I’m also looking forward to my annual year-end review/planning/goal-setting time. I usually schedule it sometime between Christmas and New Year’s, and it’s such a fun yearly tradition to take a day or so to reflect on all the things I “wanted to do/did/still want to do” and plan for the coming year with a day of Olivia-time.

This week:

Spirit of ’77 Dropped by Spirit of ’77 last weekend for a beer and a snack. Since I’m not sports crazy (wooh! “GO SPORTS!”), Spirit of ’77 is my favorite sports bar in Portland, with a mix of sports, beer and fun. It’s actually fun watching games here. Go figure. And they have free basketball. Gooo sports!!! ;)

The Barefoot Sage Girls night! We took our mom to The Barefoot Sage this week for an early Christmas present. It’d been a couple years since I’d been in, and was just as fun and relaxing as I’d remembered. I generally don’t go to nail salons for mani/pedis, so The Barefoot Sage is a treat for your feet, and really nice to get a foot and leg massage without all the nail polish smells around. So relaxing and fun to sit and chatter on the big couches. A fun splurge.

Crafty Wonderland Crafty Wonderland was this weekend. I had so much fun wandering around looking at hand-made Portland goods and talking with the artists. A December must-see. And here are some of my favorites.

Kitteh Christmas Gifts So I put this hilarious cat teepee on Tumblr earlier this year. Aaand it came up on Fab.com this weekend. Yeah, so Essa has a Christmas present en-route. :)

What are you up to this week?

I’ve been focused more on cooking at home this month, but there are loads of new restaurants that opened in the last month or so here in Portland, and I’m anxious to start checking more off my list. In time, in time. So without further ado, here are 52 new restaurants I’ve checked out lately:

1. Sweet Hereafter – Crowwwded, but fun new places by The Bye and Bye folks
2. Straight from New York Pizza – also newish
3. Nuestra Cocina – I almost just typed cocaine. Fantastic fish. And best house margaritas in Portland. Been back a few times since this. :)
4. Pie Spot food cart
5. Thai Peacock
6. Ruby Jewels Scoops
7. Prost!
8. Euro Trash food cart
9. Sontum Gai Yang food cart
10. Batavia – Indonesian food cart
11. Da-Pressed Coffee Cart
12. Bar Mingo – atmosphere when we were there was so-so, cheese plate was delicious
13. Vivace – mmm crepes!
14. Everybody’s Brewing, White Salmon, Washington
15. Jimmy John’s – apparently this is a newish chain in Portland. I was waiting for the MAX and ran across the street. They were horrifyingly quick.
16. The Ruby Slipper, New Orleans – quick breakfast service if you sit at the bar
17. JAX Brewery
18. Apple Barrel Bar, New Orleans – sooo smoky, but fun because it’s a different vibe than most of the bars on Frenchman St
19. Capdeville, New Orleans
20. d.b.a. Frenchmen Street, New Orleans – best sazerac in NOLA!
21. Cafe du Monde, New Orleans – a required experience I suppose :)
22. Stanley, New Orleans – seriously tasty breakfast and great location by St Louis Cathedral on Jackson Square (also of note, they have a “Service Bar” next store so you can get coffee while you wait. Kind of like a more formal version of how most breakfast places in Portland offer coffee while you wait).
23. Johnny’s Po-Boys, New Orleans – one of these could feed a small village
24. Three Muses, New Orleans – my first French75 + amazing Gorgonzola cheese fries
25. La Davina Gelateria, New Orleans
26. Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop, New Orleans – the original dive bar
27. Gumbo Shop, New Orleans – late night mashed potatoes
28. CC’s Community Coffee House
29. 13, New Orleans – so Portland. I’m a little embarrassed that I went back later for the tachos after more Frenchman Street music.
30. Juan’s Flying Burrito, New Orleans – After taking the St Charles streetcar line to the end, we wandered around Magazine Street and decided on Mexican food. :)
31. The Carousel Bar & Lounge, New Orleans – the rotating bar in NOLA
32. The Spotted Cat Music Club, New Orleans – superb music, ok drinks
33. Antoine’s Annex, New Orleans – cute little coffee shop tucked in an alleyway
34. El Gato Negro, New Orleans – more Mexican? Well I wanted breakfast, and settled for tacos and a margarita.
35. Cascade Burger @ Cartlandia – amazing burger, and the owner is a riot
36. Just Thai
37. Burnside Brewing Co – fun newish brew pub in PDX
38. Bamboo Sushi – 5 stars! my new favorite sushi spot in Portland. I have dreams about the Green Machine roll and black cod
39. Rum Club – new spot by Beaker & Flask (and it’s next door) Best Old Fashioned in Portland, in my book
40. Floyd’s Coffee (a new location, this totally counts!) – love this new location though perfect corner window to get coffee, right next to NedSpace on 3rd
41. Kettlemen Bagel Company – not sure how I managed to avoide Kettlemen’s for so long. I get overwhelmed in bagel shops. Too many options.
42. Cascade Brewing Barrel House
43. Trader Vic’s – I attended a Yelp Elite event here. The Mai Tais were nice and strong
44. Monsoon Thai Cuisine
45. Tonic Lounge
46. Roost – newish breakfast place on Belmont
47. Rain or Shine Coffee House
48. Via Tribunali – best new pizza place in PDX? Word. Also $5 pizza Margarita for Happy Hour (I’m cheating on Pyro pizza now)
49. Tijuana Flats, St Petersburg, Florida
50. Pizzaria & Cafe, Tampa, Florida – so descriptive
51. The Castle, Ybor, Tampa, Florida – hilarious
52. Central Cafe & Organics, St Petersburg – I was really hoping to like this place, but they seemed a bit put off by people coming in to order things. Tasty granola anyway. :)

