Showing posts with label portland. Show all posts
Showing posts with label portland. Show all posts

A Perfect Tea Party.

09 February 2015




I often feel that sometimes my life lacks ceremony. I don't have a lot of family or cultural tradition of my own. I grew up in a culture of fast moving convenience and it seems that life leaves little room to stop and celebrate and embrace moments. This weekend, I had one of those rare perfect afternoons with just the right balance of cheesy and sweet celebratory tradition. And better yet, I got to do it with the amazing company of a long time friend (visit her at Ponyboy Press & Cedar Chest!)

We arrived at Myrtle's Tea House just in time for our 1pm reservation and were seated right by the window. It's was a dreary day, but the warmth of the little house filled with beautiful vintage tea pots and tea cups made the rain melt away.



We selected our tea from a list of what felt like hundreds of amazing options.



The pots arrived and we delicately added our dainty little sugar cubes from the gold gilded bowl.





We were each served a darling plate filled with 8 little perfect bites, fresh fruit, a crudite, and a warm tea cup full of homemade soup.





Next, we choose our next pot of dessert tea - I went with a chocolate rose. It was served with a beautiful assortment of tiny desserts. The tiny heartshaped fresh from the oven scone with strawberry butter was my favorite.




After tea, we visited the sweet little shop and pursued the antique tea cups, teas, and series of tea mystery books (did you know that was even a thing?! So cute!)


What cute ceremonious thing do you guys do?

Perfectly Portland : Historic Columbia River Hwy & Multnomah Falls

05 June 2013


I was really inspired by Jule's series of "Cute Toronto" & I am often getting asked by traveling friends what they should do in town, so I decided to make my own series this summer of my favorite places in Portland!

I was born and raised on the east coast, but I decided to pick up and move 3,000 miles because I fell in love with this city.   Almost 12 years later, I am still just as in love with this city as the day that I arrived.  I find amazing things here that inspire me daily and I really want to share some of those things with you.

I decided to start with one of my favorite drives - The Historic Columbia River Highway (Route 30).  When I first visited Portland, I had never seen a waterfall and I really had no idea that Oregon had such beautiful natural landscapes in store for me.


The drive takes about 2+ hours from Portland and back.  You could skip the historic highway and take I-84 (also named Columbia River Highway for added confusion) out to the falls in 30 minutes and it is a pretty drive along the river, but I am afraid you would really be missing out.


The HCRH starts in Troutdale.  You can either take NE Halsey straight through Portland or exit 16 - Wood Village on I-84 E.   Troutdale is home to a few darling stops including a Barn Museum, The Harlow House, and the Rail Depot Museum, a small outlet mall, and McMennimins Edgefeild.



McMenamin's Edgefeild is usually my first stop because it is an excellent place to grab a bite, enjoy some delicious local beer, or perhaps take a soak in the soaking pool at Ruby Spa.  The grounds are beautiful and it is a lovely experience to just walk around bit and take in the gorgeous gardens, gift shop, and charming old buildings.  They even have a golf course if you are into that kind of thing.  Of course this stop is optional!



After your stop at Edgefeild, you can continue on the to HCRH to your first beautiful site - The Women's Forum.  The Women's Forum is a beautiful viewpoint for you to catch your first glimpse of the gorgeous Columbia Gorge.


Next, follow the winding road onward on the HCRH and head to the Overlook Vista House.  This beautiful building was built in 1917 as a comfort station for travelers of the HCRH & as a momument to Oregon Pioneers.  It offers more breathtaking views in addition to a free small volunteer-run gallery of  Oregon History. You will also find a public restroom here.


There are 4 small falls on the way to Multnomah Falls including Latourell, Sheppards Dell, Bridal Veil,  & Wahkeena.   Each of these falls are just a short hike from the highway and all of the trails are beautiful and easy to walk.  Look for signs & you will find a few small parking lots.  Most of these stops also have picnic areas and view points to take in all the natural beauty.


Finally, you reach Multnomah Falls.  You can't miss it!  There is a parking lot right in front of the falls.   It's a very easy walk right over to the falls.  You can also hike up to a bridge to get a another view of the falls and the gorge.   The falls are 620 feet high and inclue two gorgeous drops.  It's a breathtaking place to be.

There is a free visitor center where you can learn about the local eco system and ask questions of the friendly and knowledgable volunteers.  A gift shop & snack bar are also available.  Hot dogs not your thing?  Be sure to make a reservation at Multnomah Falls Lodge for a beautiful meal.

