mountain creek cottage
My 30th birthday weekend was everything I hoped for. All I wanted was to be in the middle of the woods, in a cabin, far away from the city, dancing around a fire pit like Max from Where the Wild Things Are, and I got it! All of it!! I found the most adorable little cottage on Airbnb. It looked like it was plucked out of a fairytale! After booking it (all I cared about were the aesthetics) I then decided to read about the place.. I'm not a researcher, I've never claimed to be.. and yes I judge books by their cover. After reading I saw that the cottage was located in West Kill off of Devil's Path... so naturally the girls and I were convinced that we were going to get murdered. Of course, we fast forward and as soon as we got to the house were in love! Even after getting to there at 10:30 at night. Call me crazy but I'm very sensitive to energies and spaces and I get creeped out very easily, but this place felt SO nice. There were great vibes happening between those walls. (I still lit a little sage just incase!)
The owners, Kim and Robert, had just renovated the 1950's cottage and the decor was perfection! They had pour over coffee drippers, flatware from Fishs Eddy, Danish modern furniture, a brand new grill, and the most comfortable beds! At night you were falling asleep to the babbling brook beside the cottage. No cell service, no TV, no internet, just a land line! It was SO refreshing. Kim stopped by Saturday morning with fresh veggies from her garden and homemade jam and gave us some hiking tips for the day. While Sadah and Nicole went out to buy some food for the cottage, Ash and I ate snap peas and planned out our trail.
There were soo many pictures, so I split them up into sections!
Saturday, after our hike, the girls set the screened-in porch up for a little birthday celebration. They did such a great job! Sadah had made the cutest succulent cupcakes in little tera cotta pots. There were presents and champaign and hot dogs! All the best things! After dinner we had a little Craftermoon session and made our head pieces that we would wear around the fire pit.
Our main activity Saturday was our hike. Our 10 mile hike.... and we are not hikers. We knew we were in trouble when this old man who worked at the fire tower said "Well you girls must be experienced since you're doing this trail." Seven hours, several marshes, one rolled ankle, one bum knee, one snake, two panic attacks, zero walking sticks, and one beautiful waterfall later we were out of the woods! I immediately started singing Taylor Swift.
The views were stunning and I personally think it was worth it.
After the hike we showered and then I had two personal firsts. I successfully built a fire (thank you Alfredo) and I successful barbecued!! Ash kept the fire going which was the hardest part. We were very proud. I then had my Max moment, we played with sparklers, and then ended the night by staring at the stars for about an hour before bed. Even back home the stars don't look like that. It was so nice.
On Sunday we said goodbye to the little gingerbread house and made our way over to the Phoenicia Diner, then to Woodstock, and then to our final destination..... the World's Largest Garden Gnome at Kelder's Farm. I made friends with a cow there. Her name was Sally.
It was the perfect way to honor 30 years.
“let the wild rumpus start!”
