A rainy Portland Saturday.
Tags:Coming to you live from one of the greatest independent bookstores: Powells. This place is huge. New and used books. Coffee shop. It is rainy and grey out the window - Chris and I are chilling in a sitting area eating toasted cheese sandwiches and drinking tea (earl grey for me; jasmine for Chris). There is free wireless internet (awesome). Divine.
And you know what else is divine? I have no money to spend. It is almost more enjoybale to be here with no money. I am relaxed. I am people watching. Surfing. Working on my Color Class. Listening to voices around me. Smelling my tea. Not worried about what I am going to buy. Or that I really don't have the money to buy it.
Portland is just so cool. Laid back. Not bothered by the rain. Fairly healthy. Lots of outdoors stuff. People that open doors and smile at you when you pass them on the street.
We have been having a really nice time this weekend. The Blazer game was totally fun. Rode the MAX from our hotel to the Rose Garden (i am in love with lightrial public transportation). Ate pizza and drank MacTarnahans. Watched the Blazers lose by just a couple to the Sonics. Headed back towards our hotel for a couple more drinks and snacks at Rock Bottom. And then to bed.
Friday was spent driving around the area looking at neighborhoods and such for a possible move. Saw some cute little historical houses in Oregon City that I loved and wanted to move in immediately. This is all still just a possibility. Cool to just drive around with Chris and not be in any hurry to get anywhere.
For dinner we hooked up with Amy and Jason. Ate at Henry's 12th Street Tavern in the Pearl (a hip new area in Portland - one of those places where urban renewal has been tremendously successful)- they have over 100 beers from around the world on tap. Chris found a new favorite beer: Stone IPA. Great food. Cool atmosphere. Highly recommend if you are in town.
And so today we are just hanging until this evening. Our adventure tonight: SuperDiamond. We saw this group a couple years ago - totally cool, totally Neil Diamond - and, yep, their mission is to spread the "good word of Neil" to all.
Photos to come from our weekend adventure when we get home (forgot my upload cord - one of these days I will get it all together).
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14 comments
Hi Ali! Glad you made the time to post, and glad to hear you're having a fun weekend in Portland. Interesting perspective about the money situation. Hmmm. Something to chew on. Hope you enjoy the rest of your time! : )
Amy
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Sounds just like Ireland, there is nothing nicer than being inside somewhere great on a rainy day!
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great, now i want to move to portland...the grandparents are gonna be so mad...
seriously though, sounds like you are having a great time! enjoy it!
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sounds like you are having a great weekend! Enjoy!
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We're big fans of Rock Bottom, as well. They have a great one here in Boston, just off the Common. I hope to see some pictures of you enjoying yourselves.
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Sounds like an amazing trip! So fun to have alone time and actually do fun stuff!
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Sounds so cool there! I totally got a picture in my head by your description of your surroundings. Makes me want to get away with dh into the city soon,'sans'kids, and just hang out like you guys are doing. ENJOY!
melanie
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Ali,
Portland sounds amazing; a bit like San Francisco(my favorite city)in the U.S. Here in Asheville, NC, we're busily preparing for the Easter Bunny to arrive tomorrow morning; I love putting Easter baskets together and seeing the excitement on their faces in the morning, like Christmas! and watching them follow the Easter Bunny's white flour footprints around the yard searching for the hidden eggs. As my teenager says - "Good Times"!
Hope Simon is having fun too!
Michelle
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Hey Ali---Sounds like you guys are having a fun time here in Portland! Would just love it if you moved here ;-) Portland really is an awesome city. I think you've discovered more of it than I and I live here!! Have to start getting advice from you about cool stuff to do around town! Looking forward to seeing photos when you get home. Enjoy the rest of your stay and especially SuperDiamond...I'm so jealous :-)
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to use your word, Ali, it sounds 'divine'. Glad you had fun!!! You always have the coolest links on your posts. :)
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I LOVE Powell's. I once drove up there from Berkeley just to buy books. Spent the whole day browsing, sat around in the coffee shop, filled the whole trunk with books, and drove back. LOL! I think I could live in Portland, too. A really cool place.
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SWEET! You saw SuperDiamond!!! I haven't seen them for, oh, about 7 years, since I was single and living near Seattle. SuperDiamond and the Dudley Manlove Quartet (an awesome lounge music cover band) were frequently on our to-do list when we were young and fresh enough to go to shows after work and still make it to work on time the next morning. I didn't know SuperDiamond were even still around. Do tell, how was the show? As kitschish-ly delish as I remember? I feel like I'm 23 again :)
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Hi Ali- It's nice to read your perspective on my adopted home town. Been here 10 1/2 years, and lately I've been fantasizing about moving to a smaller community...but couldn't stand the suburbs. My dd will be entering kindergarten this fall, and neighborhoods/location are a huge consideration as far as schools are concerned. If you seriously think you may move, I'd suggest doing some serious homework on this. I also teach Pre-K and have made school research a part-time job of late! Anyway, the real reason I'm commenting is to thank you for reminding me what a great city this is. We just drove home from Salem (from Easter) and there's nothing like driving north over the Marquam and taking in the city lights. Beautiful. I love Stumptown.
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hey!
first time posting on a blog before!! Really enjoying yours!! Just wanted to say that I'm heading to Portland in 3 weeks for my honeymoon and you've given me lots of places to check out. Very cool!!
thanks, jen
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