Traveling Woman: Portland, Oregon

If you have been following my blog over the past couple of months, you probably have realized I have been all over the place lately. Since mid May, I’ve been to NYC twice, Dallas, San Francisco, Nantucket, Cape Cod, Portland (OR), and LA. For the first time since April, I can say that I will be in Boston for at least a full week. 

I just got back from a trip to Portland, OR with Glam Media and Adidas. I’m going to be participating in a new campaign with the athletic company for the next couple of months through my relationship with Glam as one of their new premier contributors. 

I arrived on Monday afternoon and went for a walk to explore as much of the city as I could since my visit would only be about 36 hours. My hotel was in the southwest district and our group had reservations at 7 at Urban Farmer. That left me with about an hour to walk around. 

I was really tired but wanted to be able to fall asleep so I grabbed a green juice, GREEN eLEMONATER, at Kure per the fitbloggin recap recommendations. I also grabbed a coconut almond butter bar that was out of this world good. I saved the wrapper which includes the ingredients to hopefully try and recreate it.

Dinner was also amazing. I’ve heard many good things about the Portland food and it did not disappoint. The restaurant had a farm to table concept and was gorgeous. I didn’t take a picture of the interior but it was inside a hotel lobby but felt like you were outside almost on a farm in the middle of the state. 

We ordered the cheese plate which was a really cool concept. A women came over and told us about all the cheeses she had on her cart and then we chose which ones we wanted. She plated it for us right then and there. She also happened to be a Sarah Fit reader, which was awesome! I ordered the scallops and was in love. The blonde brownie sundae which is not pictured was probably though my favorite bite of the night of course. 

The next morning, I woke up early for a quick 3 mile run around the city. It is my favorite way to explore when I travel. I did a little 5K loop that reminded me of the Charles River run I do in Boston. 

I grabbed another green juice from Kure on my way back to the hotel to shower and get ready for a busy day at the Adidas HQ. That event in a separate post, I’ll keep this one to Portland tourist info. 

After the big day, we went to Andina, the only recommendation from Roomie. It is a Peruvian tapas restaurant in the Pearl district which is known for having amazing restaurants.

The area was so cute and wished we had been able to stay in this area so I could have explored more. The southwest area was great but seemed more like it was the financial district with a lot of chain restaurants and store fronts. This area has a neighborhood feel to it like Boston’s South End. 

The interior was really cool as well showcasing an open kitchen format. There was a section by the bar that did not accept reservations and was more casual and a section that had white table clothes and did take reservations. While we had a reservation, we opted for the more relaxes atmosphere in the bar area to take advantage of the 10 more minutes of happy hour. I ordered a skinny margarita despite swearing off alcohol for at least a week after my 4th of July vacation. 

We also ordered two of the happy hour specials which were hands down the best happy hour treats I’ve ever tasted. The first was a beet tartare with picked vegetables and a green spicy salsa. It was so yummy but the girls who don’t eat beets were not fans. I love the root vegetable and this was a winner but the best was the grilled octopus kabob.

It probably looks gross to some of you but it was the most flavorful and tender octopus I have ever had plated on top of a mashed parsnip and potato pile.  I will dream about this one. You need to go to Andina if you go to Portland. The menu is crazy so ask your waiter for help. 

After dinner, I was back on a plane to LA to visit my brother and his family. I scheduled in a few business meetings as well as meet up with my buddy Cassey, who you know as Blogilates. 

We went for a long walk on the pier in Santa Monica which I had never been too! It’s always good to catch up with old friends when you visit a far away city but hard too because there are so many people I wanted to see but only had ONE day in LA. I took a flight home yesterday and landed at 4:45 pm, got home at 6 pm and then went to a workout hosted by my friend Sara through Eventbrite. I enjoyed sleeping in today and plan to do the same this weekend! Have you ever had a travel filled spree like I have? Love or hate it?