Travel may be a little different this year, but it’s not always going to be that way. So this summer I kicked off a travel local blog series to highlight some of the really awesome places you can visit right here in Washington state! Because guys, we have SO many amazing places to see in our area! And I for one know that I have an even bigger appreciation for supporting everything local these days and want to continue that even after this is all over. So whether you’re adding to your future travel list, or we survived this whole thing and you’re ready to get your adventure on, buckle up because today we’re exploring Olympia, Washington!

After our trip to Austin, Texas and exploring their capitol building and all of the history, I realized I had never really spent much time in our own capital here in Washington! 🙈 So last year, we decided it was time to make a visit. Especially because it’s less than an hour away from Tacoma where we live. Here’s a look at some of the places I’d recommend you check out!

Explore the Waterfront

If you’re looking for a low-key afternoon. Head to the waterfront to enjoy the views! Olympia has a beautiful park along the East Bay right next to the Farmer’s Market which is the perfect place to relax and watch the boats (or ducks) go by!

Go to the Farmers Market

Olympia has a fantastic farmers market that has been providing local produce and supporting local artisans and businesses since 1975! The days and hours vary depending on the season but you can check their website for the latest. I’m a sucker for farmers markets in general but this one is so worth the stop! It’s quite large and there was a lot of variety in the offerings — even when we visited in the winter. So I imagine the summer is even more impressive!

Explore the Capitol Building & Grounds

Whether you’re into politics or not, it’s pretty impressive to see the capitol building up close and personal. Even if it’s just for the architecture alone! They just do not build buildings like this anymore and the scale of them is just insane. They also offer free tours of the campus (not during COVID though) where they’ll show you around and share history about the building for free. Even if guided tours aren’t really your thing though you can still wander around the building and just take it all in! We definitely ran up the stairs Rocky style too, because.. had to!

Get a Bite to Eat at McMenamins

When you’re ready for lunch or dinner, stop by McMenamins! After going to college and living in Oregon for a while, McMenamins was a staple in my life so it’s always nice to visit them in Washington too. There aren’t as many here as in Oregon, but you can always count on them for a solid meal and brew. If you aren’t familiar, they’re a family-owned company that is known for revitalizing pubs, restaurants, theatres and hotels and bring their unique flair of art and vibe that celebrates the history of the location. Some locations also have live music and events too! They also have a fun passport you can get which makes the experience even more fun too.

Explore the Murals & Colorful Walls Around Downtown

Olympia has a vibrant art community and it shows in its downtown district. The streets are painted with a variety of art that is both unique and also tells stories of its history. You know I’m a sucker for colorful fun walls too… we even have a colorful wall guide at Bold & Pop I love them so much! Be sure to check out this guide to make a plan for what you want to see!

Support the Local Shops Downtown

For being the capital of the state, the downtown definitely has more of a small town vibe. The downtown is lined with adorable shops to fit any interest — bookstores, gift stores, novelties, coffee shops, and children’s stores. So many awesome options that will certainly fill up your day!

Olympia was such a pleasant surprise and I definitely recommend adding it to your local travel list! I for one know I will be! Have other recs? Drop them in the comments below!

July Monthly Goal Check-in coming in hot! 🔥🔥🔥

Finished our backyard makeover!

With most of the muscle coming from Evan and the decor and finishing touches by me! I’m very excited that I can stop obsessing over it (many months of that) and now we can enjoy it instead! Which by the way, if you didn’t catch the reveal you can check it out here!

Got on my ish when it came to stepping it up on my blog

I cranked out 9 posts this month and planned out my updated blog schedule, which is pretty lofty for August so watch out!. I also had my first affiliate sales with my new networks (small, but still exciting!), increased my Pinterest monthly viewers from 5k to 27k+ and planned out some exciting goal-related content and resources I'm going to be launching SOON!

Had a really productive month at Bold & Pop

We had a very productive month at Bold & Pop and I’m feeling so optimistic and excited about the direction we're headed in. We banged out 4 Squarespace website design projects, signed 5 new projects and hosted our 2nd Social Media Business Bootcamp with such a great group of women! I also want to celebrate that we've increased our passive and workshop income by 10x since adding new offerings. The pandemic has been rough but it forced us to move forward with a lot of things and I'm excited to have new ways to serve others.

Upped my nutrition and fitness plan

Consistency has always been my downfall when it comes to both of these — isn’t that the case with so many of us! So it feels good to be able to up my game again after sticking with it. Hitting weekly goals week after week has me inching forward little by little and it feels good.

Was Featured on CEO Blog Nation

I've been working on my own PR strategy this summer and landed a press mention in CEO Blog Nation on a story about entrepreneurial curriculums. I submitted 5 other inquiries to some big pubs. Go big or go home is my current press motto.

Finished my 11/12 Book this Year

This month I got back into my reading routine, which I had taken a hiatus from for a few months and finished the 11th book of my 12 book goal for the year. So def going to need to up that one. To those of you who read a lot that might not seem like a lot.. but guys, there were years that went by that I didn’t finish a single book. 🙃 And I know tht isn’t a priority for many, but there were actually a lot of books I wanted to read — mostly non-fiction — so I’ve really enjoyed it being part of my routine. Plus, truthfully it’s such a Godsend in actually helping me go to sleep at night, so it’s kind of a double-purpose goal. I shared some of my favorites I’ve read this year so far in this post too!

