heather & olive

bedroom mantle scene.

Hello! I hope you had a lovely weekend. Mine was even more uneventful than usual because I came down with a gross cold on Friday (and I know you're wondering how it's possible for my weekends to get more low-key than they already are, but hey, I'm an overachiever when it comes to being a sloth). I did nothing on Saturday aside from going through an entire box of tissues, and on Sunday I was feeling a little better so I took a Pure Barre intensive class. I promptly canceled any benefits from said class by going to the Little Tap House for a burger and beer, and then I started packing for Helsinki (I leave Wednesday and I'm super excited). And if you have any recommendations, send them my way--we're definitely going to Löyly and have a couple of restaurants lined up, but I'm otherwise going to figure things out on the fly.

Follow along on instagram if you're so inclined @heatherandolive.

l.l. bean wicked good lodge chukkas my mom got these for christmas, and I would have stolen them from her if my feet weren't too big. currently backordered until march, but 20% off until 1/14/20 with code WINTER.

cuyana oversize carryall tote I have the medium version of this, and it's slightly too small for everything I want to bring with me to work (mostly, another pair of shoes and my beats headphones, along with all of my other office stuff). I will be buying this sooner rather than later (and it's way more practical than the other designer bag I've been considering).

madewell roadtripper jeggings can jeans change your life? If they're these, they can. I'm super late to the madewell jeans game, but I finally snagged a pair during black friday and I love the fact that they're super high waisted and fit like a glove. I will be slowly replacing all of my denim with some version of these in the future,

what may be the best pizza in all of portland.

one of the funniest faces I've ever see Olive make.

sunday's din.

Happy New Year! I know this is the time when people declare their resolutions, intentions, plans, hopes, dreams, etc. but I'm not going that route this year. Instead, I'm listing some things I'm excited about. It's better that way (for me).

Going someplace new. While I only have one trip scheduled so far for the upcoming year, it's a place I've never been: Helsinki! My sister is going on a work trip, and I've decided to tag along. We go in a couple of weeks, and I'm really looking forward to hitting up some saunas, trying new food and Kalsarikänni if we don't feel like venturing out.

Running. I know I say this every year, but this year it will be different. Here's why: I signed up for a race. Every time I say I'm going to start running again I fail, and I've come to the realization that I need something to work towards. I'll be doing the Portland 10 Miler at the end of April, and it's the perfect motivator to get me out the door (which is very important during the difficult winter months).

Cooking. I love to cook, but truth be told, I've become exceptionally lazy past couple of months. It's beyond easy to just order in (or if I'm feeling extra ambitious, go to a restaurant around the corner) and I get really sick of cooking a big meal and eating leftovers for days. I received Half Baked Harvest's Super Simple for Christmas, and I'm pumped to be better about meal planning (and halving recipes).

Trying new restaurants. I know I just said I want to cook more, and it's true, BUT if I do go out to eat, I need to try new places. It's so easy to stay close to my apartment and eat at the same (delicious) spots, but there's a whole side of Portland I never go to. Washington Avenue, I'm headed your way.

christmas card 2019.

It's the last day of 2019--I can't believe another year is coming to a close. But this was a good one, and I'm really happy to be ending a somewhat tumultuous decade on a high note. Here's what the past year looked like.

January:
I started a new job--this was definitely the highlight of the month (and honestly, the year). I'm really, really happy at work and I've met some incredible people as a result. My sister and best friend came to visit, and there was a bit of snow.

February:
This month was super low-key. I didn't do much of anything except hibernate.

March:
There was more snow, I hit a milestone of 100 classes at Pure Barre, and my mom came to visit. We ate our way through Portland, I did some traveling for work, and I also spent a little time at my family's place in York.

April:
The snow finally melted. I turned 37, and I my sister came up for a visit at my parents' house. I continued to eat my way through town, and finally went to Street and Co.

May:
I went to a pie making workshop with Joy the Baker (which was seriously the best and she's such a lovely person), and took a mother/daughter trip to Chicago. I traveled to Northern California for work and got to see the redwoods, and my mom retired from teaching at my high school alma mater. I also joined my company's softball team, where I added little value.

