This was my first visit to Portland, and it was awesome. Full of food, beer, independent shops, food...Needless to say, after Seattle and Portland combined, I'm glad to be back in Sacramento and getting back into my routine of yoga and jogging.

Breakfast the first morning at Glyph

From Glyph I walked over to Powell's City of Books. The place is worth all of the hype I read about through Pinterest and other blogs. The store is HUGE. It's broken into different sections, color coded, with an information desk in each room.

Literally laughed out loud reading this book

I had already read through about half of Amy Poehler's book Yes Please from the kindle version I bought. But it is so freaking good that I wanted the hard copy to put on my shelf and be reminded to read again later. So I bought it here to always remember my trip to Portland, too.

Then it was on to Blue Star Donut. I read a lot about Voodoo Donut, too. And I am disappointed I never made it over to there. But from everything I read, Blue Star is more of a local favorite. And I can see why! I got the Dulce de Leche with Hazelnuts. Easily the best donut I've ever had.

I walked around the Pearl District area, wandered through some fun boutiques, then stopped in at Tasty n Adler for a drink and cheese plate.

I had read about some bike tours of the local breweries, and thought that would be a fun way to drink local beer and meet some new people. I decided to go with Brew Cycle Portland and had a great time. We made three stops along the way.

We started here at Back Pedal brewery

First stop: Pints

Second was Old Town

Last up was Fat Head's Brewery

We only had about 25 minutes at each stop, so when were at Old Town we didn't have enough time to order a pizza. But the smell was delicious ~~and pizza is pretty much my life~~, so I went back after the tour and got a pizza to go.

I found a boutique called Back Talk where I was able to pick up a new ring (because you can never have too many dainty rings). Such a sweet, feminine space. I didn't even look at the clothes though because I just knew they were outside of my budget (even though there's no sale's tax in Oregon! I should have planned ahead better and done some research on a leather jacket to get while I was there)

Probably my favorite shop I found was called Tender Loving Empire. It was full of posters, cards, accessories, clothes, just really awesome stuff. I ended up buying a couple post cards to mail back home, and a print that says "Vive le Feminisme"

My second (and last) day in Portland I slept in, packed up all of my things, then headed out for a couple more stops before heading to the airport. I made it to Love Joy Bakery in the Pearl District for a sandwich to take with me to the airport. It was amazing. Really fun/cool atmosphere, too. It was full of people for the lunch rush. They have a great patio seating area, as well as inside the cafe.

And of course I had to get a coffee from Stumptown. I've had their cold brew coffee here in Sacramento because it's carried at several grocery stores here. But in Portland I got a mocha and it was amazing. Not too sweet, no bitterness to the espresso. It was the perfect afternoon pick-me-up before heading out.

Next time I visit Portland I will go for at least three days. And bring clothes for hiking or exploring the outdoors. I read about so many trails and waterfalls and outdoorsy things that are part of the Portland culture. I also missed a couple spots on my list, like Salt & Straw ice cream, and a yoga studio a student recommended to me...Guess I'll just have to plan another trip to the Pacific North West:)

xxo