After Multnomah Falls, you can hop right on I-84 and head back to Portland.  If you are still craving adventure, continue on the HCRH to check out 3 more small waterfalls, Ainsworth State Park, and the Bonneville Dam.  This route will also take you to Hood River, an adorable little town known for the Hood River Fruit Loop - a fabulous route through many darling farms, fruit stands, and shops.

For more information, maps, and history of the HCRH, check out this fabulous website!  Enjoy your trip!

Crafty Wonderland : A Local Crafter Spotlight

12 May 2013


Living in Portland, I feel so unbelievably lucky to be surrounded by such amazingly creative and talented people.  It is a huge part of what made me fall in love with this city 12 years ago.  Yesterday was the bi-annual Crafty Wonderland Super Colossal Spring Sale, so of course I couldn't resist the chance to go shop and get inspired.  Crafty Wonderland hosts over 225 artists, crafters, chefs, and vendors under one roof & it is one of my favorite regular events.

Though there were SO many amazingly talented people there, but I thought I would just share a few of the favorites that stood out & inspired me yesterday...



Lisa makes beautiful prints & notecards.  Her art has a sense of beauty and whimsey that reminds me of candy & childhood dreams.  It just made me really happy to look through her work.



This year, I got to meet a lot of amazing local confectionary shops & Rose City Sweets was probably my favorite. Their darling branding + amazing smoked almond toffee + brown sugar fleur de sel caramels kind of blew my mind & I will probably crave more of them all week.

I met Chelsey through the Portland Preservation Society (a monthly canning meetup & swap) and I've been following her adorable blog and instagram for a few months now and they are always full of adorable inspiration.  She makes these darling little handmade wooden pins of cute animals & they just melt my heart.



I am so impressed with the amazing crochet sculpture art that Jennifer makes!  She turns iconic Portland Bridges into amazing sculpture.

I've loved this crafter for awhile.  Every single time I go to Crafty Wonderland, her art just stands out in the room.  I just cannot get enough of her brightly colored art and witty ridiculousness.
S'Morrissey pillow? Amazing.



I was pretty excited to find this vendor.  I've been struggling with my allergies big time for the past few weeks and I've been thinking about trying out local honey as a solution.   Imagine my delight to find an awesome honey tonic made with local honey, local bee pollen, and nettles all in one that taste amazing!  They make awesome products, but it turns out they have an awesome mission of sustainability and bee stewardship as well!   



I am a sucker for Portland themed art and I think this artist does some of my favorites.  Not only does she make adorable clay magnets & Portland themed cards and artwork, she also made this gem of a card.  To be loved even more than all the adorable internet cats? Priceless.



I have been a fan of this letter press studio for awhile now and I just am always so happy to see what new prints and cards they've created for the Crafty Wonderland shows.  I have this amazing canning themed print in my kitchen and I just absolutely adore it.

the dig.

05 March 2009

portland, oregon is full of thrift stores, but many of them are overrun with the hip crowd that tends to snatch all the good things up very quickly. but then again, there are a few gems. the dig is definitely one of those hit or miss kind of places, but when i score there, i tend to score big. it's just out of the city limits in milwaukie and it's nested on a street with a long stretch of some of my favorite thrift stores (i lovingly refer to this at the "milwaukie thrift corridor"). the dig only has clothing, accessories, and shoes...which could be a pro or a con depending on what you are looking for. one thing i like about the store is that they do try to keep a good range of sizes in stock and and some of their clothes are really affordable! cheap plus sized fashions are often hard to come by, so that is pretty special to me. the prices there are well below the standard overpriced goodwill stores. this weekend, i stopped by with my friend heather on my quest to find some summer dress kind of shoes and i ended up walking out with 4 new dresses and 4 new pair of shoes...i only spent $22! One of the dresses was a simple grey casual winter dress and it was only $1 and the other 3 dresses were $3 or $4. amazing! here are two of my favorite dresses from the day:
IMG_7196 IMG_7224

there were also 4 pairs of shoes that were well loved before me, but for $1.50-$3 each, i think they have a lot of good wears left in them! heather also found an amazing vintage green velvet jacket in perfect condition and it was $10 (probably the most expensive thing in that store, but the kind of thing that would sell for at least $30 or $40 at a vintage shop...i think it was an amazing score).

overall, a good day at the dig. sometimes i go there and find nothing, but i do think "the dig" is a great place to stop in and check out if you have a moment or are on the hunt for that perfect cheap outfit of your dreams. also, you should sign up for their email list because sometimes there have fun sales!
 
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