Tag Archives: portland

A few weekends ago Daniel and I went apple picking!  I was excited to take Daniel because he had never been before, poor guy.  I was also stoked because while I have been before (grew up in Maine, after all), I hadn’t been in probably over 5 years (thanks to living in LA).

I did a little research and found three options:  Draper Girls Country Farm, Sherwood Orchards, and Mountain View Orchards.

Sherwood Orchards was tempting because it was only 30 minutes away, but it looked a little small.  Mountain View Orchards looked like it had a lot of activities in addition to apple picking, but it was the furthest and Daniel didn’t seem too keen on driving that far.

I ultimately chose Draper Girls because it had a beautiful view, they made their own fresh apple cider, and it was the 2nd closest to us. Read more »

The weather in Portland has been especially fall-like lately.  As I’m remembering what it’s like to have seasons again, I’m getting pretty pumpkin crazy!  After recently buying Samuel Adams Harvest Pumpkin Ale and Trader Joes Pumpkin Ice Cream, I quickly realized what must be done:  Pumpkin Beer Float.

I first heard of a beer float when I went to The Golden State in Los Angeles (highly recommend for anyone in the area), but had never tried it.  The reason being, well, it didn’t sound as delicious as a regular ice cream float.  But something about this combination told me it was going to be good!

Here’s what you need:

• 2-3 scoops Trader Joes Pumpkin ice cream
• One 12 oz. bottle of Samuel Adams Harvest Pumpkin Ale

I recommend putting the ice cream in first and slowly pouring the beer in after.  Be warned though, as soon as the beer touches the ice creamit will foam up A LOT, no matter how slowly you pour it in.

Boom!

Daniel seemed a little suspicious about the combination beforehand, but he later agreed that it was super tasty.  I wasn’t a huge fan of the Sam Adams on its own, as it was very pumpkin-y.  But the ice cream gave it the much needed flavor and sweetness, and it really balanced out the bitterness of the ale.  Although these two worked well together, I’m sure other brands would be great in this as well.

Try it out!  I will definitely be having another one before the season is over!

This is the Part 2 of my post Lil Bit More Skills.  This was a little hard to write, as it’s very personal and delves into to some not-so-great feelings.  But I felt it was important to share, since I know many of us feel similar things at some point in life.  Often simply being able to relate to someone going through the same thing can instantly make you feel a little bit better, and I hope this post has the power to do so.

3.  Get Back to Me

It sounds a bit cliche, but after living in Los Angeles for 4 1/2 years, I feel like I’ve lost myself and a huge chunk of my self esteem.  I’ve known what I’ve wanted to do since I was 13 years old (be an actor), not only did I know, but I passionately pursued this career with an unwavering determination.  Which, lucky for me, proved to be fruitful and continued to be so throughout college.  Without thinking I was the best and had no room for improvement, I still had confidence and believed in my abilities.  Without thinking I was gorgeous, I knew I was attractive.  I did not feel inadequate.

I’m not sure when it happened exactly, but LA changed all of that.  It was not only the lack of performing, but the complete lack of auditions that made me question my abilities and my choices.  It was not fitting into a particular beauty mold that suddenly had me criticizing everything about myself.  I had never felt bad about myself when I saw celebrities in movies or magazines, but when you are completely immersed into so much of that superficial nonsense, it’s hard not to feel bad about yourself.  It’s hard not to lose yourself.

Well, there’s only so much of that you can take, and I needed a break from it.  I happily moved to Portland for that break, and I plan to use this transitional time for new beginnings.  While I’m working on the self improvement and skills mentioned in Part 1 of this post, I will also be working on health, beauty, and fitness.  For extra confidence boosts, I will be trying out various makeup and hair tutorials, diy treatments, fitness plans, and basically anything I find on the oh-so-addictive Pinterest.  They may be wrought with trial and error in the beginning, but hopefully you’ll stick around to see me master new techniques!

This past weekend my boyfriend Daniel and I had the pleasure of visiting Sunriver, Oregon – thanks to our friend, whose aunt and uncle own a beautiful vacation home and were kind enough to let us have a short couples retreat with our friends!

Sunriver is about a 3 hour drive outside of Portland, and about 15-20 minutes outside of Bend.  On our way we stopped in Welches, OR for dinner at The Rendezvous Grill.  Beautiful patio, and great food with an emphasis on seasonal items and local products – which I love!  However, I will say that if you are in a rush this may not be the best choice for you.  We waited about a half an hour for our order to be taken, and a bit more than that for our food.

Since we didn’t make it to the house until almost midnight, most of our exploring happened the next day.

First stop:  brunch at Chow in Bend, OR.

Another amazing meal in Oregon – I’ve lived here for a few months, and have yet to be disappointed in the quality and deliciousness of the food at, literally, every restaurant.  Chow also has an emphasis on local products, and many of their produce come from their garden right outside the restaurant.  Besides their tasty food, they also have grapefruit, mango, guava, and (of course) orange mimosas – any of which you can mix and match!  I did half orange and half grapefruit!

Being the beer-loving folks that we are, we chose to mainly stay in Bend during our mini-vacation, as Bend is home to many craft breweries.  There’s even an Ale Trail Map so you can be sure to check out all of them!  We first stopped at Boneyard Beer where your first tasting is free and every tasting after is $1.  There are no seats inside and no food, so this is definitely a good stop if you just want a few tastings or to pick up a growler.

Our 2nd and one of my favorite stops was Worthy Brewing Co.

As you can see, they grow their own hops right outside the brewery!

When we visited they had a special going on where we combined fresh hops into certain beers.  Very cool to see how it changes the flavor!

3rd stop was Crux – sadly, I had to forego this one as I was the lightweight in the group.  Lastly, we stopped at Brew Werks for dinner.  This was my favorite for atmosphere – they had a large patio with a beautiful view.  Again, I will say if you have somewhere to be this may not be the best choice, as this was one of the longest waits for food during the trip.

The next day, before heading home to Portland, our very last stop was the Sunriver Golf Resort.  While we didn’t stay to play a round, I wanted to include this photo just to show how gorgeous it was here!

All in all we had a great time and can’t wait to return!