City of Roses

One cannot visit the City of Roses without taking up trip to the International Rose Test Garden. I am in love with flowers and roses hold a special place in my heart, so we carved some time out of our schedule to head into Washington Park and smell the roses. And there were roses! Rows and rows, flower beds, layers, in bloom, waiting to bloom, vibrant, miniature, and amazing.

I would like to share with you a few of the hundreds of photos taken during my visit. There was so much beauty surrounding us ♥










Red roses!


A little too much fun among the roses.




Sitting area in Shakespeare Garden. The plaque states this Shakespeare quote, "Of all flowers methinks a rose is best."


One of my favorites! I heart how the color goes from yellow to pink.




The mariotta rose was my favorite!


Petals are just amazing!




On the way out.


As we left I picked up some Portland rose postcards. I added 2 honey my heart rose inspired charm necklaces to the photo since I sourced the charms from an Oregon supplier,yay local!

Have you been to the International Rose Test Garden? Is there a similar garden in your city?

Happy Friday!!

Local Love: Content at the Ace Portland

During our visit to Portland one thing was very clear: they love buying local. Whether it was food, clothing, accessories, books, etc, buying local was the way to go. I loved it because they supported the designers that are part of their community, and put their money back into their community. We shopped at a lot of the local boutiques and eateries, and were fortunate enough to have stayed at the Ace Hotel Portland during their pop-up shop, Content. A one night showcase of local independent designers, Content designers took over every room on the 2nd floor of the Ace. The rooms were styled into mini boutiques by the designers, with guests able to visit, party, and purchase.

I loved the super hip and chic vibe of Content, being exposed to such talented designers, and having a few drinks in the champagne room. Below are a few favorites from the night.

Carly Mick and Susanna Hohmann was cool and blue. I need one of these dresses.


Idom. Love their style. Love/must recreate their background wall installation.


Tanner Goods had so much masculine leather goodness. I really wanted some of their stamped leather coasters.


Better Late Than Never jewelry had one of my favorite rooms. I really liked how the gold and silver jewelry was displayed on canvas boards and laid out to look like art on the canvas.


Their random shaped bracelets and rings were another favorite.


Bridge and Burn shirts and jackets. So Portland.


Content Draught leather goods range from wallets and key holders to ipad cases and knife covers.


Portland Garment Factory takes military ponchos and re-purposes them into totes, accessories, tissue box covers. There were tissue box covers in every room of the Ace.


Project Runway winner, Gretchen Jones, also had her own room where she hosted a meet and greet. She had a few garments available, including cool ombre chevron pants.


Moonwoods creates custom frames by hand from sustainably harvested hard woods. The remnants of the frames are then crafted into jewelry. I was trying on some of the rings and they were such statement makers and so light weight.

It was so wonderful experiencing a whole new scene and meeting great designers. Hooray for community, creativity, and commerce.

More photos of the event can be seen here.

PDX and SEA

We traveled to the Pacific Northwest at the end of last week and weekend. Portland was our main destination, with a quick day trip to Seattle. It was a trip to experience something new, take in a different environment, enjoy the local scene and cuisine, and have some fun.

Below are a lot of photos and notes from the trip!

Downtown Portland reminded me of parts of LA and SF, except with more trees. Lots of tress! I loved all of the trees, public transportation, wide streets and sidewalks, and how easily walkable it was. We walked everywhere and we liked it.


The Ace Hotel was our home away from home. The hip vibe and casual decoration were so Portland. Rooms were cozy and decor clean. It's central location helped since we walked around a lot. I totally want to visit other Ace Hotel locations.


The Willamette River separates the East and West sides of Portland. There are many bridges connecting the two sides and we crossed them a lot! We took a walk by the waterfront to get a different view of the bridges. My favorite was definitely Burnside Bridge. It's one of the main ones, takes you right into Old Town Portland, and houses the Burnside skate park.


There were different art pieces, murals, and sculptures around the city. Pabst billboards were the most prevalent. Portland is weird and I like it.


Buildings around downtown.


Two favorite stores were Lark Press and Tender Loving Empire. Lark was full of awesome prints, letterpress, and stationery. I loved browsing through the shelves and bins and seeing all of the wonderful local Portland designers' work. Tender Loving Empire housed a variety of awesome things: dolls, shirts, jewelry, and local music. Again, it was full of local independent Portland designers. Hooray for the creative community!


We drove up to Seattle and it was a beautiful drive. Oregon and Washington drivers are so courteous, drive under the speed limit, and seem so laid back. It was such a different experience than driving in LA. And the scenes were awesome. So many trees and blue skies!


A first trip to Seattle means a touristy stop at the Space Needle. We walked around the top about 3 times enjoying the amazing view. The Puget Sound is so beautiful. I wish it was clearer so we had better views of the mountains, but I kinda liked the clouds.


Seattle was full of art and sculpture. These pieces and colorful Experience Music Project building were neighboring the Space Needle.


Another mandatory tourist stop was the Public Market. We saw the famous flying fish and enjoyed fresh crab.


The day cleared up for our walk to the Puget Sound. I hope to ride a ferry on our next trip.

Overall, the vacation was too amazing and too short. I loved learning new things, exploring new places, and having new memories with the hubs. I am excited for our next visit!

PS- more trip recaps to come, including a food post!