The City of Roses

This last week, I had the incredible opportunity to go on my first business trip and cross one more US city off my travel bucket list: Portland.

Although I traveled primarily to attend the annual conference for International Foodservice Editor Council (IFEC), I made every effort to snag a local cup of coffee any chance that I could. And since the conference was for food editors and publicists, much of Portland's unique food culture was incorporated into the event.

Being my first time attending IFEC, I did not know exactly what to expect. It is such a unique conference because networking and food are the central focus. 

Publicists filled the hallways, pacing back and forth with black binders in tow waiting for their one-on-one meetings with editors. These 10-minute sessions provide a platform for editors to discuss upcoming stories and publicists to pitch ideas on behalf of clients. It was such a great opportunity to put faces with editor names, and I made some great contacts for work!

Photo by @Arosendahl777

In addition to great networking opportunities, all of the educational seminars revolved around food, especially showcasing the unique food culture of Oregon. In fact, one of deep's clients, Kerry Beverage, sponsored a couple of specialty coffee break stations. I loved having the chance to put my coffee passion and heritage to work in my PR career!

Not counting the amazing food tours on our last day, my favorite educational session was a honey tasting sponsored by the National Honey Board. They brought in honey expert Marie Simmons, author of the book Taste of Honey, to lead us through some different varietals of honey.

Each honey had a distinct flavor profile based on the region and type of plant that the bees gathered pollen from--similar to specialty coffee and bean-to-bar chocolate. I do love my artisan foods!

Overall, my PDX adventure was packed full of valuable work experience, meeting new people, learning about the science behind many artisan foods and tasting fabulous things all along the way. I have many coffee shop reviews coming along with some other foodie highlights from the City of Roses.

Stay tuned!
-Coffeegirl

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One Happy Island & Two Crazy Lovebirds

About three months ago, I had an adventure of a lifetime that I may have forgotten to mention:

my honeymoon

My beau (now hubby) and I traveled to the little island of Aruba,

or "The Happy Island" as residents prefer to call it.

Papiamento is the predominant language on Aruba.

The island's culture is influenced by the Dutch, Spanish and the United States.

However, it is definitely an island designed for tourists from all over.

Aruba was beautiful and filled with outdoor activities like...

talking on an old school pay phone,

walking up a barren hill to see a...

lighthouse,

relaxing on the beach,

and of course, snorkeling.

Days after we were wed, my new husband thought it would be fun to climb up and jump out of a tree in a foreign county.

I just about had a heart attack.

Thankfully, this mark was his only souvenir from that fall.

We had a lovely time relaxing in Aruba.

It was great to have some time to slow down and breathe in precious moments and create unforgettable memories with an incredible scenery as the backdrop.

Refreshed and recharged, we were able to tackle the first few months of our next big adventure of our lives:

marriage.

Stay tuned for more details about my wedding and upcoming coffee adventures!

-Coffeegirl

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Be My Maid?

One day I saw the most amazing 'pin' featuring Bridesmaid Boxes.

When I clicked through to the blog, I fell in love with everything about her wedding.

Did I mention her name was Bethany, too?!

Although I was greatly tempted, I refrained from repining because I instantly decided that one day I would do the same for my bridesmaids and they couldn't see it coming.

And I did!

It was so fun!
All I did was buy wooden boxes from Hobby Lobby.
I painted them coral,
and then stenciled "Be my Maid?" in navy on the lid.

I filled the boxes with photos of my wedding style inspiration, paint samples and a little name tag for each maid.

I wanted to include more girls than my three maids,

so I created a support group and gave them all names like:

Maid of Encouragement

Maid of Laughter

Maid of Hospitality

Maid of Literature

Maid of Creativity

Maid of Good Tidings

Maid of Memories

Maid of Generosity

In my maid boxes, I also included four little note cards that I got from Target, and I designed them to each be a bit smaller. The cards included: "Your Dresses," "My Girls," "Your Role," and "Our Day." This was an idea from the original Maid boxes, but I personalized the cards for my girls and my big day.

It was so fun to make these boxes and share them with my friends. I also made little cards for my support girls and mailed them or hid them in other presents or goodies.

So now, I have my guy and I have my girls.

I'm ready to go!

-Beth 

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I Heart Doodling

So something I realized as I entered the "Big World," is that I love to doodle.

I guess I always knew this, but it has become very evident as I work in front of a computer every day. When I had to be creative, I started taking paper and using colorful sharpies all over the place. After using too much printer paper, I decided it was time to invest in a brainstorming book: one for the home and one for the office.

I'm in love with my brainstorming notebook.

I don't know why I didn't think of it sooner.

There is something about 

putting pen to paper 

and

colored pens

that get my creative juices flowing.

For my work book, I purchased a hard back black journal from Barnes and Noble. I could literally spend ALL day in the journal section there. It is perfect.

For home, I got a sketch book from the kid's section at Target and covered it with scrap paper to say,

"Creative Minds are Rarely Tidy."

Very fitting if you know me.

I thrive on organized chaos.

How do you cope with our computer-filled society?

-Coffeegirl

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5 Foodie Blogs I'm Swooning Over

Working at a chocolate factory has me diving into a things food.

Recently, I've stumbled a few blogs that I'm obsessing over lately, and I wanted to share.

1. Food Curated

Food Curated is run by Liza de Guia (or @SkeeterNYC), and she makes incredible videos going behind the scenes of unique food processes. Her most recent video is about a Captain Lawrence Brewery's Katchkie Harvest Ale that uses real local pumpkins making it "farm-to-brew." Love that! 

2. Joy the Baker

Joy the Baker has such a great personality in her posts with fabulous recipes. And she has the most adorable kitty, Jules. She shares a sweet story in her about video of how her dad got her into baking pies at an early age with her sister.

3. The Social Eater

The Social Eater is a blog dedicated to exploring eating local, Fair Trade and Direct Trade food. So right up my alley!

4. Desserts for Breakfast

Desserts for Breakfast is a food recipe blog with absolutely breath-taking photos! Stephanie is also an editor for a new foodie magazine, Sated, that I swoon over. I really need a subscription for my upcoming birthday. 

**Hint. Hint.**

5. Food Woolf 

Last but not least is Food Woolf. Brooke delves into the behind the scenes life of food and restaurant business. I learned about her through an amazing post she wrote about Askinosie Chocolate. 

These blogs are making my days all the more delicious, and I'm so glad I stumbled upon them in the vast universe of the Internet. Check them out!

-Coffeegirl

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