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{image via Tourism Tofino}

 So – exciting news here in Epheriell-land!

Nick and I will be heading off for what I’m calling #USACAN2013 as of June 4th – a huge 2-month+ trip through the US and Canada. (Look for the hashtag on twitter and instagram – I’ll be using it to share our journey!).

What this means for you, of course, is that Epheriell will be closed for a few months. As much as I would love to make jewellery on the road, the logistics are a bit of a nightmare, so I’ve decided to take a well-earned break from the jewellery bench while we’re away. I’ll still be blogging here and on Create & Thrive though!

I will be closing Epheriell as of May 24th – this Friday! – and re-opening on August 2nd, which is a few days before we return home.

So! If you had plans to buy and receive a piece of Epheriell jewellery between now and mid-August – this week is your last chance!

Friday morning will see me sitting down at the computer with a cup of coffee to go through the process of shutting down all of my online shops. I won’t be making any extensions or exceptions to this closure, so don’t wait if there is something you want to buy!

Alas, I have been so busy that I haven’t had the chance to finish and release the Yin/Yang Collection prior to my trip… but that gives us all something to look forward to when I return, right? 🙂 I’m kinda in love with the new designs, I’ve been wearing a couple of them religiously for the last few weeks.

But back to the trip!

It’s been in the works since last year, and it’s going to be epic. I’m hoping to pop in here and blog about it at least once a week, but we’ll see how that goes!

The Plan

We’ll be flying from Brisbane to LA, staying one night to start the time-zone shift process, and to break up the trip.

We’ll then fly to New York for 5 days!!! I cannot tell you how excited I am about this. I have always wanted to vist NYC. We’re staying in a cute little apartment in the East Village thanks to Airbnb, and I can’t wait to get out and explore. If you have any must-sees, please tell me!

We’re then flying from New York to Seattle, and catching the ferry up the Puget Sound to Victoria in Canada.

Nick’s brother Matt lives there with his looong-time girlfriend Kelcey, so they will be meeting us, and we’ll be staying with them for a week.

After that, Nick’s parents are flying over from the UK, and it will be family reunion time! The last time all of us were together was back in 2009 at Nick and my wedding (and that was sans Kelcey, I’m looking forward to FINALLY meeting her!), so it’s going to be lovely.

We’re staying with the fam in Canada for a few weeks… until July 3rd, when I leave Nick there and head down to Portland to attend the WDS – which no doubt will be all sorts of awesome. Again thanks to Airbnb I’ll be staying with a lovely Portland couple, their cat, new puppy, and chickens. And I get to spend my first 4th of July in the States (I am actually a dual US/Australian citizen, though I’ve only been to the US twice before for a few weeks at a time – I got my citizenship through my Mum’s side of the family, who are American). So I’ll looking forward to that experience.

After all that, Phase 2 of our trip commences – operation Road Trip!

Nick will come down and meet me in the US, and we’ll be hiring a car and heading off into the sunset for the next month. We’ll have a tent and camping stuff in our car, so we’ll alternate camping with motel living throughout the trip.

At this stage, we don’t have a set itinerary – though we are toying with the idea of driving from Portland out to Yellowstone, then back to the coast and down through Oregon and California.

I have a few must-sees during this part of the trip so far:

  • Crater Lake
  • Lake Tahoe
  • Big Sur
  • The Redwood you can drive through
  • San Francisco, because I’ve been there twice and LOVE it
  • A winery or ten in the Napa Valley

Yes, we’re suckers for lakes and forests, what can I say? I am, of course, open to suggestions of things we HAVE TO SEE – so please share!!

Finally, at the beginning of August, we’ll end up back in LA, and we’re flying home on the 6th.

It’s going to be EPIC!

Are you going to come along with us via the wonders of the interwebs? I hope so! 

P.S. My lovely Earring-of-the-Month Club members… don’t worry, you’ll still be getting your earrings every month… I’ll have them all made and ready to send to you while I’m away thanks to my post office minion (a.k.a. my mum ;D).