{simple pleasures} du toit: from the rooftop

“I am experiencing that feeling of zest which goes with exploration.”

— Ruth Gruber

du toit: a friend asked me recently what it was like to travel solo. and my simple answer: exhilarating. sometimes i get lucky + adventurous mates will accompany me on a hike that reveals sweeping views like this. located between the mediterranean sea and the alps is france's sunniest city. this is marseille.

{simple pleasures} flotteurs de l'espoir: hope floats

“I don’t care to wake up in the morning without hope. Hope is a survival mechanism, along with living in the moment.”

— Norman Lear

lever + coucher soleil: sunrise + sunset; on my recent journey to marseille, a centuries-old port town in the south of france, i had the pleasure of rising each morning with this view in my eyes, and at night, the landscape bathed in soft sunlight was equally intoxicating to take in. i woke up with hope + happiness overflowing from within.

during my travels, i deliberately took time to be present in the moment and away from social media as i voyaged from one great city to the next. and now, i'm going to invite you into my little time machine called finny+dill where i'll take you back with me and share lots of new op shops + vintage boutiques in paris, disclose why my heart went pitter-patter when i learned whom i would spend valentine's day with, and unfurl some fantastic vegan cafes in the city of light. stay tuned!

{simple pleasures} être comme l'eau: be like water

“Always be like water. float in the times of pain and dance like waves along the wind which touches its surface.”

— Santosh Kalwar 

be like water: nature's architecture in oregon offers up a splendid display of mountains, waterfalls + verdant landscape. feels just like heaven here good reads: currently reading about bottled water + plastic consumption. learn why your choice matters via the new york times. scoop up a zero-plastic filter for purifying your tap water at tiny yellow bungalow, a great lil eco shop with a gaggle of green options for greening your home.

{simple pleasures} montagne bleue: blue mountain

“There is no such sense of solitude as that which we experience upon the silent and vast elevations of great mountains. Lifted high above the level of human sounds and habitations, among the wild expanses and colossal features of nature, we are thrilled in our loneliness with a strange fear and elation – an ascent above the reach of life’s expectations or companionship, and the tremblings of a wild and undefined misgivings.”

— J. Sheridan Le Fanu

a walk in the woods: a trip to oregon + a hike along the pacific coast trail, among the unspoiled terrain brings a sense of balance + peace. so many shades of green dripping from the pine forests of mount hood. so many new and delicious sounds + smells. does one ever really tire of the sight of such strength + beauty, as found among the hills + mountains?