lovely tissue poms.

just when you thought my office couldn't get any chickier...behold the lovely tissue poms from party poms' etsy shop.

fun with instagram filters.

i conceived the idea of making these poms myself a few months ago but stumbled on the etsy shop and their colors were just too yummy to pass up.

in all their glorious color, waiting to be hung.

i know these are designed as special occasion or party decorations, but mine are staying up all year so i can enjoy them for hours every day. after all, i live in this crazy office so i might as well have some lovely eye candy.

and who knows, maybe i'll do some special temporary ones around the holidays!

the big picture.

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a lovely and too brief stay at the Old St. Francis School hotel

I've been wanting to stay at a McMenamins hotel for a long time and finally realized the dream a few weeks ago when we had a much-too-brief overnight stay at the McMenamins Old St. Francis School hotel in Bend, Oregon.

It was as wonderful as my expectations! The rooms are converted from actual classrooms, covered wall to wall [and ceiling!] in wood and log accents, with McMenamins' classic murals, clever celestial accents, and a healthy dose of wit.

[old school drinking fountain outside our room; oh yes, it works!].

We stayed in the Robie Anderson room, complete with a funky portrait of Robie himself. The room was clean, spacious, with tons of thoughtful items like a coat rack and bench right inside the door, plenty of great armoire storage, 2-chair desk and super-comfy reading chair.

[light fixture in our room no. 114].

[our room no. 114].

The bathroom was great and lovely as well. On McMenamins properties, no wall is safe from clever mural painters. not even the bathroom. thank goodness, because they're always fantastic.

[our bathroom room no. 114].

I can't say enough nice things about the staff, who were so friendly and attentive, with that great laid back personality I've come to expect at all McMenamins properties; I felt like I was a treasured guest at the home of a good friend. Even down to little touches like asking what kind of coffee I like, as they have a coffee maker in the room but grind your preferred bean flavor fresh every morning and leave the grounds outside your door for you to brew in your room. 

The crowning touch: the heavenly heated saltwater soaking pool, with about 1/3 of the ceiling open to the sky...must be incredible when it snows down into the pool. I could've stayed there all day!

[to the soaking pool].

[oh so heavenly saltwater soaking pool].

[unbelievably gorgeous murals surround the pool].

message board with dangling flower darlings.

I love pink paislee's parisian anthology flower darlings so much I wanted to be able to see them all day. so I made a message board and hung it above my desk.

I took the glass out of a frame, created a super puffy board, crisscrossed it with powder blue yarn and adorned it with beads. the flower darlings dangle from bronze wire with bead accents.

[detail view of the lovely flower darlings.]

for those naysayers that thought my office couldn't get any chickier...bazinga!

another lovely portland christmas.

every year come september, I start to get excited for winter and christmas in the pacific northwest. strolling in downtown portland, dropping into the always lovely benson hotel for a spiced cider and a little tree-gazing...

[christmas tree - benson hotel - downtown portland or].

[christmas tree - benson hotel - downtown portland or].

then heading down to the pearl district, where it seems that the lights on the street trees twinkle the brightest.

[pearl district trees - downtown portland or].

ah, christmas in portland. sigh. however did I live without it for so long?

an icy gift from a lovely Thanksgiving snowstorm.

thanksgiving 2010. my cousin samantha flew up to portland for our second annual 'rebel thanksgiving', so called because we skip the family chaos and spend the week in peace. it snowed on the monday [a near miracle for portland metro in november], then stayed below freezing for four days. leaving behind gorgeous scenes like this:

[ice fountain.]

[ice fountain].

not to mention our own bit of slipping and sliding in my hilly neighborhood.