Water Bobble

I'm loving the idea of a filtered water bottle. It's great for the environment and I love the design. I wish I had thought of it.



Found at the Container Store here.

Too Big To Fail

I just finished a great book called "Too Big To Fail" by Andrew Ross Sorkin. It's about our financial system and the government's effort to bail them out. It was fascinating for me to read about the interaction between the bankers in New York and the government officials in DC. Even though I knew the outcome of the bailout, it was a real page-turner.

I was really happy to hear that HBO is making a "Too Big To Fail" movie. I'm so excited to see it. They recently announced the cast and it sounds like they have some great people, click here for the details.

There is a documentary out in theaters right now called "Inside Job", which it also about the financial crisis, I'm excited to see this one too.

pictures via Amazon and IMDb

Shoe Crush

I love this picture! The shoes are amazing and who would have guessed that they would look so great paired with a polka dot dress. The bracelets are pretty cool too.

Picture via The Sartorialist

Scarves

Since living in Oregon, having a scarf with me at all times is a must, especially in the Fall and Winter months. Infinity scarves have caught my eye this season. Here are some that I'm loving right now.

Calypso

Anthropologie

Lands End Canvas

Anthropologie

Anthropologie

Lucky Brand

Michael Stars

Happy Halloween!

I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday!

Picture via Country Living

Transformer Table

We have been trying to get some ideas for a table that would work well in our apartment. Our living space is a bit smaller than our last apartment, so we want something that would maximize the space. I found the perfect table on the Apartment Therapy website. We love the design. It's a console table that can expand to a dinner table. It's perfect.







pictures via Apartment Therapy

Halloween Decor

I love Halloween and all the fun decorations. When I saw this print on a blog I immediately fell in love with it.

Click here to go to the blog for more info on the print.

I also love this image that my friend Jessica designed. She is so creative and has just started a craft blog called Craftily Ever After. This image is offered for free. I can't wait to print it out and frame it. Check out her blog for other fun craft ideas.

Finally....

One of my favorite stores is opening November 11th in Portland!! I can't wait. I've been waiting for this to happen for a long time. I'm already planning my plan of attack, I just wish I didn't have to work that day.

The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency

I love these books! I just finished reading the 11th and last book in The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series. It's taken me a little over a year to read them all, not because I'm a slow reader, I love the books so much and I just wanted to spread them out a bit. I truly enjoyed reading all about Mma Ramotswe and her adventures in Botswana.



Jeff and I also loved watching the HBO production of The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency. We thought it was very well done and the casting was perfect. I love Mma Ramotswe's assistant, Mma Makutsi, she is so funny in the books and I loved seeing her in the TV show. She is definitely a comic relief in the show. The only thing I'm very unhappy about is that HBO does not have any plans to make a season two. What are they thinking?? Anyway, if you are looking for something new to watch, I would recommend adding the Ladies Detective Agency to your Netflix queue.

Emily Henderson

I'm a little late on this post, but did you watch "The Secrets of a Stylist" with Emily Henderson a few weeks ago? I loved it. She had so many great ideas and tips to pass along, plus I really enjoyed her personality. I'm super excited to hear that her show was picked up for 26 more episodes. I can't wait! Emily Henderson won HGTV's Design Star, which I did not watch this season and I'm totally regretting it now. I'm also a big fan of her blog. Another fun fact about Emily is that she was raised in rural Oregon. Yay for Oregon!

In the pilot show she did a home makeover for Ian Brennan, the co-creator of Glee. Here are some pictures.

Emily with her friend Ian

Before picture

After picture. I love the colors she used, especially the rug.

Here is another picture of the living room, she just styled it a bit different. I love the rug in this picture as well.

I love how she painted the back of the shelves a different color. This is definitely a trend I've noticed lately. Nate Berkus had and example of this on his show last week.

Before picture

After picture. I love what she did with the space. The wallpaper is great and I think the bedding is from West Elm, another favorite of mine.

Another after picture of the bedroom.

Before picture

After picture. I'm loving the blues and the grays she used.

She is so creative and I'm excited to see more of her work in the future.

