Tour Guide Part 2

Our awkward photo to prove we hung out.

This weekend I finally got to meet up with one of the amazing people I've meet via blogging,  Larissa. I lured Larissa to Portland with the promise of Voodoo donuts, Powells, shopping, and getting to meet my cute animals.

We did head out to the suburbs so we could check out the talked-up, newly opened, Native Foods Cafe. I tried the "chicken run ranch burger" (as did Larissa, great minds think alike!) and Colin ate the "Super Italian Meatball Sub." The chicken sandwich was good, the fries were seasoned and I might skip out on the seasoning next time (if they have plain) and just dip them in their delicious vegan ranch.  I, of course, had to try dessert and ordered the "Chocolate Love Pie." To preface, I am a total vegan-dessert-snob, & I have to say, ehh. It was only alright, I wouldn't order it again. But I did have a bite of Larissa's cupcake, and it was pretty tasty.

My sandwich

Colin's Sandwich

We had a lot of fun this weekend (despite the usual Portland rain) and spent Friday evening, Saturday and Sunday morning running all over city. The rest of the time we watched some silly movies and ate a lot of food. I've discovered from playing tour guide I need at least 3 to 4 full days in Portland to give a good tour. So Larissa, please come back soon!

Portland Tourist Guide

Late one night my roommate's cat, Linus discovered a fun new perching spot, on top of the Expedit bookshelf, it's about five feet tall so he's just high enough to be able to pounce on anything that walks by.

Not much to report around here, I've just been busy studying like crazy and trying to keep up with the rest of life. But I am more than ready to take a break, because this weekend my dear friend Larissa visits. I'm beyond excited to give her a tour of Portland. A few of the must-do's so far are: Target (I can't believe Canada is deprived of Target-goodness!), Voodoo Doughnut, Hungry Tiger Too, Vegan Row (Any vegan visiting must go check these out), and walk around Hawthorne, Mississippi, and Alberta neighborhoods, and the food carts of course. Yes, most of my tourists guide involves food+shopping, you can see my priorities.

(Update: Oh and Powells & Fabric Depot how could I forget you guys?! Add those to the list!)

Alright back to studying/cleaning. Hope everyones week is going well!

Moving, Wedding and Vacations, oh my!

etsy print by ChEngel

Next Wednesday we leave for California to visit family and attend our engagement BBQ. I am excited to see family and for the vacation I am less excited for the 90+ degree weather that's supposed to be happening. But, I guess it will make me love Portland even more while I am gone! I admit, I am also excited because I get to visit several of my favorite thrift stores. There's nothing like a wedding and a new place to motivate you to find fun new treasures to decorate with.

Speaking of moving, we picked up boxes from my lovely friend Lehua and I can now officially start packing! It's something about having your house invaded by cardboard boxes that make you feel like it's real. I keep telling Huey & Mimi that in two weeks they'll have their own little yard. But, neither of them seem to be catching on :) Alberta Arts is such a lovely neighborhood. I am thrilled to have an excuse to explore a new part of town with new resturants and cute shops. Also, Back to Eden is not too far from our place, which means coconut ice cream milkshakes will happen more often!

Hope everyone has a lovely weekend! If you have any fabulous moving tips, feel free to pass them along :)

Tourist Activities

Places in Portland that we've been to:
Leach Botanical Gardens
Shopping on Hawthorne
Powell's
Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden
Explored Mississippi District
Explored Alberta Arts District
PSU Farmers Market & Hawthornes Farmers Market
Zine Symposium
BiketoBeer Festival
Voodoo Donuts

Places in Portland I still want to explore:
Fabric Depot!
Morrre thrift stores!
Food carts! 
Portland Art Muesuem
Portland Japanese Gardens
SE Portland Art Walk (March 5)
Muesuem of Contemporary Craft
Pittock Mansion
OMSI
3D Center of Art & Photography
Portland Zoo
Cannon Beach
Rose Garden
Oneonta Falls
Macaw Landing Foundation
Shanghai Tunnels Tour
Sauvie Island
McMenamins

more shelving.

More shelving organized

This was the last project I did before I was plagued with this nasty cold. I still don't have everything in the office dealt with. But this is at least a step in the right direction...

portland zine symposium & more!

It's been the first weekend we haven't been stuck unpacking all day, and I am happy that we actually got to go out and enjoy Portland.

I'll make a longer update for later tonight about my treasures from -

Unpacking.

I've forgotten the woes of unpacking. It seems like everytime I think I've reached the last box, I find a few more. We're down to a few boxes of decor, then the rest is labeled things like: "Colin must unpack this junk" and "I hope this gets lost in the move."

This is one of the first corners I've finished:

The plants weren't exactly thrilled about the move. The scrabble board hanging was my Mom's and when I replaced it with the Scrabble Anniversary Deluxe Edition (Yes, I am that nerdy) I couldn't let this one go, so it became an art piece for my wall.

Final Days.

My life has been reduced to a bunch of boxes sitting in my garage. I can't believe my final few days are here already. But, despite all of the nerves (mostly from worry of not being able to get everything done here) I'm really excited for the picture above to be my new home!

Whine Fest:

Well friends,

 

I generally avoid using my blog as a means to vent my frustration, but it's overflowing in my life right now. So, I guess you all are subject to hearing me whine here as well.

We originally were staying in Sacramento because it was our safety city. Colin had a secure job here, I had job leads here, and we had a place to live. We gave up Portland, because it didn't have those same stable opportunities. Well, now Sacramento has lost every stable point it had. So why are we here? I don't like this city most days. It's unbearably hot during summer, it lacks vegan options, and it doesn't have some of the same art/music advantages of other bigger cities (ie: Portland)

We sat around being bummed out for a week, lamenting over how we were going to be homeless and broke. Then yesterday, Colin came up with a flowchart for us, with the first step being whether or not he was offered a benefited position at his job (He is currently Per Diem)

I followed it up by making us a lovely dinner of roasted rosemary and garlic red potatoes and green beans, a basic salad, and some sourdough bread from a local bakery,

here's colin enjoying a bite:

Community Living

(this is "pepper" the horse (his brother "salt" not pictured)

I love moving. Okay, I  love parts of moving. It's a great excuse to go through all your stuff and limit yourself to just bringing some of your "favorites" We are slowly going through each room deciding what to Craigslist/Garage Sale/Donate/Pack and it feels good to finally getting rid of some of our clutter.

My other favorite part of moving is discovering a new city. Above is a picture (courtesy of google maps) of our first apartment in Sacramento. We lived on the top floor, right side. I loved that apartment. Didn't love the slumlord who was cool with the fact that we had a rat living in there. But, it had amazing character. Colin and I were both pretty horrible about learning our neighborhood. We fell back on chain restaurants and fastfood for eating. Both of us our much better about eating local and making food at home (sometimes, even with farmers market produce) 

I've become much more interested in trying to actually "live" within your community. It's what makes me really excited about Portland. Every neighborhood that we've look at is fairly self-sustaining. There's also much more of a selection for vegan food (Colin is especially pleased about this one!) and I'm happy that I can occasionally order eggs and not having to just watch Colin eat dry toast and a sad fruit bowl. 

I'm counting down the weeks until we move!