Roses from the Portland Rose Garden

The City of Roses has a special place in my heart and this past visit really tugged at me. Perhaps it was because it was the first time that I really (like really) could see myself living there. Or maybe it was the first time it didn't feel like a city I was just visiting, but rather a city that I could stay in.

Last time we were in Portland, my fella and I had a jam packed schedule. This time around we were still out and about and going to all sorts of places, but it didn't feel scheduled, it just felt natural.

My favorite memory will probably be the day my friend Cari and I (we were in Portland at the same time, hooray!) were taken to Sauvie Island by her sister and her friend. Driving through fields of white flowers, seeing lone large trees in an expanse of farmland, noticing chipping old barns set against a beautiful Oregon summer sky... it was Heaven I tell you! I thought my heart would burst with happiness!

I remember thinking...this...THIS feeling. Where things are slow and moving, and you have time to notice beautiful things like ospreys hovering overhead and the way the breeze bends the long wild grass...





I also met up with several lovely people. Friends I have made through Instagram who have become friends in real life. It is just so wonderful to meet people you follow and have watched the world through their eyes and then to realize them in real life and discover they're just how you imagined them to be? I had such a terrific time breakfasting with Annie from Lantana Vintage, Solanah from Vixen Vintage and now American Threads, and Gretchen from The Neutral Territory. Thank you ladies for taking the time to meet up and break bread together! I always think the best conversations are those around a fine meal and a delicious cup of coffee (which Portland is brimming over with both!)





Ahhh...and the shopping, and the vintage! Oy vey! Portland has many, many, many delightful boutiques and vintage shops to whittle away your hard earned dollars! I only went to a few vintage shops this time around to source for vintage for my own shop (and my closet), but I did go to several wonderful other shops I've been following in Instagram for awhile including Yo Vintage, Lowell and Maven Collective where I had the absolute pleasure of meeting Jax of Tabor Vintage and Kim of Ethan Ollie. You ladies are so wonderful and wish I had more time to have chatted with you both to talk shop, pretty things, and general hoopla.

This is turning into the longest love letter I think to Portland (just kidding, I bet someone has written love letters to Portland and I bet there are VOLUMES of it).

I'm sure the photos speak for themselves and hopefully will say a lot more than I ever could about how much I love and absolutely adore the city of Portland.

I should just move there. LOL.

Although my trip to Portland was a daily go-go-go, I had the most wonderful of time exploring the city with my fella and discovering new things to love about the city of roses! We spent two days shopping the city non-stop, partly for myself and mostly to restock the vintage shop! (And I've got several treasures to show you!)

All around the city were flowers and so much damn green! I think I about said "It's so frickin green here!" roughly 100 times. We'd go around a bend on the road and I'd let out a big "Ahhh it's so frickin green here!!!" As if I had never seen the color green in all my life! A short trip across the border to Washington landed us at the Pendleton Outlet where I got some terrific new staple pieces for my wardrobe. A rust orange long blazer that reminds me of a riding coat, a nubby grey wool sweater, and a fitted vintage cut dark denim chambray.

I also met up with some very adorable vintage gals. Julie from Fabgabs Vintage, Janey from Atomic Redhead, and the lovely Solanah who was our Vintage Gal of the Month earlier this year. There are some really cute pics Solanah took over on her blog, Vixen Vintage if you'd like to see better photos than my small black and white of us four.

This was a jam packed trip including a celebration of my fella's grandparents 60th wedding anniversary (I pulled out my florist hat and decorated the cake and created the flower arrangements), playing golf on a real course for the first time, hiking up to the top of Multnomah Falls, and meeting wonderful new friends such as Christian from 1924.us, who has inspired me for some time via Instagram.

Oh, there were all those gorgeous flowers I kept squealing over in Edgefield and tasting the most amazing biscuits in my entire life at Bob's Red Mill.

There are several more photos I didn't post, so if you'd like to see more from my Portland trip (including peeks of vintage!) then follow @adoredvintage on Instagram or you can simply visit here: Adoredvintage on Instagram.

