Three Things 10.24.15: Fancy Portland, Still Harvesting & Another Book

Happy Saturday! Welcome to our weekly ‘Three Things” post where you’ll find a peek into my week and some things that are making me happy. Three things is just how I start, though – I throw in bonuses and links to some fun recipes, diy projects, and garden ideas that I find inspirational or helpful and think you will, too. So, yeah – you’ll want to read to the end! (Note: the links I provide are often affiliate links, though not always.)

 

We made a quick trip to Portland last weekend for our niece’s birthday party and before the party we met some of our other family (to celebrate another niece’s birthday!) at Urban Farmer restaurant in downtown Portland. It’s housed in the same building as The Nines, a fancy hotel that we got to stay at a few years ago.

I had to snap a few photos for you because it’s so different inside. They created the hotel (and restaurant) in an old Meir & Frank department store (there’s still a Macy’s in part of this) and centered it around this atrium. All the hotel windows look into the atrium where the restaurant and hotel lobby/lounge is located. And lining the entry into the atrium are nude mannequins – I guess in homage to the former store (but just really odd to me!).

Oh, we did order a really good dessert at Urban Farmer – a blondie topped with chocolate chip ice cream and drizzled in butterscotch sauce. And the presentation was really clever – they served it in large, spring-top mason jars! Next time I’ll remember to snap a photo of that part, too (apparently not as amazing to me as the mannequins…).

If you follow me on Instagram, you’ve seen this photo of my October 20 harvest, and what I wrote there is so true – I spend most of fall just trying to keep up with my ‘summer’ garden, which is a reason I never have the time to plant a ‘fall’ garden these days!

We did hit a low of 37 degrees on Friday morning, so the beans and peppers are officially done and the tomatoes are just here and there. Time to pick any with a pink blush and ripen them inside like this. I can still keep harvesting the kale, though, until we get a hard frost – long live kale!

Another book for my list!! Far Away Home was another audiobook and after a couple of nonfiction reads, I was ready for an easy historical novel. This was actually better than I thought it would be with nice attention to historical details, interesting characters and a sweet romance that didn’t go into too much detail, if you know what I mean.

The only bummer is that there was no closure at the ending – we have no idea what happened to the heroine. And this was written a few years ago and doesn’t have a sequel. I did read on Amazon (where the Kindle version is only .99) though, that the author is writing a sequel now and said she didn’t know people would want to know what happened (duh…you can’t have your lead character leaving on a train after an argument with her finance and think people aren’t going to want to know, right?).

Links To Check Out:

I get asked about the difference between yeast types all the time. File this under good to know!

Choose an easy centerpiece to decorate your table for fall and Thanksgiving.

In case you think apples are overlooked in the fall, here’s some easy craft ideas for apples to help give balance. 🙂

Have you heard about the new Money Making Mom book by Crystal Paine? I’ve been a longtime fan of hers and am so happy she’s sharing her special mix of encouragement and knowledge with us all on creating businesses that can thrive. Right now you can get some fun bonuses if you preorder a copy (Make Over Your Calendar course & a Productivity Tools sheet): go here to preorder and follow the link here to claim your bonuses.

Like these links? I’m always pinning these and lots more – follow me on Pinterest for more inspiration and ideas!

Disclosure: this post contains affiliate links and by clicking on them you help support AOC at no extra cost to you – thanks so much! Plus you can trust I’ll only share what I love. (You can always read our entire disclosure page here.)