PDX has my Heart!

Posted by random olio

I love Portland. Today I came across this amazing video from the Discovery Channel. Their website states that the video is:

“Comprised of 308,829 photographs taken from over 50 unique locations, it took an average of 3.8 hours to make each second of this film. The intent of the project was to place our cameras in unique locations across the city, achieve significant ranges of dynamic camera motion, and pursue cutting edge time-lapse techniques.”

I am in awe of the work that went into this short video. Ah, the bridges, Mount Hood, Portland at night, during the day, the waterfront, Powells, Voodoo doughnuts, food carts…

Now do you see why I love Portland? This is the perfect “Visit Portland” ad.

Enjoy and have an amazing, adventurous, relaxing, and playful weekend!

Ojai: Friends / Farmers’ Markets / Les Bohemiennes

Posted by random olio

Recently I was in Ojai, California visiting a great friend and her husband. Oh my, Ojai is quite the town. I have been before, but it was different this time. I can still remember the amazing farmers market. Yes, Portland has excellent farmers’ markets, but most are not year around, and there are not four kinds of avocados and a variety of citrus fruits in February. Did you know there is variety of avocado called: Bacon? AND, there are purple and white carrots? Who knew! Can you also believe that I had my very first Tamale? Also, quite amazing.

purple and white carrots!!

We ventured just a few blocks from my friend’s house to Modern Folk Living, an inspiring boutique that is my kind of store! I found a necklace that I could not take my eyes off of (or take off at all for that matter). For years I have wanted a turquoise and brown necklace of sorts. I did not know in my mind what it would look like, but I knew I would know when I saw it. Well, I found the necklace and I knew it was the one. Les Bohemiennes is the name of the label and it turns out my necklace is one of a kind. It has many strands of turquoise beads from Africa (you can Where’s Waldo the the solo orange bead found on the left side when the below picture is enlarged). The beads are attached to soft, brown leather, and the craftsmanship connecting the beads to the leather is outstanding. The end result = happy Tami!

my one-of-a-kind Les Bohemiennes necklace

You can find more pictures of the different types of necklaces by going to the blog on the Les Bohemiennes website. The shop on the site is under construction, but if you are in Santa Barbara be sure to check out: Plum Goods on State Street, or Modern Folk Living in Ojai. You will not be disappointed!

Thanks Again!

Posted by random olio

It is about 11:30 p.m. this past Monday night and my husband and I are the only ones on the airport shuttle taking us to the long term parking lot. I am wiped out. We had a wonderful weekend with amazing friends and just need to pick up our car, drive home, and slide into bed. I am leaning up against my husband with my head back and I look up to see those signs they have on shuttle buses. I rarely look at them, but the one I read caught my eye. The “thanks again!” part of the sign made me curious. It said something about receiving points on airlines for purchases made at the airport, so I made a note to look into it further.

While my husband is not George Clooney (sorry babe), he has tendencies to Ryan, George’s character, in Up in the Air. No, not the ones where you sleep with married women, just the ones that make you a bit addicted to track the miles you gain from flights, hotels, rental cars, etc. (It has also rubbed off on me). He travels for work, and we track it all, and because of his miles we have been able to take some free trips that would have had expensive airfare had we not been diligent about tracking our airline miles.

To think that we could obtain airline miles while our car sits at the airport when we are gone for a day or a week at a time, well it is sort of a no brainer. I am not sure how long the company has been around, but thanks again is a company you should check out. The sign in our shuttle bus gave a Portland specific link, but after a bit of research I learned that it is not a Portland only program. Which is great because it means we can receive miles at other airports we travel to and from. The site is not the easiest to navigate. It took me a bit of time to find the information I wanted, but they did immediately prompt me with an offer to answer my questions via online chat. There is no complete list of all participating airports, instead you have to search by the airport code. When you do a search by airport code you receive search results for all the companies (parking, food, shopping) at that airport that participate in the program. I think it would be helpful for the site to have a link to a list of participating airports, and then if you want to search and see the list of companies you could then do so. Just my two cents. Be sure to read the FAQ link on their site.

stuck in Detroit: view from Westin hotel inside airport

We all travel, we all fly, we all park our cars, dine before flying, purchase a snack, coffee, earbuds, a travel pillow, etc. We might as well also accrue miles for the purchases we make before we fly the friendly skies.