travelogue ~ portland, oregon.

Coming late to this, but I wanted to be sure to update with a Portland, Oregon post! Ben and I went up to Portland in June to celebrate our 1st anniversary. In fact, we were supposed to go in February to celebrate our birthdays but we had to cancel because of work and that turned out for the best because Portland in June is gorgeous. We had such a great weekend.

We loved Portland. It is cool and funky and friendly and easy. Here is some of what we did and additional recommendations at the bottom from our lists that we have been keeping but didn't have enough time to get to...

We flew up after work on Friday and went straight from the airport to dinner - luggage in tow. For this first dinner, we went with St. Jack in the Hosford-Abernethy neighborhood. It was a great little restaurant and we had a solid meal. Saturday morning we headed to breakfast and then grabbed a Lyft and crossed town to Nob Hill to window shop and check out the neighborhood. We tried coffee at Barista Coffee and tried Salt and Straw Ice Cream.

And from here, we walked ourselves over to the Pearl District and grabbed some afternoon beers at 10 Barrel on the rooftop. It was a gorgeous day for walking the city and that we did.

We then kept moving and headed for Maurice - the sweetest little restaurant right at the edge of Pearl District. We grabbed some lunch there. How charming is this restaurant and how beautiful this bowl of cold soup was?!

We of course made a stop at Powell's Book Store - which was awesome. And with that, we wandered back to the hotel and got ready for dinner.

Dinner on Saturday was at Ava Gene's - a beautiful, cool restaurant putting out fantastic food and phenomenal service. It feels neighborhoody and charming and we would definitely recommend it!

On Sunday, we made the most of the half day we had left in PDX. First, we headed over to Pine State Biscuits for a super decadent and full breakfast of biscuits and eggs!  We made sure to stop into the Stump town at the Ace Hotel for a cup of coffee and so both of us could get some quick work done. And then we made a pilgrimage to the original Schoolhouse Electric & Supply Co store where we bought ourselves our first anniversary present we had had our eye on! And finally, we hustled over to the Japanese Garden and checked out the Rose Gardens. And that about sums up a whirlwind less than two days in Portland. We can't wait to go back at some point, we felt like we barely scratched the surface, not to mention we would love to get to the coast....

Restaurants: Tusk / Afuri / Jackrabbit / Coquine / Ox / Nostrana / Ataula / LucLac / Pok Pok Noi / Le Pigeon 

Coffee: Coava / Heart

Drink: Expatriate

Breakfast-Brunch: Tasty and Alder / Adler & Co / Byways Cafe (local stop)

Links to Articles: 36 Hours in Portland

walloon.

We are just back from Walloon and getting back into the routine. Ben and I headed up for the 4th of July week and overlapped with my Mom for a couple days. It was Michigan at her best. We had great weather, mornings on the dock drinking coffee, grilling every night with ice cream in Walloon and otherwise just a full week of relaxing. We're bias but there is truly no better place in the world, if you ask us!

star struck.

I went down to Los Angeles this weekend for some much needed QT with Ali and it was the perfect getaway weekend with my first lady! I had never spent any time in LA and the city is just cool. It also helped that Ali grew up there and has recently moved back and has the pulse on the city and is the ultimate host.

We packed in a lot in 48 hours. And that included a dinner in Santa Monica at a small little Italian restaurant (that only Ali and her sister, Emily, would know to take us to) and it just so happened that Woody Allen and Diane Keaton were there, as well as Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga! It was epic. And here are some of the other highlights in case you are interested - hat-tip to Ali on all of them....

• SQIRL ~ Breakfast - they are not kidding around about the ricotta toast at this place!
• Cafe Stella ~ Dinner - perfectly french cafe tucked in the very cool Silver Lake neighborhood. 
• The Farmer's Market ~ Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner - super cool and the original outdoor market in LA - you can wander the stalls. We got tacos at La Lotteria and they hit the spot!
• Giorgio Baldi ~ Dinner - little Italian place on a corner in Santa Monica and turns out is a gold mine! 
• Lincoln Pasadena ~ Breakfast/Lunch - super cool cafe with indoor and outdoor seating and perfect for a laid back bite (bonus: super cute looking store as well to window shop after!). 

