Portland Discoveries - BraveStarr, chocolate milk, & a DQ menu

In this feature I will be posting fun or interesting things I've discovered while getting to know my new city. It will pop up whenever I have something new to share, and will most likely not be composed of the typical things Portlanders adore because I'm just not that cool. ;)

BraveStarr on local channel 22-2:

A photo of it on my TV.

My brother and I used to watch this cartoon when we were little (he LOVED it). BraveStarr is a space cowboy (technically Galactic Marshall) on the planet New Texas with powers from spirit animals. He's awesome. (This channel also plays cute pre-school cartoons all day which is fabulous when Mom needs a minute.)

this chocolate milk:

I'm a huge fan of chocolate milk and this stuff is amazing! It doesn't have any crazy chemical ingredients, it comes in an adorable mini carton, and it tastes like I suspect the river in Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory does.

this Dairy Queen menu:

 
This was the menu for the DQ patrons using the drive-thru. How cute is this?!

More to come! What have you stumbled across lately?

A Lovely Little Video

Even though my heart breaks a bit toward the end, I still think this video is quite pretty.

TIJI "COLOUR" HD from AKAMA on Vimeo.

Tomorrow we're off on a little mini-break to the Oregon coast. This will be the first time ELA sees the ocean, and I'm super excited! I hope everyone has a great weekend, and Happy Mother's Day! See ya Monday! <3

I Heart This!

This week I'm going to be a little repetitive, a little informative, and a bit inappropriate. ;)

Teavana.com:

Tea accessories, infusers, and appliances! Oh my! If you like tea, you'll love this website. It has all sorts of delicious looking/sounding teas, swanky sweeteners, and oodles of other fun stuff. It's also overflowing with useful information. Suffering from allergies? Did you know there are teas that can help? You can learn all about them on the website (or perhaps in a store if you're lucky enough to live near one). I am loving this site. A BIG thanks to Megan from File Me Away for telling me about it. <3

P.S. Here's the link for the yellow submarine infuser for anyone who's interested.

Apple Crisp:

Over Easter weekend the hubs and I bought 10 pounds of apples for $5.00 at a local market. Then, because she's a toddler, ELA lost all interest in anything containing our abundant little fruit (even though she'd been inhaling them the week before). With apples up to our eyeballs I went searching for a way to make a decent sized dent in the pile. I don't bake pies, so I adjusted a crisp recipe instead.

Filling:

• 10 cups all-purpose apples, peeled, cored and sliced
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cup water

Topping:

• 1 cup quick-cooking oats
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 cup butter, melted

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degree C).
2. Place the sliced apples in a 9x13 inch pan. Mix the white sugar, 1 tablespoon flour and ground cinnamon together, and sprinkle over apples. Pour water evenly over all.
3. Combine the oats, 1 cup flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda and melted butter together. Crumble evenly over the apple mixture.
4. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for about 45 minutes. 

Tweaks I made/recommend:

• Mixing apples with sugar mixture in a bowl before placing in pan.
• Only using about 1/2 - 3/4 recommended sugar mixture and water.
• Doubling topping so that you have plenty of crunchy goodness. You could even spread some along the bottom of the pan first. 

We ate ours with vanilla ice cream and it was super yummy. :P

Baby Trashes Bar in Las Palmas:

I know this is totally wrong, but sometimes things that are inappropriate are also hilarious. Just ask my husband who taught our darling daughter to "walk like a pimp" with the baton I snagged at a garage sale. ;) 

Hope this livens up your Thursday! 

I Heart This!

I have been a super lazy blogger this week. So lazy in fact, that I didn't really have anything selected for today's post. I think it's because my mind is currently obsessing over possibility (some changes may be happening for the Anderson family, but they're not a done deal yet). Fortunately I was smacked with inspiration just in the nick of time.

