Let's Pop Up!

I am big for finding restaurants before they are crowded hubs for people. But finding a good new restaurant is very difficult, and especially one that does amazingly their first week being open. Luckily I found a great restaurant that I wish I could eat at everyday. 

Tam is a pop up restaurant that opened on Monday in Sellwood. It is owned but one of the owners of Either/Or Cafe, which is right next door. It is a tiny place that only seats 8 people, so expect to wait for a seat or eat outside. It's definitely worth the wait though. They have a menu of 4 different wonton soups and a side of Asian greens. Being vegetarian, I have not been able to have a good wonton soup. That all changed here though because this is one of the best things I have ever eaten in my life. For the vegetarian wonton soup, there are bright pieces of bok choy, egg noodles on the side, and a great broth filled with an abundant amount of flavor. Inside the wonton was a mushroom mixture, and the wonton itself was cooked to perfection. I honestly could eat this everyday. 

After walking around the sellwood area for a little, the next stop was lower division. I have been trying to go to the whiskey soda lounge for quite sometime because my boyfriend and I are huge fans of Pok Pok. Since this is the same owner, it was a guarantee to be great. I chose to order the heat ray, a cocktail with tequila, lime and chili. It had the right amount of heat and went down smoothly. 

With our stomachs starting to feel in need of some food, my boyfriend and I decided to go to our favorite pizza place, Roman Candle. Once we went in, I remembered that I had been dying to have one of their pop tarts. And lucky for me, they still had one left and it was a s'mores flavor. This was just great, marshmallows spread on the too, and a rich chocolate in the middle. The pastry part is always my favorite, and they did such an amazing job with it, but I didn't expect anything less. 

Of course we had to get a piece of pizza because you can't go to division and not get one. The pizza that caught our attention was the mushroom one. It had mozzarella, maitaki mushrooms and more cheese. This was a no brainier because we are both obsessed with mushrooms. Also, they never disappointment so we knew we would love this, and of course we did. 

Last stop for us was Lauretta Jean. I feel like now when we go to division, I can't leave without a piece of pie from there. The pie for us last night was caramel apple. I loved this pie because it was not soaked in caramel, it had just the right amount that you don't feel like you are having your teeth fall out from all of the sugar. There is also so many apples, which was amazing because more pies are more crust and sugar than the actual fruit. But then again, they can't make a bad pie. 

Mixing and Matching

It has been brought to my attention that women these days are at a loss when trying to put outfits together.  Looking back at pictures, I was one of those women because I had made some very poor choices in outfits.  But worry no more! I have figured out the science to putting an outfit together.

The first thing, is to not worry about taking risks as long as you are comfortable doing so.  I have taken some risks with some outfit choices, but sometimes those risks did pay off. Plus fashion is always changing, so trying some of the trends that are in, is a risk willing to take.

Second tip, is to pick your outfit in the order of three's.  That is, to try and have three pieces going on your top half.  Whether that be a necklace, top and cardigan, or a top, scarf and earrings, make sure you have that one extra piece on.  It can get a little tricky in the summer depending on where you live, but in the winter it's simple because it is so cold that we all want to layer up.  Also don't be afraid to mix brown and black or mix prints together.  Brown and black together is one of my favorite combinations, and is one everyone can pull off.  As long as there is enough of a contrast between the shade of brown you wear and the black, in order to tell the difference, is the key.  Also mixing prints is huge right now and has been, so don't be afraid to try mixing some up! Personally, I love solids, so when I try a print, it is usually the scarf I am wearing.

Something that has helped me in choosing outfits, is making sure my closet is organized.  That easy, I am able to go into it, see what I have very clearly, and put an outfit together.  For me personally, I organize my closet by sleeve length and neckline.  My jeans are all folded, so that is is easier to store and takes up less room.  As for shoes, my shoes are on a bookshelf in my closet because it was easier to store them on there and then I can see them all at once instead of digging.  Boots are all stored on the floor,  but I keep a rolled up magazine in them in order to preserve the leather.

I have some pictures below to show some outfit ideas for different weather conditions.  Hopefully this has helped you!

Hip Hopping Around

Yesterday was another one of my outings where I go to a bunch of different places in one day. The reason for this being that I wake up early, which means an early start to the day, which means I can cover more ground in my day. I like for my days to be as productive as possible, so being able to go to many places in one day is ideal. 

The first stop for the day was to Canteen, where whenever I eat there, I feel great about myself. When going there, having an E3live shot is a must, and ordering a parfait with a smoothie is as well. Their parfaits are made with cashew yogurt, homemade granola, and fresh strawberries and blueberries. For my choice in smoothies, I chose the apple finer greens, and I must advise to get a small because you will get filled up quickly. After just having this meal, I am filled up but not to the point where I am uncomfortable. It's more of a I just worked out, ate a really healthy meal, and feel skinny kind of full. 

As for my other half, he ordered some smoothie with beets in it, which are the death of me. I have a deep hatred for the vegetable because I consider them to be the most deceiving. It all started when I had them thinking they were cranberry jelly when I was younger. 

Next was a little pit stop at Portland Nursery where I could release my inner flower power. After being dragged out of there (I don't have my own garden to plant anything, therefore I couldn't buy all of the plants), it was off to lower Division. 

When going to lower Division, having Roman Candle is without a doubt always going to happen. This was one of those rare times where I could eat all of the pizzas offered. It was a glorious thing for me. Whenever there is a special at a place or something seasonal, I always get it. In this case it was a special and on that was pickled peppers, arugula, mozzarella, and a side of sea salt to go with it. As usual, this was heaven and I wanted to continue eating it all day. And when one eats pizza, beer must accompany it. 

Lauretta Jean is the stop for pies when you are in the area. It has quickly become my new obsession and my obsession for cupcakes/donuts has turned into an obsession for pie. The pie we chose for the day was a cranberry raspberry pie along with some lime melt away cookies. The best pie in town by far. 

Since it was early and the bars were not open yet, lower division was pretty much covered for us at that point for the day. So next we headed over to Hawthorne to shop around the vintage/resell shops. Shopping can take a lot out of a person, and my boyfriend happened to be that person. Snack time was happening and we passed by a Thai Soul Kitchen called Mee Gin and decided to give it a chance. Good thing we did because we have now decided it's a place we need to go to every time we are there. The previous weekend I ran into a great amount of trouble looking for a Bloody Mary, because none of them were vegetarian. So with my fingers crossed, I asked if theirs was vegetarian and it was. Along with this heavenly drink, we order tofu fries and a tom yum soup which is also typically not vegetarian, but this one was. The Bloody Mary was a siracha one and the soup was medium heat, so my throat was quite happy with the burning that was happening. For anyone in this area looking for amazing Thai food, go here. 

Hawthorne was now covered and we were ready to go somewhere else. NW 23rd seems to be the last result area because it has become so crowded and tourist heavy. But since it is on our way back home, we stopped by here. In Portland it is pretty chilly at night, and my boyfriend has coffee running through his veins, we stopped at Barista. I am not a coffee drinker myself, but ordered a bittersweet hot chocolate with almond milk. I must say, it was a tasty little drink to have. And he loves the coffee so I will take his word that it's a great thing to have. He beat me to taking a picture of the cup, and it looked better anyways, so that's the one I will show you all. 

All in all, it was a great day to spend out and about especially after being sick this past week.