On Saturday, we also ended up on quite the hike to get up and behind the Hollywood sign. It was a true hike, if you're interested, we hiked up Cahuenga Peak and then over to Mount Lee - more or less this same hike. And on Sunday, Ali and I went to check out the Rose Bowl Flea Market. Damn - that is huge and overwhelming. 

Not pictured and listed are drives through West Hollywood, Larchmont neighborhood and Brentwood. I also got to finally meet Ali's niece, Charlotte and catch up with Emily and Roy. 

travelogue ~ santa fe.

Two weekends ago, we made a quick trip to Santa Fe for some quality time with Emmy and Raffi (see previous post here). Emmy and Raffi had to be in Vegas for work and a couple months ago they suggested we pick a place and tack on a weekend while they were out west - we somehow landed on Santa Fe! It turned out to be quite the weekend because Raffi proposed to Emmy in Santa Fe the night before Ben and I got there, so we celebrated, admired Emmy's ring and talked all things wedding. It also turned out to be a very bizarre weather weekend - it snowed 8 inches on Saturday and had melted by Sunday morning. Nonetheless, we had a great time together and here is some of what we did...

But first, these two...

We swung through the Georgia O'Keefe Museum. It is small and if you have more time, you might consider going out to her house and studio, but we didn't have time - and for folks interested, this still provides a nice introduction and overview of O'Keefe's life and some of her work. 

We mosied down Canyon Road for a couple hours on Saturday (in the snow!). Canyon Road is lined with galleries and you can just wander in and out looking at amazing art. And on a beautiful day, it would be even more wonderful...

We also wandered around Santa Fe and the plaza. And I finally replaced a silver cuff bracelet I lost last year from one of the artisans at the plaza square.

And on Sunday, Emmy suggested we take a quick walk up Hillside Park to get a view of the surroundings. The park is just north of the main plaza.

Raffi and Emmy left late Sunday morning and Ben and i headed over to the Four Seasons because we needed to get a run in and wanted to relax. For those wondering, they have a great spa situation - we used the gym and sauna and grabbed a quick lunch with views of Santa Fe. Including below restaurants and other spots that we had pulled together while planning the weekend in case you are headed there any time soon. We stayed in this AirBnb just outside Santa Fe which worked out great. It was a wonderful weekend getaway.

Restaurants: Geronimo / Eloisa / Joseph's / Izanami / The Shed / Shake Foundation / The Pantry / Pasqual's 

Coffee: Ohori's Coffee

Bars/Cocktails: Secreto Lounge / Bell Tower Bar

Spas: Ten Thousand Waves / Four Seasons

Activities: Canyon Road / Santa Fe Plaza-Square / Georgia O'Keefe Museum / Bandelier National Monument / Santuaro de Chimayo /

Articles/Links: NYTimes 36 Hours

planning it out.

We are going to Santa Fe in two weeks for a quick weekend trip with Emmy and Raffi!

We had planned this a couple months ago and while our time on the ground will be short, we are planning to pack in a lot. I've been to Santa Fe once, a long time ago, and I remember it being awesome but don't recall any of the specifics. Any suggestions?! Here is some of what we are planning right now, but welcome recommendations and I will be sure to report back with a full travelogue after!

• Georgia O'Keefe Museum
• Canyon Road to peruse galleries and shops
• Santa Fe Plaza/Square
• The Pantry for breakfast
• The Shed for lunch
• Eloisa or Joseph's for dinner
• Secreto Lounge for cocktails

What else should we do? 

travelogue ~ yosemite.

