my candle burns...

of course i have to quote the original st. vincent when talking about the young st. vincent aka annie clark.

i first listened to st. vincent solely due to the fact that she shared the name of my favorite poet. i was happily surprised when i really liked her music as well. "paris is burning" is my favorite of her songs and i've just listened to her new single actor which is very cool as well.

st. vincent is playing next week february 6th at the doug fir. she has two shows on saturday, one at 6 and one at 10.

i missed her last time she came through town so i really hope to catch her this time.

the factory

this post may be a little late but there is a really cool flea market going on today from 10am-7 at the portland garment factory.





the garment factory was started as an answer to the problem local designers were facing when trying to make their designs come to life on the local front. there wasn't a reliable workroom for people to utilize to see the manifestation of their creations take place, other than sending it out of town or doing it themselves on a much smaller scale. hence, the garment factory was created to address this issue and it seems to be doing very well.

the garment factory does pattern drafting, line production and sample construction so designers can keep the work within the city limits.

so back to that cool flea market. there will be vintage clothing, records and other weird stuff according to the portland mercury. the mercury states that se stark and 79th is the new 12th and hawthorne so we'll just have to see about that!

the garment factory is at se 79th and stark 503.752.4030

(photos courtesy of portland mercury)

the brasserie is back

i'm so happy the brasserie is back!

originally opened in 1978, the brasserie montmartre closed several years ago as the building underwent some major renovation. then i heard that everything inside had been auctioned off and although there was a sign on the front that said it would re-open, i feared it was gone.

well guess what? it's back and i couldn't be happier. when you need a taste of paris, the brasserie can pacify you until you are able to hop on air france and head over the atlantic.

oh i can't wait for les steak frites, and they have the best stuffed dates. oh my gosh, i'm so hungry!


i love, love love their giant mirror behind the bar. and the rest of the restaurant is beautiful but updated from the original decor, which i think is a good thing.

brasserie montmartre is still in it's original location at 626 sw park 503.236.3036

gus and tinkerbell

my man gus van sant and jena malone have teamed up together to do a short film for opening ceremony directed by another portland director m. blash. in the film, the elfin jena, wearing another portland namesake, pendleton for opening ceremony, dances and twirls around gus practicing her martial arts as gus seems to be transfixed by a twinkling tinkerbell flitting around him. and while i'm totally endeared to gus, this one's a little bizarre!





i never have good luck downloading youtube video on blogger so you'll have to go over to youtube to check it out and let me know what you think.

gus, you know i still love you but not your strongest performance!

accanto e buono

in italian accanto means "next to" and that is exactly what the charming cafe accanto is in relation to the very well-known restaurant, genoa.

as i mentioned last week, i had the opportunity to tour the newly re-opened genoa. it has been beautifully redecorated and now does'nt look quite so intimidating to go inside.

but my favorite is the cafe next door (where the space sat empty for 30 years) appropriately called accanto.

this is more my dining style!


the cozy corner entry next to genoa.


the charming italian ceramic dinnerware and vino bianco.


the well-stocked bar.



i ordered my wine and then saw that they have a fabulous list of house cocktails of which i will be sampling on my next visit.

the atmosphere and service was really great and i can't wait to go back again. this neighborhood really needed a little wine bar. they have an amazing selection of wines and also small plates and entrees to choose from. my friend and i had a cheese and bread plate that served as dinner due to really large portions of cheese. oh this girl can't live on bread alone, she must have the cheese as well!

oh yeah, and on february 1st, accanto will begin having happy hour twice daily, from 3-5 pm and late night.

accanto is on the corner of se 28th and belmont.

a trip to genoa

one of my funniest memories of my travels in italy was the train ride from pisa to genoa. i had been studying italian in lucca for a month and was headed to paris on the train. i was in a car with five older italian women from sicily. they had been talking about me the entire time, mostly just curious about me and why i was traveling alone. of course none of this was said to me directly because none of them realized i could somewhat understand them, i just nodded and smiled. as i departed to change trains in genoa, i said in the very best italian i could muster that i had enjoyed the ride with them very much and to have a nice trip. they all just looked at me for a moment and then burst out laughing as i got off the train.

i thought of this story every time i would drive past the restaurant, genoa on belmont. well this thought and also, "what the heck is behind those windows?" i never understood why a restaurant would want to cover up their windows so people couldn't see in. and being that i don't go out to seven course meals very often, i had never dared to go inside. i knew the place had a great reputation and had been around for a long time but it just seemed unapproachable like some kind of private club.

well let me tell you, that was the old genoa. driving by the other night i was shocked to see that there is life on that corner now and you can see in the windows!

so last week a friend suggested we visit the cafe side of the restaurant called accanto (more on that later) and i jumped at the chance. after we had a snack at accanto, my friend ran into an acquaintance and he invited us in for a tour of genoa's new digs. and while i still don't often have the opportunity to eat a multiple course meal, my curiosity was satisfied and the restaurant is very lovely.
they just reopened after a three year break and it's so good to see this corner looking fabulous and fresh.

so here's a little tour of the "new" genoa for you (i apologize for the photos, i forgot my camera and took these on my phone).


the bright new sign is so much more inviting.


and the pretty new dining room.





so if you haven't been to genoa lately andiamo, andiamo! let's go to genoa!

