Obsessed: Recycled Skateboard Goodies

Made with recycled skateboard lids, these containers come in 2 varieties, $49.50

When we saw these MapleXO "Coney Containers" at Portland store Betsy & Iya, we had to have them. Once we brought them home, we became officially obsessed: they're functional, stylish, green and affordable, all at once! These little ceramic containers with recycled skateboard lids are the perfect size for storing salt, spices, tea, jewelry—anything. They also come with a wipeable china marker for labeling. Genius!

Check out some of our other favorites from the MapleXO website...

Screw drivers with recycled skateboard handles, $60 for a set

Gorgeous recycled skateboard table lamp, $595

Multi-puprose glasses with coaster/lids, $35 for a set

Spring at Schoolhouse Electric

This Tallboy Cooler, $140, is a perfect Father's Day gift, no?

One of our favorite Portland shopping destinations, Schoolhouse Electric, just released its Spring lookbook, and it's chock-full of goodies that we want NOW. See for yourself: below are our picks for summertime entertaining and gifts.

Love these! Tabletop lighting in their colorful Ion-C Series, just $109 each

Sure, these cafeteria trays (available in 3 colors and sizes) could be used for desk organization, but we see them as summer BBQ staples. What could be better for outdoor entertaining??

These Motor Lodge Keychains are only $4 each. Collect them all!

This stationary set from Egg Press includes a notepad, note cards, envelopes, gift tags and the fiberglass tray for $45. (Vintage pencil sharpener not included, sadly.)

Plover Holiday Pop-Up!

It's time again for Plover Organic's annual holiday pop-up shop! This year is especially exciting, as we're teaming up with Makelike and Portland Apron Company for a local holiday textiles party. Come join us for last-minute shopping, bubbly beverages, Theo chocolates—or just to say hi!

There will holiday discounts of 50% off, sample sales, and the debut of some new sheets and bedding.

We'll be at the Cleaners @ the Ace Hotel in Portland (403 SW 10th) this Saturday and Sunday:
Sat., Dec 21, 10 am-6 pm
Sun., Dec. 22, 10 am-3 pm

Hope to see you there!

Card-Carrying Feminist

We're in love with these small but powerful pieces of art that make you—literally—a card-carrying FEMINIST. Available for pre-order today from one of our favorite Portland creative minds/consultants/conceptualists, Jennifer Armbrust, aka Armbrust & Co.  $8.

Portland Pattern People

Courtesy Pattern People, via Portland Monthly

Loved this article in the new Portland Monthly about local design studio Pattern People. The best part? Seeing in 5 parts how exactly they devise their prints: start with photos, mix-n-match them, add background and tweak the colors, build a repeating geometric pattern, overlay. (The pattern above is the final product.) It's probably more complicated than it sounds, but still, don't you want to try it at home??

This "Camo Floral" pattern can be download for free on Pattern People

"Feathers" is another free download on their site

Apologies!

My apologies for going so long without posting! It's been a busy time for Plover...lots of travel (including a stop in Philly and a visit to the Anthropologie offices! Which, for the record, could not be cooler). Now that I'm back home, finally going through my mail, I have to post about the new Urban Outfitters catalog. Grunge is back, I realize, but I'd forgotten how tied to the Pacific Northwest the Grunge aesthetic is/was. People here never stopped wearing Dr. Martens, or plaid, or windbreakers, so it's nice to see that now Portlanders have found themselves back in style, again. Witness: my two favorite pages from the new UO Fall catalog. (For the record—I've never seen a North Face jacket paired with a bustier in PDX, but I'm down!)

Such an awesome look

Making me seriously considering finally buying a pair of Doc Martens....

Sustainable Rock

Pickathon's official dishware, by Bamboo Studio

The fact that Pickathon exists and is so successful is one of the many reasons Portland is such an amazing place to live... What is Pickathon, you ask? It's an "indie roots" outdoor music festival that just went down this past weekend on Pendarvis Farm, about 20 minutes from downtown Portland. If it's not the most eco-friendly festival happening, it's up there. This year it became the first large outdoor music festival to eliminate single-use dishes and utensils. Bamboo Studio provided the official, stylish Pickathon dishware, which I am proud to be able to say I used! (Would have been prouder if I'd remembered to pack my own dishes, but alas...)

In the end, however, it's all about the music. And there was tons of amazing music at Pickathon, including my favorites, Fruit Bats. (You MUST see their new music video below!! You will laugh hard, I promise.) Eric's wife Annie Beedy took the best photos, as usual. Click the link for a real feel...

Wild Goose Farm: Gourmet Sustainability

Eating at the table set in the barn, where all the cooking was also done

Yesterday was one of the more special dining experiences I've had in a long time, in Portland or elsewhere. (I apologize in advance that I didn't take better photos...too busy having fun!) To celebrate the upcoming wedding of our dear friends Annie & Eric, we all splurged on a dinner party at Wild Goose Farm out on Sauvie Island. Run by the lovely and talented interior designer Jessica Helgerson, and her equally talented husband, the architect Yianni Doulis, the farm sits on 5 acres and is just a 30-minute drive from the city. All the food served is grown on-site or sourced nearby—including meat and cheese. It's rustic and delicious, but of course the real star is the setting. How many times in your life will you have a gourmet meal on a farm? With baby turkeys? I can't recommend it highly enough. And I cannot wait to have my husband build a wood-burning oven in the backyard!

The scene of our pre-cheese course stroll

Yianni shows the kids the wood-burning oven. (Yes, Emm is wearing a tie!)

Portlandia Premiere!

Put A Bird On It! A still from "Portlandia," premiering tonight on IFC

So exciting—tonight is the premiere of "Portlandia," the new sketch comedy series by the brilliant Carrie Brownstein and Fred Armisen. Although we don't have cable (it airs on IFC), we were lucky enough to see the advance screening last weekend in Portland, and can confirm that it's completely hilarious. It might hit a little too close to home for some Portlanders, but it's all done in good fun, and there's a lot to see the humor in. (I'll admit I do know the names of most of the big local farms around here—though not the names of the individual chickens!—and I actually own both pieces of luggage in the photo above, although mine don't have birds on them! See? Very close to home.) Will people start making fun of Portland now? Hmmm...I hope not. Portland is definitely radical in a lot of ways, but I feel like people here are really trying to live in a responsible, thoughtful, kind way, and it's an amazing city to live in because of that. It's its own quirky little city-state, for better or for worse. But mostly for the better!