Something extremely wonderful happened this past weekend…
Ayah and I were reunited in Portland!
Living on different coasts is hard. Ayah is like a sister and a best friend to me. While I was hoping to have her at my wedding this September, she will be bringing a beautiful baby boy into this world and wont be able to make it. We took this weekend as an excuse to have a “Bridal Shower weekend” along with my friend Marisa.
In true Healthy, Tasty, Cheap fashion, we ate well, found great deals on delicious food, and also enjoyed some treats.
Saturday morning Ayah and I took off to the Farmers Market down the street. They had an amazing selection of local produce as well as some delicious food stands. We started our day with some coffee from Spunky Monkey.
A vanilla latte sweetened with agave for me!
For breakfast Ayah got a burrito from this incredible breakfast burrito stand. These dudes know what they’re doing. They cooked fresh tortillas, made scrambled eggs on the spot, sautéed fresh chills and had some of the most killer looking crispy potatoes I’ve ever seen.
I fell in love with this adorable raw food stand where I couldn’t help but pick up some spicy kale crackers.
I also got a collard wrap stuffed with dandelion greens, carrots and sunflower seed pate. This is probably the healthiest breakfast I’ve ever had while travelling! It was so filling I even saved some to snack on through the day.
The market had some beautiful artichokes that I was dying to bring back to the hotel so that I could beg someone to boil them up for me!
Rather than go for expensive breakfasts and lunches every day we were good at grabbing things on the go. I took advantage of having a Whole foods and a Trader Joes within walking distance from the hotel for cheap and healthy meals.
Even better was visiting some of the many food carts in Portland. This city is a food cart gold mine! Highlights for us included a Vietnamese cart, grilled cheese cart, and The Brunch Box where Ayah got a killer veggie burger. It was great being able to grab gourmet meals under 10$ off the street.
Since Ayah is pregnant we both had different ways of treating ourselves this weekend. Anyone who knows me well knows that I live for a good cocktail. I enjoyed several wonderful drinks and soaked up every moment.
Since Ayah can’t drink, she took full advantage of Voodoo donuts, a Portland landmark. Her and Marisa dug into the eclectic box of donuts with glee. They were the most fun donuts I’ve ever seen, covered in everything from Fruit Loops to Oreo cookies!
We enjoyed our last meal at Isabel, a restaurant dedicated to healthy food in bold flavours. A lot of their produce comes from their own garden and I and fully enjoyed my farm salad along with a bitter lime margarita.
The only sad part about the weekend is that it had to end! I’m hoping another reunion happens sooner rather than later!
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