Good Things List No.102: Southern Oregon Coast, Side Porch Progress, Advent Guide, Affordable Facial Care, and More

A monthly list of good things to do, buy, and read: Why to visit the southern Oregon coast, more progress on the side porch, a beautiful Advent reading guide, an affordable quality facial care and routine, and my favorite books from last month.

Some links in this article are affiliate links and if you click on them I will receive a small commission at no cost to you.

Annd, here we are in November – are we ready? I actually love thinking about the holidays, what we’ll eat, do, and who we’ll see. But I don’t want it to get crazy, so I do always try and prioritize things with a simple plan. This year we are giving the gift of an experience to our kids which means I have fewer gifts to think about – and we’re SO looking forward to our group trip (highly recommend!).

But before we get totally into the holiday season, lets take a look back at some good things I think you may like, too – including an Advent reading guide there’s still time to get!

Good Things List

Southern Oregon Coast & Beachfront Inn

At the end of September we revisited a place we had been more than 30 years ago – on our honeymoon! It’s the southern Oregon Coast which we drove from Reedsport to Brookings which is just minutes from the California border. It’s not the easiest or quickest to reach (why it took us 30+ years to do it again…), but that means it’s less crowded – and after really getting to explore this time I’m here to say that I think it’s the most beautiful stretch of coastland in Oregon (and that’s saying a lot!). There aren’t just “haystack” rocks, there are multiple rock formations in all kinds of shapes from a house, to an arch, to a whale, to even one that looks like an elephant (Harris Beach). These are all within a rolling coastline with trees, mists, and secret beaches (including THE Secret Beach).

We stayed at The Beachfront Inn in Brookings which is right on a beach we walked every morning and most nights. Every room has a balcony with an ocean view so we could watch the ships coming in and out of the harbor next door and see seals swimming and birds diving regularly. It was also a great base for day trips to the Samuel H. Boardman State Scenic Corridor which is full of car parks and turn-outs where you can walk trails to some of the secluded beaches and see the amazing coastal formations along this stretch. All but one of the parking areas are free (Harris Beach has a fee, but is also the biggest with full bathrooms, etc.), though one caveat is that many of the trails are only for those who can traverse rocky and steep paths. There are lots of viewpoints, though, were you can take in the beauty from further away.

As you can tell, I loved this area and highly recommend a visit if you can!

Exciting Side Porch Progress

I love this view so much!! It represents a lot of work that you may not think of just looking at it, starting with multiple times of renting a skid to haul dirt from our woodlot to fill this area so that we could build just a couple steps and not have to have railings. Then we had to fill the area where the gravel is with a ton of rocks and dirt because it was even lower there, sloping steeply away from the end of the porch. After that, it was the puzzle of the cinder block wall edging and sloping it along with the dirt. It took so.much.time. And lots of discussions (a-hem…).

But it was SO worth it because look at what we have: A useable, easily accessed porch (with no fussy rails to maintain or obstruct the view), a gravel area that not only eliminated a weedy, hard-to-maintain spot but created a second area for a table when so we have room for more people (not even in the original plan, but I’m thrilled about this!), and a straight line for easier mowing.

Yes, it’s taking us a long time to complete (more than a year…), but slow and steady wins the race – and wins being able to afford it, too! We still have the tongue-and-groove ceiling to add and a few finishing touches to the posts and sides of the porch, but we’re totally enjoying it even in progress!

Advent Reading Guide

It’s been a few years since I purchased a She Reads Truth Advent Reading Guide, but I remember enjoying not only the focus and readings, but also all the extras that were included, so I got this year’s version and I can’t wait for November 29th to start using it! It’s just gorgeous and I know I will keep it for years. There are readings and reflection, of course, but also extras like a personal review and reflection of 2026, some crafts, hymns, and recipes.

My favorite part, though? It’s that it doesn’t stop at Christmas Day – it continues on for nine more days as we transition from the holidays through the new year.

If you’re interested too, you can check it out here.

Affordable Facial Routine

I thought I’d share my current facial products that are all from the super affordable brand, The Ordinary. I’ve used products from this brand on and off for years and I keep coming back to it because they work well at a good price. The only thing about it is that it can be kind of confusing to figure out what to use together, though they do have a “regime builder” that can get you started. They also have a section at the bottom of each product where you can see if it can be layered safely with something else you’d like to use.

I find it easiest to start with what you’d like to address the most – for me, it’s aging (duh…), so I don’t bother with acne products, or even “lightly aging” products. To give you an idea, here’s what I’m using now, morning and evening:

• AM: Multi-Peptide + HA Serum and Laxto-PDRN 4% + B9 Eye Cream
• PM: Granactive Retinoid 2% (I now use every other night after ramping up) alternating with GF 15% Solution

Note: I’m pretty minimalist with facial care and don’t have time for lots of steps. I clean my face with either micellar water (nights), or a light scrub (some mornings) before these layers, use the Ordinary products, and then use moisturizers from the drugstore (or Trader Joe’s – have you tried them?) for a night cream and a spf day lotion (The Ordinary doesn’t have a lotion with spf and I do not want two separate products.)

Let me know if you’ve tried something from The Ordinary that you like!

October Favorite Books Read

The Pirate Queen, Ariel Lawhon. This author’s book, The Frozen River, was a favorite of mine, so I went into this book with high hopes that were thankfully upheld. The Pirate Queen is the nickname of a real character from Ireland in the 1500s, Grace O’Malley (fun fact: we visited her statue on our trip to Ireland, which is located at a manor house where her descendants live!). While she has a biography and many other things written about her, there is still much unknown. Ms. Lawhon takes what we do know and weaves it in with plot lines that are plausible, as well as thoughts and feelings that she may have had. I love this kind of historical fiction that uses a timeline and then adds to it. The author also has a nice note at the end with more details about what she changed and what was true (that when reading you may doubt – Grace led a very colorful life). This may very well make my year-end list, just like her previous novel.

84, Charring Cross Road, Helene Hanff. I loved this delightful little book so much! I had heard about it many years ago and assumed it was a fictional epistolary novel (similar to everyone’s current favorite, The Correspondent). When I saw it in Libby, I put a hold after reading that it was a true correspondence between a NYC woman and the employees of an English bookstore in the 1950s-mid 70s. It’s a very short book (I wish it were longer) and I just loved the feeling and rapport that developed through the letters over the years. The writer in NYC is funny and brash, requesting books that she can’t find in the city. She sends care packages after the war (WWII), which makes all the employees write her to thank her. Seeing the relationships develop purely through letters and how the employees (and their families in some cases) came to view her as a friend was beautiful. I was taken with the love that you could feel through the letters and their desire to meet in real life. The ending was quite bittersweet and stayed with me for a while. And wouldn’t it be wonderful if we still lived in a world where you could write to a store overseas, get lovely responses back, AND have something delivered for only a few dollars?

Watching

You Can See Everything, theater. Like everyone, it seems, we were left baffled by this documentary and couldn’t stop talking about it! So we listened to the background of the Elizabeth Holmes story in this 2029 investigative podcast (not to be confused with the fictional Hulu series of the same name) that we didn’t know about before seeing the movie – and a lot more became clear. (And we realized the play on the documentary title – you actually can’t see everything…). Have you seen this – if so, what did you think??

That’s it for another addition of the Good Things List!

If you’d like to see more of what I’m enjoying, you can check out all the Good Things Lists here. I’d love to know what you think – if you’ve tried any of these or what you’d recommend. Leave a comment below with your thoughts!

Disclosure: affiliate links in this article will earn commission based on sales, but it doesn’t change your price. Click here to read my full disclaimer and advertising disclosure.