master cleanse

Sometimes you have to get out of the city, head south to warmer, less rainy places. Sleep outside. Watch Hazel (the little dude at the top here with her favourite camping mug) go crazy for nearly 48 hours straight. Wash raccoon prints off of your car windshield. Hike for hours to see lakes and beaches. Make a fire. Use ketchup in the dark. Master cleanse your brain. Here are some highlights from our first day in Larabee State Park with Adam, Emily, Hazel, and Lola.

• lookout point over the pacific ocean and the san juan (southern gulf) islands •

• fragrance lake with lola and hazel •

• clayton beach tide pools •

• candlelit cheese plate •

I think I'm in love with fall camping and getting away for an entire weekend without computers, cell phones, television, and all that other distracting stuff. Now I'm dreaming of a fall camping road trip next year after Jeff is finished school. The cooler temperatures are just right for a long hike and evenings are nice and long for hours around the campfire. I hope you enjoyed your weekend, too. Is it very autumn-like where you are?

what would I want? dye

Lately my friend Emily (seen here, scaling hills during a Sadie photoshoot) have been mastering the art of tie dye. We've put in two full day sessions so far this summer and have great plans for more hand dyed projects after I get married. Our tie dye sessions are getting talked about, too. In fact, today I got an e-mail from my friend Jill who's coming for the wedding asking if we can tie dye while she's here visiting. Sounds like a plan to me, but I'll have to check with Emily, there's no way I could do this without her. We tend to encourage each other to experiment in just the right ways, even if we do sometimes end up with an ugly scarf or a tea towel with hand-dyed plaid (yes, that was as amazing as it sounds).
Spending the day on Emily's back porch, with her cute dog Hazel, pots of dye and piles of cotton fabric has been one of my favourite summer activities. I can't wait to experiment with some more autumn inspired colours and some new fabric dyeing techniques in September. What do you think of our sky-inspired palette? My giant pink and black organic cotton scarf is definitely my new favourite thing. I love the colours that we used this time around. The black wasn't as dark as I thought it would be, but the grey ended up being perfect with the other muted, pastel colours that we chose.
On another summery note my friend Carrah's rad summer trip is going to be the subject of tomorrow's two part, incredible, image-heavy post. Be sure to check it out, you won't want to miss this one!
Here's one of my favourite Animal Collective songs. I think it would be the perfect tie dye session soundtrack:

more

More amazing photos of the Sadie collection by Ryan. Hazel with a pendulum necklace, Emily looking amazing on a cliff face over the pacific ocean, red arms. I love these photos. Thanks for all of your comments. I definitely hope that Ryan and I can take more photos together in the future!