birthday brewery crawl.

This year for my birthday, I headed down to Portland to spend the weekend with my family. My dad, my brother and I went for a Portland brewery crawl, 8 stops in all.

1. Upright Brewing
Flight of everything! 4, 5, 6, 7, Engleberg Pilsner, Monk and Mingus, Juane Quatre, Pure Wit

2. Hopworks Urban Brewery
Me: Velvet ESB, Brother: Survival 7-Grain Stout, Dad: ISB

3. Coalition Brewing Co.
Me: Hanso vs. Bullet Stout, Brother: Bumps Bitter ESB, Dad: Loving Cup Maple Porter

4. Migration Brewing Co.
Me: Old Silenus Ale, Brother: Luscious Lupulin IPA, Dad: PDX

5. Burnside Brewing Co.

Me: Alter Ego Imperial IPA, Brother: Sweet Heat, Dad: Burnside IPA

6. Lucky Labrador Brewing Co.

Me: Black Lab Stout, Brother: Solar Flare Ale, Dad: Superdog

Pit stop at the Slingshot at Waterfront Park!

7. Tugboat Brewing Company

Me: Coffee Porter, Brother: HayFork, Dad: Chernobyl Stout

8. Rock Bottom Brewery

Me: White Ale, Brother: Red Ale, Dad: IPA

The next day my mom, my brother and I scored tickets to the Timbers v. DC United game. It was a super exciting game, buuut we came out with a loss in the end.

We topped the weekend off with dessert from Papa Haydn on NW 23rd. Scrumptious!

Thanks to my family for a great birthday weekend! :)

-shauna

fashion up a cake stand.

So, I've been wanting a cake stand for awhile now. Not a plastic cake carrier, but a pretty stand, with a pedestal. Not that I make cakes often, but it would be nice to be able to present baked goods on something other than a plain dinner plate or tupperware container. So, I started looking around (meaning looking around online: Amazon, Willams-Sonoma, Crate and Barrel, Macy's, etc.) and realized that most decorative cake plates don't come with a cover (bummer) and are going to run about $40 (double bummer!).

I thought to myself "If I have to sacrifice a cover for the style I want, why can't I just fashion up a pretty little ditty on my own?" I headed down to my local Goodwill to check out some goods. I found a pretty flowered china plate and a nice little (albeit used and well loved, I'm sure) tea cup. The total came to a whopping $1.63 with tax.

All it took was a little Gorilla Glue, a fruit bowl for some weight, and viola! We have a cake stand!

Love it!

-shauna