Lavender is Life

Last weekend, Tim and I braved the 100℉ weather and ventured out to Oregon City for the Lavender Festival at the Oregon Lavender Farm. With views of Mount Hood and bright purple lavender all around us, it was so, so beautiful. Not to mention the scent! Imagine taking a luxurious lavender-soaked bath - that's what the fragrance was like walking through the fields.

A post shared by Bre 💕 thisdaintylife.com (@thisdaintylife) on Jun 26, 2017 at 12:22pm PDT

While wandering the farm listening to the awesome local bands, I sipped on lavender lemonade, which is probably the most refreshing drink I've ever had - yes, it was really that good. I mean, just look at the photo from my Instagram! The festival also hosted vendors - everything from handmade rugs, jewelry, and artwork to candles and natural beauty products. There was lavender wreath making and a distillation demonstration, which was so interesting! I've read about the process, but I've never seen it in person.

Tim and I also enjoyed lavender beer and lavender cider - serious yum. And on our way out we picked up a Killa Dilla, a quesadilla larger than our faces, to share 😋 It was absolutely delicious. We ordered the "basic dilla," which comes with mozzarella, cabbage, marinated red onions, and a "secret tangy dressing," and we added grilled veggies. Holy moly, you guys. I can't do its tastiness justice.

As the title of this blog post suggests, I use lavender constantly, so I thought I'd share how I work it into my daily and weekly routine.

My favorite ways to use lavender essential oil:

1. Combine your favorite non-scented, natural lotion with one drop of lavender to moisturize and treat yourself to a little at-home spa experience 💜
2. Put one drop into your mascara bottle to support strong, healthy lashes 💜
3. Diffuse 3-4 drops at night to aid sound sleeping or make a pillow spray with it for the same benefits 💜
4. Add 2-3 drops to your laundry detergent, especially when washing sheets or towels 💜
5. Add 3 drops to your wool dryer balls when drying laundry 💜
6. Use a roller bottle to experience lavender's calming properties on-the-go 💜

Do you love lavender essential oil? What are your favorite ways to use it?

Adventures // Eagle Creek Trail

One of Tim's passions is the outdoors - hiking, camping, you name it, he loves it. So we vowed to do more of that this past summer, especially day hikes. One weekend, we adventured on a short hike through Eagle Creek Trail to Punch Bowl Falls. We had done this hike before 2 years ago, but it was nice to do it again, this time more prepared with a little picnic at the falls. Getting outdoors really does calm the soul; it was nice escaping reality if just for the day. Here's a fun little video of our adventure and a few photos that just really don't do its beauty justice.

Tim and I recently hiked the Eagle Creek Trail to Punch Bowl Falls in the beautiful Columbia River Gorge. Read more about our day adventure at Along the Way blog: http://alongthewayblog.com/blog/2016/6/12/pdx-eagle-creek-trail

PDX // The Pumpkin Patch

Tim and I visited The Pumpkin Patch on Sauvie Island a few weeks ago for some good ol' fall fun. It was one of the first nice weekends in awhile, which means what would have taken 20 minutes to get there took 2 hours. Yes, you read that right ;) Even though the traffic tried to throw off our fun, it still ended up being a wonderful day spent with my even more wonderful husband.

The two hour adventure to get there amped up our appetite, so when we arrived the first thing we did is devour hot dogs and absolutely delicious kettle corn. What's a pumpkin patch without fair food? ;)

We were fully planning on exploring the pumpkin patch and corn maze and even wore appropriate shoes to do so, but while we were munching on lunch we kept seeing families come out of the pumpkin patch and corn maze with mud almost up to their knees! We weren't quite that prepared, so we decided to hang out around the market and gift shop instead.

On the way to The Pumpkin Patch we passed by Bella Organic Farm and noticed they had wine and cider tasting at their pumpkin patch. So since our trip to the first patch was quicker than we anticipated, we decided to stop by Bella Organic on the way back for some cider and to walk around their patch. It was beautiful!