Portland - Day 2

After a late night of mini-golf, doughnuts, and blogging, we decided today would be a good day to sleep in a little and then go to brunch. Anticipating a long wait at a busy brunch place, we may have snacked on leftover doughnuts and pizza while getting ready this morning...

...and since we weren't so hungry after snacking on leftovers, we decided to first go to In Other Words, the feminist bookstore (of course). However, to our disappointment, it was closed (who is only open Saturday and Sunday? only in Portland). We were crushed, but not too crushed to take some pictures...including pictures of these signs that made us giggle...

We then decided to fill our broken souls with brunch, so we headed to Tasty n Sons. We were right about the wait. With an hour or so to spare before being seated, we walked around and did a little shopping, finding the cutest lil' stores with the cutest lil' trinkets and books.

Finally were seated, attended to, and served. Now I'm not much of a brunch connoisseur, but I didn't need to be one to recognize how stellar this stuff was. Each thing we had was a little out of the ordinary and totally, wonderfully delicious. We ordered several things and shared them all. Also there was a little mistake and we ended up with an extra dish (oh darn...).

maple bacon wrapped dates stuffed with almonds^^ (to die for)

Erin's sweet huckleberry biscuits ^^ (like no biscuit you have ever had before)

raspberry soda^^ (interesting, refreshing, delicious, perfect)

bacon n cheddar roasted apple^^ (need I say more??)

Morrocan chicken herb hash^^ (wow yeah)

Burmese red pork stew (guy next to us that got this nearly licked the bowl clean...we felt dat)

potatoes bravas (the much-appreciated "mistake")

English breakfast (simple but also incredible...even though we were stuffed by the time we got to it)

...aaand the aftermath^^

As if all that wasn't enough, we then started toward Alma Chocolate. Along the way I spotted a huge Nike store, so I ran in to see if they happened to have the shoes I've been hunting for...they didn't...and so we continued to Alma. This was a smaller shop than I had expected, but the chocolate spoke for itself. I got a lavender salted caramel...I'd recommend it.

After all that delicious food, it was time for a walk. Emily and I walked liiike 15 blocks to some shops we had seen on our way to Alma. Here's some advice we wish we could've given ourselves: check to see what's open before you go. We found out the hard way that a majority of stores in this area are closed on Monday and Tuesday, but we managed to find a few good ones. (We also looked in the windows of some closed shops and cried a little because they looked so cute...maybe next time.)

As everyone knows, eating and shopping is exhausting. For this reason, we returned to our hotel for some relaxation, popcorn-eating, and blogging before the concert tonight.

We then walked to the food trucks around the corner, grabbed some Chinese food (heads up: most food trucks aren't open on a rainy Monday night), and ate it up in the hotel lobby. It was nothing out of the ordinary, but it was quick and easy (exactly what we needed!).

Once we had eaten, hydrated, and pre-show peed (an essential step to enjoying any concert), we walked to the Crystal Ballroom for the White Arrows and OK GO concert. I had planned to include details of this concert in this post, but it was so incredible I'm going to have to give it its own.

Portland - Day 1

So far Portland has proven to be everything we had hoped and dreamed of (which is saying a lot because our expectations were crazy high). Our first stop of the day was at Stumptown Coffee Roasters of course, which wasn't really even a stop at all since it's in our hotel lobby (wow what could be better). I had one of the stronger mochas I ever have, but the quality of the coffee was totally worth the strength. My lemon something scone was crumbly and delicious and everything a good scone should be.

We decided to first get to know Portland by bike tour, which I would absolutely suggest. We got an awesome perspective of the city as a whole and some really great suggestions for how to spend the rest of our time.

fun fact: I dropped my phone taking pictures while biking on this bridge ^^...I wasn't feeling quite so ballsy with my phone-usage while biking after that, but I managed to snag a few more good pictures (with great caution).

About a third into the tour, it started to rain, but that is only to be expected when in Portland. We kept trekking...the rain just added a little interest and authenticity (s/o to Emily for biking with rainy glasses). Despite the frequent rain, Portland is such an amazing place to bike. It's no wonder so many Portlanders don't drive with such incredible bike lanes and paths (e v e r y w h e r e). Portland bikers are beyond spoiled, and I'm very jealous.

Um also we rode past where "Dream of the 90s" was filmed which was very exciting for obvious reasons (mainly Fred Armisen)

p.s. Bike tour place is called Cycle Portland, and our tour guide was named Guthrie (and he was a bro).

