Travel Archives - Page 3 of 3 - A World of Dresses

An olive oil tour in Granada, Spain

11/15/2016 31 Comments

An olive oil tour in Granada, Spain is the perfect way to spend a girls weekend! This past weekend, I saw a new side of Granada with three of my fellow English teachers who live in different parts of Andalusia. For those of you who are first timers to A World of Dresses, I’m an American girl who now teaches English in Granada, Spain. Granada is a nice city in the South known for free tapas (with the order of a drink), the Alhambra and the beautiful architecture. That is the city that I live in. However Granada is also a province with many cute towns and lots of olive trees. My fellow English teacher friend Sharifa organised a little outing for us and I could not say no. I’ve always loved olive oil and olives.

Through an online search, she found Olive Oil Tour in Granada. The tour includes a bit of history and a bit of tasting. And for a little extra, you can sample some Spanish wines and eat tapas.

Part 1

The tour starts out in Granada. They will arrange to pick you up somewhere central in the city. There were four of us Americans on the tour and a family of three New Zealanders. The tour was led by a nice French woman and she gave it in English. According to the website, the tour can be given in English, Spanish and French.

From Granada, we drove outside of the city for about 30 minutes. Our destination was the lovely town of Niguelas, Spain. However we first stopped to take a look at the olives and the view.

Tasting a bitter olive

So has anyone attempted to taste an olive right off the tree? Apparently they taste horrible. What we eat is after it has been cleaned and prepped. However she opened it up for us to try. Sharifa stepped up to the plate. She said it was way more awful tasting than she had thought.

So pro-tip if you find yourself in the countryside of Southern Spain: don’t just go grabbing olives off of olive trees.

The olives and the people

Many Spaniard families in this area have a group of olive trees that have been passed down through the generations. A plot of maybe 20-30 is sufficient. Here is an example. They are watered through and old but efficient irrigation system.

The xv century oil mill

Next, we all piled back into the van and drove into the town of Niguelas. I just love little Spanish towns. They are so cute and so different from the bustling city life. Once in the town, we parked and walked over to the old mill where they use to make the olives and olive oil up until the 1920’s. It’s so neat being around things and spaces that were used long ago.

Here is where they separated the olives by family.

Then we walked inside where they’re created a small museum. We got to see how the oil was broken down and processed many years ago. They would use these huge stones and would work for many hours. They even had a few beds for when people wanted a quick siesta.

It was neat to see what they used so long ago and just imagine life in the mill. I’m sure it was such hard work.

Time to eat and drink

This part may have been my favorite. I love any opportunity to eat and drink. I was especially excited for some olives and may have eaten a few too many black olives.

The tasting was guided. Each participant had a placemat and little cups of olive oil numbered 1-5.

We each got a few gifts to take home. I’m excited to try my olive oil. They also had various wines, olive oils and other olive-based products available for purchase.

Overall, the wine tour was a fun experience. If you are in Granada for a bit, it’s a neat way to see a different part of the region. Oh and I snapped a few photos of the town on the way out.

Did you know about Spain’s history with olive oil? Did you know that olive oil in Spain was such a big deal? What do you normally eat olive oil with?

Oh and if you find yourself in Granada, Spain, here are the details of the tour:

Name: Olive Oil Tour in Granada, Spain

Duration: About three hours

Cost: 38 euros a person and an extra 15 euros if you want to taste the wines

Languages: available in English, Spanish and French

travel

My experience, Sirenis Hotel 3 Carabelas Ibiza

11/14/2016 16 Comments

Several weeks ago, I found myself basking in the sun of Ibiza poolside at Sirenis Hotel 3 Carabelas Ibiza. It was a wonderful weekend. In fact, I wrote about my journey in 5 Reasons why you should see Ibiza in off season. I really did enjoy my weekend on the Spanish island of Ibiza.

My friend Shola and I came to Ibiza to attend a Kizomba dance conference. For those of you unfamiliar, Kizomba is a style of dance similar to salsa only in that it is a partner dance. Kizomba, however, actually originated in Angola and has had significant popularity in Africa. My friend Shola is a fan of dance in general and thus various dance conferences and events are always on her radar. When she saw that this one was happening in Ibiza, she jumped on the opportunity. After all, she was going to be living in Spain like me and teaching English. She needed a buddy and I said “why not?” It was my first time learning Kizomba and both of our first time in Ibiza.

The hotel

Upon arrival, the hotel seemed decent. It is situated on the beach and is within walking distance of shops and restaurants. It has a pool, tennis courts, a restaurant and other such typical things of a hotel. Had I seen more elaborate hotels? Absolutely. But it seemed nice and was definitely worth the price we got through the conference.