How it all started: I had a goal to visit one new restaurant a week.
1-52: Go To 52 New Restaurants – 30 Before 30 List
53-103: 52 [More] New Restaurants
104-156: 156 New Portland Restaurants, Bars, Coffee Shops in 299 Days
157-208: 208 New Places in One Year
209-260: 52 More New Restaurants: Portland, San Juans & Vancouver, BC
261-312: New Restaurant Fatigue #312!
What new restaurants have you been to lately?

-Sunny biking – Saturday was sunny and gorgeous again. I don’t know how many more of these surprise sunny fall days we have left (November in Portland is the last hurray of sunshine), but I hope there will be more. Took a ride through all the beautiful leaves out to the Montgomery building in NW, along the river, and in SE on Saturday.

-The Maldives – Saw The Maldives at Mississippi Studios last weekend. I think I saw them in passing at Bumbershoot last year, but I really liked their show here. On an alt country kick lately.

-Halloween & the 99% – As mentioned, I’m not a fan of Halloween. So I decided on a Halloween costume about 2 hours before we left. I decided to be the 1% — because it’s hilarious. It made me laugh anyway. I also drew on some wickedly large eyebrows. I scared myself every time I caught my reflection.

What are you up to this week?

-Tasty n Sons – It’d been a year since I’d had breakfast at Tasty n Sons. I should really go here more often. The cast iron frittata [with roasted squash, caramelized onions, piment d-espelette (of course we all know that is variety of chili pepper that is cultivated in the French commune of Espelette. Hmmm...), feta, and fried sage] is fantastic. I also love the sweet biscuits with berry topping.

-Nuestra Cocina – seriously love this place now. I’ve been on a margarita kick lately (yes, slightly odd for fall), as their house margarita is probably the best in Portland. Cheap and tasty.

-BFF is moving to Hawaii. Le sigh. We decided to go on one last close-to-home overnight getaway to Grand Lodge (McMenamin’s), and from here on out we’ll only be traveling together when we meet up to go on vacation. le sigh

-Fall biking – I love it when the weather cooperates and we have beautiful fall weekends to ride around town with friends. Did a bit of beer cycling last weekend, and tried a new brewery, Cascade Brewing Barrel House in SE.

