Pacific Northwest Aesthetic Guide

“where the mountains meet the sea, and the sky is always changing.“

Routines

• Start your day off slowly:
  • Wake up and brew yourself a strong coffee or loose leaf tea, open up your curtains to grey skies, read a few pages of a novel and light a cedar or pine candle.
• Get dressed like you’re about to spend your day in the forest, even if you’re just going to town:
  • Chunky knit sweaters, flannel shirts, waterproof jackets, dark denim, corduroy trousers, thermal layers, hiking boots, wool socks, silver jewellery, beanies, and a coat that’s always ready for unexpected weather.
• Fill your weekends with new experiences:
  • Visiting independent bookstores, mountain towns, forest cabins, hidden cafés, local farmers’ markets, antique shops, coastal villages, riverside picnic spots, hiking trails, and little family run bakeries.
• Eat homey and comforting foods that make you forget how cold it is outside:
  • Pancakes drowned in syrup, oatmeal topped with berries, fresh sourdough with salted butter, roasted vegetables and apple pastries.
• Spend time somewhere surrounded by nature every day:
  • Walk through evergreen forests, sit beside a lake, wander rocky beaches, visit botanical gardens, hike mountain trails, watch waterfalls, explore quiet parks, or simply take the longer route home if it passes beneath tall trees.
• Create an evening that feels like returning to a mountain lodge:
  • Light candles, switch on warm lamps instead of bright overhead lights, curl beneath a wool blanket, sip tea from your favourite mug, cook something comforting, read until you’re sleepy, and let your home feel warmer than the weather outside.

Diet:

pancakes !!

• Enjoy food that feels rooted in the landscape:
  • The Pacific Northwest is warm sourdough fresh from the oven, blackberry jam made in late summer, wild mushrooms after autumn rain, smoked salmon, bowls of hearty soup, crisp apples, fresh herbs on the windowsill, and meals that feel as comforting as a cabin with the fire lit.
• Eat with the seasons instead of against them:
  • Pick blackberries in summer, buy apples and pears from local orchards in autumn, visit farmers’ markets for fresh vegetables, enjoy pumpkins and squash when the leaves begin to turn, savour citrus in winter, and appreciate the first berries and greens of spring.
• Let local ingredients shape your meals:
  • Wild salmon, hazelnuts, blueberries, blackberries, oysters, Dungeness crab, mushrooms, fresh sourdough, artisan cheeses, honey from nearby farms, herbs from your garden, and vegetables that were harvested only a day or two ago.
• Learn recipes that feel at home in a mountain lodge kitchen:
  • Creamy mushroom soup, sourdough bread, cinnamon rolls, blueberry muffins, apple crumble, baked salmon with herbs, roasted root vegetables, homemade granola, blackberry pie, shepherd’s pie, and warming stews that taste even better the next day.
• Choose drinks that match the weather outside:
  • Freshly brewed coffee, chai lattes, matcha, hot chocolate, peppermint tea, chamomile before bed, sparkling water with lemon, homemade apple cider in autumn, and mugs of tea that stay warm between your hands while rain falls outside.

plaid shirt

graphic tee

long sleeve henley

flared/bootcut jeans

checkered shorts

brown sweatpants

voluminous ponytail

curly updo

messy ponytail

hat

backpack

fingerless gloves

Extras (the little things that make it magic):

• Use scents with notes resembling: cedarwood after rain, pine needles, damp moss, crackling fireplaces, fresh coffee, old books, mountain air, sea salt drifting in from the coast, or warm cinnamon rolls straight from the oven.
• Set new habits: grab coffee from independent cafés without checking the reviews, take the scenic route through forest roads, visit farmers’ markets, stop at roadside viewpoints, wander local bookstores, and always bringing a rain jacket.
• Find your favourite quiet places and return to them often: a bench overlooking a lake, a hidden trail beneath tall trees, a café corner beside a window, a bookstore with wooden shelves, a beach where you watch storms, or a little spot where you can watch the sun set.
• Make your car ready for sudden adventures: keep a blanket in the backseat, a reusable coffee cup, a playlist of road trip songs, a flashlight, a jacket, a book, hiking shoes, a camera, and a notebook for writing down places you want to return to.
• Keep hobbies that connect you to the landscape: learn photography, identify birds, press flowers, grow herbs, paint landscapes, write in a journal, learn to make pottery, forage responsibly, read nature books, collect recipes, or spend afternoons learning something by the window.