Our first trip to Portland Ikea

It was love at first sight. As we headed in the general direction of where we (being Laurie and me) believed the Portland Ikea was located, we knew we didn't need an exact map telling us every turn to arrive directly at the store. We threw caution to the wind and said "Let the blue and yellow sign and building guide us!"

Maybe we should have used a map, because while we found it, we did have to turn around once before arriving safely in our parking stall. Not to mention when we left the store I took the wrong exit and had us headed for The Dalles on I84. That would have been ok, if our plan had been to go to The Dalles and not home to Portland.

We entered it with the excitement of small children on Christmas. Sure, we have been to an Ikea before, but that's the thing about it. It's always exciting. Unless you don't like Ikea, then you shouldn't be reading this blog. Instead you should be seeking the help of the nearest therapist to help you get over your Ikea issues. A life without Ikea is like no life at all.

First, we noticed it's two stories which we are fans of. Beacuse if you don't want to go look at all the pre-designed rooms you can just hit the bottom floor for your Ikea needs. But you know we did the whole thing. We learned how we could efficiently and fabulously live in 235 square feet, 500 square feet, 700 square feet, etc. We dreamed of furniture for Laurie's new apartment downtown, which was only a dream at the time, but now a reality. Which means we're going back to Ikea to furnish her apartment. I purchased new items for my spare bedroom which is really going to jazz up the place, and Laurie bought a new comforter. Get this, her comforter is a four season comforter. It comes with two comforters, one light, one heavy, and you can put both of them together for those really chilly nights. Genius. Props to the Swedes (even if you didn't invent that idea, I still love you for selling such cool stuff in your more than 200 stores in 30 countries).

We wandered through the children's area, which really didn't have a lot that we were interested in, except the fact that I'm an expecting Aunt and want to buy everything I see for my new unborn nephew. But anyway, when we hit the kids area it was like a whole different level. It was like a bunch of drunk little people running around, screaming, grabbing toys as their parents tried to manage. Oh brother!

On our way out we purchased our reusable Ikea bags as more trips are in our future. Because in case you didn't know, Ikea charges you extra for using plastic bags which is totally genius if you ever want people to stop using them.

We love Ikea and we recommend it highly. The line was really long at the cafeteria when we went, so we skipped the Swedish meatballs. Laurie heard that perhaps Sunday evenings are the best time to go to avoid the crowds. Or you could take a day off during the work week.

Sometimes, I still meet people who haven't heard of Ikea. So I stop, take a deep breath, and remember that I at one time was a lost soul who also did not know of Ikea and all its glory. So no judgement will be passed. I was once there too, young grasshopper.

Those crazy Oregonians!

Courtesy of the Oregonian. I've highlighted my favorite part of this story. You can find the full story here.

Pot ideas will test acceptance
Drugs - Signature gatherers want to change marijuana laws in Oregon, which has a high rate of users

Monday, October 22, 2007
ANDY DWORKIN The Oregonian Staff

Oregonians, prepare for reefer referendum madness.

Starting today, signature gatherers will ask Portland residents to put a law on next year's ballot decriminalizing possession of as much as an ounce of marijuana.

It's a weird request, as possessing that much pot is already decriminalized statewide. Oregon was the first state to decriminalize a little dope, way back in 1973. Having a little marijuana is now a civil violation, like speeding, punishable by a $500 to $1,000 fine.

Other Oregon pot fanciers want to move way beyond removing penalties. They're aiming for a 2010 ballot measure to legally sell marijuana through Oregon liquor stores, taxing the sales for state revenue -- a law that, if passed, guarantees a war with the federal government.

NORML, the main U.S. group backing marijuana legalization, identifies Oregon, Nevada and Vermont as the three states where its legal pot dream seems most possible.

"We just had a conference in D.C., and there were so many people from Oregon declaring their intent for this initiative, that initiative, medical marijuana," NORML spokesman Allen St. Pierre said. "I'm not really sure what's going on up there."

What seems to be happening is a union of two of this pioneering state's great loves: ballot initiatives and dope smoking.

Our ballots have carried more initiatives than any other state: 341 through last year, according to the Initiative and Referendum Institute.

And more than 1 in 8 Oregonians uses marijuana yearly, the federal government estimates, well above the 10.5 percent national average. Oregon ranks fifth in yearly marijuana use, third in use by adults older than 25. We also have one of the highest rates of people trying pot for the first time and lowest rates of residents who call monthly pot smoking very risky, the federal figures show.

