A LITTLE ON LIFE LATELY: VACATION EDITION

Eventually I’m going to get through all of the pictures we took with our phones and camera, and do a Portland post full of all sorts of recommendations for when you go there! I know you’re dying of anticipation… but for now, here is a bit of our trip to Seattle and Portland – according to my instagram {and the Mr’s}.

Happy weekend, friends.  We just arrived in Cleveland to go on a party boat {I’m on a boat!} for our good friends’ engagement celebration {Yay, LB and Brian!}.  I hope you all have a wonderful few days! As LB would say – Holla!

FROM THE CLOUDS

Hello there. I am writing this from high in the sky, en route to Portland. How cool is it that there is WiFi on planes... I mean, crazy.

Yesterday was a little hectic, but not nearly as bad as I had anticipated. I arrived home from my week working in Pittsburgh around 4pm, and my Mr. arrived home shortly after. {Man, how I missed him.} Just after that, my mom arrived for the night to help. It had a super calming effect on me to have her there as I unpacked, repacked, and did some laundry. And she helped with all of the above. I just held up this shirt or that shirt, and my mom would say yay or nay.  I had a goal of being in bed by 10pm, and was shocked that we actually almost made it; it was lights out at 10:30pm. I had this goal because we had a 6:50am flight, which meant leaving for the airport by 5am, and my alarm sounding at 4:15am. Ugh. Hard to feel sorry for me as I'm flying to Portland for vacation, right? Yeah, It's ok... I wouldn't feel sorry for me either.

Thank you, Mom... for coming to Columbus to help keep me sane, and for waking up at the crack of dawn to take us to the airport. And thank you in advance to my fabulous friend, Carrie, {and Mom,  again} for checking in on our little man - Bailey.

I'm not sure if I'll have the chance to post this week. Since it's vacation, I'm going to try to unplug myself a bit. I hope you all have a wonderful holiday weekend, and week!

PITTSBURGH TO PORTLAND {WITH A 12 HOUR LAYOVER AT HOME}

Hello, from my laptop!  Yay!  Thank you to LC for letting me borrow your work laptop charger.  You're the best.

Only a few more nights until I head home to my Mr., and my own bed... for one night.  Well, only one night back in my own bed that is.  We leave for Portland {for vacation!} the morning after I return from Pittsburgh!  About a 12 hour turnaround.  I'm going to be a crazy - laundry doing - unpacking - packing machine.  And I'm going to be tired.  Really tired.  There will be lots of sleeping on the plane.

Let's talk about Portland.  I've never been there {the Mr. has}, and I am so excited.  We're going to visit the his best friend {the best man in our wedding} who works for Nike.  We'll also be spending a few days in Seattle visiting some of the husband's friends from his Master's program.  AND we're headed to Eugene to visit my cousin, his wife, and their sweet little girl - Elsie.

I've never heard anything but wonderful things about Portland, and everyone I've told we're going gets instantly excited.  It must be some kind of city.  Our total trip is ten days, with most of them spent in Portland, so send suggestions my way for sure! A few of the places I want to go {or where the Mr. wants to take me} include:

{the below photo was taken - by me - at Stumptown in NYC}

Voodoo Donuts {for... well - donuts, but especially the voodoo man and the maple one with bacon}
Hope Coffee {because all I can think about this week is caffeine}
Screen Door {for famous chicken & waffles}
Lodekka {I have to check out this double decker full of vintage finds}
Wanderlust {... and this one}
Delta Cafe {because the Mr. says we have to}
Stumptown Coffee {I'm obsessed with great coffee spots - especially Stumptown, and it's based in Portland}
The Pendleton Outlet {because I'm obsessed with Pendleton, remember?}

I think you can probably guess which of these picks are mine, and which are the Mr's.  And I realize most of these involve eating.  What am I missing?  Come on... don't be shy.  Comment away!

{Update: Marni, I refuse to admit I forgot about Stumptown so I added it in. I'm ashamed of myself. And the food trucks, of course! You gotta love street meat.}

DESTINATION UNKNOWN 2

I hope you are all having a wonderful fourth of July.

I woke up before the Mr. {and managed to sneak downstairs without waking him, which never happens}. 

I had grand intentions of making blueberry pancakes, but realized we were out of eggs.

Darn it all.

So... our fourth began with delicious pancakes at Bob Evans 

{our visit there - inspired by our Saturday stop at the home of the late Bob Evans himself}.

DESTINATION UNKNOWN

How about those storms over the weekend? The Mr. made it home from work Friday right before the sky turned black and looked all "Wizard of Oz" outside. I feel so bad for all of the people without power, especially in this heat. Some of the folks in Columbus aren't scheduled to get power back until July 7th! And all of the stores with all of that wasted frozen food. Ugh. What about you? I feel oh-so guilty to say that we never went without power. We were are very lucky.

