stay here: north fork 53

Before Ted left for the summer, we spent a couple of days in Nehalem, a sweet town on the Oregon Coast near Manzanita Beach. Our intent was not only to relax and enjoy each other's company in some beautiful new surroundings, but also to scope out the charming North Fork 53 Bed & Breakfast for an upcoming wedding Ted was photographing.

We have been fans of B&Bs since our first encounter with one in Castle Combe, England. There's something so sweet and romantic about staying in a B&B. Yeah, Ted and I are already old folks... That's okay, though. We embrace it!

We were absolutely smitten with the house, the food, and the grounds. Ana, the bed and breakfast manager, made us feel right at home immediately! She even had homemade treats in the fridge waiting for us. Our whole stay was just as sweet.

Our first floor room was simple and cozy. The surrounding garden and trees were a haven for lovely walks and laying in the grass. Absolutely heaven. Did I mention that the included breakfast was delicious and fresh, with roasted veggies straight from their organic garden?! Um, best deal ever!

The only minor problem we encountered was that we weren't able to figure out our private bathroom's bathtub--probably just us being clueless--but even that was an unexpected delight, because we discovered that the upstairs bathroom had a beautiful walk-in shower! It was meant to be, I guess. We enjoyed our stay there so much I'm already dreaming of our next stay.

photo diary: crater lake

At the end of the summer, Ted and I went on a spontaneous road trip to Crater Lake.  Turns out, we were a little too spontaneous and ended up having to drive straight home when there were no campsites left.  Despite that, we managed to have a lovely time, stopping in Bend for some eats at the original Deschutes Brewery, taking a short hike around the rim of the stunningly beautiful blue lake, and just enjoying each other's company.  Fun story:  We stopped on the side of the road in the middle of the Deschutes National Forest around 11PM to look at the stars and our romantic moment turned quickly into a "Dammit!" moment when the car wouldn't start again because the lights drained the battery.  Thankfully AAA came and we were on our merry way back to Portland.  Not quite the adventure we planned, but we still had a lovely time--that's the great part of having a travel buddy like Ted.  I'm looking forward to going back soon for a real night of camping though!

pumpkin patching

On our way back from the coast, Ted and I stopped in McMinnevile to grab a few pumpkins to put on the porch.  A couple weeks later, I went on a school-sponsored field trip to Sauvie Island and got one more pumpkin and a tiny pumpkin chiffon pie.  Obviously.  Now I have four pumpkins of various sizes and several tiny pumpkins.  I need more. 

eat here: beach dog cafe

Over Fall break, Ted and I escaped to the coast for our anniversary--Lincoln City, Oregon specifically.  This was one of the best decisions I've ever made.  This school semester has been so overwhelming (and continues to be so--right now I'm writing an essay that is due on Monday and it's totally stressing me out, amongst 23213 other things due during the week, so obviously I turned to blogging about happy things).  This Fall break was much needed and the perfect way to celebrate two years of brunch with one of my favorite people ever.

The Beach Dog Cafe was a Kaylie dream come true.  Delicious brunch place with pictures of dogs everywhere?  YES PLEASE.  If only this place was closer to Portland...  I will definitely make an excuse to go back!  We had the Beach Dog Potatoes (house potatoes mixed w/ Polish Sausage, grilled onions, and topped w/ cheddar cheese, served with toast and eggs---we asked for poached) and Kristina's Specialty Stuffed French Toast (stuffed with a light homemade citrus cream cheese and sliced bananas, and then grilled golden. Dusted with powdered sugar and topped with a mixed berry compote and whip cream).  I loved both so much, but my favorite was probably the potatoes, because I tend to favor savory over sweet for brunch.  I love that Ted and I split meals so I can try both sweet and savory dishes!  We make a good team, indeed. I guess I'll keep him around a little longer, just for that.

//photos mostly by Ted

eat here: babica hen cafe

I never knew how much I loved brunch until I started dating Ted.  Now I look forward to it all week when we decide it's due time to brunch.  This time, I found a place for us to try in nearby Lake Oswego.  Now that Ted has his car here, we can explore the surrounding neighborhood instead of taking the school shuttle downtown, which is great because the neighborhood around my school is very beautiful and pretty much the pacific northwest suburban dream.  My pick was Babica Hen Cafe, and let me tell you--I did good.  It was prime brunching territory.

Ted and I always split when we're out to eat to maximize our food opportunities.  So obviously we had to get the Waffle Waffler--two halfs of two different waffles.  Score, right?  We tried the Barbecued Pork (Smoked pork, coleslaw, blue cheese and avocado sour cream) and Le Waffle Lyonnaise (Black forest ham, fried egg, arugula, tarragon hollandaise).  The Barbecued Pork was our favorite.  However, my favorite dish overall was the Smoked Salmon Quinoa Cakes (Potato quinoa cake, beet & arugula salad, poached farm egg; fruit salad).  They were SO GOOD and seemed pretty healthy too, especially because the cakes were baked instead of fried.  Ted and I are determined to replicate these ASAP.  

Not only was the food wonderful, the resturaunt was so welcoming and the service was awesome.  It kind of reminded me of a model home turned into a resturaunt, because it has a very homey, upscale country feel, with lots of dark wood and family-style tables.  The whole time we were there I was thinking about how much my family would have loved it! 

After brunch we went to Zupan's because I needed toothpaste, and Ted decided I also needed flowers, which was very cute. Top notch brunch date.

photo diary: bend, or

This weekend I went on my first college outdoors trip!  I can't believe I haven't taken advantage of this awesome program my school has to offer until now.  A small group of us went to Bend, OR to hike and learn about astronomy and geology.  We stayed at the historic Skyliners Lodge, which was built in the 20s by a group of Norwegians and Swedes.  They chose the location based on how likely it was to snow there so they could have prime time for skiing.  Of course, the second night it snowed!

Things we did:

• Looked at Jupiter and some sweet constellations (too bad I was way too short to use the telescope properly)
• Hiked the lava lands and had lunch at the top
• Hiked around the Deschutes waterfall and was overwhelmed by the beauty of Oregon
• Learned & forgot every tree we saw
• When the awesome soaking pool wouldn't take us because not all of us had IDs, we went to a fancy outdoor mall for an hour or so with a giant REI, people celebrating Homecoming, a cool spice shop with yummy samples, crazy little girls around a fire pit, and a couple that Ted kept bothering with overly friendly small talk
• Ate a satisfying pasta dinner while a fire kept us warm and cozy
• Woke up at 3 in the morning to watch a meteor shower with no such luck
• Looked for awesome colorful lava rocks while people shadily used the open space below for a shooting range
• Saw a 330 feet cliff with an old bridge built over the Crooked River
• Went to a rock farm with 31 peacocks, 2 scary growling emus, cattle, and so many rocks
• Ate too many snacks
• Drove back to the rain (it was nice to have a couple days of sun even though it was quite chilly)

I'm probably missing something, but you get the gist.  It was a lovely time, and I am really proud of myself for branching out and trying something new.  I'm not really an adventurer by nature---I kind of have to talk myself into new experiences, even though I am usually really happy once I'm in the moment.  I can't wait to explore more of Oregon!

Bend on Dwellable