Adventures in Portland — Paulo and Josh's Great Adventure

We had the best time in Portland! Our friends Dan and Whitney came all the way from Washington, D.C., to visit their college friends for the 4th of July weekend, so we tagged along for their adventures! It's really essential to have cool friends show you things in a new city, and thanks to ours, we did everything: a little shopping in the industrial district, a trip to the farmer's market, some lazy time at the beer garden, a BBQ in the evening, and then a whole day at the beach.

It was so good to be reunited with our friends. We had been missing them so much and it was great exploring, catching up, and being silly together. Before we did anything else, we just talked about work for an hour while we did a fashion show of our new clothes and played with puppies. After we finally got dressed, here's what we did:

Spartan Shop is the dreamiest store with all this beautiful pottery, art, home goods, and accessories

No one shares my love of design like Whitney. And Katie knew all the best places to make us completely swoon. She took us to Spartan Shop, Rejuvenation, and City Home in Portland's Central East Side, a former industrial district. I have been following Spartan Shop on Instagram for years, so it was a dream to visit their sun-drenched store. Passing between the store's white, varied-height block tables was like walking through clouds that floated your favorite modern ceramics, glass, and brass. When I buy a house, I want the whole place to feel like an art gallery that you can live in and this was definitely giving me that vibe.

Vendetta's beer garden was a lovely way to unwind in the afternoon

Shopping really tuckered us out, so afterwards we parked ourselves at a patio table at Vendetta and had some craft beer and cider (because Portland). Hard to believe this Japanese-zen-garden paradise is hidden away behind a bar.

After a full day, we got hungry. And the cure for that? RIBS! As you can see, Katie and Kris are great cooks and grilled a delicious dinner with ribs and brats, that beautiful salad with farmer's market veggies and herbs from their garden, and fingerling potatoes. We feasted in their lovely backyard and played Scrabble afterwards!

Josh floating at Sauvie Island beach on the Columbia River

With a whole Saturday to play, we picked up sandwiches from Brass Tacks and went to the beach at Sauvie Island. Who knew this little gem in the Columbia River was just outside Portland? Our new friend Jen brought along strawberry and lemon shaped floaties pictured above and her cute puppy Chance featured below.

Chance after a swim at Sauvie Island beach

Summer holidays were meant for weekends like this. We had so much fun and are so grateful to our hosts for showing us around. We will be back in Portland soon and often!