Trove Noosa Yoghurt Campaign, the San Juans and a good cup of Joe.

Summer's gone and winter's no longer coming, it's officially here (with the first sprinkle of snow just last week!). But I've still got some things from summer to share with you before we get too deep into our paperbacks and wool socks. As I mentioned before, I recently returned from a month aboard in Europe where I visited Paris, the Czech Republic, Austria, Switzerland, Spain, Portugal and Italy. Quite a lot of places! I spoke about it and shared a few pics on a blog post here, and recently gave my portfolio a swooping update with galleries of the different countries here. But that story is still working it's way out in a series of blog posts that are scribbling away in my brain as we speak. For now, let's take a step back to the heatwave of a summer we had... 

In working news I was fortunate to be hired for a super fun job photographing chef Rachel Yang at her new Korean BBQ joint TROVE on Capitol Hill (Rachel also owns and runs the kitchens at Joule and Revel). The assignment was a campaign of chefs in 6 different american food cities cooking with the velvety delicious Noosa Yoghurt. I've had Noosa myself many times and can tell you personally it's a tangy tongue-tickling delight. Rich and thick this is real yoghurt we're talking about and you won't just want to lick it out of the container, you'll want to swirl it into smoothies, dollop it atop dessert and blend it into dressings. 

I was hired by the super sweet duo behind OUI Productions in LA and Vox Media was the agency behind the campaign. And of course I couldn't have done it with out my charming assistant, Dawna Stocker.  You can check out the full story and images on Eater.com here.  

San Juan Islands & A First Time Kayaking

We took a little trip one weekend between the tail end of summer and the first whispers of fall and headed to the San Juan Islands to celebrate our 1 year anniversary and squeeze in a little "us time" before my hiatus in Europe. Cell phone service and e-mail be gone! 

We munched on baked goods and piping hot tea at the cozy nook in the center of town known as Brown Bear Bakery. 

And drank the creamy perfection of a mocha below at Rose's Cafe, where we had exactly the kind of lunch you crave on an early fall afternoon in the San Juans. Hot paninis, end of summer harvest soups and, of course, cobbler with buttermilk ice cream. 

Every trip we take a short hike/run up to the scenic Mt. Constitution, host to the most expansive view in the San Juans stretching into neighboring Canada. 

On the way down we always stop at Mountain Lake in Moran State Park. This time it was the last day of the season for the little ice cream stand, and we licked melty Lopez Ice Cream off crispy cones after some good old american hot dogs from the sugar shack.

My friend Sarah had just come back from a trip kayaking in the San Juans with incredible photos and having never been kayaking before, we thought this was the perfect time and place to try it out! Which concluded a most wonderful end-of-summer adventure. 

Coffee

We love to try local coffees (some favorites being Cafes Ladro, Fuel and Vita), and being in the Seattle area we have no shortage of fine local roasters at hand. Lately, we've really been enjoying these two:

Anchored Ship Coffee, located in Duvall & Ballard.

Stumptown Mountain Brew

And that just about wraps up summer to a tidy close. I know fall has already come and almost already passed, and I haven't forgotten about it. Fall was spent sailing through Europe and here, and I've got a lot to share through the photos I collected of the faces, places and foods I've taken home with me. Next up, Paris...