Oh, precious extra day of February, I’m so grateful for you this year! Happy Leap Day, everyone!
This month has been a good one, but when I try to put my finger on exactly why it’s been good, I come up short. I think it has something to do with the general sense of calm I’ve felt; whereas in previous months I’ve been extremely preoccupied with knowing what the future holds, this month I’ve finally started to accept that I simply can’t know. I’m more willing to take things as they come and let things happen in their own time. Patience, I think it’s called.
I just hope I can continue traveling through life in this way; it’s a lot less exhausting than worrying all the time!
But moving on, here’s an in-depth look at what went down this February.
In February 2016…
I said goodbye to Sweden…again.
We all knew this was coming, but the surprising part for me was how soon. My original intention had been to stay in Sweden for the full duration of my visa allowance, or 3 months. Unfortunately, unforeseen circumstances arose that made staying until March seem impractical, and so I booked a flight back to the US for mid-February. Only much later did I find out that I probably could have stayed without consequence, but what was done was done. I made the most of my final few days in Stockholm, though; I got to visit a Swedish palace, eat Swedish pancakes, and spend a wonderfully relaxed weekend playing Angry Birds in my pajamas. I wandered the streets one last time with camera in hand on one of the most gloriously sunny days I’d seen all winter. Overall, it was a lovely way to say goodbye (for now). As it stands, I’ve got a pretty compelling reason to return, so you can probably expect to find me right back in Sweden before too long.
I was welcomed back to Washington with open arms.
So little time has passed since I was last here that it almost feels like I never left! My sweet family (mom and brother) made the journey to Seattle to gather me from the airport when I landed. After being on the go for so long, it’s always so comforting returning to a place where I have people to rely on. In the two short weeks I’ve been back I’ve already seen a number of wonderful friends as well, despite the fact that most of my time has been spent right here at home, snuggling our kittens or playing with my new camera gear (or, you know, working as usual). In addition to feeling comforted by the ones I love, it’s nice for a change to be a source of comfort and support for them. I can tell how much they appreciate me being around more often lately and it warms my heart from the inside out.
I drank wine and ate delicious food.
My few outings in Washington this month have somehow always involved wine (shocking, I know!) and lots of tasty food. I’m constantly impressed by the quality of the restaurants and wineries cropping up around here and love to try new ones whenever possible. In Lake Chelan, I got to sample wines at the newly opened Siren Song Winery and enjoy one of their pizzas as well. According to my friend (the Chelan local), their pizza might be some of the best in town. 
In Leavenworth, I tasted wines at the Goose Ridge Winery tasting room before heading across the street to Sulla Vita, a European-inspired restaurant that serves small plates for sharing and a selection of pizzas. Both were excellent! I was slightly miffed by the high prices, particularly at Sulla Vita (I mean, c’mon guys, this is Leavenworth, not NYC) but the food was damn good.
I made travel plans!
As of this moment, I have one trip planned for the spring and two tentative trips waiting to be confirmed. The trip already set in stone is an exciting one, to say the least–I’m going to New York! By now you probably know about my longstanding love affair with New York City; I used to live there and I go back to visit at just about every opportunity. My last visit was in April of 2015 for a few days before flying to Europe, so this trip will be coming around just about one year later. The other trips I hesitate to mention just yet, but I’m hoping to take one this month and the other will (hopefully) come immediately after my week in New York. But I won’t jinx anything by revealing too much before any deals have been sealed.
My Most Popular Posts
The Heart Wants What the Heart Wants
My On-the-Go Fitness Solution: Kayla Itsines’ Bikini Body Guide
My Best Instagrams
A beautiful shop at London’s Camden Market
A wintry scene in Lake Chelan, Washington
A Few Things I’m Loving
I’ve been pretty obsessive over Instagram again this month, so I thought I’d share a handful of my new favorite accounts (so that you all become just as obsessed as I am): candyminimal, travelplusstyle, seaofatlas, trendstyled, andreadabene, veekster, bontraveler, juliahengel, and tberolz. Enjoy!
Newsflash: Mexico City is Trendy, Cheap, and Totally Worth Visiting – This post by Ashley Abroad is giving me all the feels–Mexico is on my hit list for this year and hearing other travelers sing its praises only makes me want to go more! Ideas are brewing…
Candlemas and Tamales: An Introduction to Oaxaca – Jodi (aka Legal Nomads) always has a way of giving me serious hungerlust. Another blogger falling for Mexico…are the stars aligning?! Will this be my year?!
That’s all for February! Onward and upward!
