Things I like in August
*a non-comprehensive list
Dearest Kula Diaries friends,
This week — I’m doing something a little bit different — I’m going to just share some things that I’ve loved so far during the month of August — and maybe this will become a monthly feature. Last month, I shared ‘Things I’ve Changed in July’ — it is always really enjoyable for me to watch the progression of life… and to see where our different ideas and interests lead us!
August has been… interesting. On the business front, I’ve been navigating the usual ups and downs. In my personal life, Aaron and I have been trying our best to insert some fun into the little pockets of our lives that aren’t entirely consumed by attempting to run a business. This includes a lot of motorcycle trips to ice cream shops… and *maybe* … if the stars align just right … we will be going on a multi-day motorcycle trip in a few weeks.
My coach Glory likes to have me share my ‘wins’ — and I know that there is great power in focusing on the things that we like. When we focus on what we want to create… guess what? We create more of it! It doesn’t matter if something seems insignificant — if you like it, and it brought a little bit of joy or delight into your life — it creates a ripple of good energy. Honestly, there are some weeks when it feels like the TINIEST things can help me get a better handhold on remembering all of the things that I have to be grateful for.
The last few weeks have felt overwhelming for me — but when I sit down and actually look at what I have, I cannot help but feel blown away by the gratitude and appreciation that I have for life. In a moment of being truly present with the love that exists — my problems seem insignificant compared to the miracle of being alive on this planet. No amount of worrying or reactive decision making has ever helped me find a sense of peace — it is only when I allow myself to live in a true place of abundance that my life begins to move with ease and joy.
Ok… now I’m going to share some things I’ve loved so far during August!
My friends, visiting from Switzerland
Vivien and I met through Instagram a few years ago — and she quickly became a devout follower of Kula Cloth. At one point, her boyfriend Luca even contacted me for my help in designing Vivien the most perfect custom Kulas for a Christmas gift (with their cats on them, naturally!). In 2022, Vivien told me that she and Luca had decided to come to the USA for a week — and they wondered if I’d be able to hike with them. I was THRILLED!! We ended up meeting in person for the first time — and I attempted to take them on one my favorite local hikes, but my plan was foiled by an unexpectedly closed road. We ended up going on an alternate hike… and then spending time at my house, making silly custom Kulas and eating pizza for dinner.
I also want to add that Vivien loves Kula SO MUCH that she even started her own, small Kula Cloth retail site — for folks in Switzerland! She is our only distributor in Switzerland — and she even translated our marketing material into Swiss German:
A few weeks ago, Vivien and Luca arrived in Washington for a longer vacation — and I had the opportunity to give them a tour of the new Kula HQ (which is no longer located at my house) … and to take them on the hike that I had intended to show them 2 years ago!
At the Kula HQ, I showed them both around our small warehouse — which is still 5x bigger than the space we were using in my personal home. Vivien and Luca are super creative and they also have RIDICULOUS ideas about Kulas… We ended up making the world’s CUTEST KULA IN THE HISTORY OF KULA CLOTH….
Then, Luca told me he wanted to make a Kula Cloth, inspired by this video (warning: curse words… but it’s seriously hilarious):
They came over to our house after work, and went out on the lake for some paddleboarding… and then we all ate dinner and I baked them a gigantic Kula Cloth cookie and we planned for our hike the next day!
I taught the Dance Experiment the next morning, but then I headed out to the trailhead … and we spent the next few hours climbing up Mt. Pilchuck, which is a local hike that’s really fun. Vivien and Luca had never seen a Fire Lookout before, and this mountain has a historic lookout built on the summit. We ate lunch at the top, and then scrambled down so that I could get back home to teach a hygiene class for The 52 Hike Challenge!
During the week that Vivien and Luca arrived, I was simultaneously having one of those pretty overwhelming weeks as a business owner. I had worked myself into a ‘state of being’ where work felt stressful… but not working felt more stressful. For a moment, I questioned whether or not it was ‘responsible’ of me to go hiking — should I just leave everything for a day? Can I do that? I felt anxious and worried about my predicament, and so I asked my heart for the answer. Very clearly, it said: GO HIKING YOU DUM DUM.
And so, I got to spend an absolutely glorious day outside with two dear humans, whom I would never have met if I hadn’t started a pee cloth company about 6 years ago. During times when I want to throw in the towel and QUIT (and yes, I do feel that way a lot)… Vivien and Luca reminded me WHY I started this to begin with. Seeing the excitement in their eyes as we made goofy Kulas… talking to them on the trail… sharing dinner with them in my home… absolutely none of these things would have happened if Kula didn’t exist. Spending a day outside away from Kula… reminded me why I love it so much. And guess what? The entire business didn’t implode in my absence. In fact — it probably ran better than it would have with me there.
