Textures Story

Kimpton's Hotel Monaco had so many inspiring prints throughout the hotel, and they all seemed to flow together in harmony. I decided to do a post on all my favorite print & textures pieces I found during my stay...

Once again, for more info on Portland's lovely Hotel Monaco click here

Suite Life

When looking for a hotel for our stay in Portland, Kimpton's Hotel Monaco was at the top of my list. I have been to several Kimpton hotels in the past and I always love the interiors- which is hilarious because on some reviews guests do not seem to like the interiors and I can't seem to understand why? In fact, some of the first words out of my mouth were "I want to hire the interior designer to design my house someday!". There were mismatched prints, brightly colored walls, textures galore, and quirky details like a duck foot lamp base- it was amazing and I never wanted to leave.

The staff was beyond helpful for the duration of our stay. They offer complementary bikes to stroll through the city, but we never got to use them because it rained everyday. They also had free umbrella usage at the front desk which we did use everyday. The New York Times was readily available each morning, the bathroom was stocked with C.O. Bigelow and Etro products, the beds were super cozy, and it was conveniently located within walking distance to everything! In case you couldn't tell, I highly recommend the Hotel Monaco.

Check out a bit more about Kimpton's Hotel Monaco Portland here

 {Images are my own. I was not compensated for this post, but my stay was discounted}

Portland In Review

I am finally finding some time to put together the images I took from my trip to Portland last weekend. It was a great trip and I really loved Portland all around. It has such a fun vibe, and I really liked the artistic presence I felt. I am already wanting to go back soon and explore some more. Here is a bit more from my trip, and more to come later this week...

The trip started off with a big 'ole welcome to Oregon, it was followed by trips to Salt & Straw, Cacao for some extremely tasty hot cocoa, and a stop to the Rose Test Garden which was still blooming!

Portland, I agree. You do rule. This is a swatch of the wallpaper from our beautiful room at Kimpton's Monaco Hotel, did you know Portland is the city of roses?, this was stop on the way home in Hood River where the water was much calmer than expected.

There are an endless amount of trees in Oregon, here's another shot from the Rose Test Garden, I must have eaten {at least} 5 pounds of chocolate on my trip- and I am not complaining one bit!, the beautiful green jeweled tiles in our bathroom at the Monaco Hotel. 

If you need a reminder of how small the world actually is- we happened to run into two old friends from Maui in Whole Foods... we ended up seeing Chasing Mavericks with them, another shot of the colorful roses from the Rose Test Garden, we stopped by Dakine's offices in Hood River but sadly they were not open because it was Sunday, Portland has the best farmer's market I have ever been to... If I lived there I would go every Saturday

More chocolate- a pumpkin truffle from Moonstruck Chocolates, my sister climbing the rocks in Hood River, we saw Chasing Mavericks at the Living Room Theaters which has super comfy seats, we walked up to the bridge overpass at Multnomah Falls and it felt like walking through a car wash

I had no idea Full Sail was from Hood River. They were open but since I am gluten free beer is out, I am always on the lookout for stars to guide the way, another shot from Mulnomah Falls, we spotted a giant T.Rex on the drive up- it wasn't even a question, we had to stop!

Dia De Los Muertos

A really quick apology for my M.I.A- ness. Things have been non-stop for reals.  I have moved, had visitors in town, and took a much anticipated trip to Portland {more on that to come later}.

But, I had to buckle down and get a post up today because it's Halloween! Halloween is one of my favorite holidays because I love how people seem to really get into the spirit of dressing up. But let's be real... I love candy.  Given that the SF Giants just won the world series, and it's Halloween... I couldn't think of a better post than to feature John Sherlock Hersey's "Dia De Los" illustrations on Bay Area teams. I truly love them, and own one of his SF Giants shirts myself. Get your own here on his Dia De Los Giants shopping page.

Fall Hues

Isn't it funny how your color preferences change over time? I can remember swearing that I would only wear silver, and feeling that gold was never even an option, and now gold is all I wear! My silver pieces have been in slumber for quite some time. I feel similar about the color brown. I used to only like black... but brown has slowly crept up on me, and now I love it. Here are a few Fall pieces that feature brown hues in the most welcoming of ways.

{shop Fall's looks: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10}

The Tippi-ing Point

It is fairly difficult to find a sweater that has a great cut, is basic, yet can be totally versatile, all while having a pretty awesome price tag. I would say that J.Crew has done this remarkably well with their Tippi sweater.  It also happens to come in a ton of cool colors... I am partial to the heather grey.

 {shop the Tippi sweater}

Home Plate

On a trip to London, some eight years ago, my friends and I realized rather quickly that purchasing souvenirs was not the best option with the exchange rate not being in our favor and all. However, we got rather crafty and hit up Portobello Road market and scored more than we could have hoped for in the mismatched english tea saucers selling for a pound each. We bought a few each, and to this day I continue to use them as plates and think back to that trip. I thought of those same plates when I came across these artistic floral plates from Everything Begins. I love how they took the simple idea of the plates and added quirky details to punch them up a bit for fun. The results are really stunning.

 {Everything Begins Plates}