Finding Christmas Cheer

It's the end of another busy busy busy semester...YEAH, let the celebrations begin!!!!!!! I had two final student events to attend Saturday (yes, I had to work on Saturday, blah!) but luckily they were both located downtown. I'll be honest, as nice as these two events are the thought of devoting my Saturday to work was not appealing. So to change my attitude around I decided to take the train in early and have a little fun with my new camera! I went with a mission of finding Christmas Cheer in the City and it turned into a fun morning and helped put me in a cheery mood for my work duties :) All in all, a great day and I'm actually glad this is how my Saturday turned out!

How great is this, Scarf Building Buddies :)Santa playing at Portland Saturday Market

Colorful Winter Wear at the market...I love how cheery the colors are!

Christmas Cupcakes...yum yum!

Tom McCall watching over our city's beloved Christmas tree

Cute, Cute, Cute!!!

Even the fountain statues are dressed in their holiday best!

Lunchtime Stroll

I work in a really fun part of Portland, historic NW Twenty-Third, or also commonly known as NW "trendy-third" by the locals. This is one of the oldest neighborhoods in Portland and they have kept a lot of the businesses in the quaint houses that have graced the neighborhood for many many decades. It has been A LONG TIME since I took a lunchtime window-shopping stroll and thought you might like to come along...have fun getting to know the neighborhood!

Starting off, the first place we come to is Pepino's which is home to my favorite taco's in town! The ladies who work here are so nice and always seem to know that as much as I tell them I "might" try something new that I will almost always end of sticking with the $3.99 fish taco special...so yummy! If you don't want taco's for lunch, how about a crepe from this oh so cute sidewalk cafe! Oh wait, there is still another option just up the block...Mio Sushi! I am fairly new to adventures in sushi but I can recommend their cucumber rolls (I get mine without avocados), a great option if you are looking for something healthy and fresh!Looking for something to do this weekend? Make sure to check out a phone pole, also known as community bulletin board, for what is happening in town! Isn't this a great bike!!Better stop and say Hello to the urban chickens :)Oh my goodness, right across the way is Urbino, probably my favorite store on Twenty-Third! As soon as you walk through the door you will be transported to Old Europe and may be enticed to spend all afternoon wandering through oooing and awwing over all their goodies! Better get going if we want to keep exploring!Thirsty yet? How about a quick pint at McMenamins...oh wait, I might need to wait until Happy Hour as I forgot that it is still lunchtime :)
Ok, lets cross the street before we hit Moonstruck Chocolate Cafe (don't worry, we'll visit it sometime soon!) and let's start heading back. Don't you just love walking through the leaves!Want to get inspired by funky clothes or unique home good then 3 Monkeys is your place to shop! They always have such great finds on the sidewalk that make it hard to walk by without visualizing them in your home! I spy vintage holiday ornaments in the window so we might have to return here when we visit Moonstruck on our next lunchtime stroll :)Here is our hidden treasure, Laurelwood Public House! When it is raining (if you haven't heard, that happens quite a bit in Oregon!) you might want to pick a table by the fireplace and enjoy some of their amazingly delicious food! Want a fun salad? Try their spinach, feta, red onion, and pink grapefruit salad...sounds like a strange combo but once you try it you will love it!
Ok, I might have lied as Nob Hill Shoes is my favorite store on Twenty-Third...Dansko Love, no need to say more!Oh, I should stop in at the bookshop to see if they have my latest bookclub selection, Golden Notebook by Doris Lessing.
And here we are back at our starting point so let's end our lunchtime stroll with a vanilla latte at Vivace!! Aren't you glad we didn't stop at one of the Starbucks we passed, way to go local!Hope you liked the tour, there might be another one in the future as this barely touched the surface of NW Twenty-Third! It was great sharing it with you :)

Coffee Break

Incase you haven't heard, it is a widely known truth that the Pacific Northwest is the Coffee Capitol of the world! I would have to use all my fingers and most my toes to count all the coffee shops within a 3 block area of my office and I just love how all the independent shops have their own personal vibe and style! One of my favorite coffee shops is Vivace who also has Portland's vote for best crepes in town! I was able to escape my office for a few moments today and Vivace provided a great coffee break...well, vanilla latte and pumpkin spice biscotti break! Here are some pics from enjoying the place almost to myself as most people were getting their coffee to go as to take in the most of the amazing weather we had today!

Pumpkin Patch

It's officially fall and nothing feels like fall as much as visiting a pumpkin patch!! Over the weekend I took my niece and nephew to Roloff Pumpkin Farm which you may know as the farm from TLC's hit show Little People Big World! It was opening day and I think the afternoon grayness kept many farm goers away as we almost had the place to ourselves! We did the farm tour and if you watch the show you can see some pics of the farm here that you may recognize :)

Here are some cute pictures of the adorable Eli and Lily with their favorite auntie having a fun day at the pumpkin patch!!

Straight From The Farmers Market

I love going to Farmers Markets and when I thought about how today is one of my first free Saturday's in a long time I thought it was perfect timing for checking out the Beaverton Farmers Market that I have never been to. I loved seeing all the rich fall colors in the produce and flowers growing this time of the season!
After picking up some flowers, apples, and pears, I stopped by the last stand to get some veggies and items for Salsa. The produce was being sold by a very nice Hispanic couple and when I asked the man how much for my items he said $2...what, that is not nearly enough! I asked if he was sure and he said "yes, only $2 for you and your bonita ojos"...awww, I think I might have to go back to them next week as compliments like that will make any girl happy!

It's really easy to make Salsa on your own, you just mix a few ingredients to together!

Here's what I mixed, try it and feel free to adapt to your liking! 5 Roma Tomatoes, 1/2 Onion, 4 Garlic Cloves, 1 Jalapeno Pepper (with no seeds), Cilantro Lime Juice, and Salt. Chop items and mix together...Enjoy!!

Portland Swifts

Every fall, about 4 blocks from where I work, a natural phenom happens and tonight I went to witness it for the first time this season. For about 3 weeks in September, anywhere from 20,000-40,000 swifts nest in a chimney of an elementary school as they migrate south for the winter. What makes the nesting pretty spectacular is that at sunset the birds literally begin swarming in from all directions and start circling the chimney. They circle in one direction, all dive and start circling another direction, do more massive dives and fly-by's over the hundreds of spectators, then start circling the chimney again. Then just as the sun disappears they form a vortex and quickly the thousands and thousands of swifts head down into the chimney feet first where they latch onto the insides of the chimney and find rest for the night. This vortex of thousands of birds looks like a spinning tornado and the whole crowd cheers them on until the last swift is safely inside...pretty amazing!

I forgot my camera tonight so here are some pictures I found on flickr...enjoy!

A Little Work And A Lot Of Play...

Today I had a work retreat at Edgefield, the flagship of the NW's beloved McMenamins! After the retreat I joined my mom and her friend who stopped by after hiking in the area for an afternoon of wine tasting, exploring the beautiful gardens, and dinner out on the patio. It was a perfect blend of work and play for one of the last Friday's of the summer :) Here are pictures of some simple things that help make Edgefield as beautiful as it is!Almost ready for vino harvest!!!

Recycle and Reuse, Garden Style!!