It’s counter-intuitive to take a break during a time that feels like you can’t — but I’ve learned over the past few years that I will accomplish so much more if I step away… than if I try and work through the overwhelm into a place of even more overwhelm.
I came back from my hike feeling refreshed and invigorated — and, miraculously, I had an entirely new outlook on a situation that had, indeed, felt very dire. I’ve said this before, but I’ll say it again: the problem and the solution are not on the same frequency. You cannot solve a problem by marinating yourself in it. You must ascend to a new state of being — a place where you can allow yourself to feel some relief and freedom and a sense of wonder — and then the solution will arrive. Trust me.
Did I mention that Vivien also brought me an ENORMOUS bag of treats from Switzerland? Which brings me to my next few things that I loved in August…
The best seasoning that I had never heard of
Vivien and Luca brought me a HUGE bag of treats from Switzerland, which included a jar of a seasoning blend called AROMAT. I had never heard of Aromat before, but I put it on my roasted potatoes that evening — and my life was instantly changed.
I’ve determined that there are only really two things:
life before you knew that Aromat existed
life after you know that Aromat exists
As soon as I tasted a tiny bit of its salty, seasoning-y, perfect blend — I knew that I could never go without it… ever again. In fact, I began to panic that I couldn’t ever find it in the USA. I was considering starting a black market Aromat smuggling ring, until I discovered that I could indeed purchase it on Amazon.
If you’ve never used it before, just give it a whirl. I don’t know what they put into it (and I probably shouldn’t look), but it’s delicious. Vivien tells me that everybody in Switzerland puts it on EVERYTHING.
Anything chocolate that was made in Switzerland, but most of all — this spread
Just imagine that Nutella is BETTER than it actually is… and then imagine that it has the perfect, crunchy textured bits scattered in the perfect ratio throughout its creamy deliciousness. Now, you are getting a tiny bit closer to understanding the magic of this Ovomaltine crunchy cream. In addition to this spread, they also gave me a PLETHORA of Swiss chocolates — I’ve been eating a few bites every single day, and it is the smoothest…creamiest… most delicious few weeks of my entire year so far.
Making ridiculous hiking t-shirts
At our Kula Campout a few weeks ago, a few folks decided to try roasting a banana over the campfire. One attempt — a banana on a stick — was decidedly unsuccessful. The result? “It tastes like a hot smoky banana”, said Noreen, who was then permanently christened with the trail name that she did not ask for: Hot Smoky Banana.
More successful attempts at banana roasting included an aluminum foil packet that contained a chocolate and marshmallow stuffed banana. These bananas emerged from their crispy cocoons in a caramelized state, smothered in overly sweet and sticky goodness.
At some point during this conversation, somebody said the phrase, “You’ll go bananas!” … which, for reasons completely unknown, sparked within me a very strong desire to make a series of locally-inspired trail t-shirts. For some reason, I thought it would be hilarious to make ‘retro-styled’ goofy t-shirts that featured popular local hikes and trails. I told everybody at the campout that I was going to make a shirt that said, “You’ll go bananas for Mt. Pilchuck” — and I had to make good on that promise.
Mt. Pilchuck is the hike that I mentioned above with Vivien and Luca — the road to the trailhead is very close to my house, and it’s located off the Mountain Loop Highway, which Kula Cloth adopted last year. I don’t know why it seems endlessly hilarious to me to wear a Mt. Pilchuck shirt… but, I went ahead and made my design and had it printed:
Ok, ok… cotton kills… I know… and I usually don’t wear cotton shirts to go hiking, but I simply could NOT miss the opportunity to wear this shirt on its namesake. I’m working on a few other ideas now for local hiking shirts. This completely ‘unnecessary’ project feels silly and light-hearted. I used to think that doing something like this was ‘unproductive’ — but I’ve learned that it is SO IMPORTANT to do things that feel fun and good. It doesn’t even need to ‘become anything’ — you can just do it for the pure enjoyment of doing it, and that’s all it ever needs to be. As you focus on something really fun and silly, you open your mind to other fun and silly things — this keeps me creative, interested and happy because I never feel like I’m getting stagnant or bored.
Homestead 2
I shared a few months ago that my husband and I had hired one of our neighbors to help us build a small meditation hut on our property. This little hut has been a DREAM of ours for a very long time — in fact, when we were routinely doing our morning ‘abundance walks’ — we’d talk out loud about building this little hut, even though we had absolutely no idea how to do it. Well, the universe works in mysterious ways… and our new neighbor (who moved here a few months ago) turned out to be a very gifted professional carpenter. I approached him with my idea … and he was stunned… unbeknownst to me, he had a dream of transitioning out of ‘normal carpentry work’ and moving more into designing and building little huts for a living.