-Apple Tasting Festival – Apple and pear season alert! I missed the apple tasting festival last year, so I’ve been eagerly awaiting this year’s. Went last weekend and felt like I ate a pallet of apples through the tasting line. Yum.

-Meet, Plan, Go Portland – My big work event finally arrived. For all the time and worry, everything came together in the end and it was an awesome night. We had over 100 people show up and it was super inspiring to talk to so many folks interested in taking a career break. It’s been a few years since I took my career break trip, so it’s fun to see people in the planning and wonderment stage again. I was really pleased with how the panel/speakers turned out too… Chris Guillebeau did our opening keynote, and was inspirational, as usual. Then we had four panelists — I had selected Kim because her and her husband are still in the planning stages of their trip, so I felt like they would be able to relate easily to all the people who are just considering a career break (as after you’ve taken one, sometimes your mindset changes a bit, as to how easy things seem). Next up was Russ and Laura because they’re doing kind of an unconventional career break, by pedaling around North America versus the typical RTW trip which I love because it shows how a career break can be just taking time to focus on something you’re really passionate about, whether that’s biking or international travel. I rounded out the rest of the panel by selecting… myself as the third panelist. :) I felt mildly odd about at it at first, but the one spot I most wanted to fill was someone representing the solo female traveler perspective.  And after a few people fell through, we decided I would fill that spot. And it ended up being awesome, I’m really glad I got the chance to speak at a “conference”, it was a fun challenge.

-Cheapskate signage – I was also thrilled with how the signage turned out at the Ace Hotel space. I didn’t really have a budget for this event (as most of our budget went to paying for the space) so I ended up wrapping a stripe around two sides of the walls of windows by taping up 40 11×17″ black and white papers — alternating quotes, MeetPlanGo.com, and a world/suitcase image. For a grand total of $8! (Picture above by Russ & Laura).

-iOS update – LOVE! Love the camera options from the lock screen, the choice of 3 routes on Google Maps, and the new notifications options. I don’t even care that I don’t have the iPhone 4S.

What are you up to this week?

This week:

-NOLA! This city exceeded my expectations. So much to love… To be continued. (also, this falls under the category of last week).

- Fall leaves at Mt Tabor  – Saturday was crazy sunny and nice out… like SUMMER. It was fabulous to walk around on Mt Tabor in the sunshine and still be able to take pictures of fall leaves, and then I “found” a giant pumpkin at Sip Juice cart. So pretty. In other news, I wrote another I <3 fall post, this time about my favorite city — 87 Reasons to Love Fall in Portland.

- Bamboo Sushi - Finally got around to going to Bamboo Sushi, and I’m afraid that it’s going to be a costly new favorite restaurant. So. much. good. food.

- L’Orient Express sign – Sometimes I see travel signs or maps or globes and I get a little carried away. I found a vintage-y 5 foot tall Orient Express sign on Rue La La this weekend. Sold.

- If I’m reading an article online and there’s a page 2, I’ll usually opt for being done on page 1. This article about how Zooey Deschanel can stop pretending she’s a dork was hilarious though and I continued on to page 2. Nicely done.

- Rum Club – Planned a surprise birthday drinks meetup for boyfriend, and I must say Rum Club is the perfect place to randomly find seating for 10 people on a Monday night (ok, that task isn’t too difficult on a Monday, I know). Beaker & Flask, I approve. Also, planning surprises might possibly be more fun than getting surprises.

- Ice cream sandwiches – Birthday cakes… meh. I made ice cream sandwiches instead. Sans candles, but I don’t think 33 candles would have fit anyway.

- Meet, Plan, Go! Portland – Getting excited for Meet, Plan, Go! Portland at Ace Hotel next week. It’s an event we’ve been planning for what seems like ages, so I’m both super excited and a wee bit terrified to be speaking on the panel about solo female travel and career breaks. It’s going to be awesome, you should come.

