This past weekend Adam and I took a trip to Pacific City on the Oregon Coast for a trunk show at the Headlands Lodge. This place is a beautiful oasis on the coast that I am honored to be represented by. The weekend was all about Mother’s Day, and treating yourself to something special. Many women walked away with new jewelry, and I walked away feeling inspired and very relaxed for a business trip.

I love going to the Oregon coast. To me it’s such a wild and beautiful place. We left Central Oregon in the high desert and ventured over a mountain pass, into the valley and straight out onto the coast line. You would never know there is a practical rain forest and wind swept hills if you never traveled west of the Cascade mountain range.  The landscape change over a 4 hour drive is unbelievable and breathtaking.

From our room we had an amazing view of Haystack rock which looks close enough to walk to, but is a mile away from the shore and as we were told the top is flat and large enough you could play a baseball game on it. Instead it is home to nesting puffins. We saw whales right away, but only once with sprays of water and their bodies reflecting in the sun.

With all the surfers in the ocean we felt compelled to test the water. We ran down to the beach, rolled up our pants and raced to the sea. I always forget just how cold the Pacific is. Once our skin felt the water we ran straight back up the beach feeling satisfied and chilled.

Before we headed back to Bend we were treated with a homemade breakfast made by sweet friends in the neighboring inland town of Cloverdale. The property was set high up in the hillside which instantly transformed into a rain forest. We hiked around the land, and took in all the amazing plants around us before we headed back to our dry desert home. How amazing is it that the landscape can change this much just by being a little further away from the salty wind, and a little closer to the rain clouds and the sun?

What inspired me about this trip was in the way nature takes over. The coast is one of those places where the salt from the sea is unavoidable and will shape the things around it without mercy. I love the raw beauty of the windswept sandy hills with sparse patches of beach grass. The wind blown trees that have grown and morphed all their life to take the shape of the wind instead of fight it. And of course and mile or two down the road on a hill is a little rain forest. Here the combination of rain and sun accelerates the growth of the plant life, so that if you do not at least cut it down all the way to the dirt below it every week or two, your whole house could be swallowed up and vanish.

Nature is a powerful force to be respected and known.