Author Archives: Marcia Ren

🫖A cozy Autumn Harvest Tea…🍂Part One: Setting the Scene🍂

At the beginning of this year, I set a goal for myself to host a fundraiser in my home, and I am beyond excited to share that next week, I’ll be hosting a harvest tea for my P.E.O. chapter right here where I live! It’s something I’ve been looking forward to, and it feels so rewarding to see it all coming together. In this first post of a two-part series, I want to take you through my process of setting the scene for the tea using only the fall decor I already had on hand… without purchasing a single new … Read the full blog post

Posted in Garden/Tea Time | Tagged , | 1 Comment

A Summer of Theatre: Embracing Music, Growth, and Community🥰

As the curtain closes on our final performance, I’m reminded that every note played and every hour spent was a step towards something extraordinary… 🩷Marcia This Summer has been an extraordinary journey as I immersed myself in the world of local theater, serving as one of the pianist. It all began in February, when I tentatively dusted off my pianos skills and joined the practice sessions that would continue every week until our first performance on memorial day weekend. From that point on, our rehearsals continued weekly, and our performances lit up every weekend, sometimes even twice a weekend. Initially, … Read the full blog post

Posted in Coastal Living | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Dressing Up for the Stage…A Summer of Fashion🥰

Dressing up for the stage is all about the fun of transforming into someone new with every outfit -Marcia💗 This summer has been nothing short of magical, filled with music, laughter, and of course, a fabulous array of outfits that made every weekend feel like a celebration. From Memorial Day weekend to Labor Day, I had the privilege of being one of the performers at the SawDusters theater, and one of the most delightful parts of this experience was coming up with new outfits to wear for each performance. It felt like I was heading to a party every weekend, … Read the full blog post

Posted in My Style | Tagged , | 5 Comments

A Delicious Discovery: Spicy Mediterranean Pasta with Impossible Burger🍔

When simple pantry staples come together, magic happens in the kitchen… Marcia 💗 Sometimes, inspiration strikes in the simplest ways. The other day, I found myself staring at ingredients from my pantry: pasta, black olives, stewed tomatoes, a can of chili beans and a package of impossible burger meat. I wasn’t quite sure what to do with them so I turned to Google for some guidance I typed in “what to make with these five ingredients, pasta, olives, diced tomatoes, chili beans, and impossible plant based meat,” hoping for a spark of culinary creativity. What I found turned out to … Read the full blog post

Posted in Cooking | Tagged | 4 Comments

A Quick Note and Apology🥰

Dear Readers, I wanted to take a moment to address something unexpected that may have come to your attention recently. As my website has been undergoing some much needed updates by the web designer, 285 posts that date back to my time living in California were accidentally republished. These posts meant to be unpublished as part of the cleanup process, but instead, they went out to all my subscribers. Initially, I thought it might be best to remove those older post as part of a refresh, but this incident has made me reconsider. Perhaps it’s worth keeping them, as they … Read the full blog post

Posted in Uncategorized | 8 Comments

A Day of Self-Care and Discovery

Taking a self-care day to spend time doing what you love is not just a luxury…it’s a vital investment in your well-being & a chance to reconnect with yourself. Marcia💗 There’s something magical about having a day all to myself, a day to explore, indulge, and simply be. My little adventure, which I fondly call my self-care day, recently started with a visit to a new coffee shop I’d heard about. I’d driven by this place countless times but never stopped. This time, I decided to give it a try. The café’s aromatic allure drew me in, and I chose … Read the full blog post

Posted in Coastal Living | Tagged | 4 Comments

My Energizing Morning Routine: A day in the Life on the Oregon Coast

Hello, dear readers! I often get questions about how I start my day, so I thought it would be fun to share my morning routine with you. Living along the beautiful Oregon coast, I’ve found a routine that helps me feel energized, focused, and ready to tackle the day. However, my routine can vary depending on the season, especially during midsummer when I have rehearsals and performances at the local theater. Here’s a glimpse into how my mornings unfold during this busy season. 6:00 – 6:30 AM: Wake Up and Coffee I usually wake up naturally between 6:00 and 6:30 … Read the full blog post

Posted in Coastal Living | 3 Comments

A Delightful Summer Treat: Strawberry Pretzel Dessert🍮

Baking is the delightful pleasure of transforming simple ingredients into a symphony of flavors, a soothing rhythm that brings warmth and joy to the heart and home… Hello everyone! This week, I wanted to share a delightful summer recipe that I recently tried, thanks to a friend I met at my P.E.O. meeting. This treat turned out to be so delicious that I had to make it myself. It’s an old recipe that’s been enjoyed for years, and you might have tried it before. However, it was new to me, and I absolutely loved it. Aside from diving into this … Read the full blog post

Posted in What’s Cooking? | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Anastasia’s Great Escape

The humor of owning a cat is perfectly encapsulated when they vanish for hours, leaving you to worry and search, only to have them reappear out of nowhere with a look that says, “what I was here the whole time.” In the early months of the 2020 pandemic lockdown, Anastasia entered our lives. She’s a stunning Siamese snowshoe cat who’s been an indoor-only kitty for the four years since she joined our family. On August 1st, we’ll be celebrating her fourth year with us. I adopted Anastasia from a shelter when she was just an eight-week-old kitten. She had been … Read the full blog post

Posted in Coastal Living | Tagged , | 5 Comments

A Week of Quiet Joys🌷

Each day holds simple pleasures…a bloom in the garden, a shared meal, a moment of laughter…that remind us of the quiet joys that make life truly beautiful.💗 – Marcia This week has been one of those weeks that quietly filled me with gratitude and warmth. Simple pleasures and cherished moments took center stage, and I found myself basking in the joy of community and nature. One of the highlights was our PEO chapter’s initiation of a new member. We gathered for a potluck social, and it was heartwarming to share delicious food and laughter with such wonderful friends while welcoming … Read the full blog post

Posted in Coastal Living | Tagged | 2 Comments