Roading Tripping Through Oregon, a Stay at the Lithia Springs Resort in Ashland & an ‘Effortlessly’ Elegant Table Setting

Today on weekend meanderings, road tripping through Oregon with a stop in Ashland, a stay at the Lithia Springs Resort, and an ‘effortlessly’ elegant late summer table setting. Plus two adorable striped pieces … a shirt dress and a cropped button up.

Happy Saturday, friends!

It’s time for the weekend post with Kim and Elizabeth, our weekly roundup of inspirations and goings on.

For the second week in a row I started my week on a Tuesday and I’m way behind the 8-ball. Over the weekend we road tripped to Oregon driving home on Monday. Road trips are exhausting. Sitting in the car checking google maps for the next rest stop or In ‘n’ Out is extremely taxing. Anyway, I was up until all hours preparing this dispatch and thrilled to hit publish.

All products and links included in this post are selected by me and some may be affiliate links.

Fall – and Halloween – plants and decor are on glorious display at our Orchard Nursery and Lazy K Gift Shop. I love this time of year.

And can’t wait for the pumpkin patch to arrive.

Spooktacular.

Let’s get down to business …

 

Lithia Springs Resort

Last weekend we took a quick road trip to Lake Oswego, Oregon with an overnight stop in Ashland. During our two years living on Fidalgo Island we made quite a few trips up and down the I5 because … Pippa & Maggie don’t fly. But they’re great road trippers and look forward to visiting their favorite rest stops and, of course, In ‘n’ Out drive-throughs … they split a dog patty.

During an early jaunt from California to Washington we discovered a Lithia Springs Resort, a darling hotel in Ashland, Oregon. It’s dog friendly and Jim friendly (they have a wine bar), and Lithia Springs became a stop we all looked forward to … it’s nice to break up a long drive. When we decided to road-trip to Lake Oswego for Jim’s mom’s birthday … a stop in Lithia Springs felt necessary.

We were thrilled to find Lithia Springs as charming as ever since our last visit in January 2019, when we returned home to California for good. They’ve made a few updates and are in the midst of adding what looks like about 8-hotel rooms. The construction has taken over about half of the front lawn area, but I’m sure it will be restored to its former glory in no time. And the main gardens remain as lovely as ever.

After getting Pippa & Maggie in our room, we headed over to the wine bar and garden. It features local area wines (Rogue Valley AVA) and Jim sampled a Viognier and Shiraz. They also offer cheese and charcuterie boards, but it was late and our willpower – surprisingly – prevailed.

We stay in a dog-friendly patio bungalow. It’s like a studio, but with separated bed and sitting areas as well as a fireplace, mineral soaking tub, and nice patio sitting area.

While Jim loves the wine bar, I love the breakfast bar. Since our last visit the resort started charging for their hot breakfast buffet which is totally fair and we were happy to pony up. They offer standard breakfast fare … scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, breakfast potatoes, oatmeal, fruit, etc. And I was thrilled to find they still have their yummy orange cranberry scones + a few other pastry items.

In addition to the scones, another highlight of the resort is the pretty, cheery property. Pale blue traditional buildings with white trim and bright yellow doors and 4+ acres of beautiful, lush gardens (especially lovely in the spring and fall) with a gazebo, fountains, arbors and a bridge … and a very welcoming staff.

Our visits to Lithia Springs have been quick overnight stops with little time for exploring beyond the resort’s breakfast and wine bars. They also have a spa (part of the larger Waterstone Spa in downtown Ashland) and a mineral spring pool. Both look lovely. The hotel rooms have soaking tubs for ‘taking the waters.’

If you’re planning a West Coast road trip … or visit to Ashland (Shakespeare festival, anyone?) put Lithia Springs on your list of places to stay. It’s just 5 minutes from downtown Ashland. You can read more about all the wonderful things the Ashland area has to offer on the resort’s website. Check out their Instagram.

 

Ashland, Oregon

Ashland is a charming little town in southern Oregon just a short distance from the California border well known for hosting the all-summer-long Oregon Shakespeare Festival.

Each time we come through we swear we’ll come back to spend a few days. This time was not that time. We did spend a couple of hours walking through downtown, including the beautiful Southern Oregon University campus.

The Pacific Northwest is a haven for gardeners and the university campus is a prime example. The campus is also dotted with many art installations.

The Oregon Shakespeare Festival got its start in 1935 and the three-theatre complex looks amazing. The 2025 season is winding down, and the 2026 season productions are announced. In exciting news, one of the 2026 productions is Jane Austin’s Emma! And that settles that, 2026 will be the summer we finally spend a few days exploring Ashland, attending Shakespeare Festival productions and checking out all the wonderful coffee shops, restaurants, art galleries, parks and wineries in the Ashland area.

Jim wasted no time checking on the 2026 ticket situation.

The Allen Elizabethan Theatre is the largest and oldest of the three festival theaters seating over 1000 guests. The festival box-office is just across the street.

Ashland’s historic downtown is charming old buildings lots of coffee shops, restaurants, galleries and flower baskets hanging from the lampposts.