The room

We noticed a stark difference going from the lobby to the second floor where our room was located. In fact, we both took a look around and were like “well, this hallway isn’t as nice.” Don’t get me wrong … the hallway was clean and all. It just was more basic and felt like we were back in the 1970’s. I suppose I’m used to hotel chains in the United States and their pristine hallways.

The room was nice. I was loving the balcony! We had a nice view.

The layout of the room was nice. It was generally clean and comfortable.

Spain vs. the United States

As I’m adjusting to life here in Spain, I’m of course noticing all of the differences between the two cultures. In the United States, a majority of hotel rooms have carpeted floors. There is normally one bed that is either queen or king-sized. And in this hotel, you had to put your room key in this slot to activate the electricity.

My friend Shola and I initially burst out laughing when we saw the two beds pushed together. However it did allow for each of us to have our own space, which was nice.

Overall

Overall, Sirenis Hotel 3 Carabelas Ibiza is a decent place to stay. Have you stayed on the island of Ibiza?

travel

5 US comforts you’ll miss in Spain

11/04/2016 5 Comments

No two countries are alike (okay maybe the US and Canada come VERY close). So when moving from one to another, it’s normal to miss things about your home country and fall in love with other things that your country does not have. One of my goals as a blogger this year as I live in Spain is to paint an accurate picture of life as an expat. This means that sometimes it’s all sandy beaches, Instagram photos and red wine. Sure, it often is amazing like my weekend in Ibiza. However if I were to pretend that it’s always amazing, I’d be lying to you. And I hate lying to my readers or anyone, for that matter.

There have been some things that I’ve had to adjust to here in Spain. At the end of the day, I do want to stress that I’ve moved from one developed country to another. These are things that yes, I miss. But overall, life is still pretty comfortable here in Spain. So without further ado, here are the 5 US comforts you’ll miss in Spain.

5. Uber

Uber, the super easy ride-requesting service, does not exist here in Spain. I’m not sure all the details, but I heard that they tried it in some of the bigger cities and the taxi drivers got mad. Where I live in Granada, we have taxi stations. Sure, you could also flag one down but it’s often easier to just go to one of the stations. They usually have about three lined up at said stations. However there’s nothing like just touching a button on your phone to request a ride.

I really could have used an Uber the day I moved my suitcases from my airbnb that I stayed at while I searched for a piso to my new piso. The closest taxi stand was a good five or more blocks away and I had to lug it all through the streets. And sure, I could have called a taxi company and requested that they come to my door. But … I just miss Uber. Also being able to pay with your card is amazing. Luckily most taxis are under 5 euro and aside from my move, I rarely take one.

On the upside

All of Europe has something called BlaBla Car. It’s a ride sharing app that makes going from one city to another easy and cheap. I’ve started using it a lot. I wish we had this in the United States.

4. Different shop hours

Now I want to start by saying that I live in Andalusia, the Southern region of Spain that observes the siesta. This means that from the hours of 2-5 the entire town shuts down. People go home to be with their family or nap. Then at 5, you back to work until 9, which is when you eat dinner. Not all parts of Spain observe the siesta but they do all eat dinner at 9.

A scheduled in nap sounds great, right? Before I lived in Spain, the idea of the siesta sounded amazing. However now that I’m here and am programmed to think that business hours are 9-5 like back home, it can be a challenge. Want to go to the bank at 2:30? Nope. Want to by groceries on a Sunday? Nope. And on holidays, literally everything is shut down. The only businesses that don’t close are some of the Chinese-owned shops. It’s not their culture to take a siesta and they probably make a little business by staying open.

On the upside

I love naps.

3. No coffee to-go

I love coffee and have to have it every morning. In the United States if I’m running late and have no time to make some at home, I can just stop by any gas station or go through a Starbucks drive-through. Here in Spain, coffee to-go is not so much of a thing. Spaniards do love their coffee just in a cafe where they can enjoy it out of a mug and have a nice chat with their amigo. So either I make it at home or I try to quickly drink a coffee in a cafe. And trust me, I’ve become real good at sitting at the cafe bar, ordering a cafe con leche (coffee with milk), gulping it down and asking “cuanto es?” (how much) in about 10-15 minutes. I think I’ve even done it in 5.

While I love the culture of enjoying your coffee, I also miss my home culture where I think if we invented coffee IV tubes, they’d sell out.

On the upside

Maybe I don’t need huge cups of coffee in my life? Also less littering this way.