Over the past few months, we have watched as our tiny meditation hut has taken shape — it’s nestled in the woods, completely hidden from view, and it will have lots of big windows on the front of it. It’ll serve as a spare guest room and a little creative spot for writing and contemplation.
Now — a guilty pleasure sidenote — Aaron and I have been watching an absolutely ridiculous show on Netflix called Skinwalker Ranch — don’t judge. This is a show about a team of folks who are investigating ‘strange occurrences’ and UAPs (unidentified aerial phenomena) on a property known as ‘Skinwalker Ranch’ in the Uinta Basin in Utah. The show is unnecessarily dramatic and the ‘science’ is questionable, at best, but if you treat the show as purely entertainment — it’s highly enjoyable, and really funny to watch. On the ranch, there is a location that they refer to as, ‘Homestead 2’ — a spot that is known for strange radiation spikes and weird, unexplained temperature variances. We had been trying to pick the perfect name for our new little meditation hut, and this past weekend — in a fit of laughter — we decided that the name for the hut was going to be Homestead 2. This is such an obscure reference, because I don’t know anybody else who has the patience to watch all three seasons of Skinwalker Ranch — but if you are like me, and you need to dose your brain with some mindless hilarity every once in awhile — you will appreciate the name of our tiny little abode.
A cat and opossum update!
I haven’t given an update on the cat situation in awhile. As many of you know, we’ve had a feral cat named Jasper who has been visiting our house nightly since last December. A few months ago, we decided we wanted to try and catch Jasper to see if he might be interested in joining our family. With great excitement, we purchased all of the necessary supplies — and, to date, we have caught ZERO cats. Jasper is the most trap-savvy cat that I’ve ever witnessed in my life. We regularly bait the trap with his favorite food — sardines — and he will step into the trap just far enough to get the sardines … but not far enough to activate the trap. I am CONVINCED that this cat is a genius.
In addition to Jasper, Penny — one of two orange cats, is still visiting the house on a nightly basis… and the opossum is still coming every single night too. We continue to enjoy watching these critters through our security camera, even though there is a very good chance that we will never catch them.
Other random things:
I really have been enjoying listening to music that features the words of Alan Watts. I usually listen to these while I’m walking in the mornings, and I find them very comforting, for some reason. Here are a few of my favorites:
I’ve also been baking a lot (although this is very normal for me). Most recently, I tried this Blueberry Lemon Poppyseed Muffin recipe which turned out SO GOOD:
Finally — my dear friend Christina Looney is going to have a booth at a local art show within the next few weeks. To help prepare her for her big event, I made some custom Kulas for her to sell at the show with her art on them:
Christina and I live relatively close to each other, so we usually meet in a mutually convenient spot — like a Costco parking lot. On the day that we met up, she surprised me by presenting me with the most incredible work of art that I have ever seen:
Christina has been a dear friend for a long time — and she is a huge supporter of Kula Cloth. You can find more of her art on her website — or visit her at her booth at the Art Show in Arlington, WA on August 24/25th!
Well friends — you know what? As I look over this list, I feel pretty grateful. Over the past few weeks, I’m not going to lie — I had a few moments where I was definitely not feeling grateful, and in fact, where I was feeling a bit sorry for myself. That’s ok — it happens to all of us. But, there is so much power in really looking around at all of the incredibly good things that we have in our lives. There are SO MANY MORE things going right, when we stop to notice them. If you have time over the next few days or weeks — make your own list of things you like in August — they can be small things: a seasoning, a piece of chocolate, or even a muffin. Sometimes it takes just the tiniest recognition of good to change our perspective on the whole of everything.
Sending you all so much love, friends!
Ahhh! I love all of these things.
Also: where can I get on the list for staying at Homestead 2?! Forever/sometimes daydreaming of a place away for a short time.
Also, also: one time Christina drove down from up north to help take care of our over-abundance of plums problem! She's so great.
Really liked reading your collage of things you enjoyed! I am wondering if you were inspired by Out of the Blue monthly posts? https://mariandrew.substack.com/p/everything-i-loved-in-july-fb4
Also I just found Aromat here - https://www.ocado.com/products/knorr-aromat-all-purpose-savoury-seasoning-11099011 and I appreciated this comment: “Listen up Aussies ... this is chicken salt!!
Discovered this when we had a picnic with a Swiss (it was sprinkled on hard boiled eggs). We realised that it tasted just like the chicken salt on chips back home! So now there's no need to smuggle chicken salt when we come back to the UK :) ”