From My Hometown to Yours - Mandee of You Say It Best

I haven't forgotten about the Pick Your Plum giveaway, I went through the results, used random.org to pick the winner. The winner of the $50 credit to Pick Your Plum giveaway is Elizabeth Ann of Elizabeth Ann's Recipe Box. Congrats my friend! I will get in contact with and Pick Your Plum. Watch for more giveaways coming soon!

Its Tuesday and time for the next installment of From My Hometown to Yours!




Hello! I'm Mandee from You Say it Best. I'm so excited to be guest posting for Meg in her new fun series! I love Meg's blog and the way she is so interactive with her followers. You can find me regularly blogging about food and fitness. I live in Portland, Oregon, where we have some of the best restaurants around. I also love cooking and baking and post my recipes for you to try! I'm so glad Meg asked me to participate in her new series, From My Hometown to Yours!

If Meg came to visit me in Portland, we would.....

We would start our day the way Meg starts every day....by going for a 4-5 mile run! I have a great loop that starts right at the doorstep of my NW apartment, goes through NW and the Pearl district, crosses the footbridge and across the promenade along the river. We run back across the Hawthorne bridge and up through the SW side of town and through Goose Hollow and back home! This route would introduce Meg to the views of the city and waterfront, and get her acquainted a little bit.

waterfront park

After our run, we would feel so energized and great about having our workout all done for the day! We would shower and get ready to go get some coffee from Stumptown, the best coffee in Portland!

Then we would visit world famous Voodoo donuts! Meg has been wanting to check out this place!

Next we would hit up the Farmer's Market (assuming she was visiting on a weekend!). The PSU Farmer's Market is in the South Park blocks, and within walking distance from where I live. You can see past trips I've taken here. We would stock up on fresh veggies, organic meat and sweet treats!

After walking through the 50+ vendors and sampling food, we would be ready for a little relaxation! We'd sit in another coffee shop for a little while to re-energize. Yes, I know we already got coffee at Stumptown this morning, but Portland has tons of local coffee shops on every corner. It's just part of our culture! One of my favorite is called Coffee Time, on NW 21st Ave. It's very cozy and even dark, which I love for winter, or the rainy days we get so often in Oregon.

After re-energizing, we'd head home and whip up a delicious dinner with the fresh ingrediants we got at the Farmer's Market. Here is a list of my favorite recipes we could try!

After dinner we'd get dressed up and ready to hit the town. One of my favorite bars to start the night is called M Bar on NW 21st, and they serve mostly wine, which is what I prefer!

M Bar's menu

When it got a little later, we would head to Vault in the Pearl district for Martini's and a little more upbeat crowd. If we felt like it, we could bar hop in that area to places like Jinx, Blitz or Teardrop. After a long and exciting day, we'd head home to sleep!
I hope Meg's day in Portland sounds fun to her! Maybe it will inspire her to come and visit!

Thanks Mandee for your post today! I definitely need to come visit now. I went to Oregon for the first time last month and it definitely won't be my last time either, this post makes me want to jump in my car and start driving to Portland right now. Again, if any of you are interested in participating in this series, please contact me: megmouch(at)gmail(dot)com I would love to have you!