We had discussed taking a little road trip Saturday, and decided to stick with the plan despite the storms and heat. We didn't have any specific destination, just lots of possibilities swimming in our heads. Our only plan was to stop when one of us saw somewhere we wanted to go... antique shops or whatever else we landed upon. When we got to our first exit, we picked East or West, and off we went. Just us and one small straw tote packed with the essentials {like our toothbrushes} in case we stayed the night somewhere. 

We started with lunch in Circleville... and ended back in Columbus by 8pm. Straw bag and packed toothbrushes unnecessary because so many of the towns did not have power, which meant lack of places to eat or shops open. To make it sound like this dampened the day in any way would be wrong though {well, if you don't count feeling awful for the people in those towns}. 

It was a wonderful day spent exploring without any plans or any place we had to be. Like those carefree days of summer when we were young. Gosh, I miss those. 

In Rio Grande, we stopped so I could take pictures of storm damage... trees completely uprooted and blown over. It made me feel sad, and I actually felt bad taking the pictures {but I obviously did it anyway}; it was just too crazy not to!

THE END...

for today anyway. 

Friends, I took too many pictures to not split this up. 

A fun day spent learning to use my camera, indeed. 

A PICTURE IS WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS... NASHVILLE

Bits + pieces of our trip according to our iPhones...

Imogene + Willie {where the sales staff are the coolest cats ever} / Antique Archaeology {from American Pickers on the History Chanel} / Jack's on Broadway {maaaybe the best pulled pork I've ever had} / Hatch Show Print {one of the oldest working letterpress print shops in America} / Gruhn Guitars {probably the place I felt the most guilty seeing without the Mr.} / Grimey's {coolest music shop I've ever been to... they even pass out free PBR on Saturdays} / Red Door Saloon in Midtown {the best bartenders + the best pineapple infused vodka drink + a pirate themed bar with Chicago paraphernalia everywhere = the best bar ever} / Robert's Western World {touted as the home of traditional country music and maybe the only bar decorated with a wall of real cowboy boots?} / Layla's Bluegrass Inn {where I danced to Slim Chance and the Can't Hardly Playboys} 

not pictured, but must mention...

Mas Tacos {hoping for a Black Key's sighting, but settled for amazing tortilla soup and a fish taco. 

They also have Mexican coke in the bottle!}

MUSIC CITY

This weekend I am taking a trip with the girls to Nashville. None of us have ever been there, so we have been doing our share of research on cool places to go... eat, shop, watch live music. We could go for a week and not make it to all of the places we each have on our "musts" list, and since we're only going for a long weekend I know it will be packed full. Hopefully it will include some of the below places on my personal "musts" list.

Since I'm hitting the road today after work, I have a very special guest blogger who will be doing a Friday post for me {and maybe a second if we're lucky}!

 

Hatch Show Print, Imogene + Willie, Grand Ole Opry, Grimey's, Prince's Hot Chicken Shack, Billy Reid, UAL, Pancake Pantry

Most of the images and suggestions above came from Bon Appetit's lovely article on Nashville {read more here}. I also came across this food guide by Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys {also via Bon Appeti}, and since the Black Keys are just about my favorite ever I had to include the video.

This is my first trip without the husband since we got married! I'm having a little separation anxiety and I haven't even left yet! Pathetic? I don't care. Husband, I love you. Don't miss me too much {you better miss me lots}!

BITS + PIECES OF OUR WEEKEND

How was your weekend? I hope it was wonderful!

Friday night date night with the Mr. was popcorn + pizza at Studio 35. We had a great time despite the horrible movie. We love Studio 35. 

Saturday morning trip to Cincinnati. The Party Source across the border in Kentucky... where you can choose from hundreds of single beers. Ryan Adams concert = amazing. He can do no wrong in our eyes. Out on the town in Mt. Adams... such a cute area! My first trip to Cincinnati also brought a new favorite beer... Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale. Thank you to Stu for being a gracious host. We had a wonderful time.

Upon arriving home Sunday, we were greeted by my Mom and sister {who had also just arrived from Shelby}. Lunch for our birthdays {which were Jan 10 + 16) because we haven't seen my family since New Year's. We were spoiled with wonderful gifts {among them the vega studs by paper + chain, this alarm clock and iphone case}, and a delicious lunch at The Jury Room. Upon their departure, we napped on the couch for too long... and could have napped longer.

It was a good weekend.

I HEART NY {TAKE TWO}

among the images:

a trip to the Rick Owens store for J... 

The vintage phone booth entrance from Crif Dog to PDT {Please Don't Tell}. PDT is a secret speakeasy in the East Village. You can call at 3pm {day of} to try to get reservations, which we did. We enjoyed our swanky evening at PDT, where I felt a bit like I had walked through a time-warp; welcome to the days when bartenders wore vests, ties, and suspenders +  mixing the perfect cocktail was an art. Moscow mules the way they are supposed to be served - in a copper mug...

Stumptown in the Ace Hotel...

Maison Laduree - decadent macaroons straight from Paris to Madison Avenue. {The pistachio was to die for.}...

Central Park + Times Square...

The lights from plane as we make our way back home sweet home.