Before spending a weekend in Portland (ahem, PDX or P Town if you will) there were only a few things I knew about the city. First, it rains a lot, second there’s good beer and third my brother went to college there. I blindly went into a weekend with friends to explore the city and left completely in awe of the food, landscape and donuts—Blue Star Donuts had me at hello. We stayed at The Nines downtown which was centrally located and a sweet spot to doze off every night. My favorite element was a powdery blue couch in our room that I lounged on every morning with coffee to look out the window. Aside from my deep morning thoughts on a velvet couch, we dined like kings (three times a day), ventured to the Willamette Valley for wine tasting and did some shopping. { An obvious must—trips to Stumptown Coffee. }{ Hands down, the best donuts I’ve ever encountered from Blue Star Donuts. }{ Baby’s breath displayed in a pitcher. }{ Beer break at Apex. }{ A cocktail at Secret Society before having dinner at Toro Bravo. }{ Shopping at Blake—loved this street for shopping and an ice cream at Salt & Straw. }{ I’ve discovered that breakfast is my thing—Potatoes Bravas at Tasty n Alder. }{ Wine tasting at Soter Vineyards in the Willamette Valley. }{ An exclusive tasting with winemaker Maggie Harris at Antica Terra. }{ Enter through… the kitchen at DOC. }{ At our last brunch at Screen Door we waited in line for over an hour, but it was definitely worth the wait to have their Farm Grits with poached eggs. }