Lloyd Local

Shopping Local this Holiday Season with Lloyd Center’s Lloyd Local Initiative

This holiday season, I paired up with Lloyd Center to introduce their Lloyd Local movement! Growing up, Lloyd Center was the mall closest to my house and I have many fond memories there. It is where I took ice skating lessons, where I have gotten all of my piercings and where I would head at midnight to wait for the release of the newest Harry Potter book. Therefore when Lloyd Center reached out about their newest initiative, I was excited to be a part of it! The Lloyd Local movement is a new thing this year starting just in time for the holidays!

What is Lloyd Local?

Lloyd Local is a new initiative starting this year where a wide range of local businesses are doing pop-up shops throughout the mall. The local businesses range from restaurants to plant shops to clothing boutiques and several will remain past the holiday season.

When it comes to holiday shopping, I love being able to go to one place, on one day and check off the majority of my shopping list. In the past, I have had to divide up my Christmas shopping into a trip to the mall and then many trips to all of the local businesses around Portland that I want to buy gifts from. By having both local and larger stores in the mall, I am able to do more of my shopping during one trip while also supporting local entrepreneurs.

What Businesses are Included?

Adorn/Rachelle M/Gild Shoes

Animal. Plant. Mineral

B Store

Bobablastic

Bricks ‘n Minifigs

CBD World

Cracked Pots

Cultural Blends

Five O’ Tree

Frock

Migration Brewing’s Burger Shack

My People’s Market/Pallet42

Portland Pedal Power/MUJI

Reis & Irvy’s

Seven Virtues

Shoeshineboyz

Sock It To Me

Stubborn Stiles

Ugswea

Xray Radio

The Lloyd Local Incubator (rotates different businesses)

{I’ve tagged all of the Instagram accounts so just click on the name to check them out!}

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For more information on Lloyd Local and all the fun events coming to Lloyd Center this holiday season, check out Lloyd Center’s website and follow along on Instagram.

You can also shop this outfit and many others here.

[This post is sponsored. Photographs by Shauna Dullanty and Linnea Havener]

Co-working with Industrious Portland

I recently partnered with Industrious Portland to give you all a sneak peak of their new space located in the center of Downtown Portland. Industrious is a co-work company with offices in many major cities across the country. They just had the grand opening of their Portland office in mid-September and are set to have two more floors become available soon. Industrious takes pride in offering co-working redefined. They focus on stunning and aesthetically pleasing office spaces, inviting hospitality and creating an inspiring community

What is Co-working?

Co-working is a work approach where an office space is shared among individuals who are usually self-employed or employed by different companies. The idea is to give individuals who normally work at home the opportunity to be a part of a working community. Co-working offers the best elements of working in an office! You get to be a part of a community and have “coworkers” but since everyone is from a range of different fields, there is less competition. There is also the option to work in a communal space or your own office depending on how social of an environment you want to work in that day.

How does it work?

Industrious offers all-inclusive, super flexible memberships. This includes high-speed wifi, daily breakfast, 12 member events a month, conference room time, and unlimited black and white and colored printing. They offer on-boarding for 30-day, 60-day, or 12-month term. The Portland location offers a limited number of co-working memberships ($430/month) and dedicated desks ($610), but the private offices ($740 and up) are the biggest value for the cost. Members can also host their own complimentary events in the space.

Who is it for?

This set-up is great for bloggers, photographers, influencers, start-up companies, freelancers and anyone who works from home. Anyone in any field who needs a quiet place to work or needs an office for meetings with clients. Some offices are larger and have multiple desks which would be great for a smaller company that does not have their own office building yet but still wants to give their employees a place to work together.

These past few weekends I got to spend some time at the Industrious office getting some much needed work done. Getting to use the office spaces has already been so helpful for my workflow! Back in College I quickly realized that I am absolutely terrible at getting work done at home. As much as I love the idea of not leaving the house, my focus quickly dwindles and I get distracted by anything and everything. Getting dressed, packing up my laptop and going to a new environment definitely helps. I’ve even found that after a few hours of work in one spot, moving to new scenery can help me refocus.

I used to try to get out of the house by heading to one of the many coffee shops in Portland. Unfortunately there are a few flaws with using coffee shops as your office. First of all, you have to spend money or at least you really SHOULD buy something if you are planning on setting up camp in a business. I’ve never not bought a drink or a snack so I don’t know if they would kick you out if you didn’t but I also don’t plan on testing that out. Although one coffee isn’t too expensive, that is quite the price to pay every time you want to get some work done. Trust me, over time those croissants and lattes add up!