This week:

-Beets! I had a strange cooking deja vu this week. After buying a ton of beets at the farm stand, I decided to make a recipe from a few years ago. I couldn’t remember where I’d found the recipe, so I Googled it, and thanks to Google+, apparently I blogged about it: Brazilian Black Beans & Rice.

-Finally had dinner at Nuestra Cocina. Fantastic.

- Dahlias. It’s dahlia season. One of my favorite flowers. I love using my Sprite bottle vase. Yes, kitteh likes flowers too.

-Cheese plates. I hadn’t been to The Observatory in a while, and went this week. One of my favorite cheese plates in Portland.

-TBA – We went to Time Based Art festival over the weekend, to see the dance truck. The side of the truck was cool…

-Peaches! I love the late harvest we’ve had this year. More farm stand finds, I had an abundance of peaches left over last week, so I made Peach Buckle (Everyday Food). Best [almost fall] breakfast ever.

-planning for my first trip to New Orleans. I love travel planning, even when it’s a short trip. :)

-I’ve been app-happy ever since I got my iPhone. So I wrote about my favorite must-have Portland iPhone apps over on WhyGo Portland last week.

I started this proper list of things that I love about fall, last year, just to remind myself… So here’s the 2011 updated, with 77 things this year. Epic!

1. leather boots
2. crunchy leaves
3. scarves (a serious weakness)
4. cozy striped socks (and argyle! Of which, Target has $5 argyle over-the-knee socks right now. Amazing)
5. English tea w/milk
6. apple orchards
7. Hulu
8. rain boots (looking forward to wearing my Converse-style rainboots! & bees!)
9. coffee
10. Powell’s bookstore
11. reading
12. cooking over-elaborate meals (this 3 hour soup comes to mind)
13. snuggling (kittehs or boys)
14. hikes
15. tights & skirts (cable knit!)
16. live music/Doug Fir
17. soup
18. fall-ish tunes
19. change/fresh starts
20. duvets
21. yellow
22. baking
23. chai lattes
24. plaid
25. wine
26. shooting guns (Don’t judge. I’m from the country.)
27. movies/beer/pizza/Cajun tots at McMenamins (tasty!)
28. home goods stores
29. pretending to love shopping
30. argyle (see #4)
31. learning
32. pumpkin everything, (including pumpkin spice lattes)
33. apple sauce (planning a canning party. I’m so almost 30)
34. hoodies (cozy)
35. Thai food
36. cities
37. cinnamon
38. whiskey
39. planning winter trips (last year Iceland. This year??)
40. planning 1 winter escape (somewhere warm & cheap! February? March?)
41. skinny jeans tucked into boots
42. pretty maps (yet another serious weakness)
43. layering
44. dreaming of Barcelona
45. popcorn
46. the air
47. food carts with heated seating areas
48. baths
49. colors
50. crying to Sigur Ros or Beck’s Sea Change (no explanation. It’s not 2 hrs and 14 min/week worth though, clearly I need to listen to more Sigur Ros)
51. corduroy
52. massive breakfasts
53. geocaching
54. making out in the cold
55. trains
56. watching people be excited about college football
57. spin class
58. yurt camping
59. finding new music
60. yoga pants
61. long dinners
62. storms
63. writing
64. flannel sheets
65. indoor workouts (Bar Method!)
66. even more indoor time: a new cooking class
67. board games
68. mashed potatoes
69. lazy weekend mornings catching up on my Google Reader in bed
70. carbs
71. rocking sudoku
72. sucking at crosswords
73. seasonal ales
74. dark nail polish (OPI Over the Taupe)
75. museums
76. the words ‘crisp’ & ‘cozy’
77. sweaters…

photo set on flickr

What do you love about fall? Share in the comments!