2. The hot water not always being on

In the United States anywhere I’ve lived, you just turn the faucet over to the hot side if you want hot water. In my piso here in Spain, it’s not that easy. We have this tank of gas called a bombera hooked up to the water system (and I apologize if this is not the correct lingo … I’m literally just describing it). I then have to turn the switch over to the gas side and hit this button to ignite a flame. Then I have to wait about 30 seconds (I usually just scroll through Instagram) with the gas button pushed in. If I let it out too soon, I have to ignite a new flame. Once it’s lit, I can go take a shower.

One morning the tank ran out of gas in the middle of my morning shower. Like I’m showering like normal and all of a sudden cold water. The funny thing was that I went back to ignite the flame and it stayed … then it would go out when I was in the shower. So after two times of re-lighting the flame with no success, I just washed my hair in the sink and made do. And I was late to my carpool that day.

On the upside

There is none. This was my worst morning in Granada thus far.

1. No clothing dryers

So if you want to buy a dryer, I’m sure you could. However the majority of the people here only have a washer. They then hang their clothing out to dry. In the US, I never realized how last-minute I would do laundry. You take it for granted that drying your clothes takes maybe an hour. Here if I need to do laundry, I have to plan ahead to ensure that the clothing I want to wear is dry for when I want to wear it. That has definitely taken a bit to get adjusted to.

On the upside

Save energy? That freshly-dried smell? Who knows.

Have you made the move to a foreign country? What were some of the things you missed from your home country?

Nina's corner

The Granada story and leaving

09/20/2016 15 Comments

Hi everyone! I have not written as many posts as of late. That is because I am moving to Spain tomorrow! Like tomorrow in the early afternoon, I board a series of flights which will eventually land me in Málaga, Spain. I am currently staying in a hostel in Chicago with my bags all packed. And let me tell you … it was hard to figure out what to take and what to leave behind. A fashion blogger preparing for a year of living overseas … that’s some entertainment. But I made it and am happy with what I brought.

I also realized that I never told you guys why I made the switch from living in Jaén to living Granada. So here goes.

My Granada story

I am teaching English in Spain for a year (and maybe a few more) through a program sponsored by the government. They take everyone on a first come first serve basis and placed you at a school all year long. You give them your preferences on where and how big of a city, but they kind of just do what they want anyway. So I ended getting my first choice location: Andalusia. I however got placed in a small town rather than a big city like I had asked. I’ll admit that I was crushed and also just worried about how I’d get to work and out of the town if I wanted to travel. So I e-mailed my school.

They responded right away and told me it’d be best to live in Jaén, a city of like 115,000 about 35 minutes away. So it was doable. I began keeping an eye on apartments and in general was thinking about life in Jaén.

Then in August my ride to and from school changed because the one teacher I was going to ride with switched schools. Another teacher was commuting from Granada, so that became an option and I jumped on it! Here are some reasons I’m excited to live in Granada

Many bars offer free tapas if you’re drinking
Flamenco dancing
It’s 250,000 vs. 115,000
It’s closer to the beach
It’s beautiful
EVERYONE says amazing things about it

So folks … I’m living in Granada. Yes, this will mean a longer commute but that’s okay! More time to practice Spanish. And … guys … I’m going to live in Granada!

The last days

I wanted to round up some photos from my last days here. It’s been fun and real.

I’ll have a whole weekend in Tennessee post coming soon folks! The next time you hear from me, I’ll be in Spain!

travel

How to avoid fees flying Spirit

08/31/2016 33 Comments

Several weeks ago, I was getting out of an Uber at the Portland airport.

“You don’t have much,” commented my driver looking at my backpack, the one and only backpack I brought on my journey.

“Well one of my life goals is to screw Spirit Airlines out of the money they try to screw out of us. It was nice meeting you!” I said.

I left him laughing (which I always love making people laugh). However with this trip, there was a lot of truth to that statement. The thing with these budget airlines is the price you initially pay is often not the price you pay in the end. The word budget can be deceiving unless you are smart about it. And in this post, I will show you how.

I had flown not only Spirit Airlines but Allegiant and Frontier in the past, and knew that added fees is what they do. However one of both my best and worst qualities is that I ALWAYS think there is another way. With everything. I’m always on the hunt for the creative alternative and Spirit was no different. “They can try, but they will not succeed,” was basically my mantra and thought process as we prepared for the trip.

Below you’ll find some of the most common ways travelers end up with surprise charges when flying on a budget airline such as Allegiant, Frontier, Spirit or Ryanair.

Also I created a budget airline checklist. You’ll want to download and print this handy thing. You’ll have it ready to check off next time you fly.

1. Your boarding pass

I’ll be honest. Airlines such as Delta and American have spoiled me. When flying on any major, non-budget airline, I just print my boarding pass at the gate. It’s one less thing to worry about in the stress of preparing for a trip and those kiosks are so user-friendly.