In addition to the Lithia Springs Resort, which is about 5 minutes outside of downtown, and there are many other accommodation options in the downtown area including the historic Ashland Springs Hotel. The 1925 landmark hotel is in then center of town and worth a look whether or not you’re staying there. You can’t miss the Stratford Inn and Bard Inn on the main drag, Siskiyou Boulevard. And we also noticed the Palm Motel, a darling little place across from Southern Oregon University and just over a mile from the center of town. Next to the Palm is the Morning Glory Cafe that serves breakfast and brunch and looked adorable and popular with a line spilling onto the sidewalk. We met a very friendly kitty on the motel’s sidewalk.

At the other end of town we noticed the Mix Bake Shop looked very popular. Too bad we’d already had breakfast. It was near the Shakespeare Festival complex and an entrance to Lithia Park which I can’t wait to explore.

If you’re familiar with Ashland, please share your favorite things to see and do.

 

‘Effortlessly’ Elegant Late Summer Table Setting

We went to Oregon to celebrate Jim’s mom’s birthday. Jim’s brother John and sister-in-law Julie hosted a lovely dinner for all family members who were able to attend. There were about 12 of us spanning four generations.

What makes a road trip worthwhile?! Being welcomed by family with an Aperol Spritz and stunning al fresco table setting.

The Pacific Northwest is so pretty and Lake Oswego is quintessential PNW. Sadly, Lake Oswego is another town Jim and I tend to arrive and depart without seeing much beyond John and Julie’s beautiful home and neighborhood. And it is beautiful. They’ve been enjoying lovely weather and the birthday dinner was set on the deck.

Julie created the most beautiful al fresco table … casual, but elegant and it looked ‘effortless’ which we all know it was not. I mean seriously, whoever came up with the term effortless entertaining was peddling a big fat lie. When I looked at Julie’s seemingly ‘effortless’ table I could recognize and appreciate how much thought and care she put into creating such an elegant presentation. My apologies to you – and Julie – for not doing it justice with better quality photos. I get squeamish about taking photos in other peoples homes, although I could kick myself now because the table was so pretty and I’m reduced to grabbing screen shots from a video I snuck while no one was looking.

We ate at one long table covered in white linen tablecloths, with several woven placemats down the center dotted with potted pansies and raffia wrapped hurricanes. Terracotta napkins were corralled in seagrass napkins rings alongside classic Duralux water glasses and rose tinted outdoor wine goblets. Stunning.

I love Julie’s use of potted flowers in lieu of clipped floral arrangements. She’ll be able to enjoy them for a long time to come instead of tossing them out in a few days. Smart and sustainable.

When I was at Orchard Nursery this week I spotted lots of pretty pansies.

And so many options for pretty neutral pots.

Aren’t the pumpkin shaped pots fun for this time of year?

What really got my attention on the table were the pillar candles which upon closer inspection are flameless candles that fooled us all. They’re so realistic at the end of the evening I tried to blow them out. I wasn’t the only one! Nestled in beautiful raffia wrapped hurricanes the candles flickered like real flames and provided a surprising amount of light.

John and Julie’s backyard is just lovely with a beautiful deck overlooking a lush lawn bordered by mature trees and shrubs … it’s enchanting. Dinner was delicious, and Ruth blew out her birthday candles on an enormously decadent – and scrumptious – cheesecake. It was so fun to be with everyone and I wish we lived closer so we could do it more often.

We left Lake Oswego at o’dark thirty the next morning, this was the view from our hotel room deck before we departed. We really need to come back and spend more time with family and exploring this adorable town.

 

Old Navy Striped Shirt Dress

Jim’s mom Ruth wore the chicest striped shirt dress to her birthday dinner. I’d barely said hello before asking her where she got it. She laughed and said Old Navy! I won’t mention Ruth’s age except to say I shared her 90th birthday celebration here a couple of years ago. Anyway, Ruth’s not skipping a beat … and I love that Old Navy appeals to all four generations gathered around the dinner table.

Ruth’s dress is on sale! It looked like it was in limited stock (but maybe they restocked … it’s a fluid situation!) so I searched for a few similar options here, here and here (oh, and here … I have this one!) This is a cute one too … a linen blend.

 

Outfit of the Week

Speaking of stripes, last week when Kim and I went to see the Eye for Pretty spec house in Danville, we dropped by favorite boutique Flaunt for a look-see before lunch. Ever since attending Flaunt’s Frank & Eileen Fall Styling Event a few weeks ago their Silvio striped shirt in a subtle tan stripe has been on my mind.

The tan stripe isn’t available online, but Flaunt has it (+ other colors) and if you’re in the Bay Area call or stop by to see if they have it in your size. I’m wearing XS.

I’m not sure why I didn’t try it on in the first place, I’ve thought about it everyday since. That’s a sign, right? Anyway, I wanted to see if it was still in the shop and – great news, it was and now the object of my affection is hanging in my closet.

The cropped fit is perfection and the hem is a little shorter in front and meant to be worn untucked. The cotton is just a little sturdier which makes the shirt feel more structured but casual and easy to wear tossed over a pair of jeans. I’m wearing  Madewell’s balloon jean. Denim and a striped shirt – it doesn’t get any easier or more classic than that.

Cropped Shirt | Denim | Suede Slides | Mini Tote

 

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That’s what I have for you today.

Let’s see what’s inspiring Kim and Elizabeth.

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