portlandia

I just returned from a wonderful (and calorie-filled) trip to Portland, OR to visit my good friend and college roommate, Grace.  Our other college friend happened to be visiting from the East Coast also, so I took the opportunity to take a kid-free mommy trip (my first since E was born) to catch up with girl friends and indulge in many a delicious meal.  I mean, seriously, we ate the whole time.  Shopping and a hike accounted for exercise to help burn off some of the food, but we just really based our day on all the amazing restaurants Portland had to offer.

First meal after getting off the plane: the Sausage du Jour from Chef Paley's restaurant.  Grace knows how to treat a girl right.

E has a strange fascination with mule deer (thanks to "Baby Bear, Baby Bear, What Do You See?") so I snapped this photo for her.  Can't say that's an actual mule deer, but it's in the same family.

You know it's Portland by the Prius cabs.

No sales tax = waaaay to much shopping.

Had to get these for G so he can cheer on the Seahawks in style.

My bed buddy.  I adore this dog.

Evidence that there was some effort given to burning off the calories. 

The Fruit Loop.  Made me want to move to a farm, grow my own produce and make jam and bake pies.

My favorite meal might have been the buiscuit sandwich from Pine State Buiscuits.  Fried chicken, cheese, bacon and a fried eggs sandwiched between two fluffy buiscuits and drenched in (amazing) sausage gravy.  We had some collared greens to make sure we had the vegetable component.  This was followed by lavender honey and IPA upside down cake ice cream.  All consumed before noon.

We walked off our lunch with a tour of the rose garden overlooking the city.  Very pretty, and I now want to grow these.

It was a really good trip and a nice break from being a mom (though I still had to pump throughout the day).  It was tough letting go of the responsibility of taking care of lots of little beings, but I enjoyed being able to just take my time with things and not worry about naps and meals and nursing.  It was also nice for Adam to spend some special time with the kids, and he was an awesome stay-at-home Dad while I was gone (though he still had to work a lot).  And I know I couldn't have taken this trip without the help of Donna and Ashley.  So I am very grateful to my village for an amazing early birthday gift.  We will definitely have to visit Portland again.  There is still just so much more to be eaten!