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The past week has been a bit of a blur because of planning for Meet, Plan, Go Portland. Smashing success and here’s what else I’ve been up to lately.
-Tasty n Sons – It’d been a year since I’d had breakfast at Tasty n Sons. I should really go here more often. The cast iron frittata [with roasted squash, caramelized onions, piment d-espelette (of course we all know that is variety of chili pepper that is cultivated in the French commune of Espelette. Hmmm…), feta, and fried sage] is fantastic. I also love the sweet biscuits with berry topping.
-Nuestra Cocina – seriously love this place now. I’ve been on a margarita kick lately (yes, slightly odd for fall), as their house margarita is probably the best in Portland. Cheap and tasty.
-BFF is moving to Hawaii. Le sigh. We decided to go on one last close-to-home overnight getaway to Grand Lodge (McMenamin’s), and from here on out we’ll only be traveling together when we meet up to go on vacation. le sigh
-Fall biking – I love it when the weather cooperates and we have beautiful fall weekends to ride around town with friends. Did a bit of beer cycling last weekend, and tried a new brewery, Cascade Brewing Barrel House in SE.
-Apple Tasting Festival – Apple and pear season alert! I missed the apple tasting festival last year, so I’ve been eagerly awaiting this year’s. Went last weekend and felt like I ate a pallet of apples through the tasting line. Yum.
–Meet, Plan, Go Portland – My big work event finally arrived. For all the time and worry, everything came together in the end and it was an awesome night. We had over 100 people show up and it was super inspiring to talk to so many folks interested in taking a career break. It’s been a few years since I took my career break trip, so it’s fun to see people in the planning and wonderment stage again. I was really pleased with how the panel/speakers turned out too… Chris Guillebeau did our opening keynote, and was inspirational, as usual. Then we had four panelists — I had selected Kim because her and her husband are still in the planning stages of their trip, so I felt like they would be able to relate easily to all the people who are just considering a career break (as after you’ve taken one, sometimes your mindset changes a bit, as to how easy things seem). Next up was Russ and Laura because they’re doing kind of an unconventional career break, by pedaling around North America versus the typical RTW trip which I love because it shows how a career break can be just taking time to focus on something you’re really passionate about, whether that’s biking or international travel. I rounded out the rest of the panel by selecting… myself as the third panelist. :) I felt mildly odd about at it at first, but the one spot I most wanted to fill was someone representing the solo female traveler perspective. And after a few people fell through, we decided I would fill that spot. And it ended up being awesome, I’m really glad I got the chance to speak at a “conference”, it was a fun challenge.
-Cheapskate signage – I was also thrilled with how the signage turned out at the Ace Hotel space. I didn’t really have a budget for this event (as most of our budget went to paying for the space) so I ended up wrapping a stripe around two sides of the walls of windows by taping up 40 11×17″ black and white papers — alternating quotes, MeetPlanGo.com, and a world/suitcase image. For a grand total of $8! (Picture above by Russ & Laura).
-iOS update – LOVE! Love the camera options from the lock screen, the choice of 3 routes on Google Maps, and the new notifications options. I don’t even care that I don’t have the iPhone 4S.
What are you up to this week?
