Kristen Dorsey Designs

Kristen Dorsey Designs

Instagram: Kristen Dorsey Designs 

Facebook: Kristen Dorsey Designs 

Twitter: @KristenDorseyDesigns 

http://www.kristendorseydesigns.com/shop-collections/ 

I have the honor of working with@kristendorseydesigns who has an amazing piece in the Native Fashion Now exhibit at @portlandartmuseum! If you have been, you would recognize her piece which was the silver breastplate with stingray skin (It was my favorite!) These handcrafted jewelry pieces are inspired by Kristen's Chickasaw heritage and the Californian coast. "I firmly believe that culture is never lost, but rather forgotten, and creating art is a way to remember." Go check out her work on her website and also at the Portland Art Museum!

The shield symbol, a design theme throughout the Panther Woman collection, symbolizes the strength and courage of our Chickasaw women throughout history.  The shield represents how our women are defenders of their families, communities, and culture.  Panther Woman, the namesake of the collection, is a historical heroine from Chickasaw oral tradition. The design represents a sun disk pattern commonly found on ancient southeastern shell carvings from the Chickasaw homelands.

The Deco Ring is made with sterling silver and moonstone. This piece is apart of the new collection "Of Earth & Place", the Deco Ring will be released for online purchasing next month so keep your eyes peeled!

Eat Drink Vegan/ Vegan Beer and Food Fest

Portland Vegan Beer and Food Festival

6/11/16

After 9 months of school hell, this event was the perfect way to celebrate the school year coming to an end. The VBFF (now called Eat Drink Vegan) has two options for tickets, VIP and general admission. You need to get VIP. This ticket is 65$ and comes with 60 beer tokens (1 token= 1 3oz pour) and access to the event 2 hours earlier than general admission (no lines for tastings). My friends and I got into the event right as it opened and began tasting all the beers.

You may be thinking, "Hey, 60 tokens at 3 ounces each is 180 ounces. That's 22.5 8-ounce beers!!! WTF?" But it is true. Last year they had unlimited beer pours, however I don't think the OLCC liked that so they made them give a certain amount of tokens. VBFF was probably like,  "yeah, sure, we will give out tokens..." So yeah, I made it through probably 20 tokens and I was very buzzed by the end of this.

The food was amazing! The tamales below were only $4 each, I can't remember the name of the vendor but when I find out I will edit it in. Most of the food was pretty expensive, but Doomies has these Vegan Burgers that are kind of like big macs and they were SO GOOD. 

One of my favorite things from the event was the Vegan fashion! So many people had great vegan inspired shirts that I started asking people to take their photo. The shirt below is from a company called In The Soulshine. They are located in Australia and have a vegan inspired messages on all their shirts! Link to their page: http://www.inthesoulshine.com.au/

Next year I definitely want to have a little more focus on the fashion aspect of veganism. 

"VEGAN AS FUCK"

"BE KIND TO ANIMALS OR ILL KILL YOU"

"SAVING ONE ANIMAL MAY NOT CHANGE THE WORLD, BUT IT SURE CHANGES THE WORLD FOR THAT ONE ANIMAL"

ANIMALS ARE NOT FABRIC

HORNS UP FOR VEGANISM

THE FUTURE IS VEGAN

This shirt...

I was able to capture an awkward high five/fist bump. (Look at his face)

The music was fantastic! There was a great lineup with some really fun bands. Now by this point, things start to get a little hazy, but it was really fun listening to music and dancing around.

I would rate the VBFF a 10/10 and I would definitely go back next year. I would ABSOLUTELY get VIP though. Once general admission got in, the lines for everything were too long and it wasn't as much fun. Spending the extra $20 for the upgrade is best. 

Hoorag

Trying out my new Sub Zero Hoorag which will be great for snowboarding or riding on the motorcycle :) It's so comfy and made with great materials! #hoorag #sp

Abiqua Falls

Abiqua Falls

Directions To Trail Head

Tips based off these directions: 

• The moment the pavement ends on Crooked Finger road, start your trip odometer to make sure you turn on the road on the right that's exactly 1.4 miles. Its a larger gravel road with no sign (that I saw) for the CF300, however there were other road signs marking ATV trials and locations. 
• A four wheel drive car can make it all the way down, but in a regular car there is an opening you can park at and walk the 2 miles down. Its long and steep to walk back up though. 
• Continue straight and downhill until you see the signs on the left (from the link) The do not say this is the trail head, but this is in fact the hike you need to take. 

Our Trip

The venture began by following the directions on this site, but we couldn't find the right road to go down (see first tip). One road looked like it would have been right, and there was a car parked there, so we decided to walk down it a bit. Realizing we were walking down the wrong road,  we turned around we saw others following us thinking we knew the right direction. We all decided to team up to find the falls together. After hiking another half mile in the wrong direction we came to a dead end, then had to hike back to the car. We drove back to the beginning and marked out exactly where 1.4 miles ended and sure enough, we ended up at the right road.

My friends Jetta got down about a half mile on the bumpy gravel road. The couple we had met up with let us ride with them and we made it down another half mile farther until the road got a bit too rough. It was just 50 feet of rough road, after that patch we could have made it all the way.

The trail head is not marked, but has a sign saying the property is private but available for recreational use (picture in directions link). It was very steep and also very muddy. Recent hikers had put up ropes that were very helpful in getting down the hill. 

At the bottom, the waters were teal and trees bright green and the basalt formations began to take shape. A little farther down and around the corner was one of the most amazing waterfalls I've ever seen! We just stared at it for 15 minutes and then took a bunch of pictures.

This wallet is from this awesome company Rareform (Instagram: @rareform). From recycled billboards they make a variety of products such as surfboard bags, back packs, wallets and more!

Excited to go again to this falls very soon! Find me on instagram :@thecalifornianrefugee

Wahclella Falls

Wahclella Falls

Resources: Hike Info

An hour from downtown Portland is the trail head for Wahclella Falls. The Gorge that morning had descending fog which made the Gorge magical! There was a nice parking lot, but you will need a Northwest Forest Pass in order to park there.  

This hike is one mile there, one mile back with amazingly mossy trees and the water was turquoise blue.

Near the beginning of the hike, there was this awesome waterfall RIGHT NEXT TO THE TRAIL! It had just rained about 3 inches the day before, so the water was gushing.

It was a super green/ lush hike with the fog rolling in lower and lower into the valley we were walking through. The fresh air of the forest really made the stress of finals just kind of melt away. It was exactly what I needed. 

Towards the end of the trail, it splits off into two trails, both lead to the falls. The upper trail looks over the valley as you walk down, but the lower one, which we took, had amazing views of the valley on each side of the trail.

As you cross the bridge, you're greeted with a Yosemite-like view. Between the turqiouse blue crystal-clear water, the green foliage, and the majestic fog rolling it, it felt like walking through a national geographic photo!

This was one of the most rewarding mile hikes I've ever done! You can walk right up to the falls, and the colors there were so vivid.

I was taking some shots of the waterfall, and as I turned around a massive animal came running down the hill at me! I realized it was the cutest dog I have ever seen! It came right up to me and gave me puppy kisses and let me rub her belly. I decided that once I get a yard, I will get myself a Malamute puppy to be my hiking companion.

This hike was definitely a 10/10. I also got some epic product shots for a couple companies out here. Next time a company wants an PNW inspired shot, Ill most likely come out here to do it. Check out more photos on my Instagram: @thecalifornianrefugee!