Posts tagged Seattle Lifestyle Blogger
A Tacoma Annual Tradition Hunting for Monkeyshines: A Look at the Citywide Guerrilla Art Hunt
Anna Osgoodby Life + Biz: A Tacoma Annual Tradition Hunting for Monkeyshines: A Look at the Citywide Guerrilla Art Hunt

It’s Lunar New Year which means... Monkeyshine season is upon us in Tacoma! If you haven’t heard about it before, it’s an annual guerrilla art hunt where local artists hide a couple thousand glass orbs and medallions stamped with the Chinese Zodiac around the city.

Originally, it was started by someone known as “Ms. Monkey” and a friend who wanted to create joy and excitement for residents during our long grey winters. While deciding what they were going to create and hide, they were inspired by Ms. Monkey’s friend’s brass stamp he had created with a monkey on it. With access to a hot shop and donated glass, they decided stamping glass balls was the perfect creation. Plus, it would also pay homage to the city’s glass roots. From there, they created 200 creations and with a cohort of volunteers they hid them around the city. Here’s a peek at what some of them look like!

Their idea was a hit right from the bat, even with some initial confusion. Apparently the finds were being confiscated at first because they thought they had been stolen from the glass museum! After a very buzzworthy first year, Ms. Monkey’s crew decided to commit to hiding what would be known as “monkeyshines” each year for 12 years to complete a cycle (and later another cycle). How fun right?! You can learn even more about the back story of the tradition in this great article from Joanna Kresge of South Sound Magazine including an interview with Ms. Monkey herself.

Since then, the event has continued to evolve and others have decided to join in the fun including, now infamous, Marble Man who leaves marbles and others who leave their own gifts of charms, bracelets, and painted rocks to name a few. Adding even more treasures to be found! There aren’t any formal rules, but you can find monkeyshines in public places around the city and be sure to keep the honor system of 1 per person (that is if you’re lucky enough to even find one!)

Last year was my first year of hunting for monkeyshines and while we didn’t find anything, it was a really fun day of exploring the city — especially because we’d just moved. You could say we fully embraced the original mission of the event! That was also the day we ended up discovering my favorite brewery, 7 Seas Brewing (where I just celebrated my 30th Birthday party at)!

Anna Osgoodby Life + Biz: A Tacoma Annual Tradition Hunting for Monkeyshines: A Look at the Citywide Guerrilla Art Hunt

This year, I was lucky enough to (unsuspectingly) come across a red envelope with a pig charm inside too! I also walked by a guy who found a really gorgeous glass ball in Wright Park! So there are definitely treasures to be found out there! I’ve been keeping up with the hashtag on Instagram of finds too! No matter if you find something or not though, remember to enjoy the hunt and this great city because that’s where the real fun is!

Home Tour:: Front Porch & Outdoor Halloween Decorations
Anna Osgoodby Life + Biz :: Home Tour:: Front Porch & Outdoor Halloween Decorations

This post contains affiliate links for your convenience which means if you purchase something I recommend I may receive a commission at no additional cost to you.

I cannot tell you how EXCITED I am to have a front porch to decorate for the holidays! It’s our first Halloween at the townhouse and whether we end up getting trick or treaters or not, the decorations were going up! This is the first time EVER in my adult life that I’ve actually had a front porch of my own and not just an apartment door so I definitely had a lot of fun with it!

Anna Osgoodby Life + Biz :: Home Tour:: Front Porch & Outdoor Halloween Decorations
Anna Osgoodby Life + Biz :: Home Tour:: Front Porch & Outdoor Halloween Decorations

Bats: Similar | Skeleton: Similar | Spider Webs: Similar | Candy Corn Lights: Similar

Our front porch isn’t super big so we decided to also take advantage of our Juliette balcony for some decor! We added a skeleton we had, as well as some spider webs and lights. Since he gets s little windy up there too we also tied the skeleton to the balcony with some twine.

Anna Osgoodby Life + Biz :: Home Tour:: Front Porch & Outdoor Halloween Decorations

My other favorite part of our decor are these bats! How fun right?!

Anna Osgoodby Life + Biz :: Home Tour:: Front Porch & Outdoor Halloween Decorations

Next up is the front porch! Of course we all know the real stars of the season are pumpkins! We picked up a bunch of varieties at Trader Joes this year. I also brought out a wood crate we had to add a little height and give us more space to stack pumpkins. Add in some corn cobs and some lights and the front porch was ready to go!

