Little Otsu - Portland OR

Visiting my mom in Bend, Oregon has its perks. Portland perks to be exact. Full of great eats and fun shopping. We love exploring the different neighborhoods on our little stop overs. With a baby in the car we never know if the timing will work out, but I usually insist we stop on the way back if not on the way there just so I can get my hands on a scoop of ice cream from Salt & Straw. 

With Salt &B Straw in so many neighborhoods we usually just pick one based on what we want to eat or maybe shopping we want to do. I love to hit the fabric stores and Mr. Ramon loves to hit a record store. This trip we stopped on Division St. Home of the famous Pok Pok. Neither of us were really very hungry but I wanted ice cream and to take in the little stores dotting the street. 

Ice cream flavors featured were all about Thanksgiving - Buttered Mashed Potatoes and Gravy, Sweet Potato with Maple Pecan and more. We tasted them all and walked out with a couple scoops. If you have not been - and are a lover of ice cream it is imperative you stop when in Portland or LA.

One of the reasons we like to stop is that Lady likes to stretch her legs. Its a long ride to be crammed in a car seat. Now that she is walking and on the move I try to let her get as much activity in as she needs. Hard on a road trip. So these little stop overs are perfect. She can sun up and down the sidewalks and shop in the stores with us. Sometimes we find park for swinging and flower picking. 

There were some cute shops and lots of yummy places to eat in this neighborhood but one shop caught my eye and ended up being the place I couldn't resist picking up a few things. Little Otsu is the kind of place I wish was mine. Filled with paper goods - planners, journals, cards and other treasures like beautiful pens, kids books, calendars and gifts. 

I've been looking for a new calendar as we head into 2016. I am a paper calendar girl. I have tried so many times to convert to a digital calendar and sync with Mr. Ramon so our whole family is online and organized. But it s just not me. I need to feel it as I write it and be able to open it and look at many months in front of me. This last year I went with a very slim version only containing months. I am ready to get back to a calendar with full months as well as week views for more detailed calendaring. I also continue to try and get Mr. Ramon to use a calendar. He is not great at it - and since I calendar for the family he doesn't think he has a lot of need. 

We loved looking around this store and I could have spent all my dollars easily. Lady was helpful rearranging their card selection. She's so helpful! We did walk out with a few items that really are lovely and represent the kind of things you can find there. 

I picked up a beautiful Rifle Paper Co 18 month calendar, an adorable zipper pouch (I am addicted to zipper pouches) and Mr. Ramon decided on a week to week calendar that is blank so if he falls off the calendar wagon he can pick right up without the guilt of empty months to look at! 

Clockwise -

Cute cat bag - Darling Clementine

Rifle Paper Co 18 Month Calendar 

Tiny Pencil from Little Otsu

Little Otsu Week to Week Planner 

If you find yourself in Portland this is a lovely shop with beautiful goods and helpful people inside, stop and take a look! 

Celebrating Wedding Anniversaries

I have always loved celebrating milestones. Growing up my mom took birthdays, anniversaries and other milestones very seriously. Our birthday parties were always something to remember - from surprise parties to large gathering of friends. I can't remember when I was first aware of my parents wedding anniversary, but at some point I knew that this special day existed. These moments were filled with tokens of love from flowers and cards to jewelry and other gifts. I knew that these anniversaries were important moments and something to be treasured.

Mr. Ramon and I are celebrating our 3rd wedding anniversary this year. From the beginning of our marriage I knew I wanted to find a neat way to celebrate our anniversary. I thought of the universal list of wedding anniversary gifts and knew that we could use that as the basis for any gift giving when our anniversaries rolled around. 

The history of giving certain gifts for certain milestones dates far back to medieval times when milestones of 25 and 50 years together were celebrated. The list became even more popular during the Victorian era when additional gifts for certain milestones were added. The gifts start off with modest materials like pottery and paper and over time the value of the gift material increases to the likes of silver and diamond. 

There are two versions of this anniversary gift list - the traditional list with items like paper, tin and fruit on it and a more updated list that replaces some of these items with modern gifts like clocks, appliances and desk sets. We settled on the tradional list for our anniversary gifts. 

For our first anniversry paper was the tradional gift on the list. We both suprised each other with art for this anniversary. I had been eyeing an amazing poster from this great design site - Super Rural for some time and it was perfect for my gift to Mr. Ramon. I framed it in a big white frame and we hung it over our first floor landing. 

When our second anniversary came around we both embraced the theme of cotton. Mr. Ramon chose a cotton canvas bag from Seattle company Filson. I was starting a new job around this time and it was a practical and beautiful gift. Mischa thought this bag was for her!

For Mr. Ramon I tried to find something reallly unique that would celebrate our special day. I found someone on Etsy that makes cotton knit infinity scarves with hand printed wording on them. I chose to have the lyrics of the song I walked down the isle to - Radiohead - All I Need printed on it. I was really excited about this gift and it looks awesome on Mr. Ramon.

