i heart portland and friends

I got to celebrate my good friend Kelly's birthday by joining her and four other ladies on a quick weekend trip down to Portland over Labor Day weekend. We had such a great time!! I don't get to see Kelly and the others nearly enough, so I am glad that I got to spend some quality time with them exploring Portland, eating amazing food, and checking out the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (more on that later).

The Food: Lunch



We got lunch at the food trucks downtown. I opted to go with a soprassata sandwich with goat cheese and arugula from The People's Pig. It was spicier than I anticipated but still super yummy! (You know I can't turn down anything with goat cheese on it.)



The Food: Dinner



One of the ladies, Kaylan, chose the dinner destination (she'd been there once before): Clyde Common. She chose well.



I loved the ambiance of the place and all the little details. We sat at the end of a long table with other diners. Almost family-style, but without sharing food with everyone. (Well, we did with each other. Not with the strangers.)

Water was poured from clear wine bottles. Local beers on tap. Note-card-esque menus that changed each day (complete with date stamp). Gorgeous rustic tables. Love.



We had a great view of the kitchen (it isn't a huge place) so we could watch them in action. (I loved the stenciled signs, the industrial lighting, the Clyde Commons storage boxes... everything, really.)



Oh. And the food. So. Good. We were all speechless. From the awesome appetizers (bread with jam, cheese and honey; popcorn with pimenton and olive oil) to the entrees (I had the grilled lamb)...





...and finally dessert (we shared the chocolate pôt de crème, the blackberry upside down cake, and the peach sorbet). It was too dark and they were gone too fast to get decent pictures... but photos wouldn't have done them justice anyway.

(The birthday girl with the blackberry upside-down cake)

We were still raving about that meal the next day. And I am sure we will continue to reminisce about it... it was that good.

After dinner we took a little stroll over to one of my favorite places ever...



Yes, Powell's City of Books. We gave ourselves only 30 minutes to shop. Somehow I still managed to come away with 6 books--but only spent $30! (Yay for no sales tax in Oregon!) I could spend hours (or even days) exploring that store.

Our first day in Portland was lovely. I fall in love with that great city a little bit more each time I visit.