The other issue I have with coffee shops is how unpredictable they are! I have definitely had times where I lugged all of my work stuff to a coffee shop only to find out that there was no room or no wifi or the internet connection was terrible. On days when you really need to get work done, you don’t want to be wasting precious minutes jumping from coffee shop to coffee shop. Thankfully there is a coffee maker in the kitchen of Industrious so I can still have my caffeine but without the hassle.

I also have trouble writing when there is background noise. Although I can easily listen to music while editing photos and formatting posts, when it comes to writing, I can’t have discernible words in the background. Not only is it distracting, but I often will find myself subconsciously typing what I am hearing! When I want absolute silence, the office spaces are the best! Most of them include great natural light and there are so many office spaces, it is easy to move to another one for a change in scenery after awhile.

For the times when I don’t mind some background noise, I like to move out into the main area. Near the back window is a lounge area that includes several chairs and a couch. Another favorite spot was near the kitchen where there are tables and booths. Perfect for continuing your work while also have a table to eat lunch or a snack at.

I would have to say my overall favorite part of the space though is the view! The office has one of the best 270 degree views of Downtown Portland! Most of the offices as well as the main communal space include lots of natural light and great views of the nearby buildings. When taking a break from working, I love getting to look out across my city as well as people watch the tiny moving figures in Pioneer Square.

More Views of the Office:

If you have the chance, I definitely recommend checking out! By co-working rather than working at home, you get to work in a beautiful space while also being surrounded by other motivated individuals. Industrious also offers breakfast every weekday for its members as well as a weekly happy hour which is a great way to start and end your day as well as meet other members.

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You can learn more about Industrious through their website or by visiting their Instagram. They also have a Portland specific Instagram as well which you can check out here.

Hot Toddy

I love a good cocktail as much as the next girl but one of my biggest complaints is that most cocktails include ice. I'm one of those people who is always cold so having to hold onto an icy glass especially in the colder months is the absolute worst! Because of this, I am a huge fan of hot alcoholic drinks and hot toddies are by far my favorite! It is practically like drinking warm tea which is perfect for this season plus they are super easy to make! Below is one of my hot toddy recipes using a locally made liqueur I picked up this weekend at the Portland Bazaar

Ingredients:

- Mason Jar

- Townshend's Bluebird Alpine Liqueur

- Teavana Maharaja Chai Oolong Tea

- Honey

- Cinnamon Sticks

- Star Anise

 - Lemon Juice

Directions: 

First brew your tea of choice. I am a huge chai fan and one of my friends gave me this loose-leaf chai blend from Teavana that I decided to use.

After brewing the tea, pour it into your glass of choice and add as much honey as you would typically use for a cup of tea. Next pour in a shot of the alcohol. Typically hot toddies are made using whiskey but this past weekend I picked up some liqueur full of herbs and spices which I figured would add a nice touch to my hot toddy. The quantity of alcohol can be adjusted based on how strong you want your drink. Mix until honey is dissolved before adding lemon juice for a bit of flavor. Finally, garnish your hot toddy with a few star anise, a cinnamon stick and if you wish, a slice of lemon and then drink up!

PDX Collective Sale

This morning I attended the bi-annual PDX Collective Sale at The Cleaners. Even though the sale didn't open until 10am, people were waiting in line outside of the doors ready to shop once it opened. Although this sale is occurs twice a year, this was the first year I had heard about it or even attended. For those of you who are in the same boat as me, here is everything you need to know! The sale continues tomorrow and the boutiques will all be restocking beforehand so don't worry about everything good being gone!

What it is: 

This sale is a bi-annual event put on by PDX Collective where 11 boutiques from the Portland area come together to showcase some of their products most of which are on sale. The following boutiques are participating today and tomorrow:

Adorn
Parts + Labour
Gild Shoes
EcoVibe
Cosube
Radish Underground
Mercantile
Lizard Lounge
Bridge & Burn
Lille Boutique
Perican Bing

Where/When:

The sale is located at The Cleaners which is owned by Ace Hotel but is technically in a different location. The address is 403 SW 10th Avenue in Portland, OR. It runs Saturday thru Sunday (9/23-9/24). Today it was open from 10am-5pm and tomorrow it is open from 11am-5pm

What you need to know:

- They take cards

- Since it is multiple boutique shops in one shared room, you still buy each item from the respective boutique. 