Spice Tea:

I've been obsessed with spice tea lately. It started when I finally cracked open a special holiday blend I bought from Harry and David, and just snowballed from there. Right now I'm working my way through a bag of Spice of Life Orange Spice which I bought at a local market over the weekend, but I find the Private Selection brand from Kroger pretty darn delicious too. I'm pretty sure you can find an orange spice in any brand and it would be tasty.

Tea Infusers:

Since I just purchased my first bag of loose tea I also had to buy an infuser. When I went looking for a photo (mine is in almost constant use and therefor not camera ready), I ran across these. If my tea addiction continues I may end up with quite a few - they're so dang cute.

ROBIN HOOD!!!

Wondering what to do now that you've brewed some yummy tea? Go watch Robin Hood! I discovered this show on Netflix and fell head over heels. I love it so much I've avoided watching seasons two and three because I don't want it to end (the BBC cancelled it after three seasons and why is a spoiler of sorts). It's actually funnier than the trailer makes it appear, and when Robin winks at Marian it kills me. Guh!

Happy Thursday!  

P.S. A very special thanks to Mandy who informed me that the complete series is on sale today. My copy can't get here fast enough. ;)

I Heart This!

I love surprises (as long as they don't cause me to become the center of attention), and this week was full of them.

Heartsy.me

My super cool sister-in-love (we're connected by love, not just the law) posted a link to this little website on Facebook last week, and it has been feeding off my checking account ever since. It's Groupon for Etsy. Seriously, does it get any better? 

Red Vines Drawing Contest

Tuesday I found this at the bottom of my Red Vines. Apparently this snazzy little doodle won third place in the Teen: 13 to 18 entrant category. If you'd like to see more winners you can find them here, or go buy a box of these tasty treats and be surprised.

Parking Lot Carnival!

I have no idea what this is actually called, nor do I care. All I know is that for the last few years a little carnival has magically popped up in our mall parking lot, and I love it. I've only actually attended twice. (The first time my friend dissolved into tears after I convinced her to get on a ride, and this year the tot developed a carousel addiction.) I'm just happy looking at it. How much more fun would the world be if more carnivals just popped up in random places? A ton! It would be a ton more fun! :)

I hope you've made some delightful discoveries of your own lately. If not perhaps the Easter Bunny will bring you some treats this weekend. Happy Thursday!

Happy Harry Potter Day!

In honor of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows being released on DVD/Blu-ray today I thought I'd share my first, but definitely not last, HP craft.

I made this a few months ago for the biggest Harry Potter fan I know (the SP are her initials). I couldn't find anything I wanted to embroider on, so I just made the tote (hence the crooked seams). Since she received it I've agreed to make something similar for a friend of hers and I'm super excited. I've never had anyone request I craft. :)

Now, go get your hands on a copy of the movie, and have a great weekend! I know I will.

I Heart This!

Often times I find myself trying to explain something I've recently discovered to someone with a kid on Christmas level of excitement. My body starts manufacturing adrenaline as I try to accurately explain the specifics, and those around me dissolve into fits of giggles in order to counteract the information overload. Since that's not exactly the best way to enlighten others I've created the I Heart This! My plan/hope here is to post something every Thursday that I feel the need to rave about or recommend. It could be a gadget, a website, a service, or almost anything, but it will always be something I believe needs a little love.

Cinnamon bears

While we were in Sunriver, soaking up some much needed family time, my brother, sister-in-law, and myself shared a small bag of spontaneously purchased cinnamon bears. Bryan hates cinnamon, so I hadn't had any in quite awhile. They were delightful. In fact, they were so tasty there are currently a few in my pantry.

Cookie scoop

I purchased this a few years ago at a Pampered Chef party. I bought it because I'm the person who always attends those stupid parties and feels guilty if I don't purchase a little something. Fortunately, this was money well spent. I've used it to scoop cookies, muffins, and, earlier this week, cupcakes. It's a handy little sucker.

COUGAR TOWN!!