Added another title to my life this month

Then on the personal side of things, I added a new title this month. There have been a lot the last few months too. First it was Puppy Mom, then Aunty and now Fiancé. Very exciting! I shared the details of our engagement on this post too!

Hope you guys made it through the month okay too! Just surviving these days is an accomplishment, let's be real... So be sure to give yourself some grace and check-in to celebrate your own small and big wins you made this month!

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Why do I do goal check-ins?

I started doing goal check-ins publically as a personal accountability challenge. Working on my goals and strategies to accomplish them have always been really important and by sharing them I felt an extra weight of commitment. Plus, I wanted a way to try and encourage others to have their own check-ins and keep working on their own goals. Helping others reach their dreams has always felt like my purpose and by being vulnerable and sharing the journey of my own I hope to inspire others as well.

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.

Being that we’re smack dab in the middle of gardening season I thought it was the perfect time for another post. Earlier in the year, I did a blog post on gardening tips for beginners and today I wanted to do a follow-up on that with some of my gear recommendations. Especially because with the pandemic I know so many people are gardening for the first time this year. Everyone has their own advice, but today I’m sharing some of my favorite tools and tips that have worked the best for us to make the grow season much easier!

Raised Garden Boxes

If you’re loving gardening this year, something I highly recommend investing in for the next season is garden boxes. I love raised beds for a few reasons. The first being it makes them a little higher off the ground so they help save your back (dang I feel old saying that..) And two, it can be so helpful to cut back on weeding! Our first 2 seasons at our community garden we were in tall garden boxes, and while there was certainly maintenance in cutting plants back, we didn't spend too much time weeding. Then this year, we upgraded to a larger plot in the ground and holy moly have we spent a lot of time weeding.

Here’s how I know it helps too, Evan got us a set of garden boxes from Costco and we planted about half of our crops in those and then our larger plants that needed more room right in the ground. Let me tell you…. the weeding in the boxes has been minimal comparatively! So much so I want to add a few more next year because weeding can be so time-consuming! If you’re looking at this blog out of season the exact boxes we bought may be out of stock there but you can find the same ones on Amazon for a little more here directly from the company. I also included some other options below that could be good depending on your situation below.

Creating Garden Markers that Last

If you know me… you know I like to keep things colorful. So I created garden markers so we could keep track of things and also have the most colorful plot 😜. Here’s the thing though, if you’re going to make them you want to make sure they’re going to last! Between the beating of the sun and getting wet during watering, they need to last through the elements! If you’re looking for ones that are ready to go I recommend these or if you want to go the DIY route like me then I recommend you to seal them with a product like this. I first made ours during our first season and they lasted 2 full seasons (some going on their third). Some of ours would have even lasted longer but we forgot to pull a few during the Fall and Winter last year — which I recommend doing! Here are some other fun DIY options I recommend if you’re into that too!

• Rock Garden Markers

• Spoon Garden Markers

Double-up Tomato Cages

This tip is key! Guys, tomato plants can get HEAVY! I highlight recommend doubling up the tomato cages at the beginning of the year to give them more stability. It’s also key, as they are growing that you pull the branches up and through. If you don’t do that, they will continue to grow out and then they don’t get as much support from the cages they can. Our favorite cages to use are these ones. They also have two different sizes so we try and get the more narrow one and put them inside a wider one so there are different layers of support.

Wood Trellis

When it comes to growing snap peas, beans, and cucumbers we’re all about using trellises, specifically wood trellises. You’ll see a lot of different options out there but frankly, a lot are crap. Especially the netting ones. We tried those our first year and I would not recommend them… Our favorites are these which give you enough height and most importantly stability. For extra support, I also recommend staking them in the middle on one side with a metal fence post (I share my rec below with the plant support). Especially if you’re growing cucumbers or other vining plants that get heavier!

Garden ties

These little ties are KEY! As things start growing, these are an awesome way to guide your plants on where to grow and connect them to support poles. Here are the plants I use these the most for:

• raspberries

• tomatoes

• snap peas and beans

These are great because they’re just like garbage ties and are easy to use and just give plants a little more support in connecting where you want.

Plant Support Stakes

You’re definitely going to want to have some of these guys for your grow season. We have a variety of them but these ones are my favorite. The key here too is get ones that are tall enough and maybe even taller than you thought you’d need. You’ll lose some of the height in the dirt to get stability so I recommend going with at least the 5-6ft tall ones. I’d also recommend having a few heavier duty ones on hand like these metal fence posts. These are great for giving trellises extra support like I mentioned and then we also use on our raspberries which can get heavy and pretty big and out of control throughout the grow season.

Good quality clippers

Don’t skimp on these! You don’t need the most expensive ones but don’t go for the cheapest either, because they’re not going to get the job done. Throughout the grow season, you’ll be doing a lot of trimming and harvesting and having sharp clippers will make your life so much easier! These are the ones I recommend that I’ve had the last few years that were quite the upgrade from others I bought. Costco also sells a 3-pack of different trimming tools at the beginning of each gardening season I’d recommend too. If you haven’t noticed, we’re big Costco shoppers over here!

Kneeler

Add another thing I feel old for recommending… a kneeler! This is key though! Especially if your garden is right in the ground. Weeds are going to happen and your knees will say thank you for having one!

I hope you found this post helpful and if you want to save it for next year be sure to pin it on Pinterest! Below is also a round-up of a bunch of the recommendations I shared too! Happy gardening!