Sunday, May 10, 2015

A Visit to Portland OR

Last weekend, I headed up to Portland for a meet up with several delightful ladies for a weekend of fashion, food, and fun! I really needed a break and this getaway really hit the spot for me

First up, some shopping. Georgene and I headed off to the Pendleton Woolen Mill Store, the one with actual fabrics, located at 8500 SE McLoughlin Blvd. We both did a lot of damage to our wallets there! Following are some of the goodies I picked up.

Silk prints,


cotton shirting,


a remnant of Pendleton's signature wool,


and notions. Clockwise are felt binding, faux suede binding, and denim piping.


The fabrics were precut and discounted from the prices on the labels. In addition, I picked up a scarf that you'll see later. Definitely worth the taxi fare.

After Pendleton, we met with the rest of the group as they were finishing lunch at Habibi, a Lebanese place. I shared a few bites and it was fabulous, yum!

After, some of us headed to saysay, a nearby boutique. I picked up a pair of tights (which I forgot to photograph--trust me, they're cute!). I also got a wonderful handbag that can be worn two ways. Here's the bag all together.


The inner bag can also be worn by itself with a shoulder strap.


The scarf in the above pictures is the cotton scarf I got at Pendleton. I love the Pacific Northwest Native American design of hummingbirds.


But we weren't done yet! Off to Nordstrom Rack, where we had to look at (and buy) shoes. These are the ones I got. This pair was marked "Brookline" on the tag, a brand I'm not familiar with, but I did like the Fluvog/Tsubo look. They are also surprisingly comfortable.


The other pair is Bernie Mev, which I've liked since seeing Shams' pair last year in Santa Fe. Very light and comfortable. All those strips are elastic. 


After a brief respite at our home away from home, Hotel DeLuxe, we headed out for an Italian dinner at Piattino in the Pearl District. I think we overwhelmed the place, but we had a great time as you can see. Mardel, Liana, Jan, me, Rosie, Ann, Margy, Patti, Shams, and Georgene.


Saturday and breakfast at Cheryl's on 12th.  A hearty, delicicious breakfast and lots of coffee prepared us for our journey into fashion at ...


the Portland Art Museum! We arrived before it opened and had some time to explore the sculpture garden. Margy and Shams with a sculpture that matched their ensembles.






And then the doors opened for the show,


The exhibit was a very comprehensive review of Italian fashion, with several galleries over 2 floors. Alas, no photos allowed inside, but the catalog arrived Saturday (yay!).

Of course, more shopping around after the museum. We all wound up at the Button Emporium, since pretty much all of us sew. It's a very well stocked place, but it made me realize that I already have a lot of buttons. I really couldn't choose and left without buying, although I did like browsing.


Jan and I broke off from the group when we noticed a "boutique" Goodwill nearby (838 10th Avenue). I bought an Eileen Fisher cardigan and a dupioni top from Chico's. I liked the concept and hope Albuquerque will open one of these soon. Yes, the items are a bit more expensive, but worth not having to hunt through racks and racks of clothes to find one nice thing.

After changing for dinner, we headed to Josephine's. It's a re-boot of the the venerable Portland fabric store that closed in 2013. The new store is in D Street Village and has a well-curated selection of fabrics. Below are Liana and Margy checking out the goods.


I bought a yard of Liberty Tana Lawn cotton that I fell in love with. Now I know why people go nuts for it. This print is called "Anna's Garden."


Next up, dinner at PokPok, a Thai restaurant. It's very popular but somehow Shams managed to get reservations for us! Here's Jan, me, Georgene, Ann, Patti, Mardel, and Liana.


Mardel and Liana again, Rosie, Shams, and Margy's(?) hand.


Interesting food and delicious drinks.

Since Ann, Georgene, Shams, and Rosie were leaving on Sunday, we did a show and tell after dinner with all our goodies. The front part of this pile is mine (yikes).


We had a farewell breakfast Sunday morning at the hotel's restaurant, Gracie's. Mardel, Liana, Jan and I went to Knit Purl. I didn't get anything since I'm "World's Slowest Knitter" and had already bought so much stuff, but it was a lovely store. Afterwards, we had dessert at Petunia's. I admit that I didn't have high hopes for a vegan and gluten free bakery, but the food was remarkably good! I had pie, a sliver of Mardel's cake, and a spoonful of Jan's mac and cheese.

We took in a movie since Dior and I was showing locally. It's a documentary of Raf Simon's first collection for the House of Dior, and quite good. We all appreciated that so much attention was given to the staff who make those beautiful couture garments.

One last meal, back at the hotel since we were all pretty tired at this point. Thanks Driftwood Lounge for having wonderful burgers and other items that we could make a meal of. And here we are: me, Margy, Mardel, Liana, Jan, and Patti!


Thanks to Patti and Shams for "herding cats" and putting this weekend together! And thanks to all who attended--Ann, Georgene, Jan, Liana, Rosie, Mardel, Margy, and Patti! I loved being with each and every one of you.

Other posts about our Portland weekend--Shams (here), Margy (here), and Mardel (here and here).



4 comments:

Mardel said...

Thanks for the lovely reminder of our trip. You did fabulously well at Pendleton, which, had I been sewing, would have been far more tempting. It was so much fun, and great to see you and everyone.

Louisa said...

What fun! Nice to share in your exciting adventure a little - even if vicariously. We always stop at one or more fabric stores whenever we go through Portland. Love that city!

Mary said...

What fun!! Fabulous finds, and I love the southwest vibe of your fabric purchases.

Dixie said...

Sounds like a blast. I would have been content to be a fly on the wall, just listening to this fabulous group of women! A wonderful opportunity.