This past week was a bit ground-breaking. Caitlyn’s big reveal (and THIS, I never thought I’d see the day), a bevy of birthday bashes—happy 11th to my Smudge!, and a sweet farewell to my visit in Portland, OR.
In This Post
I was in Portland to attend the first Indulge Conference where I spoke about photography and learned some valuable bloggers’ tricks and tips, ate too many donuts (that were so not on the swimsuit season plan), imbibed at 4 happy hours (nice pic!) and noshed at some of Portland’s finest restaurants + amazing Mexican food. Bryan’s Bowl is the bomb.
As always my favorite part of any conference was meeting new to me food blogging talents, putting a live face with some I’ve stalked online forever (I finally met her and her and her in real life!) and reconnecting with true-to-me-friends I would never have met were it not for this odd forum we call the www.
Want more Portland? Check out Bev’s post and Lauren’s post for more of where to eat / what to do.
Before we get into this week’s Friday Faves, here’s a quick pictorial of my visit.
First things first. Donuts from Voodoo Donuts at our hotel’s happy hour. Hotel Monaco, you know your people.
Dinner at Ned Ludd, the ultimate farm to table. Radishes in smoked butter with sea salt. I didn’t realize I liked radishes until this very moment.
It’s 9 p.m. and there’s literally a line around the block at Salt and Straw Ice Cream. There must be a reason. The Coconut with Petunia’s Salted Caramel Bars Ice Cream is mine.
A sunny view of Portland. It’s always like this here, right? Right?
My roomate and co-presenter Ali cheers with a fancy Rose City Sour at Red Star Tavern while I clink with a glass of Pinot Gris. Thanks Amy, (the third ingredient in our photography presentation) for taking the pic.
Cocktails and selfies as the Friday night party continues at Tasty n Alder. I had too much fun gabbing and didn’t take any photos of my food. The recipe for a perfect meal in my opinion. (me, Bev of Bev Cooks, Lori of Recipe Girl and Sandy of Reluctant Entertainer.)
Saturday’s lunch at the Food Pods at SW 10th. Wolf & Bears beckoned.
Veronica from OXO shows off her pita wrapped Sabich and fresh lemonade at Wolf and Bears.
From the podium, hoping everyone will stay awake after their lunch time Food Pod excursions.
The final dinner at Urban Farmer Modern Steakhouse thanks to Harry & David.
My final meal at Por Qué No? before John and Dana delivered me to the airport just in time for my flight. I could have stayed and dipped chips all day. A must visit when you head to Portland.
But enough about last week, let’s get summer started with this week’s list of Friday Faves.
Yes! A summer soup with bite! (and the avocados don’t hurt either.)
Miso roasted corn. Cob me please.
Beer-berry popsicles? I am so in.
Oh lordie, s’mores doughnuts. This IS a thing.
These cookies, er cookie dough bites, are all about me.
I can’t get enough of her Instagram posts. Totally creative.
A coffee station. In your own house. Now that’s one smart way to get friends to stop by.
These gradient food photos are so cool, all the colors of the rainbow.
Speaking of donuts (we were, weren’t we?), the ultimate guide to donuts in Los Angeles.
They tested them all and now they’re sharing the best, cheapest chef’s knives. HI-YAH!
I’m going to have Smudge make this for her birthday party table setting. Cute and easy. The name of my game.
Today is the last day of school for my Smudge and I’m still scraping together a plan for what our summer is going to look like. One thing I do know is that I’m going to be enjoying it WITH her. My time with my baby is going far too fast and it will be mere moments from now when she could give a rat’s a** about whether I’m around or not. So this summer, it’s going to be all about us.
If you’re in Utah and need to keep the kids busy, here’s a great summer bucket list,
and…
Whoa! This is another great list of ideas for creative summer fun. Now I know why Smudge asked for watercolor crayons for her birthday.
and…
This DIY summer adventure journal will be perfect project to document all our adventures in.
Ali had so many cute dresses to sport around last weekend when we were in Portland. I totally copied her and just ordered this one. I have a feeling I’ll be living in it this summer.
You may have already read this post from Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg about how to move forward after her husband’s death, but if you haven’t, you should.
The only good thing about a Fifty Shades of Grey sequel. If there IS a good reason.
Slow parenting. I need to remember to embrace it.
Dana was wearing this (white for summer, black for winter) over the weekend and she smelled sooo good. Ordered!
I found these at Nordstrom in Portland. I can’t decide, stone or black?
Another necklace to add to my addiction. Don’t you love it?
We need new beach chairs so I ordered these. Bonus! There’s a cooler in the armrest *clink*
Blog Biz Links
The Slow-Blogging Movement: where quality trumps quantity every time
This is what happens when you say “no” to sidebar advertising, and it isn’t bad
6 Powerful Tips on Food Blogging from Successful Bloggers (thanks for including me!)
Recipes I Pinned This Week
Here are a few recipes that found their way onto my boards. Follow me here to see what else I’m favoriting.
