Local Feature: Urban Waxx

Before I left for Asia, I was invited to receive an eye brow wax at this local Portland spot, Urban Waxx. I loved the natural elements of this NW spa and felt at home in the inviting entry way and waiting area. The hostest was warm and asked if I wanted any beverages before my appointment – how sweet! One of my favorite interior details was the wooden carved canvas on the far right wall, natural plants in the glass bowl, and the “Urban Waxx” painted sign on the silver wired hanging wall. Before and after my appointment I walked around and looked at all the great products they sold at Urban Waxx. Some of my favorite brands and products were displayed: Butter London, Tweezerman, and Serious Serum. Check out their online store here.

I didn’t have to wait long and was brought into a private, inviting room by my newly acquainted esthetician, Michelle Shware (check out more of Urban Waxx’s staff here). Michelle was professional, easy going and made me feel totally comfortable before, during and after my eyebrow wax. Michelle was thorough and gave me great tips on how to up keep my eyebrows in between waxes. If you are new to the Portland area or if you need a new waxer check out this popular Portland favorite wax spot. Remember – book in advance or online here! They do accept walk-ins but this popular and well kept wax spot gets booked up pretty quickly. If the NW location is not convenient for you, check out their other locations here or below. Need to add a bikini wax to your order? No problem – check out their full menu here. I hope you have an awesome first experience like I did. Check out Urban Waxx for your next appointment!

Urban Waxx: Northwest Location
1036 Northwest 18th Avenue
Portland, OR 97209
number: (503) 219-9299
e-mail: northwest@urbanwaxx.com

Urban Waxx: Tanasbourne
2368 Northwest Amberbrook Drive
Beaverton, OR 97006
(503) 372-9505
e-mail: tanasbourne@urbanwaxx.com

Urban Waxx: Division
3103 SE Division St.
Portland, OR 97202
(503) 342-7028
e-mail: division@urbanwaxx.com

Food Cart: The Whole Bowl

The Whole Bowl

Hello everyone, meet Tim, the man who operates The Whole Bowl food cart, located in the heart of NW Portland’s Pearl District. Every week day, The Whole Bowl is open from 11:30 am – 2:30 pm (rain or shine). Tim usually knows his regulars’ orders (including mine: big bowl with no cilantro), but welcomes new ones with open arms. If you’ve never experienced the food cart culture in Portland, OR you will soon find out that food carts are placed all over this city. Step onto 1100 NW and Glisan and you will find a long line of people craving this 10 year old establishment. See what people are waiting for and look inside one of these delicious Whole Bowls.

What is in a Whole Bowl

Ingredients:

• brown rice
• black and red beans
• sour cream
• black olives
• avocado
• cilantro
• tali sauce (named after the founder and owner, Tali Ovadia)
• cheddar cheese
• salsa
• hot sauce

So what exactly is “Tali Sauce?”

Tali Sauce is The Whole Bowl’s secret weapon. Referred to by many as “crack sauce”, this lemony-garlicky blend has been building local addictions in the Pearl, Downtown and at the new Hawthorne location, for more than ten years. Sauce devotees have been known to experience a prolonged sense of well-being and tremendous relaxation upon consumption. – The Whole Bowl

Everything you see above is of course “optional.” You also can make it vegan by eliminating the sour cream and cheese, and of course it’s already vegetarian. See what one of these Whole Bowls look like!

The Whole Bowl

Yumm right? Check out the delicious and simple menu below..

The Whole Bowl prices

• Big Bowl (16 oz) – $5.50
• Bambino Bowl (12 oz) – $5.00
• Tortilla Chips – $1.00 (great for dipping)
• Soda + Water – $1.00

Note: cash and checks only. Luckily your bank’s ATM is probably around the corner

Around 95 Whole Bowls are made and sold daily from this NW location. The Whole Bowl also does local catering events and concerts in the summer time. Contact them here or visit your local Whole Bowl for more information.

pots of brown rice!

