PNW Adventure ~ Cape Perpetua (Yachats, OR)

PacThis weekend I visited the Oregon coast with one of my friends that has a beach house in a town just south of Newport, OR. Although the drive is far from Portland, it’s close to a boatload of beautiful places to look at. In my opinion, there are more interesting spots to visit than anything on the northern Oregon coast. The weather was surprisingly wonderful during this afternoon, thus making all the photos a thousand times better.

This first photo is from the top of the Cape Perpetua hike, located in Yachats (30 min. south of Newport). However, we are cheaters and drove to the top rather that braving the hike. The incredible part is- this was taken on an iPhone.

This is also near the top of the hiking trail (taken with Nikon D3300):

The rest of these photos were also taken on my DSLR in the lower part of Cape Perpetua. I was thrilled with the photos of crashing waves I captured. I highly recommend Cape Perpetua as one of the coolest and most fun beach locations I’ve ever been to.

Processed with VSCO with g3 preset

Let me know where your favorite beaches are and if you’ve been to Newport / Cape Perpetua! I can’t wait to share more PNW adventures with you all!

Please click on the title of this post to take you directly to its URL. From there, use the share buttons below this post to share with your followers on social media!

From, The PNW

Kendra

What to Pack For the Beach… In the PNW

As much as I adore the warm, beautiful sandy Hawaiian beaches, that is a very rare experience. I live in the reality of a beach that almost never reaches 80º even if it’s a hot sunny day in Portland. It is the middle of July, and I’m headed to a cloudy 65º beach. Here’s a list of things you need to bring to the PNW coast in the summer– because winter is a whole other story.

Clothing

• Lots of leggings and/or jeans
• A sweatshirt of some sort
• Athletic shorts & T-Shirts
• Mud shoes / hiking shoes
• Sandals/Flip-flops
• Swimsuit (if you’re brave, which I am not)
• Probably a rain jacket because you never know with Oregon
• Hat

Moral of the story with clothing: LAYER

Everything Else

• Water bottle (review on Hydro Flask coming soon)
• Camera (your phone will work)
• Backpack or tote bag depending on activities
• Toiletries, chargers, all those obvious essentials
• Hair ties to endure the wind
• Beach activities – kites, frisbees, a football- any of that stuff you like. I sometimes bring my lacrosse stick

This is just a list of my usual things to bring, it could vary from person to person and what you like to do on the coast. Let me know below if you have other beach essentials!

Please click the title of this post to go directly to the page it’s on and use the buttons at the bottom of the post to share with your social media followers!

From, The PNW

Kendra

PNW Adventure ~ Rowena Crest & Oneonta Gorge

I’m very pleased with a new series I’m starting that will cover my adventures in Oregon and the Pacific Northwest from today on. I love to see viewpoints all over and would love to share them with anyone, but especially any PNW readers.

Yesterday, July 11, 2016, I adventured to Rowena Crest and Oneonta Gorge. I have been to Oneonta Gorge once before and let me tell you- it is a unique hike -I’ve never been on anything like it. I wouldn’t necessarily call it a hike because it’s very short, but it’s surrounded by the multitude of Columbia Gorge hikes. Here are a couple photos from yesterday (the weather was not great, but what can you expect of Oregon?)

The thing that makes this hike so unique is that fact that yes; you must walk through the river to reach the waterfall. And this water runs from the mountain so it is cold. Like so cold that at the point where water was up to my chest, I felt my body going into shock and being short of breath cold. Not to mention, I brought a giant backpack with all my camera gear that could have all been destroyed with the slip of a shoe. So as mentioned, the water can get as deep as your chest at certain times of year.

The other interesting part of Oneonta Gorge is that you must also climb a log jam to reach the falls. I wish I had remembered to photograph that part, but it’s a huge pile of slippery logs up to 10 feet off the ground in some spots that has no way under or around. I’ve seen people try to bring their dogs and toddlers here, which I don’t recommend. It’s hard enough to keep your own head above water.

