Steep Ravine Cabins, Mt. Tam

I wrote about these cabins over 2 years ago (blog post link) and they've been on my Life List since! Ten lovely little cabins sit high above the beach in Mount Tamalpais State Park, north of San Francisco and a stone's throw south of Stinson Beach. They're a bargain at $100 per night! It's hard to find info on these little gems... official site and 3 reviews from TripAdvisor.

Steep Ravine is really one of the most amazing places I've been. My friend Meghan has been talking about it for awhile (she and her family go a few times per year!) so we finally made our reservations last spring to go for a few days in October. The cabins are in high demand; reservations open up 7 months in advance. Book December 1 at 8am for June 2013. The cabins don't have bathrooms, electricity, or running water. There's a sweet wood-burning stove to keep warm (they sell firewood there). And the views are so amazing, you won't miss the modern luxuries. Bathrooms are just a short walk away. And you'll be glad to know there's good cell reception, so you can still post pics to Instagram (mine are here, here, and here). We ate breakfast every morning in Stinson Beach and had great picnics and shared meals with our pals. Meghan and her parents even prepared oysters and steak for dinner! Hooray for Hog Island Oyster (a short, but windy drive up Highway 1) and a grill next to each cabin!

Click HERE to reserve the adventure that will change your life -or at least make you really happy :) Here are a few favorite photos from our adventure!


Camp Mighty Photos: Day Two

A week late, but that's ok, right? Here are some fine snaps from Day Two of the Camp Mighty festivities last week at the Ace Hotel in Palm Springs. 

Bing and Wantist gave us ALL gifts based on items on our life list! They were personal and so well done!! I got the new Smitten Kitchen cookbook along with sweet recipe cards from Yellow Owl Workshop. Thanks, Bing & Wantist! Amber Marlow received the nicest personalized stationery from Hello Lucky. She loved them and you can tell- look how big her smile is below!

The Ace Hotel doesn't mess around for meal times. They fed us well and I appreciated every piece of delicious food that I did not have to prepare, cook, or clean up. (Spending time and money on food & eating is a daily chore for me).


Jihan Zencirli of Geronimo Balloons gave out NED yo-yos (Never give up, Encourage Others, and Do your best) as a supplement to her awesome and inspiring story of how she's become The Balloon Girl. 

We made super classy crafts with the Craft Pack girls- Alison (of the alison show) & Susan (of freshly picked). Bing supplied us with all the materials for us to make leather key chains, freezer paper stencil tote bags, and other crafty holiday surprises. I made a bag... check out my Instagram photo :)


Maggie, Margaret, and Laura lookin' lovely during lunch. 


The Ace Hotel all decked out for our Space-themed party. I was going to wear a long silver dress but then this happened in my hotel room :(


Smilebooth was there- yay!!

Dancing makes everyone happy. Thanks to Anna Beth (AB Chao), Susan, and Laura for the great costumes and killer-jam moves. 

Poor Pluto is not feeling mighty these days. 

Camp Mighty Photos: Day One

It's barely begun and I already feel so blessed to be here at the Ace Hotel in Palm Springs. Although Camp Mighty has come at a bad time on the home front (my husband is in the hospital, recovering from surgery), I couldn't be happier to be here. Camp Mighty is such a lively and lovely community. And Smilebooth is here- yay!!

I've already met a book publisher, a letterpress gal who just ran (and WON) a 100 mile race in India, and a super rad female exec at Facebook (who also lives in an Eichler!)... among others! Here are a few top fave photos from my day. I can't wait for tomorrow! Thanks to Bing for having us!