Oh, Oregon...

Hello Lovelies~

I hope you are doing well out there. I have just returned from a whirlwind trip to Oregon to see my sister graduate from college. It was a wonderful visit. Everything went very smoothly until the very last flight from Chicago back to Portland, Maine, when there were so many delays that I didn't arrive home until 3am and had to work the next day. (That was a long one, y'all. But so worth it.) Since that trip took up all of my time this past week, I don't have business to share, so I will just share some photos. Does that sound good? Here we go!

There is an amazing chain called McMenamin's up in the Northwest that takes old, abandoned buildings, historic sites and landmarks, buys them, and turns them into hotels, restaurants and pubs. They do a beautiful job and each one is unique and different. Plus, for someone like myself, who loves architecture, repurposing and old things, going to these places and seeing new life breathed into them makes me very happy. I think Maine could benefit from a company like this. So many great buildings just languishing in disrepair up here. But I digress. We stayed at the Grand Masonic Lodge in Forest Grove, Oregon and it was beautifully restored with art and quirky touches. Like these water pipes... with faces. What a great place. I wish I had taken more pictures of it.

The Northwest specializes in coffee. I mean, love it or hate it, Seattle is the birthplace of Starbucks, the first major chain based on boutique coffee. One of my favorite places for coffee when I lived there was Dutch Bros. It's a drive-thru chain and goodness, I missed it. So, my sister and I had to get a cup. It was just as good as I remembered! (Plus, I'm sort of in love with their logo...)

While we were in Portland, we visited the Oregon History Museum (because, thankfully, the whole group of us are dorks who like that sort of thing), and what a great place! So many interesting tidbits and the displays were great too. This Mid-Century architectural model was a favorite, as was that masthead that was taken out of the waters of China after the boat it was on burned all the way to the water line! It was shipped all the way back to Portland. And a ton of great musicians have gotten their start in Oregon, including Pink Martini, one of my absolute favorite groups, so of course I had to take a picture of that show poster. Good stuff.

 I'm sure you've all seen the fabulous neon sign with the deer on it that says Portland, Oregon. It's been in a ton of movies and TV shows. I adore that sign, and while I didn't have my good camera with me and it was raining, I snapped this shot. It's right in the middle of the city. They really understand the importance of preserving their neon signage out there and I appreciate seeing signs like this still in working order and looking beautiful.

After the graduation, we went to this great bar called Bar Doug Fir, which, as the name somewhat implies, was decorated in a lodge-meets-the-1970's aesthetic that I found completely charming. Especially the blown glass moose head on the wall. Say what?! And then, I opened their menu and saw that they used the same font inside that I used in the logo for Jessica Beebe Photography and it was true love. Hahaha. (We designers notice things like this all the time... it's a blessing and curse.) Here are some shots from that bar. Cute, no?

So, we ended the long weekend with the graduation itself, which was a very nice affair. It has been a very long journey for my sister from high school to college graduate and I found the whole thing very touching. I was so very glad I could share it with her. What great memories. I'm so proud of you, Abigail. You made it!

Until next time... unpleasant dreams.