Anna Osgoodby Life + Biz :: Home Tour:: Front Porch & Outdoor Halloween Decorations

Wreath: Option 1 & Option 2 | Halloween Ornaments: Similar

Another fun decor element is our wreath. I actually got this years ago when I was living in NYC and thought I was splurging (it was a whole $30 😂). What I love about it is since it’s black and silver I can change the decorations to match the holiday. In NYC this was more a matter of space, but even still I like having the option. So for Halloween, I add a spider and some Halloween ornaments. For Christmas, I swap out the ornaments, add some ribbon and a hanging snowflake. Then for Valentine’s Day, I add some cute heart lights. It’s nice to have something that is versatile!

Anna Osgoodby Life + Biz :: Home Tour:: Front Porch & Outdoor Halloween Decorations
Anna Osgoodby Life + Biz :: Home Tour:: Front Porch & Outdoor Halloween Decorations
Anna Osgoodby Life + Biz :: Home Tour:: Front Porch & Outdoor Halloween Decorations

Spider Webs: Similar | Plastic Spiders: Similar | Halloween Tombstones: Similar

To finish off our decorations, we added spider webs to our bushes with plastic spiders sprinkled throughout them. Then a few faux tombstones in our flower beds!

Anna Osgoodby Life + Biz :: Home Tour:: Front Porch & Outdoor Halloween Decorations

It was so fun getting in the spirit! I hope you liked the tour and maybe even got some inspo for your decorations too!

Shop my Halloween Decorations

Travel Guide for Visiting the Olympic Peninsula :: Suggestions for Where to Stay and What to See (Even During the Winter)
Anna Osgoodby Life + Biz :: Travel Guide for Visiting the Olympic Peninsula | Suggestions for Where to Stay and What to See (Even During the Winter)

Ah, you guys! I have been wanting to visit the Olympic Peninsula since moving back to Washington and it FINALLY happened! I may or may not be already planning our next trip there too because it was MAGICAL — all caps and all of the emojis worthy🤩✨. Truly though, it was everything and more I thought it would be, even in the dead of winter. Planning a trip at the end of January may seem like a dicey plan because the weather out there is pretty unpredictable but even with a few detours in our original plan we had the best time! So today I’m sharing all the dets to help you plan your own trip.

Kalaloch Lodge

First things first, where to stay?! I’ll be honest… this was a question that stumped me for a while. Like, I may have spent hours looking at Airbnbs trying to decide where would be best. Here’s why… nothing is very close together. I’m talking it may more than an hour drive to get to what you want to visit. Being that it was winter and I had ruled out hiking or visiting Hurrican Ridge, most of the other things I wanted to do were along the coast or further south. There’s definitely a lot more options of places to stay up north though, especially in the Airbnb category. There are also a ton of campgrounds all over, which would open up options for the summer but again.. January! After doing a little hunting though we decided to stay at the Kalaloch Lodge. It was one of the closest options to the beaches and the rainforests I wanted to visit plus I really wanted to stay in a cabin and they have some right on the bluff.

Anna Osgoodby Life + Biz :: Travel Guide for Visiting the Olympic Peninsula | Suggestions for Where to Stay and What to See (Even During the Winter)
Anna Osgoodby Life + Biz :: Travel Guide for Visiting the Olympic Peninsula | Suggestions for Where to Stay and What to See (Even During the Winter)

The cabins also have wood-burning stoves which was so cozy plus super handy because the power went out the first night we were there! I told you it can be an adventure out there haha! For real, in the 4 days we were out there we had a windstorm, rain (lots of rain as expected), sun, hail and snow! Honestly, though, don’t be afraid to plan a trip in the winter because even with all the rain — they were supposed to get 6 inches that weekend — we still had such a blast and actually had a lot more sun than we thought we would.

Now back to the cabins, I loved staying here for so many reasons. The cabins were super adorable and cozy, it was close to some of the top things on my to-do list and they also had a great little store and restaurant and bar right there in case you needed anything. Which was great because, like I said, nothing is super close out there! Another thing to note is the cabins and rooms at the lodge don’t have Wifi, TVs or much cell phone reception. It’s funny that disconnecting has become an amenity but as someone who is always plugged in for my business, this was nice. This also brings up the fact that you may want to carry a map for your adventures. The lodge gave us one and it was super helpful as we were driving around because our Google Maps didn’t always work. There’s really only one main highway out there too so that also helps when you’re directionally challenged like us.

