I went to Seattle, taking a quick pit stop between Sisters, Oregon and Bay Area, California. Okay fine, it's not actually between those places, but it was a high priority stop, so I made it happen. It was amazing. I stayed with Taylor-Marie and got to see Scott and soaked up every second. 

I also ate a croissant that changed my life. I would tell you how many I had but you wouldn't believe that I actually cared about eating in moderation if I did, but I do, and this croissant could easily become a food group for me if I lived in Seattle. So let's be glad that's not a thing. Yet! My family will vouch, though, that I've talked about nothing else since I ate this golden treasure. Here's a picture—the twice-baked chocolate croissant from Bakery Nouveau. ABSOLUTE GAME CHANGER and the only thing worthy of all caps on this sleek, modern, try-hard blog.

Its formal, reserved appearance

A few bites in. The best moment of my life maybe? (being dramatic maybe?)

I rode a ferry, of course (apparently ferries are an "of course" in Seattle, fun fact) and drank bubble tea. And Taylor-Marie took me to a Mariners game, and Scott took me all around his campus. 

Me on the front of the ferry, wondering what even is Rose w/o Jack? [jk, she's a strong, independent female who is smart enough to climb onto a door or whatever and not drown, even when Celine Dion makes it sound like ur supposed to let urself sink into the depths of rly cold h2o, go rose, you rose to the occasion & didn't jack it up hahaha]

There were a bunch of other wonderful things I got to do (Seattle is *was* a top-3-maddieperkie's-world-wannabe-destinations; the other two are Vietnam and Prague), but the only other one I'll mention for now was another thing I wanted to do forever. (The other "thing I wanted to do forever," references that croissant, I'm realizing as I type. Apparently I didn't know it till I put it in my mouth.)

I could spend twenty minutes explaining the role of these books in my life, but we'll leave that for another post. Suffice it to say that one of the chapters I read six years ago made me want to visit Puget Sound (the name of the bay that Seattle sits on) so badly and I finally got to do it and I took Betsy and Tacy with me. That sounds weird. Well anyway I did and I sat and had a picnic and read the Puget Sound chapter from the books and meditated on Psalm 34 and almost got attacked by a raccoon like in Elf. But we'll save that for another blog post. 

Cali post next! Yay! Also, s/o to Tucker + the Freeland fam for letting me crash at their place in Napa Saturday night, never have I been so happy to be around friends/have a fluffy bed (It was post-twelve-hour drive ahhhh). And Allison Hall, who emailed me (at my official-y email ayee) to tell me that she reads my blog, which was supremely encouraging because I find it safe to assume that Rah and Mama are pretty much the only people who read it. So thanks for, as they say, "tightening the feedback loop!" (Do people actually say that? Well idk but apparently I do). Bless u frandsss.

As promised in my recent post—I know you've all been on the edge of your seats—I will now report on the two top contenders for donut patronage in Portland, USA: Blue Star and Voodoo Doughnuts.

First, Blue Star donuts.

I have know about Blue Star donuts for probably five years. It was the reason that I decided I wanted to visit Portland, all those years ago. There's a ton of fuss around another staple of the Portland donut scene, Voodoo Douhgnuts, which has franchised into Austin and elsewhere. Blue Star, on the other hand, is a little more reserved. A little more uppity. It's sleek and minimalist. Their slogan is "doughnuts for grown-ups," which I told to Anne's eleven-year-old daughter and she couldn't stop laughing (Anne was my Oregon shadow, I'll post about her next!). To give you an understanding of how ridiculously intense they take the donut game, here's the first sentence on their website: 

“Blue Star Donuts is a gourmet donut concept founded in Portland, OR.”

A concept. Blue Star donuts is not a store. It's not a business. It's a concept. You catching their vibe now?

At 6:58 on Saturday morning, then, I walked into Blue Star donuts and selected three donuts from one of the nation's premiere donut shops. Hooray! 

I'd give Blue Star a 9/10. They did their thing super well. Even if it wasn't my thing ($3 for a donut? ehhh), That raspberry buttermilk old fashioned was top of the line. But the chocolate frosting was weird, hence the 9 instead of 10. 

Having taken only two bites out of each donut, I walked to Voodoo. I had planned to stop by Powell's City of Books between (the biggest independent book store in the world!), because I don't usually eat sugar in the morning, much less sugar from two different donut shops. But of course the bookstore is not open at 7:10 am. So I went ahead and walked to Voodoo, like the pilgrim I am. Ha.

Voodoo is pink and loud and weird and they have so many types of donuts and they display them all on this spinning tower by the cash register.

I'd give it a 10/10. Even though my chocolate old-fashioned donut could not have been sadder (it was like no one even bothered to frost it! Such a travesty, and I always say an old-fashioned donut is the measure of a shop) even though that was the case, I give it a 10/10.

The donuts were inexpensive and yummy. The store had a complete, developed branding strategy, even if it's voodoo themed. You can buy a "homemade coffin full of three dozen voodoo donuts," so that's funky. And there were parents with little kids there, which wasn't the case at Blue Star.

