in towners

I had a very eventful last few days with visitors in town. My friend Pepper, visiting her family in Truckee, from the authentic outback of Australia and her best friend Rya, a former and future Portland resident, took a road trip to visit the city of roses among others. With home base being my place of residence and a bit removed of the ebb and flow of the city, we commuted to enjoy some absolutely AMAZING new restaurants and incorporated a lot of shopping and sightseeing. On Saturday, I had a sewing class with Sara and Jena and was promptly greeted by my new house guests before we all headed out for dinner and then a little dancing at Whiskey Bar in downtown to one of their favorites, Plump DJs, dawned locally and from the UK I think.

Although Jena and I are not heart-swooned dance music enthusiasts, we managed to shake it for what we thought was the best of the DJs, who to the present crowd were very well-known and loved. I will say that it is nice to see dancing to this type of music because it transcends the typical and often disgusting bump-n-grind you typically see at most clubs to top-40 muck. It was a fun night out, but I have to say that being dubbed the Whiskey Bar, you'd think the drinks, especially the whiskey mixed drinks, wouldn't be so damned weak. Yuck.

Sunday and Monday were a composite of eating and shopping. There is definitely nothing wrong with that, except when you have self-prohibited the purchase of anything outside of the necessary essentials, which does not include books, jewelry, clothes, purses, high end skin care products, shoes and well, I could go on but it just makes my shopping bone twitch. I was good, but my when-i-have-a-job-i-will-buy-this-that-and-the-other list is exponentially growing by the day. I better hop to it. Karma, do your thing. I am due. I got splashed in the face by a car with dirty, oily street water and was soaked.  My mouth was open; I think I'm done for a while.

I also fell in love with a really AWESOME bar off Hawthorne called Back Stage Bar which is also a pool hall. They have free pool every Tuesday and Sunday. Will anyone come play with me? The bartender rocked my world (don't get too excited, it was a girl...no really, don't get too excited) and the venue was amazing. For those not familiar, it was a McMenamins, which is a chain of pubs and restaurants of old restored hospitals, schools, theaters, barns etc. They convert historical landmarks to these venues and the Back Stage Bar was the actual backstage of the Bagdad Theatre at one time, which is now also an active movie theater and restaurant.

My new and most favorite of favorites was certainly the Tin Shed and Vita, both on Alberta (a place I had completely forgotten existed until Rya re-introduced me). And I am so thankful she did. I am not a huge bloody mary drinker, but Vita's Bloody Maria with pickled green beans was really really tasty. And I thought the twin cities was all about their bloodies. Biscuits and gravy are a big thing too, offering very specialized gravies: almond, rosemary, mushroom and so on. Really yummy with potato cakes that are baked with this delicious cream inside and out-of-this-world veggie sausage. K. I'm hungry.

I have a tea date with a new friend on Thursday which is also on Alberta at Townshend. This week, I will have visited that street four times. Although my very smart friend was probably right about how I should have moved to the NE where everything I have very quickly grown to love is, I am happy in my little hidden forest village that another very intuitive friend has dubbed a retirement community. I don't think I can bargain the yoga and the machine that so thoughtfully washes my clothes. I have grown very very attached.

more photos on my flickr as usual

it's about time

Maybe only a few of you know, but I have been dueling a little bit with flying solo since I moved from Minneapolis. This weekend was one that may have soothed my heart. For the first time, in a very very very long time, I was more than fine with being alone, I embraced it. My mother always used to say a common Czech proverb that translates to something like, "whomever your heart belongs to, also belongs the weekend." And this weekend, I found that I fell a little bit in love with myself. I know that may sound a little strange and probably extremely narcissistic and self-centered, for anyone who doesn’t know me well, but this was a substantial breakthrough.

Rarely, and only to do more productive and fulfilling tasks, I barely left my computer and worked my ass off this weekend. I designed, for my clients, for my friends and for myself. I knocked out several projects and was inspired through it all. I am not sure if it is the feeling of some creativity and passion and hope and FEELING coming back, but I feel more alive now than I have in a long time. I think I am finally starting to remember who I am.

And with the feeling of accomplishment and satisfaction comes the concept of reward. Mine was an apple tart which came with vanilla bean ice cream and was the soft punctuation to a day well lived.

I thank my stars for the french shortcrust pastry recipe that makes my world go round.

And while I am thankful, I wish to express how much I appreciate my space and that it offers me a place to bolster change, to illicit inspiration and to work with purpose.

The free yoga classes don't hurt either.

Certainly not one of their favorite things in the world, but necessary from time to time, the dogs got their act cleaned up a bit too.









I hope to keep the momentum and wrap up some work next week so I can fully enjoy the company that is coming next weekend. Although it is a relief to know that "alone" is not a dirty word, I am very excited to share the company of some very inspiring people next weekend.

trees are the bees knees

This past week has been filled with the shadow of every tree, from one side of the planet to the other. On Thursday, my friend Sara and I rode the MAX to the World Forestry Center for a beer/wine tasting event and then attended the Lan Su Chinese Garden in Chinatown on Saturday. Informative and stunningly beautiful and un-documented because I forgot to charge my camera battery. So, you'll have to settle for links this time around.

If I am ever lucky enough to have my own backyard, I hope that it exhibits the same type of frondescence, a fancy word for vegetation that I like to say because I just learned it, that is the delicate growth of Asian landscape. I have always been so drawn to Asian design, craft, art and foliage. It's delicate and purposeful and I so admire the quality of patience, ability and intention in every step of the design. Even the cobblestone floral design, fettered with moss, was striking and fluent with the harmony of the entire garden. After reading a little bit about it, it is evidently the "most authentic Chinese garden outside of China." I am looking forward to spring because the blooms that some of these plants and trees must offer are no doubt nothing less than amazing.

To round out the tree tour, we went to the current book arts exhibit at 23 Sandy Gallery. What better way to follow the path of the tree than to one possible and final resting place, the book. There were some impressive pieces, one that encompassed the entire length of Hamlet with what appeared to only offer Ophelia's part as it was also titled by the character. It cut and paste only segments dedicated to Ophehlia on it's thick, blood-red pages, reconstructing the shape of the character as normally understood in the full context. That was my read, but the artist could have been making a far different statement. My other favorite was titled "In the Gutter" which is best outlined in the artist's statement which can be found on the gallery's website as well and is quoted here:

The artist''s book, In the Gutter, begins with a page spread that is unreadable. As the reader moves through the book, the text in the gutter slowly becomes pinker. On reaching the final page, the illuminated text is readable, revealing a series of explicit sexual terms.

In other news, I have also been mulling over one of my many new, I won't say resolutions because in my world those things are unresolved, unrealistic and usually unattainable, so I will use the word perspectives. One of my new perspectives this year is to be brave. The other, available. And so, I signed up for two meet-up groups in Portland to get out and make new friends. One is a dachshund play group and the other a microbrew tasting group. I hope to find some like-minded people here. More groups are waiting to be joined, but at least I have a place to start.

Wish me luck.

a new year

Had a swell time over New Years in Seattle with my Minneapolis friends, Ryan, Clay and Marcia. Apart from over-consumption, three hours of sleep and having to drive for almost 4 hours hung-over, it was a great way to start the new year. More pics on my flickr. They are less than amazing. Aparently alcohol and cameras are not a fitting match where I am concerned, but there are a few good ones in there (those that a stranger took). Happy New Year friends.