1. Viking Soul Food – tasty handmade lefse awaits at this Norwegian food cart. (they’re over at the Green Castle Food Court pod now on NE 19th/NE Everett)
2. Green Beans Coffee
3. The Burrito Bar
4. Pok Pok Noi – does a new Pok Pok location count? Yes. The grilled corn is one of my favorite things.
5. Extracto Coffeehouse
6. Fonda Rosa – I’ve walked past this place so many times. It exceeded my expectations.
7. Kesone Thai Lao Bistro
8. Little Bird Bistro – Le Pigeon’s little sister. It was tasty. They give you a mini-macaron with your bill.
9. Guadalajara Taco Shop – Seaside, Oregon This place was horrible. Anytime I drive through Seaside, I try to stop at The Stand (amazing!). Alas, The Stand was closed, so we decided to chance it on the Mexican place next door. Bad decision Sunday.
10. Dig a Pony – love it. (already wrote about Dig a Pony over here)
11. Kitchen Dances – best vegan food cart in Portland? Yes.
12. Tapalaya – great happy hour
13. Utopia Cafe
14. Navarre – Next time, I will order just the cheese board, bread, Spanish tortilla, and wine. Nice way to spend a Sunday afternoon.
15. Someday Lounge
16. Aybla Mediterranean Cart at Good Food Here pod – yum
17. D’s bar - diiiiiiiiive
18. Spunky Monkey House of Coffee – great breakfast sandwiches
19. PBJs – got the Spicy Thai to go to take to Sauvi Island. Reminded me of the PBJ fries at Potato Champion. Good sandwich.
20. Rip City Grill – I got the Portabella mushroom ‘Bacon & blue’ burger. Way exceeded my expectations.
21. Sonny Bowl – DC Vegetarian is my go-to at the SW 3rd & Washington carts, but I finally tried Sonny Bowl — a good bowl option.
22. Hotel Oregon Rooftop Bar, McMinnville, Oregon – cajun tots! (& excellent views)
23. Crescent Cafe, McMinnville, Oregon – I think this might be the best breakfast place in McMinnville. Food and service was spectacular. Perfect for fueling up for biking wine country.
24. Bergstrom Wines
25. Brick House – such a cool winery
26. Penner-Ash – awesome view & picnic space
27. Nick’s Italian Cafe – Hostess:”Welcome, we’re all full, let me see if we can find a spot” *We look around, notice only three tables are filled. She returns* “It looks like some tables might be clearing up, let me put you on the [non-existent] wait list.” Seriously? I understand the whole wine country reputation, but as long as I can still see, don’t pretend there are invisible people dining. le sigh.
28. Community Plate – good light breakfast option, but appears to be yet another McMinnville restaurant with a service problem.
29. Anne Amie Vineyards – *Oprah voice* “Look under your seeeeat! Haaaaaaaamocks!”
30. Solena Grand Cru Estates – a quiet option
31. Sokol Blosser – lovely vineyard
32. Voicebox Karaoke – sake!
33. Arleta Library Cafe – this one has been on my breakfast to-do list for quite some time. Underwhelming.
34. Hopworks Bike Bar (N Williams) – finally checked out the new Hopworks on N Williams. Love the outdoor seating option in the front.
35. Let’s Eat Thai food cart
36. Happy Grillmore food cart – the Shooter McGavin was tasty (another great SW 3rd & Washington veg option)
37. Dixon’s Rib Pit – (part of Dishcrawl PDX) I can’t vouch for the ribs
38. Yogio – the bibimbap was good
39. Cafe Hibiscus – Swiss dressing was great!
40. Cruzroom – I was so full from Dishcrawl that I only had one taco at Cruzroom.
41. South Waterfront Farm Stand – It’s not a restaurant, but there’s a farm stand in the park now, and if you eat a carton of raspberries while there I think it should count as a new place.
42. Enso Winery – a Portland winery (part of PDX Urban Wineries). Very cool space
43. Cactus, Seattle, Washington – what appears to be a Seattle chain restaurant. Good margaritas.
44. French Bakery, Seattle, Washington
45. Serious Pie, Seattle, Washington – margherita pizza was fantastic
46. Katy’s Corner Cafe, Seattle, Washington – good smoothies and quiche
47. Noodle Nation, Seattle, Washington
48. Hi Spot Cafe, Seattle, Washington – typical weekend brunch wait, but worth it.
49. La Isla, Seattle, Washington – I don’t think I can claim to have had Puerto Rican food before. Reminded me a bit of Pambiche (Cuban) in Portland. Really good dinner.
50. Branx
51. The Big Egg – the Arbor Lodge was excellent, and the perfect option for weekends that you don’t want to wait in line for breakfast.
52. Dogfeather’s Coffee – juice!