"You just draw a line from Seattle to all the way just south of Los Angeles, and 50 miles inland," St. Pierre said. "That is the most tolerant place in the United States for marijuana, bar none."

Ira is the bomb; April bombed the interview

I felt compelled to write in our poor neglected Portland blog. Laurie and I got to see Ira Glass last weekend. I heart him. Laurie hearts him. We heart him.

We got there early so we were a mere three rows away from him (general admission baby). I was mesmerized just listening to him. It was an interview about his new book, The New Kings of Non-Fiction, his showtime version of This American Life, and of course the radio version.

April Behr (SP?) is an OPB journalist and was the person interviewing him. We think she tanked the interview. Perhaps Ira's presence made her nervous and she started blathering things that no one cared about. We were pretty sure Ira didn't like her either. But he's a gentleman and was a gracious guest and totally kept the interview alive. If I could have put her on mute that would have been awesome. I could listen to Ira all day long. I wonder if that's how his wife feels?

Did I mention we heart him?

when did brian krakow become hot?

Seriously. When?

travis buck is the new nick swisher

First, check out this photo.

I have so many questions:

• What's with the slightly askew ballcap? Are young ballplayers trying to make sure we know how young they are? (see also: the far more charming Brandon Phillips)
  
• Remember how we read that heart-wrenching story about Nick Swisher and his grandmother, and how we can't make fun of his hair anymore because he's growing it out to donate it? Yeah. The A's have found someone else for that role.
  
• Is Richland near Bremerton? 'Cause this guy looks like he should be one of Matt's homeys.
  

Please advise.

i love the onion

Nation To Ken Griffey Jr.: 'We Wish It Were You Hitting 756 Home Runs'

forgive me, erin/the rose festival demands its due

I swear I didn't mean to post right after you (again) and bump your post from the top of the page. By all means, readers, scroll down for Erin's new post.

The Rose Festival begins tomorrow. I have to admit that I've never been quite as enthralled with Portland's big event as it seems a Portlander should be. Sure, I came to it late. I've been here less than five years, so I didn't grow up with Rose Ambassadors (and Princesses and Queens). I'm flummoxed by Royal Rosarians, though I appreciate their spiffy suits. And, as much as I love the fact that Portland holds all of its big festivals downtown on the waterfront, I have to admit that I don't enjoy festivals: I don't play the games or buy the junk and I don't believe in portable rides. No way.

Despite all of these things, I'm excited about the Rose Festival starting this week and hope to check out a few of the events:

• Saturday is the Starlight Parade, which I love.
  
• I'm intrigued by the Dragon Boat races. I've never seen them, but maybe this will be the year I finally check them out.
  
• The Rose Show is inside Lloyd Center. What a hoot!
• Also, I love that my commute takes me through the Festival of Flowers in Pioneer Square every day.
  

And, Erin, this one's for you: the Rose Festival is "consistently ranked 'cleanest & greenest' festival in America."

And, one last link: the Rose Festival blog.

So, tell me, which which Rose Festival events will you be checking out?

IKEA Portland to open July 25

another friendly portland driver

Walking home from the Max station tonight, I had to cross a fairly busy street. It's one of those intersections where you have to stand there for a long time to get the walk signal and it doesn't last very long. So, I was almost to the intersection when the lovely walk sign appeared. I sped up to make the light and, just as I reached the curb, the warning light started to flash. Not wanting to wait through a full traffic signal and fairly confident that I could cross before oncoming traffic got the green light, I forged on. The light turns green while I'm still a few steps from the curb. The first car sitting at the intersection merely waits for me to pass and goes on its merry way -- friendly Portland driver. The next car tears around the corner, driver screaming. I only caught one word and it was "BITCH." We can all imagine the rest.

So, Portland may have the friendliest drivers, but there's always one who spoils it for everybody.

Friendliest Drivers?

I heard on Live with Regis and Kelly today that Portland is ranked as having the friendliest drivers. I don't know about that......but maybe. I mean, there's eventually someone who will let you in when your blinker is on.

Miami was ranked as having the most road rage.
Also, New York, Boson, LA, and Washington DC were ranked in the top.

austin, baby

Please advise.

Things to do in Portland: Volunteer

One thing I love about Portland is the city's dedication to the environment. While I don't have any experience with other large cities, being that Portland is the only big city I have lived in, I may have a biased view. But I feel like Portland is always a leader when it comes to being a "green" city. Sure, there are still many things that could be improved, but things like converting the Trimet buses to run on biodiesel, as well as continually developing the public transportation system in order to decrease the number of cars on the road, and building many of the large buildings downtown out of recycled materials as well as implementing creative ideas to use nature to conserve energy and water seems like a good start.

