All posts tagged: Portland

A Food Photography Workshop and Savory Baked Oatmeal w/ Caramelized Onion and Goat Cheese

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Two weekends ago, I was once again in my happy place, Portland, Oregon. I found the perfect excuse to go: a food photography and styling workshop taught by two Portland-based blogger/photographers, Eva Kosmas-Flores of Adventures in Cooking and Christiann Koepke of Portland Fresh. I virtually met both of these ladies through their Instagram accounts (@evakosmasflores and @portlandfresh), instantly falling in love with their beautifully moody photographs. So much so, that when they announced the Portland photography workshop in February, I signed up immediately without giving it a second thought. The morning of the workshop I caught the number 17 bus from our Airbnb to Tillamook Station, an event space nestled in a pre-war building in the heart of the Albina Industrial District. I was so nervous that I missed my stop and had to backtrack a couple of blocks. I breathed a sigh of relief as I rounded the corner and saw the bright yellow door of the building and other similarly nervous people laden with camera bags heading in the same direction. I tried to …

Weird Shoes

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Before I left on my last trip to Oregon, I stopped into REI for some last minute purchases. We both needed raincoats because living in the desert for 25 years means we don’t own such things. I tried on about a dozen or so raincoats before settling on a bright turquoise number with a detachable hood and a cool little pocket in the lapel specifically made for my mobile phone and earbuds. As I gathered my things to check out, a glimpse of red in the shoe section caught my eye: the holy grail of weird shoes. Blood-red leather Keen Mary Janes, with rainbow-striped cross-straps and toe caps the color of pink limestone. If the fact that they were weird didn’t thrill me enough, the fact they were on clearance pretty much meant those shoes were going home with me that day. I justified the purchase saying I needed a new pair of traveling shoes. Shoes I could easily slip in and out of in the airport security line “like a boss” and signaling to other passengers that I was a Very …

Portland in October, My first Airbnb Experience

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If you have been following me on Instagram then you probably know that last month I was once again in my happy place–Portland, Oregon! The goal: to see fall colors, rain and a Ducks game. I accomplished all of these goals and more, but the one thing that stood out about this trip was my experience with Airbnb. I have not been able to stop talking about Airbnb since we booked this trip! I’ve been to Portland numerous times always staying in the downtown area, right in the thick of things. This time, however, I wanted to know how the locals lived so on a friend’s recommendation, I booked a basement apartment through Airbnb. I cannot recommend Airbnb enough–the process was simple and I was able to chat with the host several times before booking! The apartment was more fabulous in person than it was in the photographs (when does that ever happen??)! It was spacious, super clean, had a fully equipped kitchen and as an added bonus, the host family had an amazing garden and a chicken coop …

My 100th Post! Plus, Surviving the Portland Boil of 2014

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It’s my 100th post!  A couple of weeks ago, after I published my 99th post, I started to feel a little anxiety over what my 100th post would look like.  I initially thought that I wanted to do something BIG and insanely complicated.  A blog post that would cause balloons and confetti to fall from the sky.  But, that didn’t exactly happen.  Instead, I got myself so wound up about my 100th post, that I couldn’t seem to write anything at all.  And soon after that, I was out of town for two weekends in a row! So, instead of a big, complicated recipe, I’m going to show you some of my vacation photos! I make no bones about the fact that someday I would like to retire in Portland, Oregon.  Our dearest friends abandoned us relocated to Portland in 2011 and have been enticing us to move there ever since.  And since my feet first landed on Portland soil that first time in 2011, I’ve fallen inextricably, entirely in love with the place.   …