NYC Round 2

February 21, 2015March 20, 2015 / Mollie Jo / Leave a comment

Last week’s trip to NYC—

SoHo Grand Hotel – fab hotel, fab food, great people watching

: Lobby Art.

: Good Morning NYC.

: Neon.

: Gym Motivation.

Apizz – delish food and a table next to Stifler

The Blind Barber – cool speakeasy with a barber shop up front and bar behind a sliding door. Kind of a PDX meets NYC crowd and Peroni on tap. Pretty much a win-win.

Work –

Egg Shop – SoHo spot with the cutest branded and fab avocado toast

Never enough time in NYC, hope to be back soon!

xoxo

Flights. Booked.

February 2, 2015February 1, 2015 / Mollie Jo / Leave a comment

On Saturday we booked our flights for a September trip that will be one to remember. We’re going back to South Carolina for our 2nd annual (golf) trip with friends. And from there heading to Amsterdam, St. Andrews and London. The planner in me is already plotting out some must dos.

Here’s what I’ve come up with so far – I’d love to hear any suggestions!

Amsterdam

Bar Hutspot

De Pijp

Begijnhof

Amsterdam Verzetsmuseum

Cafe MP – probably our all time fave bar in Amdam

CT Coffee & Coconuts

De Foodhallen

Staring at Jacob

St. Andrews & Edinburgh

Still trying to figure out the highlights here. Will definitely post an update sometime in the next six months (yes, I’m definitely ahead of the game).

London

**this will be my first time to London and I’m pretty pumped.

Oxford Circus

Victoria & Albert Museum

Borough Market

Definitely planning to check out the Design Sponge city guides for Edinburgh & London. And of course a few guidebooks. September here we come!

xoxo

Desert Dreams

February 1, 2015February 1, 2015 / Mollie Jo / Leave a comment

The under two month countdown is on until I’ll be spending four sun filled days in one of my favorite places on earth. Palm Springs.

I could not be more excited to soak up the sun and literally do NOTHING. I visited the La Quinta Resort & Club for the first time on a work trip about 4 years ago. It was basically love at first sight and it’s become one of my favorite places on the planet.

Although I’ve been out of college for a solid 6.5 years, I still strongly believe in the importance of a Spring Break and make it a point to get out of Portland every March/April. A couple of my fave pics from trips past…

Looking to do an architecture tour and some vintage shopping this time around. I found a couple of articles in Lucky Mag and Vogue with some good spots to hit. Recos welcome!

1. Angel View Thrift Shop & Angel View Prestige Boutique

2. Dazzles

3. Bon Vivant in the Palm Canyon Galleria

4. Revivals Palm Springs

xoxo

NYC

January 26, 2015April 21, 2016 / Mollie Jo / Leave a comment

Last week’s work trip to NYC provided ample time for exploring (the best kind of work trip). A few highlights below…

: Sun in Central Park

: Love the type on the YMCA building

: Central Park

: Top of the Rock

: Rockefeller Plaza. Really wishing the tree was still up!

: Eataly. So. Good.

: High Line in the FREEZING cold

: So many lights at Chelsea Market.

: Chelsea Market.

: NYC Parks symbol reminds me of the Canadian flag

: DVF.

: enough said.

: Employees Only

: Little Branch

: One of the best decisions of the trip.

: Everyman Espresso.

: Times Square

Going back in Feb for 5 days and hoping for more adventures!

xoxo,

Space Invaders

January 20, 2015 / Mollie Jo / Leave a comment

I really like things. Not in the super materialistic sense (although sometimes I’m guilty of that too), but I like stuff. Often my interior decorating borders on cluttered and I like collections. I think that’s one of the reasons that I’m so drawn to street art like Invader. When I travel to places where I know there are Space Invaders, I love to both stumble upon them and seek them out. By taking pictures I feel like I can collect them. So far I’ve only got Paris, Amsterdam, Brussels, Cologne and NYC on my list but I hope to add more. Some of my faves below…

Paris along the Seine

Amsterdam

Brussels near Manneken Pis

Cologne

NYC. Happened to look out the cab window on the way to airport last week.

xoxo,

The rest of my finds–

: Paris

: Paris

: Paris

: Brussels

: Cologne

Fargo?

