This weekend we took a little Tennessee vacation seeing as how the entire family is here! We decided to sow them everything the mountains had to offer. Every couple years or so we decide to venture down to Gatlinburg and every time we go we remember just how much we like it. We have made so many good memories -- family trips, New Years Eve festivities, you name it. 

We took a trip into the city after breakfast the first day, even though the sun was hiding from us, and we walked around downtown. Grandma had never been to Pigeon Forge - heck, this is her first time in the states! - and she wanted to see as much as possible. Of course, we couldn't get away without buying my little cousin the brightest colored ice cream - a blue cotton candy flavor, which she then liberally covered in rainbow sprinkles. 

We didn't take the lift up to the top this time even though we wanted to because we were worried that we'd get stranded up top when the rain started pouring. However! We pretended we did by posing in front like the tourists we are;) 

The second day we took a scenic drive and stopped for pictures along the way. My god, I'll never get over that view. We even made a new friend on our porch one day while we were out in the hot tube! Meet Charlie, your friendly neighborhood raccoon. All he wanted was some bread, which we gladly provided! 

We didn't do much all weekend except our downtown venture, a trip to the outlets, and just general lounging around the cabin. But then again, that was the point! If you ask me, the best part was sleeping in, waking up and making breakfast in my pajamas, and having my coffee out on the porch. Those are the kind of mornings I live for. That and incredibly awkward selfies, those are just my specialty;) 

Stay tuned for the next installment of the 52 Project though, we did something else exciting today that I'll talk about over there! 

portland downtown square

This past weekend, mom and I hightailed it out of Lexington and made it out all the way to Oregon. We impulsively hopped on a plane to Portland to visit Lewis and Clark College, and naturally for some much deserved mother-daughter bonding time. And if you've kept up with me, you'll know that mom and I like to come up with excuses for "mother-daughter bonding time."

We left way too early on Thursday morning and arrived in Portland some time in the afternoon. On Thursday we didn't have much time to explore because we had to be at the school after lunch. There we went on a tour, we sat in on an information session, and then mom and I separated and I state for an overnight visit.  

Friday morning we reunited via train, and we quickly learned that you can't go anywhere without an umbrella. And I mean that. It rained on us at least nine different times in the span of a couple of hours, and at one point the sun was out everything looked great but we look down at the end of the street and we can literally see the sheet of rain making its way towards us. Needless to say we had to make a pitstop and buy an umbrella. But to be honest, I kind of liked the rain. 

During the day we definitely had plenty of time to meander downtown. I was pretty wiped from having stayed up late the night before, and then getting up early for a morning class. So before we hit the town hard we decided that lunch in a small French bistro was a must.

The rest of the day consisted of walking around aimlessly, stumbling across local gems like that portland organic honey (delicious!), and splashing through rain puddles. We went into a couple of boutiques, of course we had to pick up some souvenirs, and had dinner at a little hole in the wall middle eastern restaurant that had the best service and the best tabouleh. At one point mom wanted to take a picture of me, much to my chagrin you can imagine, and our waiter walked up and to mom said something along the lines of, "no no no! no phones on the table, you're here to eat!" and it was hysterical -- mom's face was priceless! 

However I will say that at one point the two us got really cranky. And I'm not exaggerating that one bit haha. It was probably a combination of the weather and getting lost, but we got so snappy that we had to take a break from each other so we popped into a movie. We saw the new flick The Other Woman and after not speaking to each other for two hours, we were back to normal. Great movie! But right before that movie, oh boy it was dark times I tell you. That's what we get for being the same zodiac sign...

After walking to our hearts content, we retired back to our hotel and proceeded to crash. I don't know if it was the bed, or the general lack of rest, but we slept like we'd never slept before.

We left today (Saturday), but not before we ventured to the other side of the city.

We saw Chinatown (but didn't have time to go in) but that was only a the opening act before we got to the main act, which was....

VooDoo Doughnuts!! I'd heard about this place from a friend who had visited Portland last year and posted pictures of her donut adventures on Facebook. Based in Portland, they specialize in ~creative~ doughnuts, to say the least. The whole place itself is funky and I absolutely loved it! 

Mom and I shared a blueberry glaze and a cinnamon crueler, and saved the interesting ones to take back home. 

I'll say this, that huge pink box was my carry-on on the flight back home and I have absolutely no shame. In fact, as soon as I set foot in the airplane, everyone became my best friend;) 

Being me, I made mom stop at Powell's bookstore, but not just for the books but for the history too! Powell's is the world's largest independently owned bookstore and I tell ya, I walked in and almost started having heart palpitations. I was on Cloud 9! 

Lastly, we stopped by the famous Saturday Market full of local crafts. We had some fair trade coffee, walked around the river, and took in a rare patch of sunlight. There's this blogger I follow who lives in Portland and everywhere we went I kept an eye out for her. But alas, I did not run into her. I guess I'll catch her next time;) 

And on that note, our incredibly successful Portland adventure came to a close and being back home in Lexington, I'm already ready to go back!

These long days we've been having have really taken a toll on my sleep as of late, leaving at 8am and get back at midnight, but you know it has totally been worth it. Remember that first day when our train was delayed, and we had to make it all the way out to Brooklyn to our hotel, and then ends dup missing going out to Statue of Liberty/Ellis Island? Fear not, both of this were accomplished today! And in record time might I add considering the hoards of tourists on that tiny ferry. So let the day begin!

• Statue of Liberty

nyc skyline is to die for

this is what phenomenal postcards are made of

• Ellis Island - aka the place where all my friends asked if my family had come through; they're all very original in their joke-making haha

During our tour, we had stopped by the main stairs and the guide started telling us this story of how everybody had to be checked before they were allowed to proceed. And he told us some random story of a guy who decided to walk up the stairs on his hands, just for the heck of it. So naturally, all of us were very confused especially when the tour guide got really excited and continued the story saying how everybody thought the guy was crazy. And at this point we're all asking ourselves '...how is this relevant..? what is this guy talking about?' But then, he goes 'ladies and gentleman, that crazy guy was Charlie Chaplin!' So hey, there was a point to the story, and it was a pretty cool one:) 

• The MOMA - featuring no outside building shots because we were in too much of a rush (it was closing in an hour) but instead enjoy some nice lunch pictures we took from the cafe on the 5th floor

flatbread (which was flat, yes, but nothing like bread?) and goat cheese with rosemary. 

van gogh

rousseau 

duchamp 

warhol, classic

rothko v.1

rothko v.2

sophia admiring a pollock 

dali

ernst

modrian

monet

picasso

lichtenstein

johns

Again, thank you Art History for allowing me to sound sophisticated, and probably very annoying and pretentious if we're being honest haha, as I proceed to go 'I know that!' and then spew random facts about everything we saw. 

• Guggenheim

So much art. Not enough day. The feet, they kill me. Bad choice in shoes, Lusi. What a good day. 

This city just keeps getting better and better.