I mentioned that we did a little brunchy brunch on Saturday for this lady’s big 25.  Brunching is my absolute favorite activity of all time.  If I had to choose between going to brunch or winning the lottery…well, let’s just say I’d have to think about it for a solid minute.

So we went to Cafe Stella in Silverlake.  Can I just say that it takes us 4 freeways to get to Silverlake and I live like 10 mins away?  Why is this crazy town so crazy?  Who designed these freeway systems and street maps?  Anyway, I had the lemon ricotta pancakes with a side of breakfast potatoes.  If you haven’t had ricotta in your pancakes yet, you haven’t lived.  Go order/make some ricotta pancakes immediately.  They were little pillows of heaven.  Kyle had the salmon eggs benedict but who knows what those tasted like because he didn’t offer me any…….

The patio is my favorite part – it’s quintessential Parisian cafe.  So lovely and chic.  It was a perfect place to spend the morning on such a warm and beautiful day.  PS – their coffee and lattes come straight from Intelligentsia next door, so that right there is a win-win situation.

Wurstküche is somewhat of an LA favorite.  It’s located in the super neat Arts District of downtown (another one recently opened in Venice) and almost always has a line out the door.  Their premise is simple: they serve really delicious German-style sausages (ranging from veggie to chicken to buffalo) and you pick 2 toppings (my favorites are the carmelized onions and sauerkraut).  That’s all you need, I promise.  Oh, aside from the Belgian fries, of course.  You NEED those.  No question.  In fact, order the large size.

Also, their beer menu is quite extensive.  As it should be.  What’s a sausage without a beer?  PS, if you’re vegetarian, they have great veggie dog options as well (i’m a half vegetarian, yes that exists…no red meat or pork for me so I order the chicken or turkey varieties).

By the way, it’s across the street from the ever-so adorable (I mean, LOOK AT THAT FONT!) The Pie Hole, so if you’re not too full from eating an entire order of french fries, be sure to grab a slice of pie here:

Since I live on the westside, I’m going to start my LA posts with a little Santa Monica beach fare.  Cha Cha Chicken is located on my favorite part of SM beach – if you go a little north, it gets touristy; if you go south, it gets real dirty.  But right there, the beach is beautiful and pristine.

Oh and the chicken at Cha Cha Chicken?  Kind of amazing.  Order the medium jerk chicken with baked sweet potatoes.  And definitely, without question, order an agua fresca {pictured below is the mango guava agua fresca}.  Also, this place ain’t real fancy so don’t think you’re going on a romantic date here.  Instead, go with lots of friends for lunch, or even better, for linner {3pm} when there is lots o’ parking.

Plus, you kind of feel like you’re on a tropical island when you eat inside the restaurant.  It’s like a mini vacation!  On these dreary November days, a little bold color is exactly what I need.

So here are a few more photos from my trip to Portland, Oregon (you can see part one here!).  I forgot to tell you in my first post but we stayed at Ace Hotel Portland.  It’s right in the heart of downtown and next door to Stumptown Coffee (yum yum).  My favorite part of the hotel is the lobby, where you can hang out on the comfy couches and read newspapers and magazines.  Here’s Kyle in deep concentrated thought on said comfy couches:

One of my favorite activities that we did was visit the Portland Farmers Market on Saturday morning.  I’ve never seen a farmers market so massive and prolific.  They had everything you could ever want or need, and for much cheaper than any LA farmers market I’ve been to.  Every single type of berry, every kind of root vegetable, the most beautiful peaches and plums, rows upon rows of unique specialty items like pickles and jams and delicious-looking pastries – I was in heaven!

I took it easy at the farmers market and ate a simple crepe with raspberry jam and bananas.

But Kyle spotted a stand for Pine State Biscuits.  Now Pine State Biscuits has somewhat of a cult following in Portland and Kyle definitely wanted to try it (and wait in line for 30 minutes to order).

And there she is:

Besides eating constantly, we also went to a Bon Iver concert at The Edgefield with Kyle’s aunt (who lives in Portland).  Besides the fact that I love everything about Bon Iver, the venue was really neat because everyone lounged on blankets and picnicked.  But on the way to the show, Kyle’s aunt took us on a scenic route and showed us the Columbia River gorge.