This show is hilarious. When it first started Bryan would always find something else to do and I'd be sitting on the couch cracking up all by myself. Eventually I convinced him to sit through an episode and I've been gloating ever since. There are a lot of running jokes (or maybe inside jokes), so sometimes things don't immediately make sense, but the hubs is proof that you can catch on quickly. It airs Wednesdays at 9:30 on ABC, and it's definitely worth 30 minutes of your time.

Something(s) I Miss

This is Day 9:

There is a small handful of people at the top of this list, but I don't want this blog to become so sentimental it's not fun to read. Besides, there are tons of other things that deserve some attention too.

I miss Pudding Pops.

A few years ago I was super excited to stumble across these in a local Safeway. I loved them when I was a kid and had forgotten all about them. Unfortunately they've disappeared from there as well. If you know where I can find them please let me know.

I miss long road trips.

As I mentioned earlier this week, we've spent a lot of time in our car lately, but each time our destination has been less than five hours away. I miss the kind of road trips I used to take with my family. The kind where you spend multiple days in the car surrounded by pillows, blankets, and snacks. The kind where you just stop at every dinky attraction that catches your eye and pick where to end the day at random. I would love to simply drive to Texas for our annual Austin visit, but with gas prices as high as they are now this is probably the most expensive way to travel.

I miss the original Strawberry Shortcake, My Little Ponies, and Care Bears.

Seriously. These "new" versions are ridiculous. Not even my tot wants to watch them.

I miss chalkboards in classrooms and snail mail letters.

Don't get me wrong, I love technology. I'm currently blogging from my couch and checking FB on my phone, while Netflix is playing in the background. Okay, I'm not actually neglecting my daughter that much but you get the idea. I am saturated in technology. I really do mean it when I say I love it. Even so, I still feel a little sad knowing our children will never run their fingers through the chalk dust at the blackboard or lick a stamp. The more the world changes the more I find myself having those "when I was your age" moments.

The Circus Comes to Town

The circus rolled through our little valley over the weekend, and the Anderson family did not attend. In fact, we avoided it. Why? I'm glad you asked ... because it had elephants.


A few years ago I noticed that the animals performing looked miserable. They clearly didn't tie a handkerchief holding their most prized possessions to the end of a stick and set out on a journey to experience life under the big top. It was obvious that they were hating every minute of it, so I vowed to never again give my money to any of these traveling freak shows that employed anything other than my own species. 

When I saw all the free admission tickets laying on counters around town, broadcasting the upcoming arrival of entertainment, I was excited. Truth be told, there isn't a whole lot going on here and I was eager to have something out of the ordinary to take the tot to. Unfortunately, a tiny bit of research about the Shrine Circus, and the plans were derailed.

The Shrine Circus is a great organization. In fact, they raise money for your community, and don't actually own any animals (except for dogs, but dogs do tricks voluntarily). They do, however, lease the services of other companies. The company that owned the elephants on display this weekend was the Tarzan Zerbini. The following is just a small excerpt from the numerous pages of information I found about this company:

Tarzan Zerbini Circus has failed to meet minimal federal standards for the care of animals used in exhibition as established in the Animal Welfare Act (AWA). The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has cited Tarzan Zerbini for failure to provide a veterinary care program and medical records, failure to provide minimum space, and failure to properly maintain transport vehicles. Animals used by Tarzan Zerbini have caused serious injury to children.  

If how the animals themselves are treated doesn't bother you, I feel I should mention that this specific company's elephants have had a reoccurring tuberculosis problem (most likely a result of their inability to move sufficiently enough within their cramped quarters). 

I find this kind of information simultaneously horrible and heartbreaking, thus my need to vent. I am by no means condemning those who did attend, and certainly not circuses in general. I just wish there were more animal-friendly entertainment choices. I mean, who isn't entertained by the motorcyclists in the giant steel ball? Or the half naked girls hanging off a long flowy piece of fabric? I know I am. 


*If you are interested in more information, and extremely brave because the above was just the tip of the iceberg, you can find it here. You can also simply check to see if the entertainment coming to your town is on the naughty list here.