This past weekend my fella and I took a little trip into the mountains for a little R&R. One of the things I really love about California is that in a couple hours of time your entire scenery and landscape can change. In 2 hours you can be in the desert, then the mountains, then along the coast! Ahh, California I love you!





The first leg of our trip was just lots of open skies and open road. We stopped off the side of the road at one point so I could pick wild flowers to press later. The compilation photo above is probably my favorite of my fella and I. We're both wearing our every day garb (him usually in a plain white shirt, me in my favorite denim button up)...it started sprinkling when the photo was snapped of me and clearly I was enjoying that. *hehe*



There was no internet service at our final destination so for nearly 24 hours I was without access to the entire world. The first few hours my mind was basically in a wild panic..."what the hell am I suppose to be doing now?!" But after awhile we just walked around, visited the town center (which consisted literally of one boutique, one cafe, one pizza place, one bar, one church, and 3 real estate offices). Happily the next morning I discovered that the cafe had free wi-fi. Hooray!

The next day we did some serious antique shopping. I think we filled up my fella's truck with tons of loot! Yippie! The little mini California road trip ended with an impromptu stop at a historical landmark, Fort Tejon, which is where the following photos were all snapped.



more photos from my instagram: adoredvintage

Yesterday was suppose to be a day of whale watching, taking in some sunshine, and kayaking along the southern California coast... but because of a sudden wind swell the day before, the expedition was rescheduled for this weekend... so, what to do?

We decided to do a little exploring in San Diego instead. Grabbed quick beers at a brewery, Cuban pastries to munch on later, and set out to peruse some antique malls which is kind of our Sunday ritual anyway. We chanced upon this one antique mall called Vignettes and my eyeballs nearly popped out of their sockets, this place was oozing with Frenchy, girlie goodness. It was like Anthropologie on vintage crack.



This is one of the first things you see when you walk in. The dresses are vintage reproductions and mostly just for decoration.


I am such a sucker for fresh flowers in booth displays. They're even pretty when they're wilting.


This was my favorite little vignette. Industrial meets French shabby chic, which is what I really love.

















Sorry these photos aren't the greatest quality, I stupidly left my camera in the car, so phone photos it is! But...isn't this place amazing?!? And the most incredible part were the prices were so reasonable! Here are a few items I'm considering to populate my vintage atelier.




These last two pieces are from the antique shop down the street, still reasonable prices. Trying to decide which piece I want the most in the atelier. I really love the French looking china hutch cabinet, but it's a rather large piece, but for $235!? That's a steal! I am probably going to get the white wardrobe piece since I really need storage that can hide a "mess". Because let's face it, sometimes running a vintage shop just ain't always pretty.

Have to make a decision by Sunday, so we'll see which piece comes home with me! *wink*

Babycakes is an adorable little bakery serving up pretty looking vegan & gluten free baked goods in downtown Los Angeles. I'm very skeptical of "vegan, gluten-free" bakeries mostly because I feel like desserts and sweets SHOULD HAVE all those not so great things for you so they taste delicious.


A friend and I stopped in after discussing plans for the Adorevintage April 2011 lookbook shoot on Wednesday. I didn't know Babycakes was a vegan bakery, usually I would high tail it elsewhere, but the decor was so darn cute, I thought why not?



I'm a sucker for cute interiors like I'm a sucker for packaging and presentation. The girls that work here wear adorable pin striped little shift dresses with bows on the neck. Um, yes please!


The prices are higher. I find that's pretty common for places like this... but $5.00 for a CUPCAKE... I know it has fancy grains and soy milk...but FIVE DOLLARS for something I can literally eat in two big bites? Hrmph.


If you're in downtown LA and looking for a cute vintage-y place to get a vegan baked treat (and DELICIOUS coffee, seriously, so yummy!) I recommend Babycakes. But, if you're not really into the "healthy" versions of sinful desserts like brownies, cupcakes, and bread loaves, I'd probably just skip it unless you want to go here to admire the vintage records on display and to feel cute in this very girlie bakery.

All photos taken by me. Please feel free to share, credit/link back ^_^