When flying on a budget airline, do not print your ticket at the airport. These airlines love to tack on that fee. With Ryanair, I read that it’s 40 Euros. That’s absolutely ridiculous. Spirit charges $10 and Allegiant charges $5. I’m sure Frontier charges something too. Here are a few tips to avoid this whole thing:

Check to see if the airline has a free app. Most do. You can oftentimes check in on the app and some airlines will issue you an e-ticket on your photo so you don’t even need to print a boarding pass. Just make sure you download the app with an ample wifi connection before getting to the airport. When I flew Allegiant, I was not that smart about it.
If you have access to a printer, print the passes at home.
Are you traveling and need them printed? Check with your hostel or hotel. The hostel I stayed in in Portland offered printing for 50 cents a copy. That’s a heck of a lot cheaper than $5.
Don’t have access to a printer? In the US, Fedex Kinkos can print them for you for like 15 cents. I’m sure there are similar printing places in other countries too.

But whatever you do, make sure you check in before arriving at the airport. Many let you start the check in process 24 hours before your flight.

2. Your baggage

My friend Cece and I opted to avoid all baggage fees. We did not even pay one. How did we do that?

Well you see, there’s a tiny loophole to the whole paying for baggage thing. These airlines would love for us all to pay for our bags at the gate. They make more money this way, of course. And if they can’t get us at the airport, they want us to pay for bags online.

However there’s another way (see, I told you this is my thing). What they want you to gloss over is that you can take one personal item free of charge. On Spirit, it can be no taller than 16 inches, no wider than 14 inches and no deeper than 12 inches. In other words, just the size of my purple LLBean backpack that I’ve had since high school.

If you’re only going on a shorter trip, I urge you to look into this option. I was able to fit everything I needed for a 5-day trip in my backpack.

I packed light but smart. I loaded up on small bottles of shampoo and conditioner at Target. I also bought a travel tooth brush case.

To save space, I wore my bulkiest items on the plane. So the Chuck Taylors and jeans were worn while the sandals and dresses were packed. I rolled up my clothing for ample space.

If you are smart about what you bring, you totally can fit your whole life in a backpack for five days.

If you are flying on a longer trip where you need to take more baggage, paying online in advance is the way to go. It is much more affordable to do it online.

3. Seats

So this is a fly at your own risk sort of thing. You are not obligated to buy your seat but they kind of make you feel like you have to. If you don’t, you get assigned a seat at the gate. I almost did not get on a Frontier flight once because of this.

Reserving your own seat usually costs between $6-$25 or so. Yes it sucks to have to pay more. I always just buy my seat to be safe. Perhaps it’s the one fee I’m a sucker for.

No frills at it’s best

If you want food, you’ll have to either buy it in the airport or on the plane. The seats are not anything ridiculously comfy. It’s more or less a bus with wings. However if you keep these things in mind, you’ll save money time and time again. In fact, I made you a little checklist. This is your budget airline checklist. It’s just the thing to use next time you fly any one of these airlines.

Have you flown on one of these budget airlines? If so, what was your experience?

H54F, travel

5 Reasons why hostels are better than hotels

08/27/2016 31 Comments

About two weeks ago, I stayed in a hostel in Portland, Oregon with one of my best friends. I’ve always thought that hostels were better than hotels and have even stayed in a few during my trip to Spain last year. However this past week solidified for me that hostels are better than hotels. Now don’t get me wrong, I do love a hotel stay too. I love the comfy bed, the maid service, the little shampoo bottles and everything else that comes along with a good hotel stay. However with this trip, the Portland Hawthorne Hostel was a better option for our wallets. It was between a hostel and airbnb. After looking at this particular hostel’s website, I went with the hostel.

For those of you unaware, a hostel is a place to stay for travelers just like a hotel. However you often share a room with strangers in addition to sharing bathrooms, the kitchen and other communal rooms. The price is often between $20-$40 per night. Depending on the hostel, there are often options for you to have your own room as well. You just pay a bit more for that vs. a dorm room with say six-eight beds.

Hostels are extremely popular in Europe and are sought out by the backpacking community. However in the United States, you’d be surprised to find more hostels than you think. Websites such as hostelworld.com make it very easy to look up hostels all over the world. In fact, that was how I found the Portland Hawthorne Hostel. So we booked two spots in the co-ed six bed dorm. We were ready and excited.

After spending more or less a week in a hostel, I am now a full hostel supporter. So I decided to make this short list for you. Next time when you’re planning a trip, look up the hostels and see if any strike your fancy. It really is a neat way to travel. So without further ado, here are five reasons why hostels a better than hotels.