In the photo on the left, you can see how wide the area is that you walk through to reach the waterfall. It’s not too small, but it’s beautiful when the sun shines through. Oneonta Gorge is only 50-60 minutes east of Portland.

We also made our first visit to Rowena Crest. I had never driven that far east on I-84 and we reached a more desert looking area (although it was still in the gorge, so it wasn’t that dry). This is not a hike although there are trails that branch off from there including McCall Point. Here are the photos from Rowena:

The very reason we came here is for the infamous loop in the road. In fact, if you search this location on Instagram nearly all the photos include this loop. To get to the top, you must drive up this and several other steep, winding roads. The weather cooperated well while we were here, but I would love to see this at sunrise or golden hour.

Rowena Crest is another 30-45 minutes from Oneonta Gorge / ~90 minutes from Portland. It’s a drive, but a scenic one that was worth it. And hey, there’s no work involved in hiking this one.

Please click the title of this post to get to the direct page and use the sharing features below this post! Share with your adventurous friends and family. Also leave a comment letting me know what your favorite hikes & viewpoints are, whether they’re in the PNW or not.

From, The PNW

Kendra

How I Make Extra Money

We probably all have a million pieces in our closet that we haven’t worn in years, wore once and didn’t like anymore, or just are out of style. I came across an app called Poshmark where users can sell their new or used clothes to other’s shopping. I joined about two months ago and have had decent success.

Selling on Poshmark

I used to sell clothes I didn’t want anymore on eBay, but I never quite reached the price I wanted it to sell for. Rather than people bidding on your items and hoping it gets high, you can set the price on Poshmark. It seems to be a safe app. The buyer purchases the item and the seller sends it out. The money you make will be pending in your account until the buyer receives and accepts the item or 3 days after it was delivered (the buyer and seller both have access to the shipment tracking number). If the item never arrives or isn’t as described, the buyer can dispute it. I haven’t had to use this feature yet so I don’t have information on it.

You can shop my closet too! My username is kendrawerstlein or you can click here to shop.

Pros:

• Easy to use
• You choose how much you want to advertise your items
• Free to join & post
• Items are listed as long as you keep them up / listings don’t expire
• Shipping your items is made easy and free for the seller

Cons:

• Fees are a flat $2.95 for all orders under $15 and 20% for anything above
• It’s hard to sell clothes that are not popular brands
• Hard to resist buying others’ clothes (if you’re one to shop around and look)
• Payment takes a while to arrive after selling

I really thought I had found the holy grail of apps to sell clothes on when I listed my first few items and I sold a pair of shorts within 10 minutes of signing up. After that I had a drought for 3-4 weeks and was disappointed. I religiously checked the app to share my items to my feed and to parties. The app hosts 3 “parties” a day at certain times. 2 of them are usually specific to certain brands or types of items such as swimwear or shoes, and one lets you share anything in your closet. This is the best way to gain visibility and followers when users shop through the parties.

My tips for how to sell items:

Items should be modeled if possible in good lighting – I have struggled to keep up with this when I want to list several items at a time. I have about 50 listings in my closet and I don’t usually take the time to model well and during the day. Many of my photos are taken in the dark with flash in a mirror, which I absolutely do not recommend. As a buyer on Poshmark, I would not want to buy someone’s items that have photos like mine.

Interact with other users by sharing and liking their items – Once in a while I go through parties and click on profiles of people with items that I’m interested in, even if I know I won’t buy anything. I share their items with my followers in hopes that they will return the favor or look into my closet when they see my activity in their notifications.

Continuously share your own items – You can share to your followers or to a party. Either way, it will show up in a feed somewhere for it to gain visibility. People will “like” the item and it’s saved under a bookmark where they can go back and see all of their liked items for possible future purchase. If you just let items sit in your closet without sharing them, they only way people will see them is if they search for that item specifically.