Brown rice – the base of a Whole Bowl.

Adding red and black beans

Then add the protein, red and black beans!

whole bowl ingredients

Add your additional mix-ins!

adding the mix-ins

The end result – The Whole Bowl

Ta-DA! The end result. The Whole Bowl.

The Whole Bowl skinny (click to enlarge)

Ok fashionistas, need to know the exact calorie count in one of these bowls? Click on the image above to enlarge.

The Whole Bowl gift card and locations

I love having the option to buy gift cards at local businesses because it encourages people to “buy local.” If you have a friend that lives or works close to The Whole Bowl, why not surprise them with a gift card? On the back of the gift card it tells you where you can redeem your gift!

hot sauce selection

I don’t know about you, but my Whole Bowl is not complete without adding some hot sauce. Yumm.

The Whole Bowl logo

Thanks for checking out my feature on The Whole Bowl! I was really excited to share it with you because it is one of my favorite lunch spots and I also think it does a good job representing Portland. Tim was really informative and works hard to make sure he is serving quality ingredients to his customers. If the NW Pearl location isn’t convenient for you, check out the other two locations here. If you don’t live in Portland, I hope when you do visit, you keep The Whole Bowl in mind.

Why I like it?

I think it’s a good representation of Portland. It’s local and every bowl is consistent; using healthy/quality ingredients.

The Whole Bowl has a website, but besides that they aren’t on social media networks yet. I’ll update my page once they have additional links. Check out their website for more information.

Website: The Whole Bowl

Hours: varies on location
The Bowl in the Pearl: 11:00 am – 2:30 pm
Downtown PDX Bowl: 11:00 am – 3:00 pm
The Super Bowl: M-F 11:30 am – 7:00 pm & Sunday: 11:30 am – 5:00 pm

Price: $

Local Tea Shop: Tea Chai Té

Tea Chai Té – 7983 SE 13th Ave – Portland, OR

In the gloomy days of Portland’s winter nothing could be better than finding an escape from the rain and dreary weather. It may be the gym for some, the salon for others, but for me, it’s between the walls of Tea Chai Té. This red caboose (yes- it’s a caboose) is located in the middle of the jazzy Southeast Portland neighborhood Sellwood. Stop in for a great conversation, a study table, or just to be by yourself for a moment. Tea Chai Té will fit your mold.  You say you’re not a tea person? Well think again-I guarantee you can find some type that satisfies your taste buds with their massive selection and mixtures of green, chai, black, yerba mate, bobba and the list goes on. I personally picked the Coconut Chai made with soy milk (and with no extra charge!)  and was completely satisfied. Don’t be afraid to ask the front tea-ista (Baristaà Tea-ista?) for the fan favorites, they are very friendly and knowledgeable to help out the inexperienced tea drinker. So I dare you. On your next coffee date out, try tea. You won’t regret it.

Entrance to the Tea Chai Té caboose

The entrance of Tea Chai Té is inviting and homey. I didn’t really know what to expect until I walked in their front door.

owl tea cups

Once you step inside  you are automatically bombarded with awesome art made by local artists, unique tea ware and an impressive collection and selection of different teas on the right side of the wall.

Take a look atTea Chai Té’s impressive tea collection!

Tea Chai Te’s 120 variety of different teas

order at the front counter

Tea Chai Té’s front counter displays their dynamic menu of house brewed kombucha, soup du jour and their wide selection of teas.

Tea Chai Te’s mason jar hanging lights

I loved all the elements of this tea shop. Everything in this caboose is filled with hand selected/odd/cool tea ware and beautifully crafted mason jar hanging lights.

unique tea cups

After looking for several minutes at the menu, we (Tedi and Ali) decided to go with the recommended coconut chai tea with soy (remember, no extra charge!). It was amazing.

recommended coconut chai tea w/ soy

Tea Chai Té’s atmosphere carried all the way to our order. The mismatched tea cups and awesome tea pot felt consistent with the ambiance of this little tea shop.