5. A real kitchen

Traveling can get expensive. One of the biggest ways that travelers burn through money is food. Eating every meal at a restaurant can be expensive, especially when you are traveling for a while. However when you stay in a hostel, you have access to a real kitchen complete with everything you’d need to cook a meal. You are free to go out and buy your own groceries, and store things in the communal refrigerator as long as you label with is yours. We were literally a two-minute walk from a Safeway grocery store. So at the beginning of the week, I picked up an assortment of food to munch on for the week. I bought things like fruit snacks, hummus, bananas and canned soup. It helped us live a bit more economically.

Additionally, each morning the hostel has free breakfast complete with tea and coffee. Also the Wednesday during my stay they hosted a community meal where each person paid $3. Super affordable, if you ask me.

4. Lots of resources

Hostels always seem to have a lot of information about things going on locally. When I’m sure hotels do as well, hostels give you more of the heartbeat of a city. For example, our hostel had flyers up about local festivals and open mic comedy nights. Additionally, there was information about public transit and city tours. Basically, hostels seem to gather up any information that may be helpful to travels and put it out. It makes figuring out plans for the day so much easier. Furthermore everyone on staff was friendly and helpful. They consider helping travelers experience Portland as best as they can to be a very important part of their job.

3. Affordability

I think we paid around $32 a night in Portland. Some hostels are a little as $10-$20 per night. Hostels will always be less expensive than a hotel room. The reason they can charge less is that they host more people for their space than a hotel. So in turn, you exchange a bit of privacy for price. But honestly when you’re out exploring a city all day, all you really need is a bed and a nice shower.

2. Cross-cultural interaction

You end up talking to so many people when staying at a hostel. It’s kind of hard not to start conversations when you all have to eat breakfast at the same dining room table or share the same kitchen. During my stay I met people from South Korea, France, the UK and Australia. You end up talking and swapping stories about your cultures. Meeting people from other cultures is my favorite way to learn about the world. And you can do that by simply staying at a hostel instead of a hotel.

1. Friendship

Hostels encourage social interaction like no one’s business. Our hostel for example had a community dinner night, a pub crawl and an open mic, in addition to breakfast every morning. It’s not at all uncommon to form friendships and go explore the city with people you met at your hostel. I ended up befriending a traveler or two during my stay in Portland. It was great. If you’re looking to do a solo trip, hostels are awesome because you can find people to do stuff with. You can find people to go explore that really neat part of town with or go to the pub with. It’s wonderful.

Have you stayed at a hostel before? What was your experience like? If not, have you considered it?

Today I’m linking up with these bloggers:

Bright on a Budget, KT Cup of Tea, Della Devoted, Life in Leggings, A little Bit of Everything

Dress Picks, travel, United States

Part 1: Portland and what we wore

08/24/2016 14 Comments

For those of you new to A World of Dresses, I spent about five days in Portland, Oregon, with one of my best friends last week. It was good to have a little vacation after a year of both good and bad. The year of 28 was definitely an interesting one for sure.

When traveling, you want to have some comfortable outfits. I call these my Portland outfits. My Portland outfits are a mixture of trendy yet cute. I’ve also included my friend Cece’s Portland outfits. I absolutely love personal style. Mine and Cece’s are both very unique in different ways. I packed a lot of dresses and she packed a lot of rompers. I wore sandals and she wore combat boots. All of our Portland outfits were uniquely us and comfortable.

Our Portland outfits

I packed light for this trip for several reasons. First, we were staying at the Portland Hawthorne Hostel. When staying in a hostel, you trade money for space. And honestly, who needs a lot of space when you’re out exploring a city each day? I did not want some big bag that I had to lug up two flights of stairs and store in a room I would share with five other people. A backpack was the perfect thing.

The second reason I took only a backpack is because of my mission to not give any more of my money to Spirit Airlines than necessary. Spirit Airlines is a low cost budget airline with amazingly cheap flight deals. We got both of our round trip tickets Chicago-Portland for something around $400. The catch is that they charge for everything. You pay to check a bag and you pay to carry a bag on. You even pay $10 if you need to print your boarding pass at the airport (what?!?). You pay for any food on board. We even joked that they’ll ask us to pay for our emotional baggage. You just never know.

There is a loophole, my friends. You are allowed one personal item free of charge. It has to be under the dimensions of 16 inches tall, 14 inches wide and 12 inches deep. I have this LLBean backpack from like high school that still functions well. It has all these compartments and fits those dimensions. It was perfect.

So I simply rolled up my Portland outfits and stuck them in. Everything fit quite nicely. When thinking about ideal Portland outfits, sundresses came to mind. So I picked three and packed them in.