June:
I went to see King Lear in NYC (Glenda Jackson was amazing), and my mom came up and painted my kitchen cabinets, which has completely transformed my living space. I spent more time in York, participated in a regatta where I got completely banged up, and spent some time getting tomato red at the beach.

July:
It was hot. I went to the beach some more, spent some time in York and at my parents' place in Massachusetts, and flew down to Pittsburgh to see my sister and her husband. We ran a 5k, saw John Mayer and went to Picklesburgh and Fallingwater.

August:
This was a tough month (and historically, I feel like August is always tough--crappy things happen in August). There was a cancer diagnosis for a member of my family which thankfully ended up being okay, but it was still a scary time. I also apparently ate a lot of cheeseburgers based on my photo library.

September:
I had some health-issue fun of my own, and traveled to Tampa for work.

October:
I had minor surgery and my brother and sister and I spent a weekend in Boston seeing the Head and the Heart. I enjoyed the fall foliage, celebrated my mom's birthday and traveled to rural Tennessee for work.

November:
I went to Oklahoma for work and did a "Chopped"-style competition with work friends later in the month. My sister came up for the week of Thanksgiving, and we spent some time in Portland before heading down to our parents' for Thanksgiving, and then came back up to York. It was a crazy week but so, so much fun--always one of my most favorite times of the year.

December:
It snowed a little, and my mom and I went to see David Sedaris (I love him). I took another quick work trip to Illinois, ate some oysters, and got festive. Christmas was super low-key and consisted of celebrating Christmas Eve with my brother and his family, and hanging with my parents on Christmas Day.

And that's pretty much it. Some months were definitely better (and more exciting) than others, but I had a really good year and I'm pretty pumped to see what 2020 brings.

It's no secret that I love to cook, and I'm really excited about the upcoming release of three cookbooks this fall.

And if that means a plethora of leftovers, so be it.

nothing fancy, Alison Roman

Alison Roman is a queen, and I can't wait for her second cookbook, Nothing Fancy to come out on October 22nd. The Stew is one of my favorite recipes of all time, and I love her no-nonsense approach to food (especially her Instagram responses to people asking for substitutions). Nothing Fancy is touted as making impromptu gatherings easy, and I think I'll definitely need to add this one to my bookshelf.

half baked harvest super simple, tieghan gerard

When it comes to comfort food, Tieghan always hits it out of the park and I'm really looking forward to her second cookbook, Half Baked Harvest Super Simple, to be released on October 29th. A lot of the recipes are crockpot/instant pot friendly, and you can't beat a "set it and forget it" approach.

pastry love, Joanne Chang

Joanne Chang is the mastermind behind Flour Bakery and Myers and Chang in Boston, and her new cookbook is supposed to be the next baking Bible. Pastry Love takes you from beginner level recipes to those more advanced, and as someone who loves to bake, this is totally on my list to firm up my skills (it's out November 5th).

my autumnal mantle.

Oh, hey. It's been a while.

I was talking with my parents a couple of weekends ago about the old blog and whether I should just shut it down, and my dad somewhat bluntly asked "Does anyone even read it?". And while I think the answer to that question is no, I've decided I'm not quite ready to give it up. Granted, that means coming here and writing something down more than once every two months, but I'm up for the challenge. Even if there's no one out there (aside from the sporadic spam comments), I'm going to give this another shot for me. I like it here.

So summer is over and the leaves are changing and I've been welcoming the cooler temps with open arms (the loss of daylight, not so much). August and September were pretty good over all (albeit with some bumps in the road, including Olive having stomach problems that lasted for way too long), but we're on the up and up! I would call my summer bucket list a 30% success, and I'm okay with that. Sometimes I'm a little overeager with my goals.

Other than that, the summer to fall closet switch has taken place, the crockpot has made its annual debut, and I'm really looking forward for the next couple of months. October through December are truly my favorite times of year, and I have some fun things on the horizon.

So I'm back. Here's to blogging.