missing our epic adventures

my true love's a blue eyed daisy

Finally I am free

Adored

In love truly

My life stormed through the torrents

Now flowing into calm seas

Full of life

Infinite and wonderous 

Finally

twinned one eyes

Another big change I had, Youta, my beloved feline best friend of 21 years died in 2016 when we first moved back to the Pacific Northwest. I was devastated beyond grief. But last year we adopted two one-eyed sisters that needed love. Meet Fika and Spika, or as we like to call them Butter Pup and Cyclaw.

lots of changes

I haven't been very good at posting lately due to a lot of crazy stuff happening to me. I moved back up to the Seattle area, designed and built a house, got divorced, started a new company. On top of that, I decided to marry one of my business partners and dear friend, Niklas. We did a quick wedding at Stinson Beach last year so he can file for immigration and move to the US. There's lots of details I am leaving out, since it's been so long, but I will try to get off my ass and post more fun stuffs moving forward.

port costa, california

I've moved from being a Big Sur gal to a Point Reyes hiker. Now I am in love with a new neighborhood, 25 minutes from my house, Port Costa. It's an old rowdy port town that's fallen from economy. Now it's turned into a haven for road bikers and motorcycle dudes.

We came out today for the best brunch ever, chicken and cheddar waffles! The Bull Valley Roadhouse, is the type of eatery that's just my style. Not too stuffy, lots of personality, and the food is amazing. We had dinner here once before and it was excellent! 

the general

I was desperate to see General Sherman, for my tree collection. I want to see the most famous tress before I die. Like Hyperion, Pando, Methuselah, and Tjikko. The General was up on my list. Last year, the last camp that we did was to Sequoia Park just to see the tree. I am very familiar with Coastal Redwoods, so it was very interesting to visit their Eastern cousins. The trees are scattered, not together like the redwoods. Its thick, cinnamon color bark makes it easy to spot while hiking.

petit pâtissier

Years ago, I stumbled across Herriott Grace. A beautiful photographer and also pastry lover, like myself. She seemed like the kinda girl I would be best friends with. Her father does woodworking and lovingly makes wooden plates, cake stands, spreaders, spoons, and rolling pins. They sell out really fast, so I emailed Nikole, the owner, and asked for the next rolling pin and if she had a smaller one as well. I told her that I wanted to give it to my daughter when she was old enough to bake with me. Kaia was shy of two at the time. Here's a snippet of the email exchange from years ago:

runawaygray	2/25/10
to herriott

thanks Nikole! I can't wait. I have a little girl I named Kaia Miette. Miette is French for little crumb, because I love baking so much and she's like my crumb and I am the cake! I am going to gift the smaller rolling pin to her when she's old enough to use it and I hope she passes it to her kids when she is older. :)

herriott grace	3/2/10
to me

Hi Tricia,

I've wanted to reply properly but, it's been a crazy last little while. Anyway, this message really made my day, I'm so glad you sent it. Really. Thank you for sharing with me, that's about the best name I've ever heard.

Hope your pins arrive soon!
Nikole

This Christmas, I thought it was time now for Kaia to start baking. So I had her rolling pin under the tree. When she discovered what it was, she was overjoyed! 

We have a tradition of making cinnamon buns for Christmas Eve morning and it was a perfect chance for Kaia to use her new tool.