Blog / travel
atlanta
A few pictures from a surprise trip to Atlanta this past weekend:
salty oat cookies
A quick trip to Texas over Labor Day weekend obviously had to include a stop at Quack's Bakery in Austin for some salty oat cookies:
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thank you!
A salty oat cookie (!) made by the lovely Beth Hempton.
Everything's packed, the movers have come and gone, and we're currently camping out on the floor of our Austin house, getting ready for our drive to DC, which starts early tomorrow morning.
I grew up in New England, so I'm excited to live on the East Coast again for the first time in eight years, but there will definitely be things I'll miss about Texas (including our friends, queso, and the melt-in-your-mouth fresh tortillas from H-E-B). However, one of the things that I will miss most is the Austin crafting community. I've met an incredibly inspiring and supportive group of women here in town, and I'm sad to say good-bye. And so, I'd like to say thank you to everyone who's helped me along the way, answered my crafty business questions, taught me new skills, cheered me on, and made me feel so welcome.
Thank you to the gals of EtsyAustin. Though I joined this enthusiastic and active street team only weeks before finding out we were moving, I've had so much fun meeting members, attending events, and learning more about running a craft business in Austin.
Thank you to Jennifer Perkins of Naughty Secretary Club, who took me on as an intern, let me help her make lots of cool crafts, passed along oodles of business advice, and shared books and supplies. I had so much fun working behind the scenes at NSC and learned so much about the day-to-day operations of a small craft business.
Thank you to all of my teachers at The Stitch Lab (such an amazing space and resource for crafters!), including Kat McTee and Rachel Hobson who taught me so much about embroidery and challenged me to try out new stitches and techniques.
And finally, thank you to the amazing women behind The WonderCraft (especially Beth H. who made the uh-mazing piece pictured above and wrote the sweetest blog post to go along with it), who have been so supportive of Salty Oat, dispensed great advice, and carried my items in their boutique. I had a blast interning for them (and using their button machine!) and will miss them dearly. (For those of you lucky enough to still be in Austin, I highly recommend you go visit them this weekend at their new location in East Austin!)
I've scheduled a recent craft project post (the first in a while!) to appear on Thursday (we'll be driving somewhere through Tennessee), and when I come back on Tuesday, I'll be blogging from our new apartment in Silver Spring---while hopefully surrounded by our recently delivered furniture. Until then...
snapshot from our new city
Shark tail sticking out of the Discovery Channel world headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland--just a few blocks away from our new apartment!
seattle highlights
The husband and I recently spent an extended weekend in Seattle, a city that neither of us have been to before. We stayed at the Ace Hotel in Belltown (highly recommended!), which turned out to be a perfect location for us; we were within walking distance of most downtown sites.
The hotel is in a former halfway house, and has been beautifully renovated. One of the walls in our room was plastered with the Obey Giant image by Shepard Fairey.
On the Sunday of our trip, we took part in the Chocolate Indulgence Tour, organized by Savor Seattle. First, we drank a Flatliner at Oliver's Lounge in the Mayflower Park Hotel.
Next, we sampled the Triple Coconut Cream Pie...
...and the Chocolate Truffle Cookie...
...at Dahlia Bakery, one of many joints in town owned by restaurateur Tom Douglas. Then it was off to The Chocolate Box, where we sampled a chocolate-enrobed brownie...
...a chocolate cupcake...
...and chocolate and lemon gelato.
Our next stop was The Confectional, which was located in the Pike Place Market. There, we sampled cheesecake...
...and warm and yummy sipping chocolate.
We then sampled some of the sweet popcorn at KuKuRuZa Gourmet Popcorn...
...before heading to Fran's Chocolates in the Four Seasons Hotel, where we picked up some samples, including salted caramels, which my husband fell in love with.
Other activities during our trip included a haircut at Rudy's, a cupcake from Cupcake Royale, a ride on the monorail to the Experience Music Project, two meals at Belltown Pizza (it was that good!), shopping at crafty places like Assemble Gallery and Studio, Schmancy, Fancy, and Nancy, late night dessert at Serious Pie, a fun trip to the Asian grocery and gift store Uwajimaya in the International District, a delicious dinner at Black Bottle, and lots and lots of walking.
We left the city wanting to do more (like ride the ferry and check out the neighboring islands and drive to Mount Rainier), so we'll definitely go back for another visit (hopefully at the same time as the Urban Craft Uprising!).
