portland, & shopping, & pirates.. oh my!

what a whirlwind of a weekend (& a few plus days)!!

woke up @ 4:30am thursday to work 5 hours @ the coffee shop, then hopped in a car with my mother & sister & headed for portland! 

the moment we arrived we checked into our hotel & headed straight for the largest outlet mall we could find! we laughed, shopped, & took pictures in front of pretty flower displays..

the next day we took the MAX into the heart of portland. we explored downtown, pearl street, fueled up @ starbucks, then continued to shop until we nearly dropped @ "trendy" 23rd street.

feet aching @ that point we pressed on because we simply couldn't resist visiting VooDoo Doughnuts! & it was worth every agonizing step! soo many laughs were had as we ate our deliciously weird doughnuts.

i even took my doughnut to go so i could have "breakfast" @ tiffany's ;) 

the next morning we enjoyed some breakfast, shopped a little more & then headed for home sweeeet home... where i went immediately to work & ran a pretty packed open mic night @ the coffee shop.

i finished off my mini vacation/weekend on sunday as a feisty pirate lass @ the washington midsummer renaissance faire!! 

i must say, i am EXHAUSTED!! but thoroughly content & feeling incredibly blessed all @ the same time... 

life is so beautiful when one chooses to live it.