portland guide: farmers markets

The season of farmers markets are upon us!  Although there are some that go year round, most stick to a May-October schedule and if you love them as much as I do, then a one day a week pop-up isn't enough.  Today I'm sharing a portland guide: farmers market for my local friends (or those of you planning a visit) so that you can find a market any day of the week! 

fields of flowers

Last week we ventured out to the Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm for their annual Tulip Festival.  Usually this isn't something I would ask my husband to go to with me, but I casually mentioned I wanted to possibly go and he surprisingly said he would take me.  Mind Blown.  Brandon is a die hard dude and in all reality I imagined him 'taking me there' meant he would drive me and sit in the car while I walked around looking at flowers, but I was shocked when he got out and enjoyed it with me.  Obviously I'm using the word enjoyed very loosely =) Still, I'm glad I was able to get out there before the end of the festival and even better- it was on a weekday during a break between some wind & rain showers so we practically had the place to ourselves.

If you are local or just plan on being in the area, the festival is almost over and finishes up this weekend on the 4th.  It was totally worth the little 1/2 hour drive from the city to see fields of flowers and it will be fun to come back in October when the same fields are full of pumpkins!

and we drove

I'm finally getting around to sharing my birthday road trip here.  Although I tried to take as many photos as possible, I really wanted to be able to enjoy myself too.  I had told my husband that I wanted this trip to be my birthday present- just hitting the road for a few days here in the pnw with no exact destination in mind.  I mentioned to him that I wanted to take as many photos as possible and even try shooting a video with my new camera, but really when the time came, I wanted to take it all in.  Because I only get to see Brandon six months a year and since this was the first time he was able to celebrate on my actual birthday with me, I wanted to take full advantage of this special time out we took.

We headed south for a few days and left our pups on my parents farm then came back up and stayed the night at our house before hitting the road.  That morning we went out i-84 east along the Columbia River and hit up a few spots like the Bonneville Dam and all the little towns along the way until we crossed over into Washington.  We grabbed lunch and ate up at the Stonehenge replica memorial, passed through all the creepy wind turbines, visited a creepy abandoned cabin and ended up in Wenatchee for the night.

The next morning we visited Leavenworth, an adorable Bavarian Village and made our way back west towards Seattle.  The drive through the mountains was amazing and we were able to see a bit of snow, but our timing was perfect because we drove through a day before a big storm hit.  We went over towards Whidbey Island then changed our minds and kept driving south to Gig Harbor for the night. 

Another day passed and we found our way driving down the Oregon Coast, which is one of our favorite places to me.  We had our first date and kiss at the coast 10yrs ago and no matter how many times we visit seeing the ocean never gets old.  After visiting our favorite places we decided it was time to head back towards my parents where we stayed a few more days before heading home and closing the chapter on our road trip.  Ringing in my thirty-third on the road with my favorite person by my side was exactly what I wished for.

project drive-in

The first movie I ever saw at a Drive-In was E.T.  I can remember laying in the back of my Aunts car with my plastic E.T doll listening to the sound coming through the radio mounted to the window, eating red vines and thinking it was the neatest thing I had ever done.  Considering it was summer and we had to wait until it was dark and obviously pass my bedtime, it probably was.  In high school its where I had my first date with a kid named Kale and my first sip of beer my friends older sister snuck in.  I'll always remember the times when our family would go together, loaded up in the back of my dads 1964 to watch a double feature and my dad could never make it through 2 movies in a row- so we would listen to his snores mixed in with all the fun we were having.  I hope someday when we have a family that our kids will know what a drive-in is like or at the very least, I hope they don't go away anytime soon.  Thats where Project Drive-in comes in!

We are lucky enough to still have a drive-in close by thats open on the weekends, but without some help it might not be here much longer.  The two where I got to make my memories (in California & Southern Oregon), both have sadly shut down.  In fact there are less than 400 of them still open  in the entire world. Which means they need your help, so please vote!  If you don't have a location near you, that's okay, they all need help!  #savethedrivein

treasure finds: seek the unique

Any chance I get I will explore and this is another treasure find to cross off my list!  I've visited Seek the Unique quite a few times, but I managed to stop myself from just slobbering all over the goods and actually take some photos this time.  High fives.  This shop is located on the Eastside of the river and is actually packing up to move its current location one block over to an entire building, plus they are adding other vendors.  Its sure to be a little slice of vintage junk heaven!

 

 

For my Portland friends are there any places you think I should explore next? Let me know! xo

explore: vintage hardware

Last weekend my friend Andrea, her daughter Ruby, my pup Arthur and I all took a day trip to the coast.  I don't know how it happened, but it was one of the prettiest days over there, here's proof. With no real plans in mind we decided to take our time and venture to Astoria & Seaside, but our main priority was to visit Vintage Hardware and it did not disappoint!  My pictures can't even do this place justice, its one of the coolest shops I've been in- here are some google images to give you a better idea.

The owners were so incredibly sweet, the building is amazingly old & a little birdie told us they are having a HUGE sale in a few weeks where everything around $10 -including furniture- so if you are in the pnw follow them on facebook to stay updated and maybe I'll see you there! 

If you are in the Pacific Northwest (or know the area) especially Portland and you think there is a place I should explore- let me know! I'd love to share an adventure based on a recommendation from one of you xo

explore: street-14-coffee

Last week I decided that I really wanted to take a day trip to the coast.  Its such a nice drive and under two hours makes it extremely ideal to visit often.  I mentioned it to my friend Andrea and we decided to make a day of it on Saturday and I'm so glad we did!  Our main goal was to visit a vintage shop (which I will share tomorrow), but I absolutely fell in love with this coffee shop called Street 14 Coffee, that is located in the historic Commodore Hotel that I just had to share.

One of the employees shared a story about the Coffee Shop sign and mentioned it still has the original working bulbs (neon) from when it was in use at its first shop back in the day in Portland.  Another reason I heart old things.

We were fortunate to visit on an incredibly beautiful day, check back later this week to see more of the adventure!