seeing, listening to, and daydreaming about. A mix of all our guiding subjects. Winter is always a big time for me to travel for work, which usually means adding on some extra days or destinations for a little fun too. This last November I was in Denver for both – a week of meetings and events in

My day job is in the staffing industry, not exactly a hotbed of arts and culture, so it rarely warrants a mention on the blog. But we do have an interesting client or two, one of those being Travel Oregon. Last year they gave us some beautiful poster prints from their recent ad campaign. My favorite is on the wall within view of my desk – a small car with a roof rack towering with camping gear passing through a farm scene, enormous green and gray mountains in the background.

Let’s talk about the Spice Girls, shall we? This past June, the premiere girl band of the 90s reunited for a 13-show UK tour, which amassed a whopping $78 million, and I was lucky enough to witness it in all its glory. While traveling to London and Paris for my 30th birthday, I noticed I was returning home just one day shy of the Spice Girls’ London shows, at the end of their tour. Luckily, they had another show in Bristol two days before I was flying home, and there were sti

I’ve written before about taking a book with me around the world but unlike the last time, I actually read a bit of this one everywhere I took it – and it didn’t take years to finish. Less (awarded the Pulitzer prize in 2018) by Andrew Sean Greer, has been the perfect companion for me since I bought it while traveling in New York City last January. The story of Less is about a man doing what I think is the best thing you can when it comes to avoiding your feelings: travel. An

By the time we got to Banjar, my then-boyfriend (and still dear friend) Jesse and I had been in Indonesia for a couple of weeks. His Uncle and Aunt live there, in Banjar, on the northern coast of Bali. After spending those first few weeks in hostel bunks and eating more food stall fried noodles than could possibly be healthy, I was relishing the fresh market vegetables and steaming hot shower on offer. We had our own room with a big comfortable double bed, a pool out front, a

I knew how I wanted to turn 30 long before the time arrived. What started as an inclination to do something big, a feeling, and a desire to celebrate and have a better thirtieth than my mother, eventually became a full fledged plan. From the time my mother turned 30 herself, I’d heard the story of how she was gifted a driveway lined with black candles and a package of adult diapers from her friends. I desired...adventure over somewhat cruel gag gifts. And oddly, to be alone.

Okay, more like, “Phil and Ruby, we’re unfortunately still in Kansas.” Phil and Ruby were the two German Short-Haired Pointers that I was helping my friend Shonna transport from Marin County, California, to their owners in Harding, New Jersey. We had a week to get across the country with our precious, adorable, sometimes-stressful cargo, and I’d chosen for us a fairly straight line to get from A to B. We had hotels booked in Salt Lake City, Colorado Springs, Nashville, and Sh

I’ve been thinking a lot about family art lately and the many forms it can take. The objects and art our families pass on. Paintings, sculptures, tapestries, collections, depression era glasswares, special little trinkets, the plates my family only used for special occasions. The things we inherit. Heirlooms. Things both sentimental and potentially valuable. For instance, I’ve been told that one day I’ll be getting my great grandmother’s fancy full-service china set. That, to

I’ve written about my trip to China a couple times now, but one thing bears repeating: Shanghai is enormous. And since I was traveling solo, visiting a friend with a full time job, and staying in my own apartment, the crowded streets and sticky heat tended to wear me out. So, I fell into a routine – generally, I was back at the apartment by late afternoon with a few hours to kill before I’d meet up with Elizabeth for dinner. I started referring to my apartment as “going back