Travel // Exploring Washington

Neal and I recently got back from another whirlwind trip in the Pacific Northwest. After two days in Portland for my cousin’s wedding, we decided to make the most of our trip and tack on two extra days to explore what Washington had to offer.

The closest I’ve ever been to Napa and Sonoma is stalking travel guides on Pinterest, so when I was within 3 hours of Washington wine country, you can probably guess what I did next.

I googled the hell out of it.

And it brought us to Yakima, Washington. Our first stop in our two day exploration through Washington. Kind of in the middle of nowhere. Pretty suspicious up until the point where we turned down this one deserted road (cue the tumbleweeds) and boom — there were vineyards! It was incredibly low-key, and just what we needed after two bustling days of wedding festivities. We stayed at an adorable, historic B&B called Birchfield Manor, which I immediately fell in love with. It was conveniently located and was a short drive to all the vineyards and downtown area. Their pretty backyard made the perfect setting for this shoot!

When we arrived, we ditched our bags and headed downtown to tasting rooms, Gilbert Cellars, where I had the best Rose I’ve ever tasted and Antolin Cellars, where we fell in love with a bottle of smokey Malbec. Being completely starving, admittedly, we stopped at Taco Bell with the intention of a snack and ended up eating approximately two crunchwrap supremes and 4 tacos (woops!) In my defense, I haven’t had it in over a year! Not many people who go to wine country and eat at Taco Bell, right? I know you were wondering — but classy actually isn’t my middle name — it’s Lynn.

Post TB scarf fest in our rental car, we hit two other wineries, Wilridge (my favorite) & NHV. I’ve never seen a more incredible view. (Those photos are coming next post…so stay tuned for more of that.) Unfortunately I have no romantic wine country restaurants to share with you, unless you’re into cheesy gordita crunches.

In my opinion, this was the perfect travel outfit. I was so excited for an excuse to pull on my new J.Crew blazer I scored on mega-sale, thanks to Rack It Up! (Side note: If you haven’t heard of them — you need to check out my review here). The material of the blazer is pretty sturdy, so it doesn’t wrinkle easily, and the pattern easily hides dirt and any other mishaps that might happen before you can get home to your local dry cleaner (because you all know I’m quite prone to spilling coffee). Being the print-mixing fiend that I am, I wore it with my favorite striped sweater (also styled here). My new silver Badgley Mischka sandals I scored at the Gilt City Warehouse Sale were ideal travel shoes — they take up literally no room in my suitcase and instantly add a bit of polish to anything I wear. Last but not least, boyfriend jeans are my secret travel weapon. They make any outfit look way cooler than your standard skinnies, and their loose fit makes them a more comfortable option.