Three Frugal Things -- Cool Waters & a Stunning Library!
1) My husband and I drove out to the Sugarpine Drive-In restaurant and splurged on an indulgent lunch with a shared dessert.
One of the fortunate things about this restaurant is that it's short walk down to the Sandy River, which makes it the perfect spot to cool down on a hot summer's day.
Note that I'm wearing my Goodwill bins plastic Birkenstocks, which were a satisfying clean-em-up project. Perhaps my 50¢ sandals balance out the pricey lunch?
Either way, we got to enjoy a relaxing afternoon without paying to vacation away from home.
That water was perfectly cool without being numbingly cold, a rarity in Oregon where a lot of the rivers are snowmelt.
2) We then stopped at Multnomah County's newly built Gresham library, which had been on my bucket list! Stunningly gorgeous, she's a beaut!
They even have an underground parking structure, which is an issue with many other branches.
I walked out with Lisa See's Daughters of the Sun and Moon, which had been on my "hold" list. Indeed a "Lucky Day."
3) I'd finished the tap water from home, but the library had a free filling station. I spent my high school years significantly dehydrated and am now making up for it. (I went to a performing arts high school with three daily hours of dance classes and no water bottles. My lips were always so uncomfortably chapped.)
I love water! You can read about that in my "Love Letter to Tap Water" HERE!
Now your turn, what frugal things have you been up to?
Katy Wolk-Stanley
"Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without."
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Sugar Pine + Sandy make for a wonderful afternoon! My sis lives in Cully, and during my annual summer visit, we make a day of it just as you did. Those sundaes are legit!
Since you are my seasonal alarm to pick blackberries, I dutifully went out on Sunday to my favorite picking spot here in Sonoma County, CA. I think the PNW season must be a bit ahead of ours, as many of the berries were still red or not easily removed from their vines, which is a signal of unripeness. I'd say they need about another 10 days. I did, however, get about a cup and a half worth of ripe berries and am planning on serving them over some Tillamook old-fashioned vanilla ice cream for dessert tonight. The berries are frugal, but the Tillamook is not. $7.99/container down here. But we never keep ice cream in the house, so it will be a welcome treat on this hot day.
Thanks for the endless inspiration. 🙂
After eight hours, my power came back on yesterday, just in time to go to bed. This morning I researched what foods I should throw out, and I decided to err on the side of caution. I have some digestion issues and I don't need to take chances.
I'm throwing away milk, eggs, meatballs in marinara, peas, celery, salad dressing, mayo, cream cheese, and bacon bits. All the food in the freezer is okay. All in all this is not too bad of a loss.
My original plan this week was to refrain from grocery shopping until Saturday, and I think I can still do that. My grocery budget for July is shot. However my eating-out budget has plenty of room, so if need be I can dip into that.
The storm cooled things down. I've been hanging around home without turning on the air. Reading and watching TV.
I used my portable charger for the first time to keep my phone charged. The amazing thing is that the charger itself was charged! I did have a bit of a challenge finding it, and the cord.
The power outage from this storm was very widespread, and there are still a lot of people without power, so even though it was stressful, I was pretty lucky.
The new library is stunning! I'm especially impressed with the auditorium, something our town's library lacks. I went to their website and checked out the amenities. You indeed have a gorgeous library.