Also, Portland seems like a very volunteer friendly city. There are tons of ways you can volunteer, and again, this could be true of other big cities, but I find there's so many things I want to volunteer for that I don't have the time. But, in honor of Earth Day, Matt and I volunteered through SOLV to spend our Saturday volunteering at an elementary school in Hillsboro. We dug up weeds and planted trees, bushes, and flowers in order to boost morale and just make the elementary kiddies enjoy their school. There were many other projects going on at the school that day, but that was the part that we spent our time on.

SOLV is a great organization and I have volunteered for them before. They do things like the Oregon coast clean-up which I have yet to participate in but want to.

I think America as a whole is becoming a more environmentally conscious nation. I think we still have an incredible amount of changes to make as well as many obstacles to overcome. If you want to read more about some changes I'm making in my life and why, please go to my latest blog posting. I think if we all do one thing it is a start.

Things to do in Portland #1

Look I actually did something in Portland. It's nothing new, but I felt I should write a post irregardless.

Rock Bottom Brewery downtown. They're a chain, but it's a pretty cool pub. Also, I guess they are owned by the same company as Old Chicago, which I'm also a fan of. At Rock Bottom, I love their nachos, even though they don't love me back (they give me heartburn, just thought you should all know I'm OLD and I get heartburn). Anyhow, I met up with some of my former Intel finance interns from last summer on Thursday night and we put a hurt on two pitchers of Volksweizn Wheat. Also, I couldn't resist myself and I ordered the nachos. Miraculously, they did not cause me any agony last night. Maybe it's because I shared with four people rather than trying to eat the huge plate all to myself.

One cool thing you can get is this beer sampler thing, where you get about 6 different types of beer to try that they brew themselves. Matt has a funny story about that. If you see him you should definitely ask him about it. They have a pretty nice bar, and pool tables upstairs. I like the atmosphere there. It's pretty laid back.

I have always had pretty good service there, but Matt went with a group of people once and they had a really bad service experience. The waitress cornered them when they didn't leave her a tip because she sucked, and they had to get the manager involved. I also had them accidently charge someone else's (who was in my party but paid with a separate card) dinner to my card and it was a fiasco to get it all ironed out. Despite all this, I would recommend you go, and try the nachos.

And, I would be doing something else Portland worthy tonight, but since I have been sick with a cold all week, I made a last minute decision to bail out. Intel is taking all the Oregon interns to the season opener for the Portland Beavers tonight. In case you don't know, the Beavers (not to be confused with the OSU Beavers) is Portland's minor league baseball team. There's been talk for a long time of getting a major league baseball team in Portland, which would be so awesome, but for now, the minors will suffice. I went to like 5 or 6 games last year and didn't pay once. If you want good seats, Laurie has the hook ups. Her business has good seats, whereas Intel has not bad seats, but there definitely isn't any waiters waiting on you. I was planning on going tonight, because hello it's free! But I just decided about 10 minutes ago that I should spend my Friday night at home lazing on the couch nursing myself back to health with some bon bons. Yeah, that's how I roll.

you know me too well

So, yes, I'm listening to the Reds game right now. Reds lead the Pirates 5-1 after 7 innings. Ryan Freel tried to steal third base; the Pirates made a bad throw and he scored. Go Farney!

Anyway, I've had this whole week off work and, though I'd like to say that I've taken this opportunity to do some of the many new things I've vowed to experience in Portland, that would be a lie. I have, however, hung out in my favorite Portland places. I tell anyone who asks (and, let's be honest, many people who don't) about my favorite coffee shop. Costello's is a great little place. I love the coffee, the owners, the baristas, the little table by the window. They have live music, foreign language nights, and foreign films on Thursday nights. And they serve wine and beer, pastries, two kinds of quiche every day, soup, and --on the weekends--belgian waffles. Seriously, I love this place. You should check it out. Anyway, back in the day, I lived three blocks away from Costello's and went there almost every day. Now that I live a bit farther away and I have to leave for work before they open in the morning, I don't get to go there as often. This week, though, I got to be a regular again. Aaaah. That's nice.

I also managed to spend a lot of time walking around my neighborhood. Spring is my favorite season and I've enjoyed the tulips, daffodils, and blooming trees. Portland is pretty. I went downtown today and and had lunch at the best cart in Pioneer Square -- Honkin' Huge Burritos (I can't believe they have a website) and then hung out on the Waterfront for the afternoon with my book.

