What’s more exciting then taking a trip to Hawaii? Meeting John and Sherry from Young House Love of course! If you haven’t heard of them before then I’m afraid you’ve been hiding under a rock. The husband and I were originally planning a trip to Hawaii at the end of January to escape the rainy days of Vancouver and soak up some Vitamin D on the beach but when YHL announced that they were coming to Portland, OR at the end of January for a book signing we decided to take a road trip instead. I’ve only been to Portland once before for a brief stop over night so I was looking forward to spending a long weekend there and taking in everything the city has to offer.

Waiting to cross the border. Someone looks excited!

We left last Friday and took our sweet time driving down as we weren’t in any sort of rush. We made a detour and drove into La Conner for a quick bite to eat at a local brewery. And because the husband likes to live life on the edge sometimes we nearly ran out of gas but came across this wee little gas station and corner store in the middle of nowhere.

Check out that old gas pump. If it wasn’t for that other car filling up we would’ve thought that they no longer sell gas and these pumps are only for show.

After about a 6 hour drive we finally made it into Portland. Of course, we were both starving by this time so we found a French restaurant not far from our hotel called Brasserie Montmartre (ya, try pronouncing that one!). We enjoyed some Fanny Bay Oysters and even tried frog’s legs for the first time. Although they tasted just like chicken wings I can’t say I’d ever order them again. Ribbit Ribbit

Brasserie Montmartre

Don’t you just love the decor? The chandelier, the brick wall, and the original hardwood flooring. My dream space.

But enough of all that, let’s get back to the real reason why we went on this road trip. All for these people…

and this book…

The book signing was held in a very cool decor store called Rejuvenation. A gorgeous, old, converted warehouse that has a lot of good finds.

The book signing started at 12 and although we got there at 11:30 the line was already about 100 people deep and there was another 300 people behind us. But there were a lot of pretty things along the way to distract us from the wait like these beautiful colourful glass lamps…

and these mirrors…

and even Henry Ford’s urinal…

SAY WHAT?! I don’t get it either.

And finally after much anticipation we made it to the front of the line. Hello John and Sherry!

Sherry even commented on Omar’s very bright yellow sweater. He was pretty stoked!

Such a friendly, down-to-earth, couple from Richmond, Virginia. So happy we had the opportunity to finally meet them as I’ve been following their blog now for two years. When I was searching for DIY wedding ideas their website came up and I’ve been following it ever since.

Although our weekend was cut short due to a family emergency we were so happy we got to meet these two. Afterall, they were the real reason for this trip.

Who else is a fan of YHL? Did you get the chance to meet them at any of their book signings?