January 16, 2015March 20, 2015 / Mollie Jo / 1 Comment

I can honestly say I never thought I’d go to Fargo, North Dakota. But, this past September, that’s exactly what I did. Watching my little bro play football took us to yet another STRANGE place. When I searched Design Sponge to see if there was a Fargo city guide, by some small miracle there was! Such a good surprise. We didn’t have a ton of time in Fargo, but we definitely got to check out a few good restaurants while we were there. Thanks again for the awesome recos Design Sponge!

JL Beers – great place with a really interesting concept. Each of their restaurants only has 47 seats, no matter the location (it’s an ND, SD, MN mini-chain). The place was packed when we got there, but totally worth the wait. Delish burgers and fab beer selection (you’ll quickly notice that beer is a theme of my travels…) If you ever find yourself here, get the buffalo BLU chips with your burger, you will not be disappointed.

Beermail – totally genius. They have postcards at the bar that you can send to anyone, anywhere!

Wurst Bier Hall – this gem wasn’t in the city guide, but so glad we stumbled upon it. Very cool, German style bier hall – complete with das boot. This place wasn’t just cool for Fargo, it was cool for anywhere. I’d definitely go on a regular basis if it was in Portland.

locks of beer?

Rhombus Guys Pizza – college-y atmosphere, really good pizza. Very cool roof top deck that we weren’t able to take advantage of due to the weather. Great selection of beers on tap.

A few more snaps from the trip…

: Fargo Theater by day…

: …and night

: They sure do know how to tailgate at NDSU. I’ve been to a lot of college football stadiums and NDSU had some of the best tailgates and nicest fans ever.

: football in a dome is just weird

For the Love of the South Part 2

January 6, 2015April 21, 2016 / Mollie Jo / 2 Comments

And the trip continues…

Beaufort

Beaufort, SC is a CHARMING place. It was recently rated America’s Happiest Seaside Town by Coastal Living Magazine – and it’s easy to see why! Similar to Savannah, we got a lot of recos from the Design Sponge city guide for Beaufort.

The cottage that was stayed in at Secession Golf Club was the cutest! I literally took pictures of all the interior details so I can remember to incorporate them into our house someday. Needless to say, we will definitely be back.

We started off with lunch at the Lowcountry Produce Market & Cafe. It was AMAZING. The decor of the cafe was spot on – I’m a sucker for subway tile and the color green. When I sat down to write this post, I went back to their website and saw that their homemade soups, just made Oprah Magazine’s favorite things list for Jan. 2015! I think I literally could’ve eaten here every day we were in Beaufort.

We finished up the day in Beaufort with a horse drawn carriage tour. All of the homes in the historic area are amazing and Beaufort was actually the filming ground for a lot of movies – most notably The Big Chill.

sketchy through the trees picture of The Big Chill House

The other awesome place we ate in Beaufort was Wren – amazing burgers.

Our day trip to Hilton Head was definitely a highlight of the trip. The water was SO warm compared what we’re used to in the Pacific Northwest. It was amazing to just lie on the beach and read!

We spent our last day in SC with a day trip to Charleston. I was really excited about this trip, but it was so, freaking hot and humid that it was tough to really enjoy it. Oh well, guess that’s a good excuse to go back someday! A few highlights below…

Another carriage tour!

Cru Cafe – one of the best meals of the trip, and a delish Rose’! (Get the shrimp BLT)

King Street

Here’s to an amazing trip with even better friends!

xoxo

For the Love of the South Part 1

December 30, 2014April 21, 2016 / Mollie Jo / Leave a comment

September brought an amazing opportunity to head to Georgia and South Carolina with Matt and two of our best friends, Matt & Kelly. Our trip started in Savannah, GA and then took us to Beaufort, South Carolina for 4 days. From Beaufort, Kelly and I were able to take day trips to Hilton Head and Charleston. I am completely in love with all of the charm and history of the South. Architecture and discovering new places are two of my loves and this trip combined them flawlessly.

