Tuesday, December 21, 2010

it's christmas time in the city


Yesterday I went out Christmas shopping with two of my favorite people.




Hold everything:
there's something you should know.
My beautiful friend Rebekah and my awesome brother...
(remember him? amazing sunglasses, buys me donuts, strangles me with hangers, keeps tabs on my mashed potato intake) 
 are courting!
This makes me very, very happy.



mall bokeh. : )
(linking up to the bokeh "show and tell" at Paper Heart Camera)


We started out the day right with coffee and one donut, which we split three ways.
They gave me the bigger piece because they're cool like that.


At Charlotte Russe, we tried to figure out what hat style looks best on Rebekah...


...looked at horrific shoes and adorable shoes, 
and explained to Benjamin what sequins are, and the difference between a clutch and a purse.


Whenever I can go to a Bath and Body Works, I must. Sorta like Taco Bell.
So of course we had to stop by.
We made Benjamin sniff everything, even though he was congested and couldn't hardly smell anything.
This culminated in spraying cologne on him.
 (despite the store being delightfully girly, it does have mens' scents) 


We went and saw Tangled, since Benjamin hadn't seen it yet. Seeing it for the second time was even better. 
I'm crazy-in-love with it.


We went to World Market where we mostly looked at wine bottles and didn't buy anything.
Wine bottle labels are one of my favorite things. 


Oh. my. word.
This was meant for me.
Unfortunately, it's just the vineyard name...
Cupcake-flavored wine. Wouldn't that be something.


And then we gadded about downtown Portland--rose city, city of bridges, city of my soul.
 Christmas shopping downtown is one of my favorite things to do, ever.
Last year my brother and I had an epic day involving very, very painful footwear and a lot of fried rice.


Creeps are the only drawback of downtown, but I always have a buff dude to beat 'em up.
Seriously--if you don't have an older brother, rent one. They are the best.




My purple tights. A great source of joy.


I think they are pretty cute together. ; )




One of the things I love about Portland is the bridges. There are a lot of them... and I love them. 
We parked on the non-downtown side of the bridge, so we walked across it twice.


Portland. I love it so much.
Throw "go to Portland, Oregon" on your bucket list.

37 comments:

  1. Aw, I loved the pictures.... I laughed, because the sights were so familiar... nothing beats Oregon skies, don't you think? *gazes at your first photo wistfully*

    I love the bridges, too... hee hee :D

    Your brother and friend look so adorable together... ;)

    Random question, Miz Polka-Dot: what church do you go to?? I found out that a fellow blogger that lives in the area goes to the same church that I went to a few years ago, (and still visit every so often) so I was just curious, since we live in the same place... you can email me or something :)

    Love the post, girlie <3

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  2. I'm glad you had fun,Rebeka and Benjamin do look cute together. :)
    Also, care to tell those who don't have brothers where to "rent" one? :P
    I love all your photos!
    ~Anna P.

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  3. AW!
    1) You take amazing pictures. Your bokeh pictures are epic.
    2) Benjamin and Rebekah are really cute together. They both look so happy!
    3) Your purple tights are awesome. :)

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  4. This day was SUPER amazing! I'm so glad we did that! Thanks for taking pics too... That one of me stuffing the lotion up Ben's nose makes me laugh... good times =P

    Oh, and the B&W one... you could cut me out, and he would *totally* look like an old movie star!

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  5. What a fun post! The pictures are gorgeous! Your mall bokeh one is... amazing. LOVE it! Portland looks like such a beautiful city. :)

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  6. Awww...how cute! Your bro and your friend are sweet together. I bet you had a great time shopping!
    I so want to see Tangled....it looks amazing.
    Love the bokeh!

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  7. First, let me start off by saying that this is my favorite post I've read, in like, FOREVER! Something about it makes me want to come back and read it again!!! :) Your brother and friend look so adorable together! I don't have a big brother {or a little brother!}, but I do have 3 sisters, and one of my oldest sisters is courting a man too! It's very exciting :) I LOVE Tangled! I've seen it once, and I'm taking my four year old sister to go see it sometime next week {it's one of her Christmas presents!}. The first 'Mall Bokeh' picture was AMAZING! I loved what you said about renting a brother :) The bokeh from the streets is deeeeelightful! I live totally opposite of you, but it definitely looks like fun to live in Oregon!

