Gratitude in Tucson

To the Coast

This past weekend a friend invited me to take a little day trip to the Oregon coast, and since I'd never been of course I said yes. We stopped along a few beach towns throughout the day, taking a quick little walk around each of them. It was a great, classic, rainy Oregon day that involved hot clam chowder, salt water taffy, and sea lions (seeing them, not eating them.) This is the life, isn't it?

Coffee Date: Commissary

Anyone that knows me knows that I'm quite the coffeeaddict (although I'm slowly transitioning out of using that email address anymore, being that I'm 21 years old and have gotten to the point that reading it aloud to strangers has gotten a bit embarrassing) and, regardless of the time of day, am almost always down to grab a hot cuppa somewhere.

Not only do I love coffee but I love the ritual of going to new spots around the city, exploring the different atmospheres and clientele of each shop. So I thought I'd start a little series called "Coffee Date" where I just share my excursions to different cool coffee shops around Portland.

A friend and I made a little trip to Commissary a few Sundays ago to get some work done and have a change of scenery from being home or at the library. Commissary is a pretty new spot that opened up on 21st in NW Portland, a cool area that's far enough from 23rd to be pretty quiet and chill, even on the weekends. The building was previously a movie distribution center which is pretty cool; it's named after the place that actors in Hollywood would typically meet up for food in between shooting scenes. 

The atmosphere in here is so lovely and clean; the space itself has a very industrial feel to it, but the vintage decor and natural light coming from the huge windows really brightens it up. As it is October, I had to go for a fall spice latte (my first of the season), and it was really tasty: smooth without being too sweet. We've now pegged this place as a favorite study spot so I'm sure we'll be back soon.

Transitions

Lately my life has been punctuated by a lot of different transitions; it's been five years since I've lived in the same place for more than one year at a time. But I'd be lying if I said that I haven't kind of loved it. The places I've lived, the experiences I've had, and the people I've met have really shaped me into the person I am now. Some have inspired me to be better, some have shown me what I'm not looking for in my life, and some have widened my perspective to the point where I can't imagine going back. Basically, I'm loving life right now, if for no other reason than this: my world is wide open. And I get to fill it, piece by piece, with the people and the things that make me happy. To quote my favorite yoga teacher, Adriene Mishler, I'm finding what feels good.

Things that are making me feel good nowadays:
1. My new space and the opportunity to make it my own.
2. This beautiful city. Damn, PDX. You got it going on.
3. The world of food and cooking--what a beautiful thing it is to create something that nourishes my soul and body!
4. My daily yoga practice, keeping me grounded.
5. New people. Although meeting new people and putting myself out there is always kind of scary, it's a challenge I'm willing to accept.
6. This blog: another wide open space to cultivate some creativity.

That being said, I have no idea where this blog will be going! There are so many things I want to use it for: to explore different spots around Portland, to develop my photography and writing skills, to document my cooking progress, and generally to share the things that make me happy. So I guess we'll just see where I can take this blog, and maybe more importantly, where it can take me. And if I collect a few people along the way who are interested in following this journey, even better!
Happy Sunday everyone! Until next time.
-Audra-

Bavarian Road Trip

When a couple of friends came to Munich for a few days, I was lucky enough to be able to tag along on one of their adventures. On their last full day here, we rented a little Fiat for a day trip across Bavaria. First stop: Zugspitze, the tallest mountain in Germany. It was a gorgeous 70 or so degrees at the base of the mountain, where we loaded onto the cable car and were swiftly hoisted up to the top of the mountain in less than 10 minutes; when we got off it was about 35 degrees. The short trip on the cable car was pretty awe-inspiring; at some points we were basically going completely vertical. It was one of those moments where you just have to stop and think about how beautiful this world is that we live in.

Also at the base of the mountain is the Eibsee, a lake whose piercing aqua blue waters prompted another moment of sincere appreciation.

We had a typical Bavarian lunch of sausage and beer, and I suppose it's pretty cool to say that we've eaten at the highest restaurant in Germany.

Here was the actual highest point, for those daring enough to climb up a ladder and then guide themselves up a snowy slope while being led only by a rope.

After we made our descent back down the mountain we wanted to at least quickly check out the lake, where we found the paddle boat rental place--and of course they had an offer we couldn't resist, of only eight euros for an hour! We took turns paddling (although somehow I ended up paddling much slower and shorter distances than the others...) and enjoyed the amazing view.

I know for a fact that I didn't go swimming at all last summer (shock and horror!), and I can't remember the last time I was out on open water like this. It felt so peaceful and calm and reminded me why I love being on the water.

We ended the day with a super quick trip to Hohenschwangau to catch a glimpse of the Neuschwahnstein castle. Unfortunately we got there late enough in the day that we weren't able to go inside the castle or even make time for the hike up to it, but we had a lovely dinner right on the Alpsee, another picturesque glass-like lake. It was the perfect tribute to Bavaria just as I'm getting ready to say goodbye to my year in Germany.