I think I found love...

And it's name is Powell's Books.

The flagship store in Portland is this huge, multi-levelled heaven. NINE ROOMS FULL OF BOOKS. Yes. Nine. All color coded to genre, and organized extremely well. The store takes up an entire city block, with four different levels and almost any book you can imagine. I say almost because the reason behind the trip was to hunt down cheap textbooks, and we only found one that we needed.

Don't think I left with empty hands though. I walked out with 20 new books and a slightly empty bank account. Yes, a splurge was the worst idea ever for me right now, but my friend Heidi (yes, there is another Heidi, I am not referring to myself!) literally had to drag me out of the store. I scored several John Steinbecks and Shakespeares (5 plays, $0.95 each!) along with a few classics such as The Bell Jar. No, I've never read the famous novel, and I am dying to dive into it. All I want is to go live in back to Powell's and read every single book on their shelves. Except maybe the Japanese and German books I picked up for two friends. However, I hope to some day master a wide variety of languages, those two included.

Added to the deliciousness that is Powell's, Heidi and I went to the Sweet Masterpiece Chocolate & Coffee Bar, a small cafe a block away from the book heaven. They specialize in chocolate and coffee drinks, but their specialty sandwiches are to die for. The turkey that I ordered was one of the best turkey sandwiches I've ever had the pleasure to have a small allergic reaction to (something in the bread triggers mouth dryness and itching). It was delicately combined with pesto and cream cheese, with a hint of cranberry something (maybe chutney?). Heidi W. ordered the Margharita, an upscale take on a grilled cheese meets pizza. We decided next time, we'll order what the other had. Add in a super mocha for her, and a hot chocolate for me, and it was a perfect lunch. After a quick trip back to Powell's (where I drooled and Heidi picked up 2 more books while forbidding me to do the same), we headed back to the car.

On the way north, Heidi W. had mentioned she's never had a caramel apple. I decided to cure this poor girl's problem, so we stopped by Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory. Everyone knows you can't go into a chocolate shop and only order a caramel apple (plain for her, peanuts for me), so I had to pick up a couple of truffles to add to the ones bought at Sweet Masterpiece. Overall, I brought back a peanut butter truffle, 3 triple mocha ones, a death-by-chocolate one (for my chocolate addicted co-worker Paul), a pumpkin spice one, and a Mayan sea salted caramel for my stepdad.

In conclusion, today was a perfect day. I didn't die driving through Portland, I bought books and chocolate. I'm a happy girl tonight :)