The Old Navy Sundress

This is a new find from this past summer season that I was excited to wear. I love how simple it is and I love anything in the color green!

Outfit details

Dress: Old Navy
Necklace: Charming Charlie
Sunglasses: Sidestreet Gallery
Sandals: Target

One of Cece’s Portland outfits

It was hard to pick which outfit of hers I’d post first. They were all unique and dynamic … just like she is! This one from the first day, though, just seemed fitting. It’s the perfect example of mixing several things together so well … a fun t-shirt, boots, a skirt and some purple lipstick to top it all off!

Outfit details

T-shirt: Go browse your local Thrift Shop
Boots: similar
Skirt (can also be worn as a dress): similar

Those were a few of our outfits. What do you like to wear while traveling?

Also have you seen our latest all about our 5 Portland favorites? Check it out here!

I’m linking up here:

Wednesday

Jersey Girl Texan Heart, Shopping My Closet, Pumps and Pushups, The Pleated Poppy, Sydney Fashion Hunter, The Mummy Chronicles, Cappuccino and Fashion, Posh Classy Mom, Living on Cloud Nine

Thursday

Elegance and Mommyhood, Doused in Pink, Curly Crafty Mom, Jaymie Ashcraft

Friday

Two Thirty-Five Designs, Nancy’s Fashion Style, Jeans & a Teacup, Claire Justine, Rachel the Hat, A Poketful of Polka Dots, Forage Fashion, Fashion Should be Fun, Sincerely Paula, Birdie Shoots,Shelbee on the Edge

travel, United States

My 5 favorite Portland spots

08/22/2016 54 Comments

I’ll admit that it was very hard to pick just five. Last week, a good friend of mine and I spent some time exploring Portland, Oregon. It was my second time to Portland and her first. We did everything from eating doughnuts to laying out in the sun to visiting a nearby winery. So after much thought, these are my 5 favorite Portland spots from this trip. Portland seems to have something for everyone … museums, doughnuts, swimming, shopping, beer, Indian food and so much more. If you are looking to visit an American city that’s accessible, pretty and friendly, Portland is the place to go. Everyone … literally everyone is nice.

So without further ado, here are my 5 favorite Portland spots:

5. The ScreenDoor Restaurant

Cece and I were looking for a good brunch spot and were recommended the ScreenDoor Restaurant. We were staying at the Hawthorne Hostel over in the South East area of town, so it was not far for us at all. The ScreenDoor was an easy maybe 5-10 minute Uber ride. We were on vacation, so why not take Ubers everywhere?

The ScreenDoor describes itself as “the best southern cuisine in Portland.” I would have to concur. I ordered shrimp n’ grits. My best friend lives in Charleston, South Carolina, and I’ve had shrimp n’ grits many a times while visiting her. I was wondering how it would stack up to what I’ve eaten where shrimp n’ grits originated. I was very pleasantly surprised. It was perfect.

Cece ordered the freshly baked short cake with fruit and whipped cream to start. I had a little bit and it was amazing. You honestly could fill up on just that alone.

I myself stole a few bites and I have to say that it was AMAZING. If you go to the ScreenDoor, you want to make sure you order this as at least an appetizer to share with your group.

Here are a few photos of my shrimp n’ grits. It had pieces of bacon in it and some vegetables too. It was absolutely perfect.

Coffee was very important to us. We kept drinking it and they kept refilling it. A brunch spot that understands my need for coffee is my kind of place.

For the main course, Cece ordered a sandwich that had some curly fries on it. I think it was the beef brisket, but I cannot remember exactly. We laughed that it was as big as her head.

If you are planning a Portland trip, make sure you stop at the ScreenDoor Restaurant.

4. Sidestreet Gallery

On our walk home from brunch that same day, we stumbled upon a fun and quirky shop called the Sidestreet Gallery. It was everything you think when you think of Portland being weird. Outside they were selling baby doll heads for 50 cents and sunglasses for $5. That was what initially caught our attention. As we made our way inside the shop, we found all sorts of little trinkets, model sets, Christmas decorations, other decorations, jewelry, masks, costume items and so much more. If Portland were just one shop it would be this shop.

I bought these rockin’ sunglasses for only $4!

My dress here is from Old Navy, necklace is Charming Charlie and shoes Target. I wore either these or my Chuck Taylors the entire time. I like comfort while still looking cute.

3. Voodoo Doughnut

So if you want touristy, Voodoo Doughnut is your place. There’s literally a line at all times of the day, I’ve heard. We went on I think a Tuesday at like 11 a.m.

