Sellwood Day Trip

A question was posed on the radio today asking listeners to call in and share what their weekend plans were. I was looking forward to hearing the responses so that I too, could get some ideas. I was disappointed. Everyone's response was a big fat nothing and one person didn't even realize it was Friday so in other words, it was a complete bust. On weekends we love day trips around Portland/neighboring areas and last weekend we landed in the Sellwood-Westmoreland neighborhood. We had been before but Saturday we were able to take concentrated time to roam about, totally worth it. We started by taking the kids to the Ugly Mug Coffeehouse because they were freezing and cranky. It is definitely a urban hangout joint complete with the laid back chairs, books and magazines to peruse plus some excellent mochas complete with well executed latte art. Next stop included variety of antique stores and the kids started to get into the swing of things. Lucky found a fantastic hat from the 50's era and I found Mom an early Mother's Day gift. Stop into Collage which is a mixed art/media shop. This stimulated so much creativity we immediately started making plans to duplicate some of the projects at home. The girls ended up making their own corkboard bulletin boards complete with the Washi tape. Even Will found a project he did at home (consequently Marley ate it :( We stopped at a neigborhood holiday market. Normally this raises concerns in terms of inventory i.e, dish towels with garish poinsettas and crocheted doll clothes on creepy kewpie dolls. Leave it to Portland to defy the traditional holiday market Beautifully crafted sea salt caramels, repurposed journals made out of vintage story books and stunning knitted projects. I didn't want to leave until I bought it all but since that wasn't an option, I took all their business cards instead in hopes of one day... Stars Antique Stores in Sellwood is a candy shop of antiques and treasures. The biggest find of the day was an amazing Pendleton coat from the 60's that fit Lucky perfectly. It was one of those must haves, I will wear this jacket forever type of finds. Interestingly enough, our neighbor is the head fashion designer for the Pendleton women's clothing line and when we showed her the coat she asked if you could take it to the men's designer for a look see and photos. Upon seeing the coat, the design team has decided to bring back the jacket in the fall of 2015. So ahead of the times, we are :) End your visit with a stop at Camp Hollyhock. Every single piece in the store is hand crafted by the owner, modeled by one of the daughters and managed by the other daughter. All of the clothing, earrings and accessories have been repurposed from vintage sweaters, curtains, tableclothes, linens - you name it. Clothing nirvana, to say the least. Oh and if you like knitting, Yarntastic is a newly opened knit shop that is simple in it's appearance but luxurious in the yarns they choose to carry. So if someone asks you what your weekend plans are, rattle some of these places off and make a little day trip out of it. Such a great way to spend a chilly afternoon. So enjoyable in fact, we are headed back this weekend!