One of my absolute favorite meals we had was at Broder, a tiny little cafe in Southeast Portland.  We waited at least an hour to get seated but it was well worth it.  To be honest, when I’m on vacation, I love when places have long waits because that’s how you know it’s really good.

At Broder, Kyle had a bloody mary and an egg dish with smoked trout, potatoes, and pickled beets.

I chose the Aebleskivers (big circular pancakes) and oh my, they were divine.

And then Kyle puts the camera in my face right after I put one of those giant pancakes in my mouth.  Real hot.

Afterwards, we went over to Washington Park for a little outdoor exploring.  I forgot to mention that it was raining on and off this day.  The Hunter wellies were a necessity.

And then those thick gray clouds started rolling in and we were totally screwed – forced to hide under a tree until the rain passed.  PS – I don’t recommend hiking in rain boots.  Those are heavy suckers.

We took quite a few breaks at Stumptown Coffee next door to our hotel.  I don’t know all the proper terms to describe coffee but Stumptown is damn good.  Funny story – we took home 3 bags of ground Stumptown beans and stored them in my suitcase.  Let’s just say that my entire wardrobe now smells like coffee.  I’m not complaining though!

On our last day, we had plans to take the train from Portland to Seattle because we wanted to take a scenic route for part of our travels.  Plus, we had booked a flight from Seattle to LA.  This was all a fun and great idea in thought.  Of course, we get on the train and the conductor tells everyone there are major delays so the train won’t be leaving any time soon.  Awesome.  We got off the train and booked it to Portland Airport and flew to Seattle instead.  Note to self: do not rely on trains when you have a plane to catch.

But we got home safe and soundly!  Oh Portland, I miss you already.

I thought I’d be able to make just one post on Portland and be satisfied but clearly we’re being a little self-indulgent over here because I have quite a few more photos to post after this one.  Just call me an over-sharer.  Anyway, so Portland is kind of amazing.  Especially when the sun is shining and the sky’s a bright blue and bloody marys are being served to you.  No but seriously, it’s such a lovely city!  The transportation system is easy, the buildings are old and ornate, the streets run alphabetical (no but for serious), people still do tricks with yo-yos, and the food is absolutely incomparable.

After we arrived in Portland, we had dinner at Gruner, a German-inspired restaurant with all of my favorite things, like pretzel bread and deviled eggs.  The meal was perfection in every way.

The next day, we had brunch at Tasty & Sons (a MUST GO if you’re in Portland) and filled ourselves with real healthy things like biscuits and fried chicken.  We also shopped at Ink & Peat, Larkpress, Collage, and Townshend Teas.

Later in the afternoon, we walked around downtown and shopped at Alder & Co (my new favorite place), Canoe, Frances May (an AMAZING women’s/men’s store!!), Tanner Goods, and Blackbird.  Portland has REALLY GOOD shopping!  Who knew!

We stopped for a snack at Lovejoy Bakers and walked around the Pearl District – my favorite district by far.  It’s so cute and has street names like “Lovejoy” – how could you not dig this area?

We had dinner at Clyde Common that night (next door to our hotel) – was too busy stuffing my face to take photos though.  I just realized that I’m giving you a literal play-by-play of my trip.  Is this TMI?  Yeah, probably.

More on Monday where I’ll dive into the glories of Stumptown coffee and the breathtaking Portland Farmer’s Market.  Tomorrow is Friday Love List of course!

Hope everyone had a LOVELY 3-day weekend!  Mine sure was great.  Sometimes all it takes is an extra day to recharge your batteries.  Don’t you agree?  Here are a few snapshots from my weekend:

[perused through the new Madewell catalogue!]

[ate lots of food, including tots, at First Friday in Venice on Abbot Kinney]

[also walked through a few galleries at First Friday]

[lunched at GTA on Saturday...my favorite!!]

[went back-to-school shopping...PS, is it ok to back-to-school shop if you aren't a student?]

[attended my friend's BEAUTIFUL wedding at the bel air bay club on Sunday]

[we had lots o' fun at the wedding!]

