After a wonderful weekend in Ashland it was time to head north for the week! I hit a few more travel bumps in the road (that’s what I get for not listening to my horoscope about traveling during Mercury retrograde!) Lucky for me, I have some great friends in Portland who were happy to have me for an extra night in Portland until I rescheduled my train ticket. 

These two cuties are the best! :) Not only did they welcome me into their home but they also greeted me with some delicious Dave’s Killer bread and their hedgie babies!

Travel mishaps aren’t so bad after all, huh?! I had a great time catching up with my friends for the evening! Before I got on my train and headed to my final destination, we went to an amazing restaurant in the Alberta neighborhood called Gravy!

I may not get to Portland all that much, but this place is definitely getting added into the rotation! I got their friend chicken with gravy and pan fried hashbrowns and boy, oh boy was it fabulous! 

Here’s a look at the Chile Verde that my friend ordered. One of my favorite parts about the meal? This may sound a little surprising but their ketchup! They make it in-house and the waiter said it was a blend of garlic and cloves in the ketchup. Man did it add some incredible flavoring to the hashbrowns too! The gravy was the perfect combination of hearty yet not over-done too. Let’s just say I left Portland with a full stomach and a big smile on my face!

A few hours later I was reunited with Mama Duck in Washington! She surprised me for the evening with some wine tasting at Charlie’s! It was such a fun surprise! We had such a fun evening of wine tasting and pairings! If you are in the Puyallup area, definitely check this out! They do it once a month and it really was a lot of fun. We had some very friendly people at our table too we got to chat with a little. 

Something I was craving to do while I was home, was go hiking! So my friend Sara and I did just that and headed up past Wilkeson for some hiking near the Carbon glacier!

You probably won’t find it too surprising that I don’t get to hike often living in Manhattan, unless you’re counting the hill from 2nd to 3rd avenue ;-).

It felt great to get out into the outdoors! Mmmm the smell of fresh air in the woods — can’t beat it!

After our 6.5 mile hike we decided we definitely deserved a trip to Red Robin (Sara and my tradition). There’s a new one in Bonney Lake, so naturally we had to check it out. 

Red Robin has definitely classed it up with the new presentations and menus! I definitely got in my Red Robin fix to get me by until my next trip!

By the middle of the week it was time for a little family time and squeeze in a visit with my Grandma and Aunt Kathy!

It’s always nice to have some time to just relax and catch up on life with family. :)

As the weekend approached, it was time to squeeze in a visit to Seattle with some of my friends!

One of my friends recently moved to West Seattle so before we met up, my friend Kristina and I walked along Alki Beach.

Talk about a gorgeous view! I can’t remember the last time I visited Alki, but I have to say, I’m totally in love with this view. 

I loved it so much that I found my perfect little beach house ;-)

Okay so maybe it’s not really mine, but it sure was adorable!

For the evening, my friends and I headed down to the Georgetown. From my understanding, the area used to be heavily industrialized, but has recently been revamped and has become a trendy little spot.

We had such a great time bar-hopping! The neighborhood totally reminded me of parts of my old Portland neighborhood. It was a fun time!

As my trip came to its end we had one more event in-line.. The Buckley Log Show. Surprisingly enough, after all of my years living in the area I don’t think I’d actually been to the show (unless I went when I was little).

So after my friends suggested we go, I figured it was about time!

The weather was a little iffy it poured pretty much most of the afternoon, but we could handle it.. We are from Washington after all, right?! Okay, so it wasn’t ideal and I definitely had to go home to change clothes with my mom, but we made it work.

After the Log Show it was time to hit the only bar in town for the after party, which was a lot of fun! Definitely a back-to-your-roots experience. Let’s just say explaining what a Log Show was to my friends at work when I got back to NYC was a pretty funny experience. City folk have a hard time wrapping their heads around that one ;-)

On my last day home we ended my trip in true Osgoodby fashion with a BBQ and some more family time!

Last days home are always pretty bittersweet for me, but we always try to make the best of them! Until next time Washington!

After 10+ months of anticipation the weekend finally came for my bestie to get married!

I started my trip west with an early 3am alarm and a few travel detours, but after a few hours of sleep on the plane I arrived at PDX! My rental car reservation got messed up (so much for my first time renting a car) but alas Danielle’s cousins came to my rescue me and let me tag along for the last leg of the trip, 5 hours south to Ashland.

