Portlandia

So, I was about to update you all on last weekend's road trip - Vancouver, B.C. to see Mumford & Sons - but I realized I started, but never finished my post on the last road trip I took - Portland, OR as one of six "wild" ladies (my dad's descriptor ;).  But that weekend and these pictures are too fun not to share!  Plus, it's enormous fun re-living that weekend. 

So here goes...

* * * * * * * * *

It was the first weekend in April (I know, I'm like 2 months behind).  And a group of us piled into two cars, complete with latte's, good music, and smartphones (read: Instagram).  What an adventure!

I count myself really lucky just to have conversations with these amazing, smart, creative, gorgeous ladies. 



[Quasi-candid pic of our pit-stop on the way down.]

 Some of the ladies had either never been to Portland, or had never done a proper downtown excursion. So there were a couple must-see places.

The first,(and most important) stop being: Powell's City of Books, naturally :)



[Street musician just outside of Powell's]





[Myself, Kayla, and Ashley... second weekend excursion in a row for the "Crawley Sisters"]





[Becca & Cami]

Sizzle Pie is a little, punk-pizzeria kitty-corner to Powell's.  It's quite delish.  And you should go sometime :)

[Regina's personal pizza... just kidding.  a bunch of us split that.]



[I really, really love these ladies :) ]




[I really liked this shot too!]

Next stop:  Ace Hotel!  Someday, I'm gonna stay here.  But for now, their lobby and mezzanine are quite enough to explore!



[Ace Hotel Mezzanine - love the poem on the wall and I have an obsession with small, letter sized drawers]




[photographs of photography - it happened a lot this trip]





[A scrumptious dinner at Clyde Common, also part of Ace Hotel]

I told the girls this at dinner that night.  But, it's worth repeating.  I'm incredibly grateful for friends who are so genuine.  Friends who no how to have fun without alcohol or clubs or craziness.  Friends who are just packed with fun.  Ladies who know their value and have chosen to not settle for anything less than God's best and highest adventure for their lives.  Really, really grateful.



[How stunning is she?! C'est tres chic!]

 

[These gals are just such fun!]




[camera-baby]

Another favorite spot in Portland is the thoroughly French cafe, St. Honore's.  We rounded out our Saturday evening with another round of lattes and headed back to our hotel for a Moonrise Kingdom viewing :)


[St. Honore's]



[My pictures don't do it justice - Mother's Bistro]



Sunday Morning we did brunch at Mother's Bistro.  Oh my word!  I would go back to Portland just to have brunch there!  Such a delightful place!  And the food was yummm!



[Thanks to our barista for that amazing window shot!]

We meandered here & there that afternoon before regrouping at Barista.  They've won all sorts of competitions and our resident barista (Becca) was so glad to make the stop.  Bonuses: the decor was super fun and we got to watch them do pour-over coffee.  Fascinating!



[lurve these ladies]



After Barista, we found a stair case with exposed brick and were having a fabulous little photo shoot when we though, hey, where might these stairs lead? Well, it turns out they led up to the most amazing loft unit - with big windows & exposed brick - that just so happened to be left open on the weekend.



[a smidgen of mischief]

 So we did a photoshoot.  I'll let Cami post the awesome band-photos that came out of that one (ahem, Cami ;).  But here's a hint at just how cool this place was.


[another street musician in the Pearl District]



[Victorian Authors make just about the bestest of friends!]

On our way to dinner, 3 of us got a bit turned around (oops).  But we ended up near the Library downtown.  It has benches all the way around it with author's names engraved on them.  May be hard to make out, but we got pics with some of our favorites :)



[a weekend to not soon be forgotten]


And a final dinner at Portland City Grille.  Another "high"-ly recommended spot in Portland (forgive the pun!).  It's a fabulous restaurant some 30 stories up overlooking the city and the river.  Great food & they had a live pianist playing pop hits - Thriftshop on the piano had people all over the restaurant singing along and smiling. 

It made for a wonderful last hurrah before 3 of us headed home (the other 3 had an extra day to spend in Portland - lucky ducks).



[goodbye, Portland]



It was quick, but it was precious.  Dreaming & scheming & laughing & eating with these 5 was a hilight of my Spring.  I suspect some very good things shall come of it.

Including more road trips.

Till next time.