[on Monday, we took the meaning of "labor day" very literally and did not labor at all...ate lots of pancakes instead]

This is what I’ve decided: I love productive weekends.  All of the art is now up on the walls (okay, almost all of it).  My dining table is now home to some brand new placemats and pretty candle holders.  I tested out a new-to-me pizza bar in Santa Monica (order the mushroom pizza if you decide to go…total nomsss).  And most importantly,  I caught up on my 30-day photo challenge (days 15-22 will be coming shortly, so I lied, not totes caught up).

Here are days 8 through 14 (and a recap of days 1-7 for kicks):

Day 8 [technology]: Watching some Adele videos on my google TV.

Day 9 [faceless self-portrait]: I’m really bad at lying even though I lied 30 seconds ago about catching up on my photo challenge so I’m just going to come out and say it…this is an old photo.  I did not take this pic on August 9.  I’m a cheater.

Day 10 [something i made]: Salmon and roasted asparagus.

Day 11 [something fun]: 2 of my best friends.  They are fun.

Day 12 [close-up]: A close up of one of my other best friends: red sangria

Day 13 [from a distance]: I may or may not have already shared this photo and I may or may not have taken this pic on August 15.  I fail at this photo challenge.

Day 14 [flowers]: Hydrangeas from my parents’ yard.

Where did the summer go?  I feel like it came and went in the blink of an eye and now it’s almost September.  For someone who really loves hot weather and margaritas (and the smell of sunscreen and watermelon by the pool), I don’t think we really ever had a summer this year in southern california.  That makes me sad.  What the H, CA??  But nonetheless, here are a few things that I’ve been loving this week:

1.  I’m crazy for stripes, especially classic breton, so when I spotted this striped umbrella, I almost died of excitement!  And while I’m already complaining about CA, I also wish it would rain more because I have zero use for an umbrella.
2. Although they aren’t as purty as some of the fonts you’ll find on sites like font squirrel and such, these Google web fonts are super helpful and useful!
3. Seeing as my Portland trip is almost a month away (eeeee!!), nothing makes me happier than searching for good restaurants, like tasty & sons for example.  Portland is FILLED with some of the most amazing restaurants and I can’t wait to try them out.
4. You probably know (and are tired of) my obsession with le instagram.  So you could only imagine my elation when I found this website, stickygram, that turns your instagrams into…wait for it….MAGNETS!  SIGN ME UP!
5. Two of my very best friends, her and her, are giving my blog a MUCH NEEDED facelift!  Yes, they are redesigning it and I could not be more excited, thrilled, and IN LOVE with what’s brewing so far.

This weekend, 2 of my very good friends, Christina and Michelle, came to visit me.  We, of course, went to brunch because there is nothing else logical to do on a Sunday morning except eat excess amounts of food.  So we ventured over to M Street Kitchen, one of my favorite spots for dinner, to test out their weekend brunch menu.

As you can see, I had a breakfast sandwich with egg, avocado, turkey, and tomato on a freshly baked english muffin.  Not pictured is the giant plate of hashed browns I also ordered!  YUM, everything was so delicious and fresh.  In my book, if you do breakfast right, you can’t do anything wrong.  Ohh I just love brunch so much.

But of course, seeing these lovely ladies was the best part!  We probably spent 90% of the time instagramming photos on our iPhones but that’s why I love us.  I miss them already and can’t wait for another visit.

…and by kinda, I mean I REALLY love them LOTS and LOTS!

Seeing as Gjelina is one of my favorite restaurants ever, I’ve been dying to test out their next-door venture, GTA (aka Gjelina Take Away) ever since it opened a few weeks ago.  So after some much-needed retail therapy with mumsie and after saying goodbye to one of my best friends before she moves away to North Carolina for school (will missss you Sarita), boyfriend took me over to GTA for lunch.

Oh. my. goodness.  If you live within a 50 mile radius (I take that back, a 100 mile radius!) of Venice Beach, GO TO THERE.  I just had a simple turkey sandwich and a tomato salad but it was best turkey sandwich and the most delicious tomato salad ever.  It’s so amazing what fresh, homemade ingredients will manifest into.  Of course, by homemade, I mean GTA makes everything on property, from the bread to the pickled cucumbers on my sandwich.

So thank you GTA for making my Sunday afternoon a real treat.  Oh that, and the fact that I was wearing a flowy maxi dress (from Anthropologie).  That was a real treat too.