Wednesday, July 9, 2014

PDX

I have the best partner ever! He took the day off yesterday so we could go to my favorite spots in Portland, OR for my 41st birthday.

First stop was downtown Portland for lunch at BluePlate. I was torn between BluePlate and Kenny and Zuke's Deli. Next time we will try Kenny and Zuke's, but we had no complaints at BluePlate. I ordered the northwest sliders and Christopher had the rueben both came with a side of mashed potatoes. They make their own sodas so no Dr. Pepper for me. I had the Karl Marxx which was sparkling lemonade and iced tea. Next time I will get what Christopher ordered - the Tooted Fruit (lemon, orange, strawberry and ginger) Yeah, that good!

After lunch we went to a favorite of mine -Cargo. I just found out they will be moving in a month so I will have to keep track of that. Fun import store, I hope the new store has A/C!

Once we were done in downtown we headed across the bridge to the Belmont District to an all-time favorite store - Artemesia. If you love succulents and terrariums this shop is for you.

Seattle has Midnight Blossom in Ballard that is comparable for sure, but there is always that one golden item I find here that I can't find anywhere else. I brought home a cute pink mini sea urchin shell, 2 large pink sea fans, black hematite sand and mustard green mood moss. I left one happy customer!

We also drove to the Portland Nursery and walked around in the hot heat only to come up empty handed. Christopher was a gem when I suggested we go to Lloyd Center. I know he isn't a fan of malls, but I wanted to get some tax free clothing. I found 3 pairs of pants and 2 shirts at Macy's at such a great price. I heart shopping in Portland!

For dinner, which is the main reason I wanted to go to Portland for my birthday was to relive the tacos at Por Que No? 

We started with the chips and salsa which are delicious. They make their own chips and Christopher was kind enough to give me all the chips that had extra sea salt. He ordered the pollo verde and al pastor and I ordered the al pastor and carnitas. I drank a watermelon marrionberry juice to wash down the spicy al pastor.


We left feeling full and satisfied and made one more stop before leaving Oregon at Lowes. Couldn't resist tax free plants!

So thankful for Christopher for taking me to my favorite spots in PDX! Love you babe!

Monday, July 7, 2014

Happy Happy

Hello there! I haven't visited my blog in awhile because I've been busy busy with the garden. So much progress has been made. We planted sunflowers again that have taken off and should provide a nice privacy screen. Isn't it lovely to be able to see your neighbor washing dishes, ack! The vegetable garden has grown tremendously to my delight. I have eaten all the cauliflower and am waiting on the red cabbage, zucchini and cucumbers. We also ate most of the radishes and had plenty to share with neighbors and coworkers. Our pumpkins have taken over the garden bed and Christopher will need to do some pruning if he wants his watermelons to come in. I am so happy we planted blueberry bushes. Been picking big fat juicy blueberries.

Christopher built our first arbor and it turned out exactly as I'd hoped. I kinda messed up on the stain, but hoping it can be remedied. I can't remember if I mentioned he built a new fence in the front yard courtesy of our neighbor. It makes such a huge difference going from a small rickety white fence to a taller 6ft fence.

I also pressured washed a couple hundred feet of our fence in the backyard and wow, what a difference. Let's see what else have we done...um painted the shed a shade of Gentle Wave by Valspar, which I am really digging. I also painted our front door the same color. Added stone edging to the front yard. I bought 2 container pots and made my own arrangements that make me smile every time I look at them. I seriously need to take some new pictures tonight.

Back in June we celebrated Christopher's girls 11th birthday. We had Megan that weekend and I made her this card.


Hoping to be able to get some more scrap time in this week.