We went to Yosemite last weekend to get out of dodge and to avoid TVs. We had envisioned lots of hiking and talking with trees. In a twist of plans, it turned into a winter wonderland with two straight days of heavy snow. So, in the end we didn't see all that much of Yosemite because roads were closed but we snow-shoed, drank hot chocolate, sat by the fire, read a ton and successfully avoided Trump's inauguration. Here are some pictures of the quick weekend getaway - we can't wait to go back (in the summer and warm weather!).

Oh and p.s. we stayed at the Rush Creek Lodge - a new lodge - we would give a solid review - great property and location, but they are still working out the kinks!

travelogue ~ palm springs.

We went to Palm Springs the week before Christmas with two of our best couple friends from DC. When we were in DC, we started having "family meals" every month rotating between our three houses and hosting great dinners together. It is one of the things that we miss most about DC.  This year was our first "family getaway" and Palm Spring was a perfect pick.  We rented this AirBnB, which was a fantastic deal when you split between our three families and the layout was perfect since Sarah and Geoff have 1.5 year old Freddie and Molly and Anthony just had Nora three months ago.

Palm Springs is an AirBnb bonanza. There are so many beautiful houses to rent and if you are planning for a group, they are super affordable especially when you factor in a pool and an open layout for just hanging around the house. We loved it!

Turned out that we ended up with three days of rain (Palm Springs gets on average about 3 days of rain a year and usually in the summer - talk about some bad luck!) - but even in the gray, we loved it. We hung out in the pool, cooked great meals, played with Freddie non-stop and ventured out here and there to explore the area. Here is a quick recap and recommendations in case you are going to go any time soon....

Our view from the pool - not too bad....

I dragged Sarah and Freddie over to the pink door house to check it out...

And this copper door house was right across the street - what a looker.

In the spirit of family dinners, each couple made a dinner and on the last night we all pitched in for a pizza night. We cooked up some good meals....

Molly started it off with Thai - including a pork larb appetizer which was fantastic and pad see-ew to follow...

Ben and I made carne asada and enlisted Molly's cocktail skills to make some killer margaritas...

Sarah capped it off with italian and some fantastic lasagna. And finally, we ended with pizza night...

We also went over to The Saguaro Hotel to check out the infamous color themed pool and to grab a drink at their bar, El Jefe.

Molly, Sarah and I snuck away for an afternoon to the Parker Palm Springs for massages and facials. The Parker was on my short bucket list - it is this awesome boutique hotel and the spa treatments were great...

We took the tram up to check out the incredible desert views...

And we trekked off to Joshua Tree (just about an hour away) where we stopped at this Country Kitchen for a fantastic hole in the wall breakfast and the best pancakes in 2016....(click here to watch Anthony Bourdain's special on it!)

And while we were in Palm Springs, we tapped into the vintage spirit and visited a bunch of consignment stores. No amazing finds, but they are certainly their own culture...

In short, Palm Springs was fantastic. It is an awesome spot for a group vacation and here are some of the restaurants and other spots that I put together for our planning purposes in case you are going any time soon and want to check them out...

• Restaurants: Cheekys / Wilma & Frieda / Workshop Kitchen & Bar / The Barn Kitchen / Rooster and the Pig / Jake’s / King’s Highway at the Ace Hotel / Appetito / Tyler’s / Great Shakes / L’Atelier

• Coffee: Koffis (there are two locations)/ Earnest Coffee

• Bar: Birba

• Shopping: The Fine Art of Design (Consignment Store) / The Estate Sale Company (Consignment Store) / Just Modern / Bon Vivant / Resale Therapy / Victoria’s Attic Antiques / The Shops at Thirteen Five Ten

• Things to Do: Aerial Tramway / Drive by the Albert Frey-designed Tramway Gas Station / Palm Springs Architecture Tour / Hike Tahquitz Canyon

• Links/Articles: 36 Hours in Palm Springs (February 2016) / Travel & Leisure - Palm Springs + Joshua Tree / GOOP Travel Guide - Palm Springs

• Joshua Tree National Park:
• Smoothie Stop
• Pioneer Town
• Three mile hike to foot of Mastodon Peak