A Ukrainian winter

Don't you just love a proper winter day?

February's usual doubts

We've gotten in the habit of going for a long bridge walk on the weekends. I'm still a very reluctant Portlander but these walks lessen that feeling for a few hours; it's hard to look at such a stunning backdrop and not be in awe of it. Downtown, with its nine bridges, is pretty cool.

We aren't super ambitious walkers (yet!) so our trip only crosses two bridges: the traffic-heavy, shaking Hawthorne Bridge and the newest, no-cars-allowed bridge of calmness. The sun was setting yesterday just as we started crossing the Hawthorne-

Finally getting around to Celsius

One useful thing I've never quite picked up is the Celsius mindset.

For most of life it was never a problem. Fahrenheit could take me anywhere (as long as anywhere meant the U.S., Belize, Palau, the Cayman Islands, or the Bahamas). But then I moved in with a Celsius thinker. Depending on which one of us was speaking, "it's 30° today!" could mean it was either pretty cold or pretty hot.

Pryaniki and pig fat

This weekend I'm going to visit a friend. When I asked her what to bring (a pizza?), she suggested some Ukrainian food instead. Love this idea! :)

Marie, if you read this- borsch was on the menu, but our borsch chef has fallen ill and suggested a replacement of pelmeni instead. The fun part was that this meant visiting one of Portland's Eastern European food stores.

The last big tea roundup

Every time we talk about tea on here, the tea collection has grown. It's been a guilty pleasure for a long time- not candles, not lotions, not lipsticks, just boxes and boxes of teas. But this really is going to be the last big tea roundup. Enjoy!

Favorite Winter Teas

Summer fun in Portland

These are the colors of January in Portland. Exciting, huh? ;)

But rewind 6 months and take a look at the Willamette River in August. Blue waters, clear skies, and- best of all- there was booze!

A Peace Corps Ukraine podruga (and author of this acclaimed potluck dish) flew into town for 2 days with her best friend. After an active Saturday- fun run in the morning, Kachka carousing in the evening- Sunday needed something more tranquil. Enter BrewBarge PDX: 1.5 hours of floating through downtown Portland.

7 highlights of Ukrainian winters

I love, love, love a snowy day and Ukraine was full of them. There was nothing better than waking up to a window obscured by white, even if that day was a long one of trekking around town to get from one student to the next.

Here are 7 things that I looked forward to every winter...