Anna Osgoodby Life + Biz :: Travel Guide for Visiting the Olympic Peninsula | Suggestions for Where to Stay and What to See (Even During the Winter)

Kalaloch Tree of Life

Even if you don’t stay at the lodge, you should definitely add the Kalaloch Tree of Life to your to-do list! This tree is crazyyy! The ground has eroded below it, but somehow, it has managed to hang on and thrive despite it’s roots being exposed. You can see the tree by entering through the Kalaloch campground and when you get to the beach entrance, take a right and the tree isn’t too far of a walk down. Definitely worth a visit.

Anna Osgoodby Life + Biz :: Travel Guide for Visiting the Olympic Peninsula | Suggestions for Where to Stay and What to See (Even During the Winter)

Visit Some Big Ol’ Trees Throughout the Peninsula

The Olympic National Forest is home to some of the biggest trees in the world — some even holding world records!

Anna Osgoodby Life + Biz :: Travel Guide for Visiting the Olympic Peninsula | Suggestions for Where to Stay and What to See (Even During the Winter)

We visited two of these giants, Big Cedar and the World’s Largest Sitka Spruce Tree. Big Cedar is located a few miles north of Kalaloch Lodge right off of the main highway. There are signs for it too so you can’t miss it. This one actually used to be even bigger but it split in a storm in 2014. Even with the storm though, the tree is still MASSIVE and worth a visit. The Sitka Spruce Tree is located in the Quinault Rain Forest, not far from the Lake Quinault Lodge and is one that holds a world record. This one also has ample signage and isn’t a far walk off the road. Definitely make sure to bring appropriate shoes too — especially during the winter. I had rain boots, but it was one of our first stops and Evan hadn’t changed his shoes yet and the trail was filled with puddles that took over the path. Legit, I ended up carrying him on my back through some of the wettest parts. 😂Worth it to see the tree though!

Anna Osgoodby Life + Biz :: Travel Guide for Visiting the Olympic Peninsula | Suggestions for Where to Stay and What to See (Even During the Winter)
Anna Osgoodby Life + Biz :: Travel Guide for Visiting the Olympic Peninsula | Suggestions for Where to Stay and What to See (Even During the Winter)

Explore the Beaches — My Picks being First, Second and Ruby Beach

The beaches on the peninsula are just glorious! They have such rugged beauty and I just could not get enough. It was stormy the weekend we were there but I’ve never seen such powerful waves before. It felt like Mother Nature in such a raw state that’s both beautiful but also slightly terrifying. That’s the best way I can describe it. You do need to be careful too, because all of those logs and rocks on the beach that give it its rugged beauty, come right out of the water. There are also signs warning about logs that can shoot out from the surf so definitely pay attention to your surroundings. It’s mother nature’s house, you’re just visiting!

Anna Osgoodby Life + Biz :: Travel Guide for Visiting the Olympic Peninsula | Suggestions for Where to Stay and What to See (Even During the Winter)

If you’re coming from the south, you’ll need to head north to get to all of these beaches. We started by going to First Beach and then worked our way back to our cabin. If you’re headed north, Forks will be the biggest town you’ll encounter. The power was still out when we drove through so we just made a short stop to be tourists by the welcome sign, but there are a variety of stores and restaurants that you could stop at. We just continued through and headed for La Push though. On our first attempt, the road leading there was closed so we tried to go to nearby Rialto Beach only to find that road was closed too from the storm from the night before. If you have service, definitely check the road reports before heading out because things can change on a day-to-day basis. We thought we had struck out on our luck for the beaches but we drove back to the road that led to La Push and by then the water had receded some so they had opened the road, YAY!

Anna Osgoodby Life + Biz :: Travel Guide for Visiting the Olympic Peninsula | Suggestions for Where to Stay and What to See (Even During the Winter)

Our first stop was First Beach, which again was just magical! It’s right off the road so it’s easily accessible. You just need to climb over some rocks to get down to the actual beach. There were so many HUGE logs washed up and it was just such an experience to watch the waves go in and out. There is also a restaurant nearby if you’re looking for a bite. Like most towns out there, La Push is pretty small and on tribal land so nature is definitely the attraction.

Anna Osgoodby Life + Biz :: Travel Guide for Visiting the Olympic Peninsula | Suggestions for Where to Stay and What to See (Even During the Winter)

Next up was Second Beach (my personal favorite) which isn’t too far of a drive south from First Beach. There’s a short hike to get to this one but it’s less than a mile and there isn’t much of an elevation change. If I could have just stayed here all day I would have. Second Beach is quite a bit bigger than First Beach and it just had a ton of rock formations that were so pretty. If you look closely in the pic above, there was also a keyhole in the rock where waves would come crashing through, and I really mean crashing through, it was insane to watch! I must have taken 10 videos of it I just thought it was so cool. I’ve never really considered myself much of a “beach person” but these beaches were my kind of beaches.