Liked Items Screen

Items Purchased Screen

Buying on Poshmark

I have only purchased one item from Poshmark as the goal for me is to downsize my closet rather than adding to it. That, and it scares me a little to know that I have, still, a very small chance of getting scammed and having to go through the trouble of disputing it. The item I purchased took about a week to ship, so I recommend looking at the seller’s average ship time before buying from them. Still, I was very satisfied with the purchase and everything after that went smoothly.

I highly recommend this app if you need the extra cash and have stuff that would otherwise end up at Goodwill! Leave comments below or email me with questions. If you are on Poshmark leave a comment letting me know your username and I’ll check it out!

From, The PNW

Kendra

 

My Everyday Makeup Products

As a 6th grader, I decided that I was a YouTube beauty guru. I started a channel and posted over 100 videos about beauty and fashion. 12-year-old me thought I was the coolest, until I realized how embarrassing the videos were. They have since been deleted, but in the 5 years following I’ve learned a little something more about makeup. These are the products I’ve used daily for over a year*

1. *Covergirl BB Cream – this is the one product I haven’t used for very long. I’ve  been using it for the past month and it seems to be a great light coverage BB cream for summer. It has SPF 21, so I’ll be using this throughout the summer and on my recent trip to Oahu, Hawaii (it was wonderful for Hawaii).
2. NYC Sunny Bronzer – I used to use this as a typical contouring bronzer, but it’s not very dark at all. I use it as my all over face powder now and it adds a great tan color that’s not shimmery.
3. Maybelline Fit Me Concealer – I’ve used this for around 4 years now. The range of colors is pretty decent. It has great coverage and isn’t too expensive. I recommend buying drugstore products at Target because they are typically a little cheaper.
4. Urban Decay Naked & Naked Basics Palettes – I adore these palettes. In the future, I may do a tutorial using them. There’s a wide range of pigmented shadows from highlight shades to black.
5. Clinique Lash Doubling Mascara – This one that has been my staple mascara for at least 3 years. It’s on the pricey side (around $16) but it does the job well.
6. Maybelline Line Stiletto Liquid Eyeliner – To be honest, this eyeliner isn’t that great. It gets the job done and is easy to use for thin or thick lines which I adore. However, it does not last long at all. I have yet to find one as easy to use as this that lasts longer (any recommendations would be much appreciated)!
7. Sigma Brow Powder – I’ve recently started using makeup on my eyebrows. Mine are already pretty thick, so I just run this through with an eyebrow/eyeliner brush lightly to fill in the front sections. It’s a perfect color for me!

 

I would love to know some of your favorite products or what you think of any of mine if you’ve tried them! Leave a comment below letting me know 🙂 Also click the title to go directly to this post, then share on social media if this was interesting or helpful!

From, The PNW

Kendra

Welcome

I would like to welcome all of my current non-existant readers to my blog. I’m looking forward to meeting you all when the time comes and I gain traffic here to let everyone in on my life, tips, and experiences. The main topics on this blog I anticipate writing about are the following:

• Favorite parts about and places in Portland, Oregon, and the Pacific Northwest in general
• Beauty and fashion in the form of reviews, hauls, and favorite items
• A huge part I want to include in my blog is my transition through senior year of high school into college in regards to dealing with change, how to have the best last year of high school, what to buy for college, and much more along these lines
• Travel diaries where I will document any vacations / travels I go on
• Much more with my lifestyle and tips. Any requests will be taken into consideration just let me know via comments, email, or social media

Here’s a short run down of who I am.

My name is Kendra and I’m a 17-year-old from Portland, Oregon. As I’m writing this post, I’m in the summer before my senior year of high school. I have a love for writing and photography; this is the reason I started a blog in the first place. I have an addiction to watching YouTube videos about transitioning to college / college life so that is also where my inspiration comes from. I’d love and appreciate for you all to share my journey and subscribe to my blog via email!

Also please share this by clicking on the title of this post and using the share buttons at the bottom. Very excited to begin this!