Five Things for Friday

Monday it rained as I rode my bike home from work.  Tuesday it rained as I rode into work.  Wednesday it rained coming to and going from work.  Wednesday afternoon I asked to work from home on Thursday and take Friday off.  It's been one of those weeks.  So, keeping that in mind, this week's five things are centered around vacations, sun, and time off.

Ah, doesn't that photo make me you feel better?

Did you know Google can help you plan your next vacation?  Of course you did.  But this little trick is different.  Pull out your favorite mobile device (it only works on mobile devices), type in the search bar your dream destination, then type "vacation" after it (without the quotes).  What pops up will show you information on your dream location.  Scroll down to where it says "Istanbul travel guide" (naturally,  Istanbul will be replaced with whatever you typed in) and click the down arrow.  Now you should see two tabs, "Explore" and "Plan a Trip".  Pretty self-explanatory and kind of fun to play with when you're in the mood to dream.

I keep thinking one of these days I need to do a post on places to visit when visiting Portland, Oregon.  I've been keeping a mental list and one day I'll get around to putting it on the blog.  Until then, one of my favorite places to go when I'm planning  dreaming of a vacation (okay, I'll stop with the strikeover) is Popina Swimwear.  They specialize in retro-ish swimsuits.  Their website doesn't do their suits justice so you must visit one of the stores.  All their suits are locally designed and made in Portland.  When they first opened, 10 years ago, the shop on NE 42 Ave (now since moved to the Hollywood district in Portland) actually had the seamstress on site making the suits. My last swimsuit was this one in red.



Because I know (hope...) the sun will come out again and it will be warm, I've been in the planning stages of a new deck this week.  Here's what I'm starting with and I'll be sure to post pictures when it's finished but for now, know that it won't be quite as spectacular as this or this but it will be good enough to stretch out on in the sun with a good book and cold drink.

I'm not in the market for new patio furniture however, these chairs are pretty nice and would make for a comfortable day lounging on the new deck.  Wow, wouldn't a pair of these chairs be awesome too!

What's summer without a summer cocktail?  In the winter, I tend to drink dark beers, preferably stouts.  Come summer though, I prefer a cocktail, usually a gin and tonic.  This summer, I think I'm going to make Pimm's cup my summer cocktail!  I think this is the recipe  I'll try.

Well enough warm weather dreaming and back to winter.  Enjoy your weekend!