The whole idea behind Voodoo Doughnut is that they make ridiculous doughnuts with all sorts of craziness on them. I got one with fruit loops on top, for example. If you have nut allergies, be warned right now. There are a lot of doughnuts with peanuts, peanut butter or other nuts. I myself have a peanut allergy and thus stuck to two doughnuts I knew I’d be absolutely safe with.

These were Cece’s doughnuts. Yummmm.

And MINE!

The wait was … fun?

Life is interesting and fun for sure. While at one of our 5 favorite Portland spots, we ran into the ALS people. Do you all remember the ice bucket challenge a few years back? Everyone was making those videos and posting them to social media where they would get dunked with a bucket full of ice/water. Well that was to raise awareness for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, a disease that affects about 5,600 people in the United States and I’m sure many others world-wide. There was a group of people traveling the country to raise awareness. For their Portland stop, they felt that Voodoo Doughnut was fitting. They also felt that dunking the dunkee in icing and sprinkles was even more fitting, so they did just that.

If you have interest in contributing to their campaign, you can go here.

2. Swimming/laying out by the bridge

This place just had to be in my list of my 5 favorite Portland spots. Just off of the Hawthorne Bridge, which connected the neighborhood we stayed in to downtown, is a little spot that people go to lay out in the sun and swim. I love that people just swim in the river in Portland. In my hometown of Cincinnati, many people would scoff at swimming in our river.

The flight we took home left at like 11 p.m. at night. So we for sure had a few hours to kill on our last day. This just seemed like the perfect way to spend our early afternoon.

Cece can do a bridge …

And I wore my Zulily pineapple dress …

1. Brooks Winery

Okay, so this technically is not Portland at all. It was a good 30 minutes- 1 hour drive from the city. But it was so amazing that I just had to include it with my 5 favorite Portland spots.

Last year around this time, I spent about a month in Nicaragua doing volunteer work. I befriended Jana who was a Peace Corps volunteer there at the time. When you are overseas, you just have this way of finding people from your culture. It can be comforting and also inhibiting if you really want to immerse yourself in the culture. That, however, is a rant for another time.

Since then, Jana has returned from the Peace Corps and is living back in her hometown of Portland. I just had to see her while I was in town. It turns out that her parents are members of Brooks Winery. They were having a members night our first evening in town and brought us along. It was such a nice treat.

The story of this place is fascinating as well. It all started with the founder Jimi Brooks. He spent some time overseas in Europe traveling. Thus when he ran out of money, he found himself with work at a winery in France. After spending time in Europe learning all about wine and how it was made, he returned to Oregon to start his own winery and farm. He sadly passed at the young age of 38. However Brooks remains in the care of his family and they keep his legacy going by producing quality wine and carrying out biodynamic farming practices. You can read the full story here.

We for sure had a great time trying out the different types of wines and appetizers.

Thanks for reading all about my journey. Have you been to Porland? What were some of your favorite spots?

H54F

5 Reasons I’ll be fleeing to Spain at 29

05/27/2016 14 Comments

Ah your late 20’s. Your late 20’s are when you’re supposed to be getting married, getting pregnant (random aside … Pinterest keeps having pictures of pregnant women in dresses pop up on my homefeed. What on Earth are they telling me?), going to grad school, making the big bucks and generally feeling confident in where you are in life. I only have one of those five things on that list (no I’m not pregnant and no, I’m not making mounds of $$). Instead I’m fleeing to Spain.

This fall, I’m fitting all my things into two suitcases and moving to Jaén, Spain in the Andalusia region. I’m basically fleeing to Spain. Excited does not even begin to describe what I’m feeling. I’ll be turning 29 in only a few short weeks and could not be more ready to make a big, international move. Now is the time in my life when I can and will do exactly what I want. And there’s nothing more that I want in life right now than to live in Spain, drink wine, eat tapas, speak Spanish every day and spend my off time seeing all the parts of Europe I haven’t seen yet. Also, cobble-stoned streets and old Spanish cathedrals make for great photoshoot locations. I’ll just need a good photographer … know of anyone in Jaén, Spain? Jk but not really. The blogging struggle when moving far far away will be so real.

But enough about my worries because they will keep coming. I’m moving to another country … of course I will not completely stop thinking about all the things I need to make happen. This is intended to help me breathe and also help anyone else out like me. Maybe you too want to take that big adventure, whatever it may be. Do it!

Anyway, here’s why I’m fleeing to Spain at 29 (almost!)

1. To really experience a different culture

One of the best ways to expand your mind is learn about other cultures. There are over 200 countries in this world. America’s way of doing things may not always be the best way. But how would we know unless we really experience how the rest of the world works?