2832 se belmont 503.238.1464

saks alive

i had to run down to pioneer place today and as i was walking back, i came across these fabulous windows at saks fifth avenue.

recently i have been wanting a feathered mask but i don't really need a feathered mask or have an occasion to wear one. then this thought immediately brought me to pnca's now defunct dada ball and that just made it worse because i loved the dada ball.



then i read the caption in the window, it says beaux-art ball february 6th portland art museum. well i really need to get out more because apparently the portland art museum has been hosting the beaux-art ball for two years, now going into it's third year. this year's theme is "come as you art" and it encourages its guests to "let their icons inspire their attire". the event includes a procession that winds through downtown art galleries, seattle's burlesque star, lily verlaine, gang of four's dave allen and new york band morningwood.







the beaux-art ball dates back to the 1600s in paris when students would celebrate the end of the school year by creating elaborate costumes and throwing a celebration.

now many organizations use this style of ball as fundraising, such as the portland art museum. tickets are available through the portland art museum.

oh, i'm so excited, i might just get that feathered mask yet!

at the barre

let's get right to the point(e), a ballerina i am not. other than my short time in gymnastics preparing for my career as a trapeze artist, i chose to focus more on sports like soccer, track and tennis rather than ballet or gymnastics due to the fact that i have never considered myself to be all that graceful. this doesn't mean that i haven't always been fascinated with ballet, however.

there is a little ballet studio across the street from my house and on warm nights, i like to open my windows and i can hear them practicing to classical music. this is one of my absolute favorite things because it makes me feel like i am living in paris.



well, have you heard about the workout called barre3? it is a new workout system that combines yoga, pilates and ballet all in one. i know i can handle yoga and pilates and i figure it can't be all that much ballet in a 60 minute workout so i'm going to give this class a shot. i did hear, though, that it is an insane workout and that you will be unable to move the next day. while this doesn't sound all too appealing, i feel like i need something this serious to work my post birthday, christmas, new year, business trip body back into shape.

there are two barre3 locations in town:
one in the pearl at 1000 nw marshall 503.206.8308
and one in se at 2523 se 22nd 503.206.4453

you can purchase a beginner's trial of 3 classes for $30. i looked at the schedule and there is a class called barre3 rebound that sounds perfect for me. it has a maximum of 12 participants, it's set to classical music and each client receives individual help with posture and poses.

you never know, there may be a ballerina hiding inside of me just waiting to get out. swan lake, here i come!

(photos courtesy of kim weston)

a year in pictures

because work was so busy with the holidays, i wasn't able to get a new year's post up. i decided i would post a year in pictures on lucie's blog since i find myself taking more pictures of her than anything. so go check it out. oh yeah, and happy new year! here's to a great 2010.

syke'd

hello portland, i'm happy to be home. today i ran all of my errands, cleaned the car and took lulu on a nice walk. whenever i get back from a trip, i like to reconnect with portland by getting out there and back into my old rhythm. oh, i'm happy to be home!

this morning, i picked up the mercury to see what shows are going to be in town and i'm stoked to see that jesse sykes will be playing tomorrow night at my favorite local music venue, mississippi studios.


jesse sykes

i've recently become introduced to her music and i really like her a lot. she reminds me of the music my mom would listen to when i was growing up like june carter and loretta lynn but with a darker, less polished side. and her looks remind me so much of the beautiful bobbie gentry.

since, i'm still getting settled in, i don't even know if i can make the show. i hope tickets are still available. i'm definitely going to try to make it out tomorrow night. oh portland, i've missed you and your wonderful places.

hello portland

hello portland, i've missed you!

i had to go out of town for a business trip and with all of the holiday madness, i wasn't able to get any posts done before i left. but, i had a really great trip and two long flights to think about my little blogs and i'm so excited about our new year and i can't wait to share lots of new things with you all.

i had a nice time in atlanta (including some awesome meals) but i'm still happy to say, i heart you portland.

(photo courtesy of dieversa)

i'm blue... and red and white

one of the qualities i really wish i had was the ability to shop better in thrift stores. i see my friends come back with the coolest finds from these stores but i can never quite get it right. i don't think it would be unreasonable to say that the few things i actually did purchase at a thrift store did not last very long at my house before finding their way back into the goodwill cycle.

i think part of my reason for the lack of thrifting skills is the fact that my mother used to constantly drag me to thrift stores and flea markets, which was usually the last thing i wanted to be doing--that and the fact that i cannot shop very well in unorganized stores. i like everything to be in it's place, organized by size and color and have room to slide back and forth on the rack or rounder. i also have this challenge in large department stores because their goal seems to be to cram as much on to one rack as possible out on the floor. why? would it be too much of a challenge to put say one or two of each size out at a time and then fill in as needed? do you really want to buy something that they have multiples of in stock just to assure the possibility that you will show up to work one day wearing the exact same outfit a coworker is wearing? yeah, not for me.


but i do like old things and the more i want to own my own little shop, the more i want to train my eye to find the gems out there. so i ventured out to gladstone this weekend to check out red white and blue because it has come highly recommended by friends of mine who like to thrift. and i was very pleasantly surprised. it's a thrift store that is organized, just imagine! i didn't have a lot of time to shop so i plan to head out when i can throw myself into shopping because i just know they have some good stuff hiding in there.
(photo from vjpdx)


i especially loved the way they had the toys bagged together with some very peculiar toy combinations.

have you been to red white and blue? if not check it out. and let me know if you have any other suggestions. i'm expanding my thrift-shopping horizons.

red white and blue is at 19239 se mcloughlin in gladstone.
(toy photo from spychic)