That's it. I can't say that it's very newsworthy, but Erin called me out. I had to post something.

Oh...and this one belongs to the Reds, 6-1.

Our blog title

Laurie, I know you're trying desparately to tear yourself away from whatever is going on with baseball today, particularly the Reds, to write that blog we discussed. But I just remembered something that I wanted to share.

I had my first question about our blog title. I then explained. I think she still might have been confused. I had had a few drinks. Perhaps that is where the confusion lay. What can I say? Only, this...............the employees of this blog are very gruntled. Yeppers!

Wouldn't you all like to know what the title is all about. And why yeppers and gruntled are so freaking funny. Life is full of mystery.

Frommer's top 10 Portland experiences

While in Seattle, Laurie and I printed out some of the recommended walking tours from Frommers. We only did one, which was in the Fremont District, and I have to say it was kind of iffy. Mediocre, although one shop that they recommended was pretty sweet. Anyhow, we discussed that we should do the walking tours of Portland and see how they rate. But I stumbled upon this list of Frommer's favorite Portland experiences and I wanted to ask my blog partner, Laurie (where you at by the way, are we getting John Mayer/Ben Folds tickets?) (Yes, let's get tickets. Have they gone on sale yet?) (oh you know it, let my people call your people) how many of the things on this list she has done. And of course I'll tell you if I have too. I think my list of favorite Portland experiences would be different, but my creative intellectual side is on spring break (basically I don't want to hurt my brain trying to develop my own list). By the way people, hop on the bandwagon and tell us your favorite Portland experiences.

Strolling the Grounds at the Japanese Garden. I know we've both done this because we've done it together! BTW, picture is from my personal collection here to the right. I love the Japanese Gardens. I went for the first time last year on my birthday. Loved it so much that I bought a membership on the spot. Unfortunately, I've been only one time since -- when we went on Mother's Day. Maybe I'll try to go next week before my membership ends. By the way, are you still thinking about getting a Portland Art Museum membership? I think that may be my one membership for the coming year.

Beer Sampling at Brewpubs. Not necessarily "beer sampling" but I have drank beers at a few brewpubs. But definitely on my list of things to do is hit up all the beer/brew fests they have in Portland, which ironically, Laurie I believe has been to all of them, and I drink more than her and I haven't been to any of them (at least I think I drink more than her, unless she's a closet wino). Wow...I'm not sure what you've been smoking (or drinking). I don't think I've been to any of the beer fests. I've been to a lot of the festivals on the waterfront -- The Bite, Blues Festival, Cinco de Mayo, Rose Festival -- but I don't think I've even had a beer at one of those. As for brew pubs, probably just Rockbottom, Bridgeport Ale House, and various McMenamin's. CORRECTION: While I will not reveal exactly what I was smoking, I had a moment of clarity when Laurie asked me what I was smoking and I remembered it was a different friend, who seems to drink A LOT more than myself, who has been to all of the brewfests. Irony is now lost.

Kayaking Around Ross Island. No, but this sounds fun! Ditto.

Mountain Biking the Leif Erickson Road. No, I don't own a mountain bike, or any bike for that matter. Me neither. I know Laurie's a bike fan.

Hanging Out at Powell's. Yes, but definitely not as much as I should. I think the answer is obvious.

Free Rides on the Vintage Trolleys. No. Man, those are for tourists. Just kidding, but I've never ridden them.

An Afternoon at the Portland Saturday Market. Yes, but again, I need to go back. A few times, but I haven't gone yet this year. The market just re-opened a few weeks ago. Holla!

Summertime Concerts at the Washington Park Zoo. Nope. Yes, and they're really fun. I saw the Indigo Girls there a few years ago. They don't care if you bring food in, so we packed a picnic. Very cool. Oh snap count me in for picnicing.

First Thursday Art Walk. No again! Damn I'm a slacker. I've only been once -- about two years ago. I'd like to check out Last Thursday on Alberta. Oh yeah, totally on our "to do" list. Do you like that by the way? Please advise.

If your town had an Ikea maybe I'd move there

Except for Renton. Unless we could work out a deal where I lived in the Ikea.

There is a whole bunch of controversy surrounding the new Ikea sign marking the Portland location that is set to open this summer (I have inside information that it could be until Christmas, but as of today the Oregonian says summer, but they might not have the inside info like I do). You're like what up with this sign? Why is Portland all up in Ikea's bidness bothering the bajesus out of it? Well, apparently here's the scoop (courtesy of the Oregonian):

The Ikea sign now rises at Cascade Station, at the intersection of Northeast Airport Way and Interstate 205, in a new calling card that's four times higher and 10 times larger than any new sign allowed elsewhere in the city: 100 feet high with three panels that are each 13 feet by 52 feet.