How it all started: I had a goal to visit one new restaurant a week.
1-52: Go To 52 New Restaurants – 30 Before 30 List
53-103: 52 [More] New Restaurants
104-156: 156 New Portland Restaurants, Bars, Coffee Shops in 299 Days
157-208: 208 New Places in One Year
209-260: 52 More New Restaurants: Portland, San Juans & Vancouver, BC

What new places have you tried lately?

This week:

-Bumbershoot! My third year since since I first crossed it off my list: #50 Go to Bumbershoot in Seattle in 2009. The line-up wasn’t too great this year, but the weather was fantastic. Loved: Little Dragon (as usual), staying at the Heathman (snagged it on Jetsetter in May), the Trey McIntyre Project (modern dance set to The Shins’ Oh, Inverted World), Best of SIFF 2011 short films (North Atlantic was the most memorable for me), orchestra-ish music in the Experience Music Project, the SBUX Insider Lounge (ie. free coffee drinks all weekend), and playing tourist going up the Space Needle, which I hadn’t done since I was a 5-year-old.

-Seattle food. Seattle, land of my birth, you have excellent food. [ahem, Portland is still better] :)  I could have eaten two of the Margherita pizzas at Serious Pie. Also enjoyed the huevos a la Mexicana at Hi Spot Cafe, and the delicious Puerto Rican food at La Isla in Ballard.

-Flatstock I always try to reserve day 1 of Bumbershoot for taking pics and considering my options, and buy something day 2. This year, I bought the Weapons of Mass Creation poster for my kitchen.

-Movies in the Park – One of the final Movies in the Park this year was North by Northwest in Elizabeth Caruthers Park in South Waterfront. Banh mi takeout from Bambuza + a bottle of rosé + a pile of pillows and blankets + Cary Grant on the big screen = perfect summer evening.

-Musicfest NW – After spending three days at Bumbershoot, I wasn’t too excited for Musicfest NW. We did end up catching one show on Friday night — Glass Candy. There were giant balloons. I took of video of said balloons.

Listening: Little Dragon.

This week:

- Now that I’m an expert at laying about in an inner tube on the river, I decided to write a post about my new favorite past-time — Tubing in Portland with the best float options in town. :)

- Finally went up to check out the new Hopworks BikeBar on N Williams last weekend. I love the outdoor seating options out front so you can watch the world go by. And of course a visit within 2 blocks of Pix Patisserie requires a stop-in for a lemon tart. Nom.

- I also went to karaoke for the first time in Portland (I’d only ever been while traveling), at Voicebox. Watching other people sing is great entertainment, but yes, I did join in a few times (just not solo, because I’m ‘fraid!). Boyfriend also sang me a Guns N’ Roses song. Yep, I liked it. I shall now refer to him as Mr Patience. And if you’re into sake, Voicebox also has awesome options.

- I managed to snag a ticket to the Portland launch of dishcrawl on Twitter last weekend from Molly, and had a great time meeting more Portland foodies and trying out four new places in town.

- Listening: The Raveonettes keep popping up on one of my Pandora stations, which means I need to stop ‘thumbs up’-ing them. I know, I know, their new album has been out for a while now. Anyway, I’m really liking Ignite.

What are you up to this week?