Savannah

I have honestly never heard anyone say a bad thing about Savannah. I was so pumped to go explore the city. Before we left, I found an amazing city guide on Design Sponge that had fantastic recommendations. Below are a few that we hit during our two days in Savannah. And yes, we like to eat. A lot. Trying new restaurants is one of our all time favorite things to do. When we’re in a new city for a short period of time, we usually have appetizers and drinks at a couple of different places rather than dinner at just one restaurant.

The Olde Pink House – A Savannah staple since forever, the mansion that the restaurant occupies is reported to be haunted by the ghost of Joseph Habersham Jr and several slave children. I highly recommend the tavern downstairs for a drink and delish apps.

downstairs at The Olde Pink House. so rustic.

Prospector Co. – I absolutely loved this shop. Clean and minimalist, with great, quality products. I walked away with an awesome great sweatshirt and some Scout’s Honor greeting cards. The guys working were super nice and gave us some good local recos. Also – I just found out that their line of skin care products is now carried at Barney’s – congrats!

Elizabeth on 37th – We ate at Elizabeth on our last night in Savannah. One of our good friends gave us a gift certificate as a wedding gift! It’s rated one of the best restaurants in Savannah and it did not disappoint.

Elizabeth on 37th

Collins Quarter – this gem we stumbled upon while on a self guided walking tour of the city. It has the ambiance of a European cafe and a laid back, welcoming vibe that’s perfect for an afternoon drink or weekend brunch. We were only in Savannah a couple of days and stopped by Collins Quarter 3 times!

: terrible pic, but love the logo

: Avocado Toast. Amazeballs.

shopSCAD – a place to buy goods from the amazingly talented SCAD students. A must stop!

Vinnie VanGoGo’s – delish, NY style pizza on a busy square that’s great for people watching

Leopold’s – A stop at Leopold’s was a tip from my friend Chelsea. Homemade ice cream? Count me in! A plus – it’s right next door to the SCAD theater which has an awesome old marquee (I’m really into old theater signs, there’ll be another post about that.)

Clary’s – this is another place that we stumbled upon, because we were too hungry to wait in line at Mrs. Wilke’s. The diner style food was excellent and Clary’s was featured in Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.

Clary’s from Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil

Forsyth Park – huge, beautiful park in the heart of the historic district. We got caught in a RIDICULOUS downpour while we were in the park. You can tell by the pic below that I was super thrilled about it.

Cathedral of St. John the Baptist – to be honest we stopped in here initially to get a break from the awful humidity. BUT, it was amazingly beautiful inside! It’s been restored a few times in its history, and it’s hard to believe it survived a fire in 1898.

: Cathedral of St. John the Baptist

: bad pic, really doesn’t do it justice

Moon River Brewery – coming from what feels like the craft brewing capital of the world, we had to try a local brewery. The beer wasn’t fab, but fun to try nonetheless.

Back in the Day Bakery – this was another find from Design Sponge. The Bakery’s owner, Cheryl Day, did an awesome guide for a 24 hour visit to Savannah that’s posted on the Design Sponge site. Coffee and pastries were great!

Back in the Day Bakery

A few more pics!

: Savannah Wedding Chapel

: What a stud.

: I love old neon and hotel signs

South Carolina coming in the next post!

xoxo

Cheyenne, Wyoming

December 30, 2014April 21, 2016 / Mollie Jo / Leave a comment

At the end of August, I went with my parents to watch my brother play football at the University of Wyoming. We stayed in Cheyenne at the Little America Inn, which was basically like a time warp. There was a ton of history, and a really cute downtown area. A few iphone pics below…