Holiday Food Drive At Urban Nest

Urban Nest is proud to be working with Oregon Food Bank by running a Food Drive, and we encourage our friends and neighbors to join us in helping relieve the pressure this holiday season. A staggering number of people go hungry every day in Oregon, and those who will benefit from your donations include children, veterans, families, the elderly, and many others from all walks of life who have hit hard times and are struggling to make ends meet. Recent cuts in benefits will affect the304,000 kids and the 159,000 elderly and disabledwho rely on this service to get by, and with 1 in 5 people dependent on food stamps in Oregon, it makes us one of the hardest hit states.
This is where we can help. 

What a great opportunity to go through your pantry and find happy homes for items you may no longer want or need. A collection barrel will be located at each of our office locations - 233 NE 28th Ave., and 3041 N. Williams Ave. - and you can stop by for a visit and donate your non-perishable items any time from 9-5 on a weekday. The collection will run Monday, Nov 25th through to Friday, Dec 20th, when we’ll be dropping everything off at Oregon Food Bank. Items in high demand include, but are not limited to, canned fish, fruit, and beans, peanut butter and other breakfast spreads, boxed meals, pasta, rice, cereals, shelf-stable milk products, oils, and juice. Please be sure that donations are non-perishable, unopened, and within their expiration dates! You can find out more information about most wanted food items and the Food Drive at oregonfoodbank.org.

…And Urban Nest will also host a Cookies, Cocoa & Cider event at our N. Williams office on Sunday, December 15th, 1-4 p.m. Bring your drop-off items for our Food Drive, and enjoy some delicious homemade cookies, hot cider, and cocoa while you’re here! We think it’s another great way for us to show our appreciation of your friendship, and to connect with our neighbors while promoting an excellent cause. Urban Nest proprietors Holly & Rachel (plus other staff members) will be on site to dunk some cookies and talk community, two of our very favorite things! Please join us, tell your friends, bring your brownie box mixes, and let’s make a real difference in the lives of our Oregon neighbors.

Talking Turkey

Before you know it, Thanksgiving – and the hungry hoards – will be upon you, so now is really the best time to get your house cozy and organized ahead of the holidays. Urban Nest are firm believers in a harmonious home, so we’re going to share with you some basic tips to help minimize stress on the big day.

1. Sort through the pantry and take stock of what you already have, and what you’ll need (hint: cranberry sauce, and lots of it). This is also an ideal time to put aside any non-perishable items that you might no longer want or need – and that have not yet reached their expiration date – and start a collection for a local holiday food drive, killing two (roasting) birds with one stone.

2. Clean all the things! Or at least clear the cobwebs, scrub the bathroom, take inventory of sheets and towels if you’re having guests stay, and ensure that no-one is forced to brave the shops during one of the craziest times of the year.

3. Thanksgiving, like Christmas, deeply engages olfactory nostalgia. Evoke the Autumn spirit by gently simmering a pot of water with some fragrant spices and oils – such as cinnamon sticks, orange rind, and cloves – to make the house feel like a warm, welcoming hug.

4. Have fun! Yes, you still need to brine the turkey, bake some pie, mediate family disagreements, roast some chestnuts, and mull some wine, but of far more importance than all of your effort and hard work is to just relax and enjoy the holiday for what it represents to you…and maybe deal with the mess the following day.

Amazing Pet Costume Ideas For Halloween

Halloween is arguably the most creative and expressive holiday of the year, and there’s no reason as to why Fluffy and Spot should be left out of the fun! These days it seems that more and more pooches are pounding the pavement dressed as dinosaurs or astronauts, and even though cats are generally homebound for the holidays, a tolerant feline can make an excellent R2D2, or, dare we say, hot dog? And even if you don’t have the time or energy (or courage) to costume and couture your four-legged family members, there are plenty of folk who do – as evidenced by these submissions to a Petco costume contest. Creative, zany – and let’s face it,far too adorable to be spooky – these precocious pups and kitsch kitties should inspire you to start planning well ahead for next year’s Halloween pet parade!

Urban Nest Holiday Traditions

Thanksgiving has kicked off the holidays this winter and the Urban Nest Realty Team are no strangers to embracing the season in their own ways. We thought we would dedicate a few blog posts to share what we look forward to each year. To start the series off we’ve got two very different and equally lovely ways of spending the holidays, whether it be sharing our nest with friends & family, or feathering it by going out on the town…

Rachel – “I’m not a huge holiday person so I do my best to keep things low-key.   After years of trying to make a holiday meal (eight hours of cooking for 30 minutes of eating!) I really found my perfect holiday tradition when my husband Laurence and I wandered into Higgins restaurant one Thanksgiving after seeing a movie downtown.  We grabbed a seat at the bar and proceeded to eat a delicious meal – no cooking and no clean-up!  From there we decided to go out on Christmas as well and now have a long-standing tradition of seeing an evening movie and walking over to The Heathman Hotel for the last seating at 9 pm.  We ask for a banquette in the beautiful atrium room and sit right next to the giant Christmas tree and roaring fire.  The food is wonderful as is the company.  It’s become a very special time for us to celebrate together as a couple.  Just two years ago we added on a third holiday tradition – a triumvirate of sorts – and began making reservations with friends at Genoa for New Year’s Eve.  It’s the place where we got married nearly nine years ago and is always a perfect way to ring in the New Year.  

Tina – “My small family, we are known as The Librarians: quiet, non-athletic, non-shouters. My mom is a tremendous cook and both Thanksgiving & Christmas are very important to her that the family congregate together. The fine China and the crystal appear (handwash only), and the table is decorated to the nines with candles and flowers. My dad is an engineer and a geek. There is never a football game on in the house, ever. The family nibbles on gourmet snacks all day. We usually put a puzzle together while music like Manheim Steamroller or Narada Christmas plays in the background. We are so stuffed by the end of the evening, but somehow we manage to enjoy a slice of mom’s homemade pie before bedtime.”

Halloween Costumes of Yesteryear

Happy Halloween from Urban Nest Realty!

If you’re like many of us and find yourself faced with the “its Halloween and I have no costume” panic…then you’ve come to the right place! We were inspired by this amazing collection of costumes that are wild, bizarre and a little bit creepy.  Its photos like these that remind me of how weird we all are, past and present.