Anna Osgoodby Life + Biz :: Travel Guide for Visiting the Olympic Peninsula | Suggestions for Where to Stay and What to See (Even During the Winter)

Closing out our beach tour for our trip, we also stopped by Ruby Beach which some say is the most beautiful beach in the state. We didn’t go too far down on this one because the tide was in, but just walking down there I can see why people say that! The landscape was really pretty and definitely one I can’t wait to explore more on a future trip!

Anna Osgoodby Life + Biz :: Travel Guide for Visiting the Olympic Peninsula | Suggestions for Where to Stay and What to See (Even During the Winter)

Quinault Rain Forest

Like I mentioned, we had to make a few detours in our plans. One being visiting the Hoh Rain Forest. Unfortunately, the road washed out a few days before we visited, but I still wanted to get in some rain forest time though so we decided to visit the Quinault Rain Forest instead. Oh boy, did I get my dose of mossy trees too! We decided to do the Quinault Rain Forest Loop Drive coming from the north side and it was really a treat. If you do the full loop, they say you should allow 2 hrs but we turned back at the Upper Quinault River Bridge which was still a decent drive.

Anna Osgoodby Life + Biz :: Travel Guide for Visiting the Olympic Peninsula | Suggestions for Where to Stay and What to See (Even During the Winter)
Anna Osgoodby Life + Biz :: Travel Guide for Visiting the Olympic Peninsula | Suggestions for Where to Stay and What to See (Even During the Winter)
Anna Osgoodby Life + Biz :: Travel Guide for Visiting the Olympic Peninsula | Suggestions for Where to Stay and What to See (Even During the Winter)
Anna Osgoodby Life + Biz :: Travel Guide for Visiting the Olympic Peninsula | Suggestions for Where to Stay and What to See (Even During the Winter)
Anna Osgoodby Life + Biz :: Travel Guide for Visiting the Olympic Peninsula | Suggestions for Where to Stay and What to See (Even During the Winter)

I was truly just blown away by all of the trees in the rain forest. Not only were they HUGE! I mean look at the circumference of this one they had to cut apart from a storm… Evan is over 6’ for reference! The amount of moss on the trees is so crazy too! I loved it. Everyyyy single tree! The loop was mostly paved until you got closer to Bunch Fields where it turned into a dirt road. We were driving a car with all-wheel drive and were totally fine but just something to consider! I’m also a little chicken and there were some parts of the road that were on dropoffs right above the river that kind of freaked me out on the dirt road. So just a few things to consider! The north side of that road was really where it was at though. Once you get on the south side, it’s not as foresty and eventually you hit a residential area. So I definitely recommend going in from the north side!

Lake Crescent

Anna Osgoodby Life + Biz :: Travel Guide for Visiting the Olympic Peninsula | Suggestions for Where to Stay and What to See (Even During the Winter)

If there’s one place I definitely want to explore more our next trip, it’s Lake Cresent. Originally, we had planned on taking the long route to our cabin on Friday and hitting up north first, but since there was the storm coming we switched up our plan and went home this way instead. The lake was absolutely gorgeous though and there’s definitely a lot to explore around there as well. Although, honestly I could have totally just sat by the lake all day and been happy without exploring. It was truly a slice out of peaceful heaven. Since we explored a lot of things down south this trip too, for my next trip I’d probably want to stay around the lake. Which is a closer hub to get to Hurricane Ridge (about an hour) which would have been closer to 2.5 hours from where we stayed. There are also a ton of hiking trails around there that I would love to check out!

Ah, just writing this post is giving me the itch to go back… I loved the peninsula SO much! In many ways, I feel like it still has an undiscovered vibe (even being one of the top 10 visited national parks). The landscape… the views… ah, it’s just the best. Beyond my suggestions on where to go, my biggest advice for planning your trip is to plan where you want to go ahead of time so you understand the lay of the land and how far away things are from each other. Also, pack for all kinds of weather (even during the summer) and just enjoy your time of being a little more disconnected from the rest of the world for a while!

P.S. If you like keeping up with my PNW adventures, Evan and I started an Instagram account focused on just that! Follow along at @TheHicksintheSticks