Scratch for dinner

Scratch is an amazing restaurant in Lake Oswego that uses all seasonal and local or artisan ingredients. Chef Patrick Warner has appeared on Iron Chef! He came by our table and seems like a really down to earth, nice, easy going guy.

We split a bottle of Rutherford Cabernet. I've been to Rutherford's Grill in Napa Valley.........it's where I tasted Ostrich for the first time! They have delicious wine and I really liked this bottle.

Our appetizer that you can't see very well is the Radish crudettes. They serve these radishes with a whipped flavored butter and you top with smoked sea salt. The sea salt comes to the table under a glass, and we could actually see the smoke come out as we lifted the glass.

 I ordered the eggplant, zucchini, yellow squash , tomato, onion and garlic risotto. It had kind of a Greek flavor to it, and it reminded me of Eleni's. 

My date ordered the Salmon, leek crepe, brie, tomato, corn, onion, garlic, basil, parsley and lemon dish. The salmon was wrapped in a yummy buttery crepe and topped with brie. This was super yummy and I immediately wished I had ordered this! 

I loved the atmosphere of this restaurant the most. It is a really small place and we sat in the back by ourselves. It had a romantic vibe and we enjoyed sipping wine and talking. I kind of felt like we were at home. 

I really haven't ventured into Lake Oswego much for restaurants but this place is a gem! 

The 8th wedding I attended this year

I think something that comes with the territory when you are 26 years old is that you go to a lot of weddings. I had seven friends get married this year and I went as a guest to one wedding--so that makes 8 weddings, 8 weekends of fun, 6 bachelorette parties and lots of celebrating!

This weekend was the last for the year. My good friend Laura married her love, Chris, whom she met 3 years ago at a bar in NW Portland. Yup, it happens. He is her perfect match, and this was affirmed to me even more when I traveled to Hawaii with them this summer. Hanging out in close quarters with a couple, you get to see how they work, and these two worked perfectly together. I actually met my new love that week in Kauai and instead of being a 3rd wheel like I thought I would with them that week, they got to know him while I was getting to know him. It was so cool that he went to the wedding with me and we were taken back to the week that the 4 of us spent so much time together earlier this summer.

 3 of my sorority sisters!

 Cute couples

 More cute couples!

 The bridal party

 Saying their vows

 Adorable engagement photos on the pub tables

 Scott and I
Yes, this is the official introduction to my new man! Hello blog friends, here he is.

Amazing way to display the name tags. Since the theme of the wedding was bridges (Portland bridges more specifically) Chris constructed this huge bridge replica and they pinned the tags on it. He is so crafty--but so is Laura! She is one of the biggest DIY people I know.

 The cool part about the World Trade Center as a venue is that it is right downtown. We could actually see the wedding party taking their photos as we sipped cocktails.

All of our dates clean up good! Looking handsome.

 The tables were adorable and were each named after a bridge in Portland, with a picture of that bridge and facts about it. So creative!

 She embossed the name tags by hand! She also did the invites this way. She is such a great DIY'er

 Parting gift filled with candy

The beautiful bride with me

This truly was a beautiful wedding and I so respect and admire all of the crafting that Laura did on her own. I had a great time and I already miss her. She moved to Utah to be with her new hubby and I won't be seeing much of her! Makes me sad, but I know that this is her new life! 

Do you have any friends that have moved away and how do you stay in touch? 

How many weddings have you gone to this summer!? 

Backyard Pilates + Ladies Night!

As you know I am a Certified Pilates Instructor and am mildly obsessed with Pilates. I teach at an Athletic Club but I also taught Pilates outdoors this summer on my beautiful rooftop terrace overlooking Portland. Since the class is ending for the summer, one of my clients invited me to teach a class in her backyard before her girls night and before the weather turns sour. Of course I agreed! It is open to anyone, so if you are in the Portland area, join us for Backyard Pilates + Girls night next Wednesday, Sept 26th at 6pm! Details below or email me or comment with questions! 

I know this is tough to read---I didn't have the original.
The directions read:
"Our house isn't on the map--please use our neighbors address: 12810 Alto Park Road, Lake Oswego, OR to find our road. Our house is across from this house and we are the house on the left of the house straight ahead at the end. Main cross streets are Knaus Road and Alto Park road near New Seasons Market in Lake Oswego off Boones Ferry Road."
Please bring $5 cash if you plan on participating in the class. Bring your own mat if you have one.
RSVP monika.folske@gmail.com

I hope to see you there---new faces and all! Don't be shy if you are a Pilate pro or have never even tried it! All levels welcome.