Danielle and I met our first day of college in the dorms and after 7 years of being friends I somehow never made it down to her hometown of Ashland. Whenever we had school breaks, I’d make the 4.5 hour drive north and she’d head south! So it was about time I finally got to check it out! If you’ve never visited Ashland, definitely add it to your travel list. The town is absolutely adorable! It’s most well know for its Shakespere festival but along with a beautiful landscape it had such a cute little downtown too. 

Now living in different states, the wedding excitement was full blown now that we all were reconnected! The couple picked a gorgeous venue for their wedding a little over an hour and a half away called Sojourn Farms. The Friday before the wedding the wedding party + friends and family headed out to the venue to set up! 

They really couldn’t have picked a more beautiful venue for their barn wedding. I was so IN LOVE with the space! They opted to do a lot of DIY projects too which turned out so lovely and added a personal touch.

We made some furry friends along the way too ;-)

I even got to put some of my old floral skills from Safeway to work on some of the table arrangements. I love that they chose to keep the flowers simple and true to the barn theme too.

After we finished up the setup and ran through the rehearsal we headed back to Ashland for the Rehearsal dinner at the groom’s parents’ house. 

It was truly a memorable event bringing all of their close friends and family together! It was so great getting to know everyone connected a little better too!

Following the Rehearsal, all of the girls headed to spend the evening at the most adorable cottages. We were all pretty exhausted so we ended the night with some girl chat and headed to bed to get some beauty sleep before the big day!

THE BIG DAY had finally arrived!!! We spent the morning getting all beautified in the bridal suite and enjoying some yummy treats and mimosas.

I may be biased, but I think Danielle really made the most beautiful bride! The time had come! THE WEDDING CEREMONY! {Insert cute, lovey mushiness, happy tears, and beautiful vows from two head over heels in love}. And then they were MARRIED!!!

Then it was party time!

After 7 years of friendship, we’ve been through a lot together and I’m so happy that she found her other half! Cheers to the happy couple!

Food festival season is just beginning in the city and I can already add two tallies to this year’s adventures {with more to come soon hopefully}!

First up was The Village Voice’s Choice Streets! This was the third year of the food truck driven food festival that took place at the Intrepid Museum. This festival was unique to others I’ve attended because it was ran by a punchcard system {which was totally genius}! When you entered the festival you received a lanyard with a punchcard, a map/guide, and a drink glass.

The punchcard system worked great because everyone was allowed one serving at each truck and it allowed you to keep track of where you had been.

I’ve been to a couple of other festivals with food trucks that the lines were pretty unbearable, but this festival did a good job of managing the lines so that the waits weren’t too bad. Props to the truck employees for busting it out for 3 hours too, troopers!

Some of the top trucks around the city were featured, so I was pretty excited to get to try a little bit from each so that I know which ones to track down over the summer!

The festival also had a pretty impressive line of liquors and spirits to sample as well! You could have easily gotten your ticket value worth of drinks at a couple of the stands. 

One of my favorites was the drink from Kelvin Natural Slush Co. They made slushies with a fresh fruit puree and they were truly awesome. I’ll definitely be hunting down their truck for some refreshing treats soon!

After we had our fill of food and drink, we headed upstairs to stop into the museum. The bonus to your ticket was you also received free admission to the museum, score!

We had fun checking out some of the exhibits and checking out some of the planes and helicopter on display!

I must say, I was impressed! I’ll definitely be adding this festival into my yearly rotation!

Next up, my favorite free food festival of the year… The 9th Avenue Food Festival. On the surface it looks like one of the regular street fairs that take place throughout the city each weekend, but take it from me, this one is worth checking out.

I got this festival started with some extra delicious buffalo chicken meatballs, followed by a Romeo & Juliet guava empanado. Both, great choices!

The really awesome thing about this food festival is there are stands that really do represent every corner of the world. Whatever ethnicity or location based food you’d like to try, this street fair has it.

Here’s a look at my friend’s {very spicy} jambalaya. I wasn’t brave enough to actually try it so I’ll take his word on that one! 

At the end of the day, I really only have one motive when I go to this food fest though, and that is to get a blooming onion. It’s the only festival {that I’ve found} that offers them and I simply can’t get enough of them.

I’m 4 years and counting for this one. No matter what type of delicious new foods I try at this fest, I always keep coming back. It’s also worth noting the same man is making these each year. Like I literally have pictures of him making them every year! 

So there you have it! Two food festivals down, many more to come!