This year the list prompted us for leather gifts. There were a lot of "normal" leather gift type items Icould have picked up for Mr. Ramon - wallets, watch, key fob etc. He has some really nice leather items already that do not need upgraded or replaced. So I opted for a ver nice pair of leather boots that he can wear often and get some gret use from. 

Mr. Ramon was a little more practical and I was super excited about my gift. He chose a pair of fancy leather LL Bean slippers. I have been wearing the same worn out, ratty slippers for several years. This gift is going to be great at keeping my toes warm in our cold house!

I look forward to many more anniversaries with Mr. Ramon and using this list to guide our gifts. Would love to have you share how you celebrate anniversaries and milestones.  

Shopping Portland - HAUNT

Mr. Ramon and I spent a weekend recently in Portland, OR with an amazing couple to celebrate a birthday. It was their first time in Portland so there was much to see, do and eat over the 2 dyas we were there. 

We took some time to shop and I came across an amazing little boutique called HAUNT on Burnside St. Holly Stalder is a designer of beautiful custom bridal and artful clothing pieces. She sells her designs along with beautiful jewelry, bags, accessories and others designers clothes in her shop. You can find her one of a kind pieces on Etsy as well. 

I fell in love with a clutch made from a Pendleton blanket with this awesome leather tassle on it. Mr. Ramon saw how much I loved it and made it mine. What a swell guy!!

If you are looking for one of a kind pretty things I really recommend you check this boutique out!

Beauty Without Cruelty

The holiday shopping season in full effect many of you will be  buying gifts of perfume, creams, lotions and potions for the ones you love. I love me some beauty products. At one point last year I felt like I was a little out of control and wanted to pare back the products I used and make some good choices doing that. 

I did some research online to see how I could know which products would meet my new criteria - companies that cared for the world, not tested on animals and free of chemicals. The resource I found was The Coalition for Consumer Information on Cosmetics.

"The Coalition for Consumer Information on Cosmetics’ (CCIC) Leaping Bunny Program administers a cruelty-free standard and the internationally recognized Leaping Bunny Logo for companies producing cosmetic, personal care, and household products. The Leaping Bunny Program provides the best assurance that no new animal testing is used in any phase of product development by the company, its laboratories, or suppliers. "

They have a great guide on their website that lists all of the companies that are not testing on animals. You can even order a small printed version of this guide to keep in your bag for your shopping trips. They also have a Cruelty Free ap for your phone.

Many companies that are a part of the CCIC use the leaping bunny symbol on their products. Making it easy for your to identifiy that they are cruelty free. 

It took some time but as I finished one particular product I looked for an alternative that met this criteria. Some of the choices I made were not the best product for me, I had to exchange some products. But I have found some really great products I can feel good about that work just as well for me as their "tested on animals" versions. 

I hope you will take a look at this list when making personal choices and giving gifts. 

Choosing Household Products

About two years ago I started really looking into the products I use around the house both for cleaning as well as body products. I already had some knowledge and liked to choose products that seemed more "natural" and kinder for the earth. I use a lot of vinegar, washing soda, baking soda and lemons in my cleaning regimen but I do like to have a couple of prepared products on hand. 

The few things I buy prepared for household cleaning are all purpose scrub, dish soap, laundry soap, dishwasher soap and a hardwood cleaner. I have always embraced brands like Method , Mrs. Meyers, Biokleen and Dr. Bronner's. None of these companies test on animals, are biodegradable, use natural ingredients of high quality and seem to really care about the environment and the people using their products. 

I love gathering information so I can make good choices and decisions. One of the resources I use is the Go Cruelty Free website. This is where you can see if the products you use are made by companies that test on animals. There are so many good products available by companies that do not test on animals that it seems silly to not choose one. 

The most recent site I found that has given me some information on the products I use is the Enviornmental Working Group. They firmly believe we have a right to know what products might pose a health or environmental risk and what some solutions might be. Not only limited to products, they have information on our drinking water, cell phone radiation possibilities, sunscreen safety and pesticide residues. All very serious topics. 

I found that some of the products I have loved because they are "natural" are actually full of ingredients that may pose a risk to me or the environment. They grade household products on an A-F scale using these metrics:

• Asthma/Respitory Risk
• Skin Allergies/Irritation Risk
• Developmental/Reproductive Toxicity Risk
• Cancer Risk
• Environmental Risk

This new tool helped me look inside the "natural" products I have been using and see what they are made of. A lot of the ingredients on the packages are foreign to me so this was helpful. I do know that even too much of a natural product can be harmful. Of course how often you use these products etc really makes a difference. But if you are suffering from asthma you might want to now which products to avoid.

I did make a list of my current products and check each of them on the site to see what grade they received. After seeing a failing grade on some of my products I made a list of the grade A products that I would be willing to switch to when I need to buy next time.

I thought you might like this information as I think we all deserve the right to know what is in the products we use.