Weekend Breakfast--Brunch in NE at Petisco

I went to this cute little brunch spot last weekend with my friend Holly. It looks like a little hole in the wall place and it turns into a wine bar later on! They call themselves "a little slice of Europe". Super cute.

 Holly ordered the french toast

 and I got the eggs Benedict, naturally. It had ham AND pork. And you could add arugula too!

Holly and I! A relatively new friend, and such a good one! Love her.

Check out Petisco here!

A Very Special Birthday

My mom turned 60 this summer and we wouldn't let her do it without a stylish party! She usually doesn't have parties but this was a monumental year for her! 60 years old never looked so good.

Here she is holding one of her gifts. My family has a slight huge obsession with weiner dogs

 Super cute decorations made by my lovely friend Tiffany

 The drink table

The food table. My sister made an adorable fruit tray to go with the Hawaiian theme

 We had a roasted pig catered to the house---it was kind of sad seeing that pig in there but we got over it. It was delicious!

sad!

My dad carving

 The highlight of the party was not only my mom but my little niece Natalie

 Birthday cake!

 My mom's good friend Denise made an amazing ice cream cake

 Scott and Ryan. New and old in my life:)

 Ryan and Kelsey are twins. We are one week apart and we have known each other for more than 10 years. They are some of my best friends!

 Little cutie with a boo boo on her nose

 My mom and her three best friends, plus the puppy, hanging out in the backyard

 Grandma and grandbaby

Sue and Natalie

The guys hung out indoors

 So my Dad has hops growing all around their deck. He is a home-brewer so he uses hops in his beer. My sister did the lantern decorations and it looked really nice especially when it got dark.

A beautiful bouquet from one of her friends

I love my mom so much! She is one of my best friend's and has helped me get through so many things. I talk to her all the time and I can't imagine life without her. I know she had such a great time at her birthday party! 

Do you celebrate every birthday or just the monumental ones? Have you ever seen a full roasted pig like that!?

CSA in September

I am not even sure what week of the CSA we are on! However it continues to satisfy my craving for veggies and more importantly, keeping me from having to do so much grocery shopping! Those are the main benefits of having a CSA in my opinion, and I think I will continue to get one every year until I have a huge backyard where I can plant a ginormous garden. Check out my previous CSA posts here.

This is only part of my CSA this week. A HUGE spagetti squash, zucchini, heirloom tomatoes (my favorite) and squash. Not pictured was 2 heads of lettuce, fresh basil, corn on the cob, apples, pears and eggplant. So far I have made a lot of veggies sandwiches with eggplant, tomato, zucchini, basil and goat cheese. I've also just been eating those delicious heirloom tomatoes with salt, pepper and basil. Sometimes I put a fat slice of it on a piece of toast and its a-m-az-ing. Whoever came up with the hybrid to make heirloom tomatoes is my hero. YUM! 

I think I get my CSA through mid October and I am going to be so so bummed when it is over! Back to the grocery store I will go.

Party Rock Pedalounge!

Pedalounge and Brewcycle are the newest and most fun craze to hit Portland. Basically, you hop on a 16 person bike and do a pub crawl. Awesome? Yes.

This weekend my BFF Lauren chartered the whole Pedallounge bike for 16 of our friends for her 26th birthday. Lauren is famous for theme parties, and this was no different. The theme was party rock--think neon, leopard print, crazy sunglasses, bright colors, headbands, ect. Get ready to see some bright colors in the photos below...

 The whole crew walking over to the Pedalounge

 The right side of the bike

 Lloyd, the one who steers the bike!

 Birthday girl in the middle

 An amazing group photo, which happened to make it to my cover photo on facebook. #rad

 dancing! I mean, party-rocking

  Break it down

 dance moves in the back

 hanging down the side

group shot on the front steps at home afterwards. I love this shot! My friends are amazing.

Pedalounge is located in SE and I believe it always starts the The Green Dragon brewery and then goes to 4 other stops, which each group can choose on their own. You can also just book individual seats on the bike, you don't need to come up with 16 people, although it was super fun to be with all of our friends! A company called Brewcycle does this same thing in the NW neighborhood. I believe Brewcycle was around first, started by a young entrepreneur named Andrea who moved here from Michigan to start the company because she thought it would do well in Portland. I think it's fun to try both out because you get to go to breweries in different neighborhoods! I have done Brewcycle as well, just didn't take any pics as it was an 8pm tour so it was dark and I also just went with one other friend, not a huge awesome group like this time. If you are looking for a fun date activity, a birthday party idea or just something to do, Pedalounge and Brewcycle are awesome!

To my out of state readers---have you ever heard of anything like this? Does it exist elsewhere? Portlanders--have you tried it yet?