Moving for the Summer, 10-Mile Silent Walking Retreats and DIY Hummus

Often Barefoot — Weekly updates and roundups coming to you from the Emerald City of Seattle, WA

Jun 20, 2025

Welcome back.

Wow, look at me being organized! I finally made a template for our semi-weekly newsletter - hooray! It’s been a busy few weeks of travel, moving, and all things in between, so grab a bev or a snack and let’s hang out for a minute and catch up as we slip into the radiance of summer today!

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Updates + events + more

June has been jam-PACKED with things going on and it feels like time is melting and all the clocks are broken. Can someone tell me when it became June 20th? Because last I checked, it was April and I’m not sure what happened. Regardless, 2025 is teaching me how truly precious time is and how every day matters.

Before I go any farther here - we have a community walk tomorrow, 6/21 at 9am, in West Seattle in collaboration with Hoste. You can use this link to RSVP for free via Strava. We’ll be done in time for you to make it over to Fremont for the Solstice Parade and the Naked Bike Ride, don’t you worry!

I introduced 2 ideas this month on my Instagram story which are virtual walks (where you can join from anywhere on planet Earth) and 10-mile silent walks/“retreats”, where you are encouraged to put your phone away and use this unplugged time to feel human again.

To touch on the first idea, I want to better activate our Strava club and I think this could be a fun way to do that since we have members from all over the world and right now our club’s page is being used mostly only for Seattle-specific events. I’d love for more people to post their walks they’ve done and are proud of, or even just neat things they find along the way. What I have in mind: one day per week where you can virtually join the walk from any time zone and route that makes sense for you. Maybe we’ll even have themed walks (wearing a specific color, birdwatching, what you’re listening to, etc.). There are so many ideas swirling around my head about this, so I’m excited to bring this idea into fruition.

Regarding idea 2, you’ve heard of those silent retreats, right? The ones where people go out in nature for a weekend and just refrain for talking to practice mindfulness and silence? The 10-mile silent walking retreats would be similar except it would just last between 3-4 hours rather than an entire day or more. I proposed this idea and over 400 people expressed interest, so I think this needs to happen. With so much of life online nowadays, I do feel a loss of humanity in my own life and simple moments of mindfulness while outdoors help me realize that being human is so much more than being glued to a screen; albeit for work or leisure (because don’t get me wrong, I LOVE a good Pinterest scroll, but balance is important).

Over the next week, I’ll hopefully have both of these events in our club’s calendar! It’s just taken me a minute to conceptualize them, but I think they’re just about cooked enough to draft up :)

Besides walk club updates, June has been filled with:

Travel to New York to meet my bestie who lives in Sweden half way. We figured this would be cheaper and easier than one of us flying around the globe, so we decided on spending 8 days together frolicking around and eating our way through the big apple. Here’s a reel I posted about my 17-mile walk around Manhattan!
Honeymoon planning in August. We decided on honeymooning around our first anniversary rather than immediately after our wedding last year and I really am coming to love this decision. It’s given us the time and space to find the perfect accommodations and really plan out what we want to do in our own time rather than during wedding planning.
Moving apartments for the summer months. We’re actually going to have to move twice this summer, but the second place we’re moving to is VERY exciting and I’ll leave it at that.
Reading Emily Henry’s new book. I briefly paused my close reread of Onyx Storm since I haven’t had much time to read in June and Rebecca hasn’t even started writing the 4th book, so I have some time. I’m liking GBBL so far, though. Maybe a bit too much storytelling for my liking (if you’re reading it you know what I mean), but I really like the setting and premise! The next book on my TBR (to be read) is Conditions of Will by Jessa Hastings. The Magnolia Parks series is one of my favorites of all time and it altered my brain chemistry, so I’m really looking forward to diving into this new book of hers… Especially since it’s getting relatively high Goodreads ratings, too.

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The barefoot weekly - week 25

What I’ve been loving, obsessing over, and admiring this week

1. Spice Waala

Spice Waala is a Seattle Indian street food STAPLE!!! Michael and I were craving it, so we treated ourselves last night after a full afternoon of moving boxes. It’s rare for 2 people to be able to go out for food for under $50 these days in the city, so I’m always impressed at how much we get for the price. There are delicious options for many types of eaters, but I typically order the Kathi Roll Aloo Tikki, Snack Masala Aloo, and the Snack Chana Chaat.

2. Glossier You Fleur Perfume

While in New York, my friend Amelia and I somehow made three trips to the SoHo Glossier and on the third trip I decided I needed this fragrance in my life. It’s the perfect summer scent that’s bright, not-too-obnoxiously floral, and warm. Plus the bottle is ergonomic, but that’s just a bonus point. I realized just now that whenever I wear it, I always think fondly of our memories made together on that trip!

3. DIY hummus

Maybe this is generic, I don’t know, but I’ve started customizing the hummuses (hummi?) that I buy from Trader’s because I’m not super impressed with their flavor options right now and I figured I might as well DIY it. I’ve been buying their basic “creamy, delicious hummus” (it says something like that on the container) and I’ve been adding a healthy dose of extra virgin olive oil and their Green Goddess seasoning and it has leveled up the game! I think it would also be delicious with their za’atar seasoning, but I haven’t tried it yet. I definitely recommend adding in your own seasonings, seeds, or toppings to store-bought hummus this summer!

4. Cold foam lavender matchas

We are in the midst of iced-bev season and while I’ve been normally adding non-frothed Oatly to my morning matchas, I realized that my frother has a cold foam setting and it’s made my lattes so much better. It was the addition they were missing. I’ll link the one that I have here, but I fill it with Oatly (or any milk of your liking) to the “max” line, add some homemade lavender syrup, a pinch of pink sea salt, and if I’m feeling fancy, a dash of extra virgin olive oil. If you’re ever on Whidbey Island, visit Lavender Wind in Coupeville. They have the most beautiful selection of “grosso” lavender (my absolute favorite variety) and culinary lavender — which is what I make my syrup with. It’s leagues better than anything you can buy at the store… Well, except maybe at Lavender Wind. To make the syrup, use 1c water, 1c sugar, and about 1/3 or maybe a little more of dried lavender buds. Let it boil/simmer for a few minutes before letting it cool and pouring into a contained to store in the fridge.

That concludes our newsletter for today - thanks so much for your support here and for all the great feedback. It means the world to me to have such a wonderful community, both on and offline <3

See you soon and come say hi on Instagram and YouTube!

From my soles to yours,

Sara xx