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12/10/15

Eating Out In Portland: Oso And Blue Star


You guys! I'm having a mild panic moment: I have no travel plans as of now going forward. HELP!

I'm considering whisking myself away somewhere for the Martin Luther King Jr. Day weekend in January. Miami? Charlottesville? Greenville? I'm trying to pick a new place (I've already been to Savannah, Atlanta, New Orleans, Charleston, etc, etc.) that's a quick plane ride away, doesn't require having a car, and has good food and fun things to do. Suggestions??

Thinking about my travel options, reminded me that I haven't posted these photos from my day trip to Portland this past August. During my trip to Seattle to visit my family, Anna, Lera and I drove to Oregon Wine Country, and then stopped for a night in Portland on the way back.

Before driving back to Seattle, we met up with Fabiola for brunch and dounuts. I love reuniting with my blogger friends when I travel, and seeing Fabiola was super fun.

For brunch, we met at Oso Market. I loved the causal décor, the spicy Bloody Mary and the fact that we weren't overwhelmed with choices. Sometimes it's completely alright to have a short menu.


When food bloggers and friends of food bloggers eat, there are a lot of photographs and a lot of sharing. That's exactly what happened:


That's Fabi and me doing what we do ;)


And then we HAD to check out Blue Star Donuts. Alas we were too full to actually eat them, but Anna and I picked up a variety of treats to bring back to Seattle and share with our parents and brother. We were raised well ;)


Anna and I.


Donut wheel. I don't even remember my favorite one...I think it might have been the pink glazed one. Hibiscus?


What's your next travel adventure?

10/27/15

Oregon Wine Country


Happy Travel Tuesday and happy upcoming Wine Wednesday. I usually don't participate in such things, but I haven't photographed a blog worthy recipe in the last few weeks, so thought I'd share with you some great memories from a road trip to Oregon Wine Country I took with my sister Anna and our friend Lera when I visited my family in Seattle in August.

Visiting family is not exactly a vacation, am I right? Of course it's great to see my parents and siblings and have a few family meals together and sleep in and just hang out and go salsa dancing and meet up with friends. But I always crave something new and different and a bit touristy. That's why the last time I visited Seattle I was so happy Anna and Lera took a few days off work so we can take a road trip to check out some of the Oregon wineries and spend a day in Portland.

We visited 3 wineries with a stop for lunch before making our way to Portland. I loved the overcast cooler weather (because DC was experiencing one of the typical hot and humid weeks when I left), the friendly people who worked at the wineries, and the really generous portions of wine we were poured. Also, the price of wine tasting in Oregon is a lot less than it is in the DC area.

The first winery on our list was Anne & Amie Vineyards, named after the owners' daughters. It was founded the year Anna and I were born: how special!!


The second winery was Vidon named after the founders Vicki and Don: do you notice the theme? I loved the views from this winery and its symbol: a bee. Why the bee?

"The Bee on our labels and capsule came about because of an old well house on the property that contained a very large hive between its studs. After our home was built in the summer of 2003, we heard much buzzing while sitting on the deck one evening. Upon looking under the deck, we discovered that the electrician had left a hole that led to the space between floors. As they do every year, bees swarmed and set up housekeeping in our new abode. This experience resulted in many photos and a few stings and led to our use of the bee on our packaging."



I also fell in love with the old barn on the property and ended up printing this photo to hang somewhere in my condo.


The photo below is of Anna, Lera and me. LOVE our friendship.



Then it was time for lunch! Lera suggested Red Hills Market. Perfection! Super cute décor, amazing pizza and good coffee with dessert.




We had enough room for just one more winery: I'm a light weight and was already feeling boozy :)

At Colene Clemens I shared the tasting wine flight with Lera because Anna was driving and bought one of their beautiful candles to take home with me.


I look forward to more fun get togethers with these girls. If wine is involved, that's just an added bonus!