Another cool thing about Voodoo that Tucker told me about is that if you take a 5 gallon bucket and go at changeover time, they'll fill it with the old (probably not even a day, let's be real) doughnuts for only $8! I saw someone there with a bucket when I was there. Also, as I walked around town, I noticed that a fair number of homeless people had 5 gallon buckets, which was cool.

That's the scoop! I'd recommend either. And Heavenly Donuts, from my other Portland post, which isn't in downtown but was still delicious and fun. When you make it up to Portland, check out these stops!

PS Donut Disclaimer: One time, I was home from college and ran into a person from church. I guess she kept up with me on Facebook, but she said, "You aren't eating a donut!"

So just let me clarify—yes, I love donuts. I love them because they make people happy and they're sweet and sugary and not that expensive for a present. But I don't actually eat donuts that much. Almost ever, except when I travel. They just aren't that . . . nourishing. Ha. So it's really gotta be worth it. But I just wanted to make sure you, like that sweet friend, didn't think I eat donuts every hour or something. K thanks bye.

Looking back through my pictures, I thought, "Look at these ritzy things I found in Portland." But then every third picture or so would actually be pretty weird.

Portland is trying to claim the saying "Keep Portland weird," but we all know that Austin, Texas has that riff on lockdown. I'm guessing that the real reason for this—besides, of course, the fact that I live closer to Austin than Portland and thus side with it because of ethnocentricity— is because Portland, unlike Austin, does not have to try at all to "stay weird."

So I coined the term "gritzy," which blends the words "grunge" and "ritzy." Because, in my short experience of Portland, that encompasses this wacky city. 

We'll work in chronological order. I arrived Friday evening, spent all day Saturday in the city, and left Sunday after church.

First. Friday evening, almost into town, I ran out of gas in the burbs (ghetto? unsure) of Portland, so I pulled off the highway and, would you believe it, right into the parking lot of a donut shop. Crazy how that happens! Everything about the situation recommended that I go inside and grab one—the name Heavenly Donuts reminded me of Birmingham, they were open even though it was dinner time, I conveniently forgot that I was already planning to eat a donut the next day, and the store looked lame and cheap (which we all know means perfect). And it didn't disappoint! The workers were friendly and helpful and I got this ugly and weird but delicious chocolate cinnamon roll, which true-to-form I gnawed the top off of because I am a five year old and only like frosting. Or because I am carb-conscious and therefore saved some lame calories by skipping the bready part, you decide. 

Second is this salad, which has so many chia seeds that it looks like it's covered in ants. I got it at Garden Bar, which is one of those places that makes super legit salads. & it was only $7! Ritzy for sure.

Next we have the compulsory daily dessert stop. Knowing that my sugar intake was going to be maxed out the next day by my donut pilgrimage, I decided that I *had* to try Portland's premiere ice cream stop the night I got there. See that scoop of ice cream? I waited for it for fiFtY miNuTeS. Fifty! Das a long time.

It's from Salt and Straw, which is one of those places like Jeni's or Big Spoon where you can tell they like their ice cream even more than you do. It was worth the long wait for the experience, but I didn't die over the ice cream. Maybe it's because I have Jeni's and Big Spoon so close to home, so I don't need all the fancy Portland fuss. Stop three? Ritzy, duh.

So I went back to the hotel, and exercised, and talked to Lyd, and set my alarm for 6:30 so I could be at Blue Star donuts when they opened. (How Portland-y is it for a donut shop to open at seven? As if even the people who wake up really early for work don't have to be there till after 7.)

After spending a half hour writing about my Saturday morning trips to the donut shops and still not finishing my commentary, I decided that, as was usual in the Charlie Lovelace-era of this blog, the donut trips would need their own post. So check back for that later!

Next was my morning coffee shop trip, where this microscopic cup o' joe (can you even see it?) was considered a "small." And cost $4. And wasn't what I ordered. (And I was a pushover and didn't ask them to correct it.) 

Not only was the coffee spazzy (excuse, me, "ritzy"), but they were doing some casual Japanese ice sculpting in the back corner. Huge knife, huge block of ice, lots of drama. Note the product of these labors in my coffee drink in the picture above! Square ice cubes. "Why yes, thank you, nothing less would do."

After spending a few hours writing, I kept exploring the city. In the interests of keeping the blog post moving along quickly, we'll go into a speed round of "ritzy or grunge."

Blank wall at Powell's City of Books with the imperative "Please don't touch the art." /// grunge

This beautiful store? I mean please the dressing rooms are covered in plants and the clothes are arranged by color. /// ritzy

Food stalls surrounding parking lots? I got Thai for $7. It was delicious. /// grunge

The second coffee shop of the day, with this "drinking chocolate" served so beautifully? /// ritzy

This human on a golden-decked bike with tie-dye and a unicorn hat? /// grunge

There you have it, folks! Grunge, and ritzy, and tons of fun. 

Keep Portland Gritzy.

Stay tuned for news of my sweet, sweet time with Anne in Sisters, my trip to Portland's top donut shops, and my break in Seattle with *the* Taylor-Marie + also amazing human Scott Smith. & keep sharing my blog with ppl if you like it—that helps more than you know!