When I move to Spain, I want as much immersion as I can get. I want roommates who speak no English so that I’m forced to communicate in Spanish every day. I want a group of friends where I’m the only English-speaker. I want to befriend my neighborhood barista. Understanding a new culture through relationships with others will give me a unique perspective I’ll carry with me for the rest of my life.

2. To travel

Right now, my heart is to be seeing the world. While backpacking through Europe sounds great, in reality I do not know when I’d actually have a month worth of time to just go or the money. Furthermore, I want to go now.

When you’re already living in Europe, a weekend trip to Portugal, Morocco, France, the UK, etc. is not too shabby. It’s also pretty inexpensive. I’m excited to see where my travels take me. If anyone has any tips or a couch, feel free to let me know!

3. To relax and work less

My job next year only requires me to work 12 hours a week. On top of that, many people teach private English lessons for extra money. All together, I doubt I’ll break a 30-hour work week. I’m so ready. We work too much in the United States. Our culture focuses on careers too much and I often question why.

4. To eat and drink

Spain is a wine country and the food is amazing.

5. To really, truly speak fluent Spanish

You know it’s hilarious, really. At times I do start thinking “oh, maybe I should go to grad school. Maybe I should worry about my future. What job will I get if and when I return?”

Then I stop and think … I’ll be effing bilingual when I return. Like for real. Like right now bilingual appears on my business card and I have a lot of conversations in Spanish. But I mess up grammar tenses, misunderstand things, etc. at times.

However after several years of total immersion in Spain, I’ll be good. I also read that the Spanish-speaking population in the US is predicted to be around 138 million by 2050. Job security? For sure.

So in short go after your dreams. Live in a foreign country and eat the tapas, if that’s what you want!

Today I’m linking up with these fine folks:

Bright on a Budget, KT Cup of Tea, Della Devoted, The Closet by Christie, Life in Leggings, Style Elixir, Two Thirty-Five Designs, A little Bit of Everything, Liz Adventures, Hello Happiness, Nancy’s Fashion Style, Jeans & a Teacup, Claire Justine, Rachel the Hat, A Poketful of Polka Dots, Forage Fashion, Fashion Should be Fun, Sincerely Paula

Dress Picks, H54F

The 5 dresses we wore in Florida

04/01/2016 10 Comments

The Florida dress is a special dress. Last weekend, I had a small girls trip to Jacksonville Beach, Florida. It was not long enough in all honesty. However a good getaway in the sun was just what I needed. It was exciting to look through my closet and pick out the dresses I’d wear. Most if not all of what I took with me were dresses I had packed away for the winter. While it was still a tad cold in Cincinnati, packing my sundresses excited me. I was ready.

I was not the only person ready for some sun, beach and relaxation. My two close friends Kayleigh and Isabelle came with me. I told them to bring their dresses as I’d have my camera out and ready. We took pictures … lots of them. How could you not with the beach and palm trees? So this post is dedicated to our five Florida dresses.

1. The Simple Sundress

And if you follow me on Instagram (which you should go do right now if you don’t), you saw this gem.

Florida dress — Dress: Three Pink Hearts; Shoes: Charlotte Russe

I found the dress at a consignment shop in the fall. It’s so very comfy.

Here are a few simple sundresses I enjoy:

2. That blue dress

Ladies and gentlemen, this is my best friend Kayleigh. She’s a 26-year-old graduate student and middle school Spanish teacher living in Charleston, South Carolina. We’ve been friends for 12 years.

This is the perfect representation of our friendship. Ridiculous things always happen.

Kayleigh is wearing a classic pop-over dress. Here are a few of my favorite pop-over dresses from the season:

3. The breezy maxi

This dress is one of my favorite’s. The material is nice and breathes easily. Here’s a Modcloth favorite of mine:

4. The night out dress

Because when you’re on vacation, you go out.

This is Isabelle. Isabelle and I met through Kayleigh almost five years ago when we were both living in Washington DC. Isabelle had just moved to town and Kayleigh gave me her number because she needed friends, she said. Kayleigh and Isabelle were sorority sisters. Well we did become friends and now we all took a trip to Florida together.

5. THIS outfit

Okay I’m going to break my own rules and talk about a skirt. Izzy’s outfit was just too cute. Our brunch place had a nice mural that we had some fun with.

That too is how I felt about being in Florida.

*This post contains affiliate links in which I receive a small commission if you click through*

Today we’re linking up with Bright on a Budget, KT Cup of Tea, Della Devoted, The Closet by Christie, Life in Leggings, Style Elixir, Two Thirty-Five Designs, A little Bit of Everything

« Previous 1 2 3