Vashon Island, February

The past few days we spent on Vashon Island, a quick ferry ride away from Tacoma (or Seattle) and I was instantly smitten. I had always wanted to visit because I felt like this charming island in the Puget sound would be the perfect backdrop for the newest chapter of floral printed dresses. We rented a charming little farmhouse near the center of the island that was intentionally minimally decorated with antique finds.   That afternoon we spent driving around the island and exploring possible locations for future photoshoots. It was frigid, but the scenes and settings were so idyllic and beautiful. I truly fell in love with the quiet pace of this small island.

We tried Snapdragon Bakery & Cafe and I still dream of the maple cronut. The cafe has such a vibrant and uplifting energy. All the people that work there had music blasting (a lot of Pop Top Hits) and they were singing while baking and making coffees. The joy was infectious. I started singing out loud when "Mama Mia" by ABBA was playing. "My, my, how can I resist you?" The cafe is a bit bohemian and a bit rustic, my favorite room was the one in the back with the most stunning wallpaper and paintings hanging on the walls.  I loved the deep rich colors and on the coffee table right in front of where we sat to enjoy our breakfast was a book all about William Morris. How serendipitous!

We drove to a couple beaches and to see a popular landmark on the island, the Point Robinson Lighthouse. It was absolutely freezing and within 15 minutes I could barely feel my fingers and toes. Though I was quite cold, I did pick a few seashells and bits of moss from the beach. I always love bringing back little bits of Nature during my travels, near or far. They are my favorite kind of souvenirs.

One of the most charming things about the island is that it's still mostly farmland and each farm during Summer and Autumn has little stands at the end of their lanes with a selection of the crops they specialize in. How charming is this? I just loved this so much and I started to daydream about someday having our own small acreage where I can grow flowers and easy to grow crop and have a sweet little farmstand at the end of our dirt road. Fresh Eggs! Fresh Flowers! Plant starts! I am so looking forward to visiting Vashon again when the farms have produce to sell! 

That evening we bought a small bottle of wine from a newly opened bottle shop and lit a fire before retiring to bed early. The next morning we visited the other side of the island where I took down notes of more possible shoot locations and explored another beach with a lovely bare tree. I wondered how it will look when it's limbs are adorned with hundreds of leaves. Later that afternoon we meandered our way to a couple of cideries on the island. Nashi Orchards specializes in ciders made from Korean pears and their tasting room had a really large library of art, design, and history books. I could have spent hours there!  The other cidery, Dragon's Head Cider, featured a Pommeau that reminded me of our time spent in Normandie, France. We brought a small bottle to enjoy and share with friends in our own home. For our last evening, we had supper at The Ruby Brink, a bar and bitcher, and one of the servers was wearing a beautiful vintage blouse. I almost asked her if I could take a photo of her (and her blouse) for future design reference, but I figured I always have a really sharp memory for beautiful clothing, so I didn't want to bother her.

Really looking forward to revisiting Vashon Island again once the weather warms up and to see how the landscape changes as we'll be doing our photoshoot sometime in late summer or early autumn. We had a lovely parting gift of a fresh snowfall as we were leaving the island. Everything was so still and calm.

Sincerely Yours,

R O D E L L E E