CherryMangoSays...

Last weekend, we went to a park in Beaverton. It was called Commonwealth Lake Park. The lake, apparently was manmade, wasn't very big but it was very peaceful and calming. We walked around the lake and saw a lot of wildlife there - birds, geese, ducklings, and squirrels. Duke seemed excited to be at this park. It was our first time here and it's only about 20 minutes drive from home.  About halfway into circling around the park, W and I talked about how the lake reminded us of Windsor Lake, the lake that was behind our house in Colorado. Windsor Lake was bigger, but the vibe was very similar. The park was not heavily trafficked, though almost everywhere we looked, there were 1 or 2 people. There were a few groups of family gatherings, maybe birthday parties. There were people walking along with their doggos and small groups of friends sitting and chatting by the lake. We also saw several 2-3 people groups fishing (with success). People walked, laughed, and chatted without masks...

It has been a dream of mine to bring Beibei, Lulu, and Duke out on walks together. We were gifted with a pet stroller but it's not big enough for both Beibei and Lulu to fit in. Beibei loves the stroller and almost always runs to it when she sees us putting a harness on Duke before heading out - it's her way of saying she wanna join us. Lulu has a harness but she doesn't enjoy walking in it. Meanwhile, I saw too many backpack carriers videos/pictures on Instagram and began researching one for Lulu. 😺 In the end, I got one from Amazon. It was well packaged and easy to get set up.   I have to say - Lulu looks like an astronaut kitty when she takes a peek from the dome 😂  While still searching for a backpack carrier, aside from having to have many holes for ventilation, there were two features I looked for specifically. One was that it had to be expandable because I knew both Lulu and Beibei enjoy spacious carriers. The other was a side entrance for easy access. This model h...

Summer solstice started on June 21 this year and it's not summer if there's no grilling! We had our first summer grill during the 4-day Independence Weekend. We actually had our first grill on the 3rd. I had hoped for an earlier start of the grilling season but it had been too hot for the week before. It was super hot for days!! In fact, there was a heat wave that resulted in the most record-breaking highest temperature Oregon (pretty much the entire West Coast) had since historical records began in 1940. Portland saw a high of 116° F (46.7° C). Beaverton had a high of 115° F (46.1° C), not much difference there. There was news on people cooking eggs on cast iron placed on the ground on the hottest day during the heat wave (and yes those eggs were cooked)! For about a week leading up to the Independence Weekend, we didn't walk Duke in the neighborhood because it was just too hot. We walked him only after the sun had gone down. Many of my flowers in the yard died before the...

Game night's back! It's been morrrrrrre than a year since I last had a game night with people in-person! Due to COVID, we played board games and video games with friends online. Last weekend was the first time we actually played anything outside of our home in over a year! One of W's coworkers and his wife were gracious to host a game night at their beautiful home. It was a small group gathering and everyone had already been fully vaccinated. It was very nice to be able to have a social gathering in-person. We enjoyed the evening with a long round of Transforming Mars!   For the evening, we brought homemade cookies (white chocolate and macadamia) and nutella-filled croissants. Coincidentally, almost everyone brought dessert or salad. No one brought any main dish! Some people joked it's either all unhealthy or all healthy! 😂    One of the guests brought a box of famous Blue Star Donuts. Pardon my photography skills....but that donut was pretty tasty. It wasn't overl...

Last night, I did a mini makeover project on our accent table in the living room. It's something I got inspired by W's coworker's house. Our accent table was all white. Like, seriously, ALL WHITE. Like I mentioned in the previous post ( end table makeover ), I wanted to add some colors. After a few hours (yes, that's right) of surfing on Amazon and Etsy, I went with a set of 10 ceramic knobs. I didn't need that many, but it was cheaper to get a set rather than ordering one by one. In this post, I share how two knobs can change the overall look of an all-white accent table. I'm also positive I'll find use for other knobs! What I love about this set is each knob is unique. All of them are different yet they all go well together. The knobs, like Amazon reviewers had mentioned, had long screws. This means unless it's secured to a thick surface, the screw will show on the other side of the drawer/surface. The picture above shows what I mean by a "long sc...