Winter Pink + Gray // Portland, Freeport Maine travel + food diary

Sorel Winter Fancy boots c/o, H&M coat, mug, YSL crossbody bag (review)

Banana Republic jeans, Talbots tee, Macy's sweater, Old Navy mittens & hat

We love heading up to Maine every so often for a change of pace, and more importantly, the food & drink! The food scene in Portland is amazing with a lot of fresh ingredients and creative culinary minds. We like gorging at restaurants there but staying somewhere with a little more rustic charm, like Freeport. It�s a small town about 20 minutes north, home to a big outdoor outlet mall for all your holiday shopping, a 24-hour LL Bean flagship store (because you might need duck boots at 3am), and don't forget the Maine Beer Company tasting room, Nick adds!

Packing essentials: ASOS plaid blanket scarf / wrap, Sole Society Cassidy bag 

Hunter foldable rainboots (the best! also  at Zappos or Bloomingdales), Sorel snow boots

Here we are toasting our feet back in our room at the charming Haraseeket Inn, after stuffing ourselves during their complimentary tea & treats service. I adore a room with a good cozy fireplace & reading nook! Nick's tartan PJ pants are a bargain from Old Navy (he also has the snowmen print I stole here which several of you guys asked about). They're 100% cotton and shrink a bit if machine dried, so size up for your men. My husband gets quite riled up when I borrow his favorite PJs, but they're just so comfy and festive I can't help myself : ) Btw, I also picked up these cable mittens & pom pom hat while at ON - the mittens are soo soft and cozy with fleece lining on the inside!

Men's flannel PJ pants (lots of prints), Target sweater leggings

On to Portland food�our first meal was at Eventide Oyster, co-founded by a chef who worked at Clio in Boston. They make a mean brown butter lobster roll on an Asian-style pillowy bao bun. Out of all the ways to have lobster, I prefer mine in the shell (Cantonese style over noodles! mmm...see my family recipe) but if I have to have a roll, this wasn�t bad at all. Nick on the other hand is all about the lobster rolls (and any Asian bao, pretty much), so naturally this one ranked pretty high on his list. The oysters were also oh-so-fresh and briney�it kills me when I go to places and they pour out or spill the brine before serving!

For brunch the next day, we were back in Portland at a spot called Central Provisions. The cornbread with bacon & filled with an egg was TDF! This dark photo doesn't do it justice...I'm still dreaming of all its crispy bits and runny goodness. Nick has been working on perfecting his recreation of this back home. 

I did manage to get my lobster pasta fix at Street & Co, which has been at the top of my to-try list. Apparently they take reservations 2 to 3 months ahead of time (nuts!) but thankfully also have some space for walk-ins. Their famed lobster diavolo was served piping hot & fresh, with all the seafood cooked to tender perfection for about $30 less than The Daily Catch's version in Boston. It's listed as "for two" but we made about two more meals out of the leftovers alone.

Aside from the yummy food, another common theme during our Portland trip were the strong drinks. I can usually do a few cocktails before needing to call it a night, but was a 1-drink wonder everywhere we went there (cheap date for Nick!).

You guys may remember this mock-neck sweater from this post tucked into a skirt and this post styled under a vest. The cropped length lends itself to so many different layered looks, including being worn over a longer button-up plaid shirt or patterned tee like I did here. They sell a lot of tops with that faux 2-in-1 look, which is very easy to create just with two shirts of differing lengths. 

Would love to hear some of your favorite towns & places to visit in Maine for our next trip!