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Hello! I'm Suzannah, a serious DIYer and mom of two little ones. Follow along with my DIY fixer upper house renovations, sewing and crafty projects, real food recipes, and de-stressing goals.
I believe you can love your home just the way it is, AND have the power to design and make big changes to make it better.
I'm also the author of DIY Wardrobe Makeovers!

Photos of happiness - mini-break weekend

We had a very short, but still magical, getaway this weekend to the beautiful Olympic Peninsula in Washington.

Pre-note: Also, while I know it doesn't sound like the most relaxing way to spend a Saturday, I did enjoy getting a lot of coding done for some gallery pages for the blog that I've been meaning to do for the better part of the year. Now you can click on TUTORIALS! and DRESSES! in my navigation bar and see photo galleries of (not all, but most of) the tutorials and dresses I've shared! (So since the blog name switch over, if you are looking for more sewing content, it is even easier to find than before.)

But mostly, I enjoyed a very peaceful, low-stress weekend with family in an amazing place.

Husband's grandparents live at the top of a hill overlooking the Strait of Juan de Fuca and looking out toward Victoria, Canada, with pretty much a 330 degree view of the beautiful ocean, so remote it feels like a different world. I'm so grateful we get to spend time with them (and his immediate family) a few times a year. We went up on Friday and came back on Sunday. I got some great relaxing time in!

The sunsets look sort of like this. (I tried to capture them. That's ocean beneath the fog out there - the Strait of Juan de Fuca.)

The sunrises look something like this. (I just couldn't capture the amazingness of the bright red sun coming up in the colorful sky!)

Our mornings look kind of like this.
I wake up with the sun coming through the big windows where we sleep, so I was up at 6:10 both mornings with some time for coffee and a book to myself. Then time to make everyone a big breakfast around 9 (I volunteered!). I love cooking delicious, nourishing food for lots of hungry people.

Kept company by everyone reading and talking at the table.

They pulled out some incredible old photo albums of my mother-in-law and family long ago. Family breakfast time with memories.

I love the assortment of coffee cups and water glasses and magazines and books that builds up and morphs throughout the day when there are so many of us there.

The rest of the time is mostly just hanging out! Like true vacation.
More reading and relaxing later in the day. Amazing views from a favorite reading/talking spot on the north side of the house.
Sometimes we go down to the rock beach at the bottom of the hill, or into Port Angeles proper to visit the bookstores, but this time I stayed at the house and practiced doing nothing. Aaaaahh....

I love the climate and ecosystem up there. It's just like my summer camp in the San Juan Islands, where I spent 5 happy summer sessions and felt so relaxed and at peace. The trails and fields and plants around the grandparents' property bring me back. It even smells the same.

It's a little surreal that it was really just hours ago that we were there. A happy, relaxed oasis, 5 hours from home but close enough that we can visit a few times a year for these incredible weekends!

15 comments

  1. It looks amazingly beautiful up there. You have so many gorgeous areas in your country. Some day I hope I can visit and look at a couple of them with my own eyes!

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  2. Oh how I love the Olympic Peninsula! Gorgeous photos. Looks like such a peaceful, relaxing time. Thanks for sharing!

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  3. While on vacation in Singapore years ago, my mom, two sisters, sister's friend and I ALL tried to get through The Sound and the Fury—to no avail. It has become a bit of a joke in our family and was the quintessential anti-beach read, so I laughed out loud to see your husband reading it on vacation! :)

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  4. Lovely photos. Looks so relaxing. I'm jealous!

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  5. Good catch!! He said he had a hard time getting into it but I think he's just been really motivated to finish his books lately!

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  6. Ooh, I love those sunset/sunrise pictures. The Olympic Peninsula is so beautiful, glad you enjoyed your mini-break!

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  7. It looks beautiful up there. Glad you had an awesome time. I just stumbled upon your blog and I can't wait to read more!

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  8. Now THAT is the perfect vacation! Oh and my hair doesn't look like that when I'm cooking breakfast. :o)

    JJ
    www.dressupnotdown.blogspot.com

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  9. Looks like an amazing vacation! The art of doing nothing is my favorite thing to practice. It's so simple, and so worth it.

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  10. Good for you for getting that coding done. There are so many things on my "backend" wish list that I continue to put off because it's not the "fun stuff." Also, you need one of those "I Woke Up Like This" tees if you look like that at 9am. Amazing lady!

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  11. Super duper cute. I adore how bright the blue ended up being!

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  12. Haha! Thanks!
    One of the benefits of waking up hours before everyone else! ;)

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