Greek Salad Bowls with Spiced Lamb Burgers
Even though I’m not a huge fan of lamb, this would be one recipe I’d give a try.
Sticky Apricot Basil Chicken Thighs
I feel like apricots don’t get their due. This recipe is gonna fix that!
Cinnamon Chile de Arbol Donut Holes
I may have missed donut day but I didn’t miss this sweet recipe.
Thanks everyone for stopping by and checking out this week’s Friday Faves. Have a great weekend, and cook something good.
As always, thank you for reading and for supporting companies I partner with, which allows me to create more unique content and recipes for you. All opinions are always my own.
Are you following me on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest?
Thanks for reading and subscribe to FoodieCrush to have each post delivered straight to your e-mail box.
Liz @ The Lemon Bowl
Finally reading this!!!! Thank you for the tips!! I’m sad we aren’t going to be there at the same time!
Melissa
Thanks for the shout out for my Summer Journal!
Melissa
Erin @ Platings and Pairings
Heidi – I’m so glad that you loved PDX, and even MORE glad that you made it to Por Que No – One of my favs! Thank you for all of your great photography advice at the conference – Such a pleasure meeting you!
bev @ bevcooks
How about, best weekend ever? As always, LOVED spending time with you. Let’s go again! This weekend! ;)
Lynn @ Order in the Kitchen
LOVED meeting you at Indulge!! Was so happy to see you are just as kind in person as you come across in your website! Your presentation was fabulous! Please do send it to the group, I couldn’t take notes fast enough of all of the incredible wealth of info! So glad to have met you! xoxo
Faith (An Edible Mosaic)
Portland looks like it was a blast! Those donuts…OMG, that’s reason enough for me to head to Portland. :)
And thank you so much for the link love!
Sarah @ SnixyKitchen
Oh man – It was like fangirl heaven meeting you Heidi! Thanks for linking to me – now it’s double fangirl heaven! And duh – of course we stayed awake – yours was the most anticipated and most exciting session (the best for last). Also – I am also drooling over SO MANY of those links you posted (miso roasted corn? oh hello there!). Hope you’re recovering from the whirlwind weekend with all the delicious food! xoxoxo.
Phi @ The Sweetphi Blog
AAAHHHH so you know how I totally and utterly love you and these Friday Faves, right? I just about died when I was going through the links and my site opened up! YOU ROCK MY SOCKS OFF! Thank you so much for linking to me! Your food photography workshop was nothing short of amazing. So many amazing tips and tricks! Thank you! It was so great meeting you in person, you’re such an inspiration! Good thing I only work until early afternoons on Fridays…time for me to go exploring all the other amazing links you share. Happy weekend and happy birthday to your beautiful Smudge ;)
Traci | Vanilla And Bean
I soooo wish I could have been at Indulge! Looks like it was a blast and Portland is just fabulous! Thank you for the helpful links, too on blogging. I always learn something new here, Heidi! :D Have a beautiful weekend!
Gaby
Portland is so amazing, and Voodoo Donuts….the best!!!
Michelle
Voodoo Donuts yum. We stopped in last March on our way to Lincoln City Oregon. The Maple Bacon Donut was wonderful. It is a most stop for foodies if in Portland.
Kay Anderson
I always look forward to the Friday Faves. And I hate the ads on the side. There are a few blogs that I read for a long time that I finally unsubscribed from because the ad attack was nonstop! I like the links to items within the blog much more reader-friendly and have bought several items that way. Enjoy your summer!
Hi Kay, yes, the ads are something I’m always contemplating about keeping or letting go. Creating different ways to monetize the blog is one of my immediate goals. Thanks for coming by and reading!!
Abby @ The Frosted Vegan
Portland looked absolutely perfect and I was SO jealous of all the donuts all of you were eating! So glad you finally met Phi, she’s such a sweetheart! Hoping one of these times we can finally meet as well :)
Sandy@RE
Loved our Portland trip! I’m still full … :) I love living in Oregon and was happy you could all come and enjoy the sunshine! That instagram account is so fun, Heidi. She is sooooo creative with food! Happy Friday!
Sandy, as always, you make every trip I go on with you extra special. You are the best and I love you!
Liz @ Floating Kitchen
SO happy to finally meet you, Heidi! It was a great weekend. Love this re-cap! And thanks for the beery-popsicle love! XO
Rachel Cooks
As always, a wonderful Friday Faves. I wish I could have made it out to Portland – we need to meet eventually! I’m starting to think that my food blogging friends are going to think I’m some old fat bald man that doesn’t really exist. ;)
Yes! We really need to get your kids to grow up a little so you can come out and enjoy the fun! (ps we’d still like you even if you are an old fat man :) )