It's so big it has to have blinking lights so that a jet doesn't plow into it," says City Commissioner Randy Leonard, who oversees city signage but knew nothing of the sign until he drove past it.
"I'm not convinced this is legal," he added. "We have clear public policy. The sign code is rooted in land-use law. There are requirements for public hearings."

Ikea sees it differently

"We came to the dance after the rules were made," said Joseph Roth, public affairs director for Ikea United States. "We made very clear what our store and signage requirements were. And we were told that they would be compatible with Cascade Station."

But the sign regulations governing the Cascade Station Development -- and Ikea -- are dramatically different from those that apply to the rest of the city. The city's "Title 32" code outlines numerous sign requirements throughout the city, many of them specific to particular areas, from the so-called "Broadway Bright Lights District" to Old Town Chinatown. But at Cascade Station both signs and building designs are approved by a four-person committee created under a development agreement negotiated among the city, the Port and Cascade Station's main developer, Trammell Crow.

So that's it in a nut shell. I mean, that's how Ikea rolls, with the big sign and what not. Whatevs, just don't scare them away. Keep scaring Walmart away, I'm behind you on that one. But I long for Ikea after my first 5 hour shopping experience in Renton (Seattle location).

FYI The Portland store will be 280,000-square-feet of Swedish shopping goodness (smaller than the 350,000-square-foot store in Seattle so maybe it will only take me 4 hours to go through it). They started hiring employees last week (of the 400 they project to hire for this area).

Something to leave you with you Portland livers, lovers, and enviers:

Some of Ikea's ideas may go over well in eco-friendly Portland, such as encouraging shoppers and employees to use mass transit and charging for shopping bags to encourage conservation.

You know as soon as they open I'm buying one of those blue shopping bags they sell to bring back everytime.

Those Hipster Know-It-Alls

On more reason I am so sad that I do not have Showtime (trust me I'm working on it). And as promised, another non-Portland tangent. However, I did read this article in the Oregonian, which has to do with Portland. So there you go. This article is talking about Ira Glass on his new TV show version of This American Life:

He's just as unlikely on TV. Pale and thin, with nerd-chic horn-rimmed glasses, the host appears in a dark suit, most often sitting behind a wooden desk that has been set, microphone and all, in the midst of some spectacularly implausible place. Next to a highway. In a field of oil tanks. On a mountainside. His voice is mostly disembodied during the stories themselves, which makes sense since this is where the characters, and the visuals, take center stage.

Yeah, that's why we love him. You can read the full article here.

if your town had a powell's, maybe i'd move there

The first time I came to Portland was part of a 3-week, cross-country road trip with two girlfriends while I was in grad school. We rolled into town, paid too much money to park in a garage downtown, and wandered into Peet's, so that I could get my coffee fix. We had no particular destination in mind, just a vague idea that Portland might be a cool place to check out. So, I told the barista that we were in town just for the day and asked her what we should do in town. She pointed us toward record stores, thrift stores, and Powell's.

Have you been to Powell's? It's an entire city block of books, people. You can pick up a free map of the store when you enter and, until you've been there a few times, you definitely need it. We spent hours exploring the stacks together and splitting up to cover different ground. It's where I bought my first copy of Bitch. (Speaking of which, I just read that they're moving their headquarters to Portland.) We were so overwhelmed and envious of people who lived near this fantastic bookstore.

And now I live here. I sometimes go a month or two without stepping foot in Powell's. When I do, though, I'm reminded of how much I love it and wonder how I stayed away for so long. I hit my regular sections: new arrivals (especially memoirs), cookbooks, and knitting books. That takes a couple of hours. If I have more time than that, I can wander into fiction and cultural studies, but I rarely manage to see anything else. I love it.

As much as I love the walls and walls of books, Powell's has something else: free author readings. Yesterday afternoon, I went to the Frank Warren reading I mentioned the other day. He was funny, engaging, smart, and inspiring. He said something that really resonated with me. Because of PostSecret, he has made his home address public. In fact, it appears on the cover of the first PostSecret book. During the Q&A, someone asked if he had result anything other than secrets as a result of his address being so accessible. He hadn't and stated that people have been respectful of him and the project. He said, "I've trusted humanity and humanity hasn't let me down."
It isn't a very good picture -- partly due to my lackluster photography skills, but also because the room was really crowded. Portland is a town that loves books. Even on one of the first warm days of spring -- a day that wasn't quite sunny but also wasn't rainy -- Portlanders filled the large room where Powell's holds author readings. Standing room only. Books, authors, and book lovers. I love Portland.

