{inspired} portland bloggers

As promised, I want to introduce you to the lovely ladies that attended the Portland Bloggers Summer Social last week.

1. Makaila from Distinctly M, Sarah from Mysterious Object, Amanda from Re-Do and Dorothy Jeane, and Lyn from Two Lovely Spaces

2. Andrea from Seek the Unique, Lydia, and Tate

3. Mandy from Ciao Darling and Mindy from Rindy Mae

4. Kristen from Inspired Whims, Tate from Tate Creates and Lydia from Lydia Lauer

5. Tate and Sarah

6. Katie, from Newcomb Home and Lydia

7. Kristen and Kirsten, from Restored Style

8. Lia from ellinee and Skye from Rose City Bungalow 1913

9. Lia, Amanda, Mindy, Skye and Mandy

Sadly, not pictured, is Danielle from Storypiece. Hi Danielle! I know you were there! Clearly the photographer was off her game, ahem ... go check out Danielle's site! :)

Friends, you should definitely take a few minutes to check out each of these sites! This is a group of incredibly talented women.

After my original post, I had a few questions about how, exactly, you pull together a blogger meetup. I think Kirsten and I took planning for granted, in a way, because we both plan events for our jobs. But, I put together some tips and suggestions if your area doesn't have a blogger meetup and you'd like to pull one together. 

1. Partner with a friend or fellow blogger. I once read on another blogger's site that if you plan a meetup with another blogger and no one else shows, at least you have each other :). You also have a bigger reach then.

2. Pick a location. Kirsten and I were really lucky that we had access to a location that was happy to host us for no cost and has relationship with a {awesome} caterer. This is event planning gold, friends. 

3. Decide what type of event it will be: coffee? dinner? guest lecturer? We opted for dinner because of the caterer relationship.

4. Let people know! Kirsten and I combined our knowledge of Portland bloggers and about three weeks before the event sent out an invite via email. Then a couple days later we both posted the invite on the blog to capture Portland area readers/bloggers that we didn't know.

5. Decor. The fun part! Decide on a color scheme and how you want to decorate. 

6. Communicate. If you're have people rsvp, which I recommend, send them a reminder email the day before. And, make sure to keep in good communication with your event location so they know how many people to expect, what sort of rearranging you'll be doing on the day-of, etc.

I hope this helps! But, if you have questions about planning an event, let me know in the comments and I'll make sure they get answered.

{renovate: kitchen remodel} shedding light on the situation

Happy Monday friends! Are you all ready for a great week? It is sunny and beautiful here -- it actually feels like summer, which is a nice change of pace! :)

Our kitchen remodel is moving right along. We've had an electrician in the house for the last THREE days. It seems like a long time, but I know it's going to be worth it. So, today I thought we'd talk about lighting plans. We don't have cable at our house, but whenever we're at a house with cable, I LOVE to watch Candice Olson. Isn't she amazing? Have you ever noticed how much she talks about lighting plans and how important they are to a room? Well, when we sat down to plan out our kitchen, we decided it needed a lighting and electrical makeover.

Before, we had two lights. That's right, TWO. See, the yellow above. A ceiling light, which was pretty good size. And, a fluorescent light, below our upper cabinets/above our stove. I had a good chuckle after the post outlining everything that's wrong with our kitchen. Someone commented on how the fluorescent light should've been included. Which is so true -- it's hideous! I didn't even think about it, though, because it was such an essential part of the kitchen. When you only have two lights you just love them both! :)

The little orange boxes above are electrical outlets. That's right, only two of those also. And, one no where NEAR a "work" station, aka counter top. Let's just say that one little outlet on the far left has done it's duty and then some. Oh, and we're no where near up to code. There are actually two more outlets in the room -- one behind the fridge and one behind the stove, but I don't count those because I can't use them for other things.

Here's what our electrician has been busy working on. First, adding WAY more lighting! YAH! We opted to install four can lights to add tons more light to the space. A couple pendants over the (new!) island will add interest and task light and then a pendant over the sink will help us make sure the dishes actually get clean! ;) All the lights switches will be on dimmers, which will be sooooo nice.

We're also adding way more electrical outlets -- you know, so the house is up to code, which is something like every 12 (?) inches? I don't know, all I really care about is that my mixer and I won't be trapped in a dark corner anymore when I want to bake something! 

Want to see what lights we picked out? We spent a good chunk of Saturday out looking at lights. First, can anyone give me tips on how to pick out a can light? I have NO idea! And, my eyes started hurting from looking into so many lights! We did decide on pendants though and we stayed really close to my original mood board choices. And it only took one trip to Schoolhouse Electric .... shocking, I know ;). I know all their merchandise is online, but it's such a fun store to go in. All their fixtures are made to order and are mix and match with the shade. They make customizing incredibly easy, which made shopping super fun!

Above the island will be two of these pendants: the Union fixture, in polished chrome and this beautiful curvy Glass shade.

Above the sink will be this guy: a Satellite fixture, in polished chrome, with a Metal cage. LOVE.

I will probably say this about everything, but adding more lighting will probably make the biggest difference in the room. It was so dim before! It was even exciting to come home on friday night and have the can lights working -- it's making a huge difference already! So, have you guys ever designed a lighting plan? And, really, any advice on picking out can lights?! 

ps. My camera card read was making weird error messages this weekend! So, I'll be back Wednesday with the line-up of bloggers that attended last week's blogger summer social, and some tips on how to maybe plan one in your city! :)

{create} a blogger summer social

Kirsten and I hosted a Portland blogger summer social on Wednesday and I thought I'd share some photos!

Friends, I wish you all could've been there because the night was so much fun. Sixteen lovely local bloggers gathered at Seek the Unique, a fantastic store that features antiques, diy, reusing and refurbishing old furniture. The owner Andrea was not only gracious enough to let us host our event there, but she let us use anything we needed for the night! It was incredibly fun to "shop" the store for props :).

While Kirsten gathered up beautiful flowers, created menus and place cards (see below), I worked on sewing napkins and table runners.

We ate at a 16-foot farm table that was oozing with charm, and made all of our decor look that much more amazing. I want it for my house. Even though there's no way it would fit in my house - even if we had no walls! :)

The food was a work of art - seriously - created by Jamie of The Lamb's Table. Beautiful and so insanely delicious. I wish I'd taken more photos of the actual dinner -- I was way too busy eating and chatting though!

It's easy to tell by looking at the end-of-the-night table that a good time was had by all! 

Next week I'll be back with a quick profile of all the attendees. There was some serious talent in that room and I'd like to introduce you to them!

Until then, I hope you all have a great weekend! :)