Portland, OR...

My ability to blog is clearly non-existent!  Do people even read blogs any more?  Of course, I know that no one is reading mine these days, but maybe I'll get a couple of entries going to test the waters, as well as my writing skills.  These days, I write for work and not for fun, which really takes a lot of enjoyment away from the effort.  So I'll try to see if I can make things fun again...

And what better way to start than with a recap of my most recent trip while I'm still on it - or at least, flying home from it (in-flight internet is my new favorite thing).  I am returning home from a fabulous and relaxing weekend in Portland, Oregon.  It was my first trip to the city and I got to spend time with some really amazing people, see some fun sights, and eat some fantastic food.  Overall, I can't complain!

While I think about the highlight, I'll tell you that the worst part was my two hour diversion to Spokane!  Leave it to me to fly to Portland during the biggest wind storm in recent memory!  Sixty-five miles per hour winds forced our diversion and I got a great view of the Spokane tarmac.  Luckily, everyone on the plane understood the situation and no one got cranky with the delay. A couple of hours later and we were safely on the ground in Portland, so my trip started off as a bit more of an adventure than I had hoped!

Friday was spent discovering downtown Portland, with a stop at my new favorite place: Powell's City of Books.  Try more like an empire.  I won't wax poetic about it here, as by now Powell's is probably one of the most famous Portland landmarks around.  But I will say that the fame is well deserved and I was able to get out with only 3 books (trust me, if I thought my suitcase would have closed, I would have left with many, many more!). Happy hour saw us bar hopping and I think the Heathman is a new favorite.  People watching at its finest!  To protect the innocent, I won't say more...

Saturday was a day of shopping on Hawthorne, after starting off at Cup and Saucer for breakfast.  The gluten free toast tasted just like the real thing and although the GF pancakes were a bit on the corn-y side, the bacon more than made up for it.  And the shopping was a lot of fun - so much so that I ended up buying a hand painted dress.  Yup, you read that right - a dress that was hand painted.  It's a wearable form of art and I can't wait to wear it to every fancy event I have between now and the end of time.  Add a new purse, a vintage typewriter for N, and some fun odds and ends, and you have an overall magnificent day. 

But the best part?  Meeting up with R (from grad school) and her husband S for coffee after lunch.  We hadn't hung out in 3 years, so the trip to Portland meant we got to catch up over delicious coffee cocktails and reminisce about the old days.  The guys were stuck listening to all the old stories, but luckily they did so with a smile!  And I got to do it all over again with K (from high school) on Sunday morning over coffee.  My friends have discovered the awesomeness that is Portland long before me, so it was great to catch up and hear about their experiences.  I think I'm going to have to go back.

A weekend of great food (breakfast this morning included the most amazing gluten free Belgian waffles), fun sights, and wonderful friends (new and old).  Definitely have to go back...

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