Road Trip

This past weekend Tai and I hit the road to Portland. He joked that we left one city for another. His idea of a vacation is to go to the beach or the mountains. But we headed to Portland to see a Cirque show.
This post is devoid of pictures. I just didn't take that many. So I'll do a bullet style review:

• We stayed at The Paramount Hotel. I highly recommend it. It was lovely.
• Best risotto in the world is at Bistro 921 in the downtown Hilton hotel. We couldn't stop eating it. The very nice waiter brought us some to take home. Tai declared it blog worthy!
• The Creme Brulee French Toast and the Poutine at The Original were awesome.
• We were not aware it was Naked Bike Ride Day (NSFW) in Portland on Saturday. We caught part of the festivities on our way home from Cirque Du Soliel. That was a lot of naked people, Portland. 
• I got my fill of Stumptown Coffee and finally tried a burger at Burgerville. Yummy. We tried their asparagus fries which were also good. I thought their fresh strawberry shake was the bomb! 

Overall it was a great trip. It was nice to get out of town and relax for a little bit. Now I'm looking forward to our next getaway (possibly in October/November). My next vacation can't come soon enough.

What I Wore In Portland

The day before we left for Portland, Ashley and I were talking on the phone. I noticed that the forecast called for temps in the 90's (it's been in the 70's in Seattle). We agreed if it was going to be that hot we should pack dresses. I didn't have a ton of dresses so I went out and bought 4 including this first one from Old Navy I was wanting.

I wore this one on the train ride to Portland and all day Friday. From Old Navy. Very comfy but I showed a lot of cleavage.

This next one I bought at Ross. It's teal not the same blue as the Old Navy one. Less cleavage was shown. I wore this Saturday day time.

Another one I bought at Ross. I wore this Saturday night time for our dinner at Beast.

And for Sunday I wore this one from Old Navy. It's the same as the first dress but in a different color. So again more cleavage.

Portland: Part 3-Voodoo Donuts

Ah, Voodoo. If I had one place I could have gone in Portland it was to try Voodoo doughnuts. Voodoo seems to be the place where strange doughnuts got their birth.

And since I love Frost doughnuts, I wanted to compare.

This made me laugh so hard!

Every time we saw someone with a pink box we believed a Voodoo to be nearby. But we only found the one we went to (the original). I know there were other locations.

This is kind of their trademark. They had undies with the same phrase on it. Hehehe.

The doughnut I came to try. The doughnut I waited an hour for. The  Bacon Maple Bar. Good. Although I like Frost's bacon better. Point awarded to Frost.

My favorite type of doughnut, the Cruller. Not as light and fluffy as Frost's. Point awarded to Frost. Frost 2, Voodoo 0.

The Marshall Matters. A plain doughnut covered in mini M&M's. Clever. Point awarded to Voodoo. Frost 2, Voodoo 1.

The Voodoo Doll. I think mine was cherry filled doughnut with a pretzel stake. Totally cute and yummy. Point awarded to Voodoo. Frost 2, Voodoo 2. It ends in a tie! Everybody wins!
What's your favorite doughnut? Do you like "odd" doughnuts or the more traditional kind?

Portland: Part 2-More Food

This post will talk about the sit down places we ate in Portland.
Friday night-dinner at Clyde Common. Sorry no pictures! Yummy. I recommend the burger which is not on the menu.
Saturday lunch-Kenny & Zukes.

I ordered the Pastrami on rye with potato salad. The potato salad was delicious. They give you a lot of pastrami. Go hungry.

Ashley and I split a bowl of matzo ball soup. Delicious.

Saturday night-Beast. Ok this was way the heck out there. Unlike everywhere else we ate, we had to take a cab there. It wasn't in downtown. I don't know where we were! 

 Beast has a fixed menu, 6 courses for $60. What they have is what you get (no substitutions). I was really impressed that they featured Thundering Hooves beef as the main entree. Everything was delicious especially the beef. So tender!
Sunday brunch-Veritable Quandary. When I asked for Portland food recommendations, Budget Babe mentioned Veritable Quandary! Since it was so close to our hotel, this was a no brainier for brunch.

It was like sitting at a garden party!

I ordered the corned beef hash with poached eggs. Yummy. The food was spicy but delicious!
There were about 50 more restaurants that we wanted to eat at in Portland. But there wasn't enough time. We can't wait for our next trip!

Portland: Part 1-The Food Carts

Whew! Just got back from weekend trip to Portland with Marta and Ashley. This is the first post about what we ate in Portland. Honestly all we did was eat so most of the posts are going to be food related.
Seattle has nothing on the food cart scene in Portland. It's not uncommon to see food carts every few blocks downtown and in the Pearl District.

Bulkogi.

Philly Cheesesteaks and Burgers. I actually saw this same cart 3 times. I think it was a mini chain.

Tabor. Ashley actually got a “snitzelwich”- a breaded and fried pork cutlet served on a fresh ciabatta roll and served with horseradish mayo and a paprika-red pepper sauce and lettuce. It was huge and we all had some.

Ashley and Marta also got Korean tacos from Boolkogi Taco. They liked them.

La Jarochita.

New Taste of India.

Thai Sky.

Brunchbox.

District Sandwiches and Spuds.

Smokin' Pig.

Bro-Dogs.

Built To Grill.

Big A** Sandwiches.

Ninja Plate Lunch.

Flavour. Marta got a waffle here and she said it was yummy.
Obviously we did not eat at all these places. We ate a lot but if I'd eaten something at every one of these places in one day, I would have needed a wheelbarrow to bring me home. So what did I eat?

Fried catfish and hushpuppies from:

The Swamp Shack. I was incredibly impressed with the fact that the guy made my food after I ordered it (so there was a little wait). No fast food here.
We ate at the food carts for lunch on Friday which was a great way to start the weekend.
Do you like eating at food carts? Is your town big on food carts?

Portland Bound

Next month, Ashley, Marta and I are going on a girls weekend to Portland, OR. This isn't my first time to Portland, but I'd love some recommendations.
High on our list is Voodoo Donuts and checking out some of the street food trucks. I can't wait to head back to Powell's.
For those of you familiar with or from Portland, where should we eat? Which are your favorite street food trucks? Do you know a good place for brunch?
Ashley wants a massage. Can anyone recommend a good massage place near downtown?
Lastly we want to go out and dance. Can you recommend any places that we can shake our thangs? We like top 40 & hip hop mostly.
We won't have a car, so please keep that in mind while giving me recommendations!