a weekend in cincinnati.

This weekend, I tagged along with my hubby to Cincinnati, where he attended the yearly ACA conference. I love to accompany him on these conference trips because it gives me a chance to explore a new city and get a mini-vacay (while he gets up everyday before 7am to gives presentations and go to meetings, etc. -- my hubs is one hard-working man). He even snuck in some time to work on his dissertation. What?! I'm telling you, he is our of control. I got all emotional/proud-wifey on him on the drive home talking about how it still feels so surreal that he got the Portland State position, but that everything will feel real once he sees his name on the door to his very own office there. I was overwhelmed by feelings of pride; he has worked really stinking hard to get that job - a job that tons of tenured professors applied to -- (he met a ton of people at the conference who were like, "WHOA, you got that job!!" It seriously was a very hot commodity.)

Didn't mean to go off on a bragging tangent but I couldn't help myself :) Back to our little road trip. We stayed at the 21C Museum Hotel (courtesy of my work - one of the many perks). It was a really unique and beautiful boutique hotel that actually had an art museum inside! Also, cute yellow penguins in random places, including the elevators. It is one of my fave hotels I've stayed at. 

As I'm sure I've mentioned before, one of my favorite part of traveling is eating (duh). The culinary highlight of this trip   :: -- wood-fired Neopolitan pizza with fig jam, prosciutto, fontina and arugula -- seriously one of the most scrumptious combinations, my stomach just growled, no joke. That was accompanied by my new fave cocktail -- made with homemade ginger beer and rum. And followed up by homemade salted caramel gelato topped with a shot of Bourbon. Heaven. The other highlight :: Graeter's ice cream (thank you SO much for the recommendation Kelly!) -- it is indescribably good. They now carry it in some grocery stores (yes!) -- you must try it if you can find it (check their website). I now understand why Oprah said "you haven't tried ice cream until you've tried Graeter's. 

Wow, I am really obsessed with food!! Other than that, I really just checked out some local vintage/handmade shops (one with a vegan cafe!) and hung out an awesome coffee shop. Oh, and slept in. And ate some more. 

This lady let me know that this painting is by Charley Harper, who was based out if Cincinnati! So cool!

Have any of you been to Cincinnati? I really enjoyed the architecture there, particularly in the historic Over-the-Rhine neighborhood, as well as the artsy and laid-back feel. Definitely plan on joining Joel on all of his conference excursions in the future, even if it means leaving our {future} kids with a sitter. Next March :: Honolulu(!!!!!!!!!!!)

i left my heart in portland.

i had high expectations for portland, as i have been daydreaming of visiting there since this book came out (almost ten years ago) and have been told time and time again how much i'd love it. and, amazingly enough, it exceeded my expectations. i have never been to a city quite like it.. it is so relaxed and laid back (which suits the hubs and i quite nicely). i wasn't expecting people there to be so friendly! it didn't have the pretentious air of other cities i've enjoyed. loved that. i even made a friend on the light rail; actually, joel did too (each on separate occasions). the light rail system made it so convenient to get around, and enabled us to check out quite a few neighborhoods.. loved how each had its own thing going on. so many unique restaurants, bars and coffee shops!

thank you to everyone who offered up suggestions -- they were all delightful // i spent pretty much an entire day at Powell's (one of the largest independently-owned bookstores in the country). and we had really freaking fantastic food. there seemed to be an endless amount of amazing choices, most of which sourced from local farms :D (favorites included :: por que no, mother's, pok pok, clyde common & bunk sandwiches... thank you Bon Bon!! i have particularly craved the tacos from por que no & the roasted brussels sprouts sandwich from bunk since). man, i would love to live somewhere with such amazing (and sustainable) food offerings!!

oh and i would also love living near Olivia of For Me. we met up one afternoon, and let me tell you, she is a gem of a human being, beautiful inside and out. i am oh so sad that we forgot to get a picture together, but glad it's because we had engaging conversation :)

on our last day there (and hubby's only free day), we decided to rent a car (cost us a whole $12) and check out some more of your guys' recommendations. SO glad we did. i was not expecting Oregon to be so breathtakingly beautiful!! Mulnomah Falls was one of the most awe-inspiring sights i have ever beholden. it seriously looked like something out of Lord of the Rings; it felt so other-worldly to me. the brightest green i can ever remember seeing (except for maybe Ireland), and the moss!! it was so magical. i actually cried a little during our drive there, it was so majestic.

after the Falls, we headed West to the Pacific. again, i was absolutely blown away by the beauty, the whole drive there. particularly through the Tillamook Forest.. was not expecting to drive through more mountains (being a flatlander, i am in love with mountains). the heavy mist that enveloped them made for an enchanting (sometimes eery) and magnificent drive. by the time we got to the Pacific, the misty rain had become a violent downpour, so we basically ran out of our car to get a photo and then ran right back in. but i'm still so glad we got to experience the Oregon coast. oh and the Tillamook Cheese Factory.. free cheese samples, yum!

so, in conclusion, portland is my new favorite place. joel and i both completely fell in love. we left agreeing that we would be back.. i'm hoping it's sooner rather than later! it was strange how at-home i felt there... i've never bonded with a city like that before. oh portland, i can't wait until we meet again!

A road trip to Kansas City

Back from yet another road trip! This one for the purpose of Joel presenting at/attending a counseling conference (which went really well for him - so proud of my man). Let me tell you, the drive from Detroit to Kansas City is long and dreadfully boring. There weren't even pretty fall colors, except for a few small patches here and there. Good thing I had an awesome travel companion. Near the end of our drive home, I read him a long list of random geographical facts I had found online, just to keep the two of us awake (plus we are both kind of obsessed with geography). Haha. Did you know that Michigan has the longest coastline of any state (besides Alaska)? Yea, our state is pretty darn awesome. I could spew off lots more useless facts about U.S. geography but I'll spare you.

Kansas City itself was really cool. I enjoyed the laid-back Midwest feel. And the artsy vibe! You may not guess it, but there is a thriving artist community in Kansas City. Joel and I really enjoyed the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art. We also really enjoyed THE FOOD (thanks to Yelp and Sandy), most of it locally sourced (love that). I never did have BBQ, which kind of bums me out considering how much I love it, but the delicious food I did have made up for it. We went here, here, here and here. At that last place (Glacé), I had fluer de sel caramel ice cream along with butternut squash ice cream and it was some of the best ice cream I've ever tasted! I also dined solo one day while Joel was at his conference and went to my first vegan restaurant. It was out of this world, especially the raw chocolate hazelnut pie. Oh mah gah. Wow, I am really obsessed with food. Not that that's news.

 

The highlight of the trip was meeting a blogger in person for the first time! I got to have lunch (and crepes!) with the lovely Sandy of Sandy a la Mode. It was quite exciting. And as I expected, she is super sweet and fun to talk to. (Not to mention a pretty lady!) Makes me want to attend a blogger conference so I can potentially meet more of you lovelies :)

please excuse the extreme fuzziness. bad lighting!

Oh yea, another awesome part of our trip -- discovering a three-story antiques market! wow, it was so hard not to come home with a bag full, including that blanket below. I hope that there is a market like that wherever we move -- would be perfect for furnishing our future home {since we probably won't take a lot of our stuff with us}. can't wait to decorate a new place :)

Man I just love exploring new cities.. I've been so blessed to be able to join Joel on all of his conference trips. I think traveling/exploring is my favorite thing to do with him. I look forward to exploring a brand new city with him once we move, wherever that may be (the list of posititons Joel is applying to has grown to 20! More on that soon).

made a pit stop in St. Louis for a scrumptious brunch in the magnificent sunshine.