- There is a fitting room but it is one communal room that everyone changes in with some mirrors places around the walls. Definitely wear something that is easy for trying clothing on. If you are not comfortable changing around other people, this may not be the sale for you (unless you are okay purchasing without trying first)

- Many of the items are final sale so make sure you read signs

- Get there early. Although the boutiques do restock, it gets really busy really fast so it is nice to be able to see all the product before people start buying, trying on, and carrying around all of the good stuff

What I wore:

For those of you who are interested, here are the deets for what I wore. Like I mentioned before, make sure to wear something that you can easily take on and off for trying merchandise on. A dress was actually really helpful since I mostly tried on other dresses but it can also be great for trying on pants as well. Socks can also be beneficial if you plan on looking at shoes.

Shirt Dress - Forever21 (Although my exact dress is sold out, you can find almost identical items here and here)

OTK Boots - Halogen Scarlett Over the Knee Boots in grey suede

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For more information:

To learn more you can check out the Facebook event page here as well as PDX Collective's Facebook page here.

Thanks for reading! Let me know if you have any questions and if you attend, what kind of cute stuff you find!

easy tips for staying cool

I think most of us can agree that this summer has been HOT. Although Fall weather is starting to appear in the air, we still have some hot days left like yesterday and even today! For many of us living in houses in Portland, there is no air conditioning or at least none that was put in when the house was built. My place definitely fits in this category and so here I am, trying to stay cool. For those of you out there who also do not have any AC, I wanted to share 5 super easy tips and tricks that I use for staying cool.

 

1. Apply Your Sprays in Front of a Fan

For many of us who wear makeup all day, setting spray is a life saver. When I have a 9 hour day in front of me, I want my makeup to last so I always apply setting spray before heading out the door. My two favorites are Urban Decay's All Nighter Setting Spray and Mario Badescu Facial Spray. Since I am already applying these sprays to my face every morning, I love to sit in front of a fan and do it on hot days. The few seconds in front of the fan before your face dries can be really refreshing and definitely helps to cool you down.

2. Drink lots of water

Now I know that this sounds very obviously but honestly, a ton of us (myself included) do not drink as much water as we should. I remember reading somewhere that by the time you feel thirsty, your body is already dehydrated. The best way I've found to remember to drink water and to make it more enjoyable is by always carrying around a fun water bottle. By having a water bottle with you at work, the gym, in the car etc. you will have a constant visual reminder to drink water as well as it being easily accessible. Drinking water can also be fun! There are so many cool and creative water bottles out there! I personally LOVE straws so I have several water bottles with straws to make it more enjoyable.

3. Hold cold objects to your wrists

In movies and back in high school health class you always learn and see people measuring someone's pulse at the point near their wrist. This is because that area is right over your radial artery which is where your blood is passing through as it circulates throughout your body. By holding something cold to that area you are cooling down the blood passing through that area which then continues through that vein helping to overall cool your temperature. Honestly I am not sure it that theory is backed up by scientific fact but definitely try it because it helps me cool down!

4. refrigerate your moisturizers

One really simple way to help stay cool in the hot weather is to refrigerate your moisturizers between uses! In the summer I use a lot of coconut oil as moisturizer on my whole body but especially my legs which can get pretty dry. The strange thing with coconut oil is that is has a pretty low melting point of only 76 degrees. On hot days my jar of coconut oil has long melted which makes it tricky to use. To make it easier to apply I started to stick it in the fridge which turned out to be great because when I used it, it would start out cold and solid and then melt as I rubbed it in. Since then I have also tried this tactic with my facial moisturizers which feels just as lovely.

5. Slow breathing and less movement

This last trick I actually learned while I was traveling in Italy two summers ago. I was there in the middle of the summer and it was hot hot HOT! In addition to being over 100 degrees, it was extremely humid and no where I went or stayed had air conditioning. What I learned to do was to try to take deep, slow breaths which helped me cool down. Sometimes when it is really hot, we almost start to panic as we realize just how hot and stuffy it is. This can raise our heart rates and actually make us more hot. This goes the same with fanning yourself with your hand or even a paper fan since all of that movement is using energy and making your warmer. Similar to what cats do when it is hot, slow breathing and less movements will definitely help you cool down although at first it may seem like you are still sweating buckets.

Let me know in the comments what other tips and tricks you all have for staying cool! Thanks for reading!