Tea Chai Te’s punch card

I don’t know about you, but I love punch cards. Even though I probably will misplace them or may never fill them up completely, but I think it is an awesome idea to get costumers to come back. The illustrations on this punch card are also adorable! Step into Tea Chai Té’s red caboose and try it out. Cheers!

facebook.com/TeaChaiTe
twitter.com/teachaite
Tea Chai Té’s online tea shop click here
Price: $

Tangerine Tote Contributor: Ali Sakai

Store Review: Appetite

appetite (shop + studio) – 2136 e. burnside, portland, OR 97214

Talk about gems!  This local boutique, Appetite, was a perfect find on a Saturday afternoon. As soon as I walked in I noticed the hand selected vintage pieces and handprinted + handcrafted beautifully designed interior goods. Appetite was founded by two sisters, Erin and Megan. They cut, sew and print each individual piece in their studio which is conveniently located in the back of their shop. Erin and Megan were so nice to talk to and I was able to take pictures of Erin actually screen printing on the fabric. It was amazing! Take a look.

meet the owners! Appetite’s sister duo: Megan + Erin

Appetite’s cute and homey decor is shown around the shop. It feels like every item was handled with love and care. All the items are beautifully placed around the store.

Appetite screen printed feathers on canvas

If you are unable to visit this adorable store in Portland, OR you can visit Appetite’s online Etsy store here and order what you see here directly from their site!

Appetite’s handprinted dish towels

Appetite’s selection of Pendleton small leather goods

appetite hand printed pillow cases

Appetite hand printed circle scarf

Appetite’s mini plants

Appetite’s vintage display

Appetite’s goods are displayed in the front half of the store. The other half is where all the design, sewing, production and screen printing happens. Check out their cute studio!

Appetite’s personal printing studio

I was so happy I got to snap some shots of the artist, Erin, doing what she loves most. Look at these awesome patterns she’s creating. I love the two contrasting colors of the dark and light blues.

Erin’s handcrafted printing

close up – shell print

Appetite’s assorted printed fabrics

I loved all the handcrafted fabrics. It was great seeing the original textiles before they were sewn into beautiful pillow cases, table clothes, duvet covers and napkins (to name a few).

Appetite’s mascot: beetle

Meet Beetle, Appetite’s adorable pup. Beetle loves to roam around the store and meet+greet customers.

Appetite Plants

outside Appetite

What a fabulous shop! I really enjoyed talking to Erin and Megan about Appetite, they were so nice and excited about their business and their products. If you get the chance to visit, please do! Appetite also has a blog, Facebook and Twitter. Check out their social media pages for updates! I hope you enjoyed your personal tour of Appetite! xx

facebook.com/Appetite
twitter.com/Appetitemade
etsy.com/shop/appetite
Address: 2136 East Burnside, Portland, OR 97214
Price: $$ – $$$

Local Restaurants and Boutique Reviews by Tangerine Tote

via Tangerine Tote’s Polyvore

I am still defining exactly what I am going to talk about in Tangerine Tote, but I know four topics for sure: DIY, Pretty Things, Travel (photo diaries) & Beauty+Fashion. I am going to add one more topic to the mix: Reviews on Local Businesses. I am going to start incorporating my personal reviews on local stores and cafes/restaurants the 20-something-year-old (but not limited to) needs to see. It’s great to capture a local boutique or cafe through my lens. Let the local shopping/eating hunt begin! Portland, OR will be my first city and we’ll see what happens after that. I did a short review on the Parisian Cafe, Nuvrei and I have more to share with you this week. Stay tuned to be wowed by these local businesses. My goal is to get the word out about these awesome hidden, PDX gems and start collaborating with local business owners. Please visit my “ABOUT” section for Tangerine Tote inquiries. Cheers. xx