Pictures via HGTV website

Kitchen Crush

This kitchen is amazing, I love all the space and the glass front cabinets.

Picture via Baden Baden

Rue Magazine

Rue Magazine launched today, I've been so excited to check out this new online magazine.

Fashion's Night Out in Portland

Fashion's Night Out originated in New York City last year and it was such a success that Anna Wintour of Vogue wanted to make this year's party international. I was so excited to hear that Portland was participating. Last Friday, I headed downtown right after work to check it out. I really enjoyed going to all the different stores. Banana Republic had live models in their stores and were offering light refreshments. Nordstrom was serving delicious mocktails and had a DJ playing music. Seth Aaron, the Project Runway winner from last season, who is also from the Portland area, was at Macy's. He was doing a little presentation and mostly taking questions from the audience. I only stayed and listened to him for about 20 minutes. I wanted to see what else was going on. There was supposed to be a fashion show in Directors Park, but I must have missed it or it happened later, but I never did get to see that. All in all it was a fun night. Maybe next year I'll have to go to NYC, I heard it was quite the party.

Seth Aaron at Macy's, not the best picture, I had a hard time getting a good one with my camera

Another picture of Seth Aaron

Anna Wintour at the NYC Fashion's Night Out

Wake-Up Call

This morning we woke up to loud speakers and music. Apparently, the street we live on is the registration and the finish line for the Pints for Pasta 10k. Good thing we don't have to go anywhere for a few hours. It looks like everyone is having a good time and I really enjoyed watching people cross the finish line. Here are some pictures from our balcony.

Finish Line

The after-race celebration. It's such a sunny, beautiful day today. I love seeing the river in the background of this picture.

A Weekend With Steff

A few weeks ago, my sister Steff came to Portland to visit us for the weekend. I love to have visitors in town, especially my sisters. We always have such a fun time. She flew in on Saturday morning and after we picked her up, we headed to breakfast. Steff loves biscuits and so we took her to Pine State Biscuits. They are known for their wonderful biscuit breakfast sandwiches.

Steff got a sausage, egg and cheese biscuit sandwich.

Jeff got the McIsley sandwich, yes that is fried chicken, with pickles and honey. It's not the most healthy breakfast, but it sure tastes good.

After breakfast, we went to the Saturday Market in downtown Portland. It's always a good time. Lots of great things to buy and tons of interesting people to watch.

The next thing on our list was to visit the Pittock Mansion. Steff found the Pittock Mansion on the internet and wanted to check it out. I had heard of the mansion, but never made it up there. I'm so glad we went. The grounds are beautiful and the view is amazing. Touring the mansion was very interesting too. I think it was well worth the trip. Here are some pictures.

Steff with her Paparazzi camera and gear.

The Pittock Mansion

Jeff sporting his red shoes. People love those shoes, every time he wears them he gets a million compliments from random people. It's actually kind of a game with us to see how many compliments he gets in a day.

We lucked out, the weather was beautiful.

Me and Jeff.

Another picture of us.

I loved all the vibrant colors of the flowers.

Sunday was a pretty relaxing day, we went to church and then Jeff made a wonderful dinner. He made an Indian dish with eggplant and chickpeas. I wish I would have taken pictures of that.

Monday, was the last day Steff was in town, so we headed to the outlets to do some serious shopping. Steff wanted to find some back to school clothes and the outlets did not disappoint. We had a wonderful time.

Thanks again for coming out to visit us! We had a blast!

Vampire Weekend

Last Tuesday night we went with our friends, the Matthews and the Schmitts, to the Vampire Weekend concert at the Edgefield McMenamins. There was rain in the forecast, but it hadn't rained all day, so I thought we were in the clear. Boy was I wrong, as soon as we pulled into the parking lot, it started raining. It didn't just rain, it poured and poured. Jeff and I both wore our raincoats, but soon we were soaked. They were selling ponchos, but by the time I realized that I wanted a poncho, I was already soaked and it really wouldn't do any good. In hindsight, I would have ran right over and picked up a poncho the minute we arrived. Although it rained all night, we had such a fun time. Thanks so much to the Matthews and the Schmitts for a memorable night.