Update: I just found a photo of the Powell's appearance on PostSecret. I'm just off frame on the left. See how crowded it was?

challenge

So, Erin, what are you doing tomorrow afternoon? Frank Warren (the PostSecrets guy) will be at Powell's at 2 p.m. Also, I hear the weather is supposed to be good for a tram ride. Please advise.

tangents

First, the tangents:

1. "In my bidness. That's ebonics for in my face and annoying the bejeezus out of me."
2. Hey, Erin. What's up? Did you see that John Mayer and Ben Folds are touring together?
   
3. As Erin mentioned, we recently spent a few days in Seattle. The whole trip sprang from a desperate need to see our beloved Ira Glass. This American Life was touring the US, promoting their new television show (premiering March 22 on Showtime). If you have Showtime, you should check it out. Scratch that. If you have Showtime, you should invite us over. The show looks great. What could have been a miserable failure -- turning a unique, compelling, beloved radio show into a television program -- has turned out to be the thing that makes my no-cable-havin' self actually consider getting Showtime. Seriously. It's that good.
   

We had a lot of fun, even though we learned that we're definitely Portland girls. The Emerald City is fun to visit, but I never once thought, "I could live here," like I do when I visit San Francisco. It's funny because, once upon a time when I was living in Alabama, I really really wanted to move to Seattle. I applied to a graduate program at UW and was truly heartbroken when I didn't get in. As we walked around the Fremont neighborhood, self-proclaimed center of the universe, I kept thinking how glad I was that I had landed in PDX instead. Portland is home.

BAM! Some Portland facts even I didn't know

With a population of 556,000, Portland is Oregon’s largest city and the third largest in the Pacific Northwest, after Seattle, Washington, and Vancouver, British Columbia. Approximately 2 million people live in the surrounding metropolitan area, the 24th-largest in the U.S.

Portland was incorporated in 1851 and is the seat of Multnomah County. The city and region are notable for strong land-use planning and investment in public transit, supported by Metro, a distinctive regional-government scheme.

Portland lies in the Marine West Coast climate region, marked by warm summers and rainy but temperate winters, ideal for roses. Indeed, for more than a century Portland has been known as “The City of Roses”, and has many rose gardens, most famously the International Rose Test Garden in Washington Park.

Portland is also one of only two U.S. cities to contain an extinct volcano.

Traffic along the coast was named the worst tourist traffic in the United States.

Haters

Ok, I had to write something because our blog looked so lonely. Laurie and I just returned from a trip to Seattle where we had plenty of time to ponder the future of our new joint venture. Ideally this first post would be about something cool in Portland because that was the initial idea, to write about all the cool things to do in Portland and hopefully get us out to experience those cool things. That's still the intention, but here are some tangents Laurie and I discussed we might get off on:

1) Quotes from our favorite shows The Office and How I Met Your Mother
2) Laurie and I using the posts to talk to each other
3) Stuff about This American Life and Ira Glass (We heart Ira)

Well, I can't promise that any of the above mentioned items will NOT happen, but I know if you love us you will stick around and wait for the good stuff.

I do have something to write about Portland here. I just wanted to state that Laurie and I realized while in Seattle, how much we were hating on Seattle. I mean, I feel a special love because it's close to Portland and we're west coast representin', but so many things came to our attention that Portland is way cooler. Public Transportation, the weather, the neighborhoods, the overall feel. I think this is because Portland is now a special place in my heart, my new home. I never thought coming from a country girl background that I would ever grow to love a big city, but I really, really do love Portland. It took awhile to grow on me, in fact, I'm not gonna lie. I went through a hatin' period on Portland. But the longer I am here I realize why it's so awesome (hence why it's voted one of the most livable cities, and why we're dedicating a whole blog to its metropolitan goodness). Don't get me wrong Seattle, you have some cool stuff, like the Mariners, the Olympic Sculpture Garden, Ikea (not for long, Portland location opens this year), the bendy buses, the Space Needle, and the birth of grunge. I still have love, and I'm sorry I drank so much haterade, but just know that Portland is my baby, and you're like the third cousin who borrows money from me all the time and never pays me back. Still love you because you're west coast fam, but Portland is always going to be number one with me!