Thanks to Guthrie's suggestion, we followed up the bike tour with a couple hours at the Saturday Market (don't be fooled; it's open on Sundays too). If you ever have the chance to do this, you have no excuse not to, because it is the coolest thing ever. Here you will find everything from art to floating plants to unique jewelry to street performers to top notch food (and everything in between). This is also an excellent place for people watching if you're into that.

garlic chicken gyro from Angelina's at the Saturday Market^^ (it will change your life)

A few minutes away you will find a whole other world. Right in the center of Portland is the Chinese Garden (apparently the most authentic outside of continental China...I buy it). No picture can do this place justice buuuut it's super cool (take my word for it). It's also really crazy to look through a cut out in one of the walls and be reminded that you're in the middle of the city surrounded by streets. I was reluctant when I found out you had to pay to get in, but I can now say that it's totally worth it. (Also sometimes they have tai chi which I really want to do but it's not happening while we're in Portland ugh.)

Again thanks to Guthrie's suggestion (also our extensive research), we drove to Hawthorne street, where we walked up and down the street roaming in and out of stores. We found a few super cute stores (where I might have splurged a little) and then found a vintage store (below) that was a bit of a mess, but that's all part of the fun. The gems where definitely far and few, but Emily managed to find a really super beautiful jumpsuit (she always beats me to the good stuff!!).

Once we exhausted our supply of stores (or maybe we were just exhausted of shopping), we deviated off the main street into the most beautiful neighborhood I have seen in all of my life. You have never seen grass so green and trees so healthy. There was not one ugly yard. Every single house received an enthusiastic "aaaaw that's the one" from us. The amount of pictures I took in this neighborhood is ridiculous, but I couldn't help myself.

A short car ride later we arrived at Blind Onion Pizza and Pub, the cutest, coziest pizza place you ever did see (not to mention the pizza was phenomenal and the service was superb). Available games were also a nice touch (nothing like a little trivia with pizza).

pizza pic ft. tea can ring from Saturday Market^^

...aaaand again Guthrie steered us well. We finished dinner just in time to get to Mt. Tabor to watch the sunset (Guthrie's favorite place to watch the sunset). This place is the perfect example of why Portland is so incredible. You can drive 10 minutes out of town and be surrounded by enormous trees and stunning views.

See that little orange-ish blob at the bottom of the tree?^^ ...that's Emily (by a really big tree)

Okay so if the next description of this next place doesn't hook you immediately then I have no understanding of you. Here it goes: 3D glow-in-the-dark zombie pirate mini-golf. No joke; this is real life...and it's as awesome as it sounds. "Is that possible?" you ask. I asked the same thing...yes, it is. I hesitated to spend valuable time in Portland playing mini-golf, but Glowing Greens is a must.

If you look on any guide to or blog of Portland you will almost certainly find the famous Voodoo Doughnut shop, and this is no coincident. The taste of these doughnuts is not a sensation that can be described in words. You will just have to come to Portland to understand, and that's simply all I have to say about that.

Voodoo Doughnut is usually found with a line out the door, but we managed to get our box without much wait at all (so I'd suggest a Sunday night...maybe after a game of mini-golf).

"I'm about as photogenic as a potato"^^

What they say is true. Good things do come in pink boxes.

"Abby, this is dumb. We don't need so many pictures of your doughnuts." Yes you do. You don't understand.

^^my blogging/journaling station in hotel lobby loft

Needless to say, day 1 in Portland didn't disappoint.

Portland - Travel Day

Day one of our Portland adventure. The day i've been waiting for. The day I've endured late nights of homework and early mornings of studying for.

I began the day by finally packing (I'm a religious procrastinator, so it's only right that I wait until the morning I'm leaving to pack). Travel essentials: my daily journals, travel journal, sketchbook, a book or two about the next city on my list (in this case Paris), concert tickets (bad thing to forget), fanny pack, small wallet, sunglasses + sunglass pouch

Since we were flying out of Tulsa (another beloved city), we took the opportunity to go a little early and eat lunch at my favorite cafe, Chimera. I've been known to get the avocado BLT followed by a cookie or doughnut (or maybe both...), but there's a delicious sandwich (and treat) waiting for everyone (and a pretty neat atmosphere too).

From there we headed to the Tulsa airport (duh) and excitedly began our journey to the city of our dreams. We flew first to Minneapolis (where we ordered dinner on iPads and wow the future is comin) and then to Portland. Of course we were ecstatic to (1) be in Portland and (2) be in the presence of THE PDX carpet.

We loaded in the rental car and started toward our hotel, passing several Portland signs on the way and failing to photograph any of them. We were delighted (to say the least) when we arrived at Ace Hotel and saw how stinkin cute it is.

Upon arriving, we had considered going for a Voodoo Doughnut run, but when we called to ask how busy they were, the man's response was "I'm too busy making doughnuts to look at the line if that tells you anything." lol typical. With that being said, I think we'd both agree that the box of yummy-looking snacks in our hotel room was a nice touch. After a long day of travel, eating chips and salsa in bed while blogging wasn't a bad option.