    Emily

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  8. Awww...I love the statement: "if you don't have an older brother, rent one." You are so lucky to have an older brother - or a brother at all! I am miserably without any. :sniff: Sisters are amazing, but the sad lack of brothers in my family is just, well, sad. VERY much so. :'(

    Anyway. Fun post! ;)

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  9. I have always wanted an older bro :D
    Looks like you had a great day!

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  10. Looks like fun, shopping with your friend and brother.....WHO HAPPEN TO BE COURTING! *sighs* Dontcha just love romance? :)

    And I'm with Ellyn: I wish I had an older brother!!

    Love always,
    ~Lily

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  11. Looks like you guys had a blast! I'm DONE shopping till the day after Christmas :) I'm taking a nice brake from shopping for a couple days.. My wallet is probably thanking me :)

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  12. Awwww! I hope someday that my friends court my brothers {I have 3}. I think it would be really awesome. Your brother and friend look so cute together! Hahahaha! I wish I could visit Portland! My dad actually spent some of his growing up years there, and says that he really liked it. :) That bridge picture is beautiful! :)

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  13. Wow, that is really special that your brother and your friend are courting! How exciting! And I LOVE your purple tights. *is jealous* I love tights, because they keep you nice and warm under your skirts.

    And cupcake wine would be one of the best things ever. Wine labels are pretty. Oh, there is one that I see that is called Winking Owl, and the label looks like this.
    http://www.boxwines.org/images/winking-owl-cabernet.jpg

    Merry Christmas!

    Hailey

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  14. Aww..congrats to them.
    The bokeh shots are sooo pretty :)

    Love your photos...takes me through your trip to the mall. Love that :*

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  15. YYYYYYYAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!! Congrats to the cute couple ;) Keeping them in my prayers...
    AWESOME photos, beautiful friend!!!

    Love you! :)

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  16. Although I don't have an older brother I do have a younger one. That is now officially taller.:P People are starting to think that he is the older sibling. Ahhh! lol Great photos! Love the bridges!

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  17. Love the pics. Love the people. Love downtown. Hate bridges. ;-)

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  18. Sounds like you had a lot of fun. By the way I don't need to rent an older brother because I have one. :) And a younger one :D

    KElsey

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  19. That looks like so much fun! :)
    I know what you mean about brothers. They're awesome, aren't they? ;)

    Katie

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  20. ah shoes. i love it. shopping is the bomb.

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  21. My thoughts on this post:

    1. I love big cities, too.
    2. You are entirely and absolutely lucky to have a brother. I have not one. :sad:
    3. Your donut pictures are so yummy. ;)
    4. Bridges are indeed marvelous.
    5. The purple polka dotted tights are adorable.
    6. The last photo is grand - I love city lights at night.
    7. I also love shoes.

    Yes. =D Life is good, isn't it?

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  22. I loved looking at every single one of these :D Great shots!

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  23. Besides being an awesome brother, Benjamin is an awesome son. He and I headed downtown the next day, and I got to have the fun of watching him shop FOR Rebekah! Downtown was beautiful. Your pictures really capture what I love about downtown during Christmas!

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  24. oh my goodness, im in love with your blog.

    & im in love with Jesus too ... awesome :)

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  25. Oh what fun! Younger brothers work well too =)

    Prayers,
    Esther

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  26. I was trying to find some goodies to go into a basket for my brother's girlfriend's parents. We were looking at wine and he says, "I'd buy wine just for the label." I thought hmm didn't I just hear that somewhere? And cupcake flavored wine would be an enormous improvement on flavor.

    Love your purple tights. :)

    Also, love that first person view shot going across the bridge. Nice.

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  27. I LOVE your photos!! I've been following your blog since you contacted me about Giveaway stuff :)
    I didn't realize you were from Portland (I'm just an hour east!) Super-cool! Going to P-town is an event for everyone here!
    I <3 Voodoo donuts!

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  28. Awesome photos! Looks like you had a lot of fun! :)

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  29. I love every single one of these photos. and those donuts are my favorite!!

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  30. that is a really beautiful peaceful photo! hope you have a splendid christmas!

    xx christie

    www.christie86.blogspot.com

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  31. Looks like you had a great time! BTW, i LOVE your header. too fun.

    Thanks for your comment on my photo blog.

    Merry Christmas!
    Lexi

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  32. I added myself to follow your blog. You are more than welcome to visit mine and become a follower if you want to.

    God Bless You :-)

    ~Ron

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