before she was famous...

before she was a famous winner of project runway, gretchen jones was slinging duds for the company i work for.


work it girl!


love her or hate her, this local girl's got talent. congrats gretchen!

she and him

last friday at the schnitz, she and him played a fabulous show. i really hope you all were able to go. it was one of my all time favorite concerts. zooey was amazing, i'm in love with m.ward's voice and their two sister/back-up singers were the cutest thing ever.

the best part was zooey's 90 something grandparents from lake oswego were there. they came in right as my friend and i were entering the auditorium. how sweet is that to go see your granddaughter who happens to be zooey deschanel play a show at the amazing arlene schnitzer theater? it was pretty priceless.

if you ever get the chance to see them, you must!

nell's diner

last weekend was a quintessential portland weekend which means one thing--breakfast.

when the weather here gets yucky, do what portlander's do and head inside for some great coffee and good food. one of my favorite places when i'm craving weekend breakfast is cafe nell.

cafe nell is a little over a year old and resides in the space that formerly housed cafe des amis. i loved cafe des amis as well but the new owners of the space have really done an amazing transformation. what was once tiny and closed in, seems bright and open and spacious thanks to creative interior design and the big wall of mirrors. it may be dark and gloomy outside but certainly not inside this beautiful restaurant.


i like to sit in the bar so i can look out the window into the neighborhood. i also got a good look at the fabulous bloody marys they were making behind the bar.


nothing gets better than a cup of coffee while watching the rain outside.

for breakfast, i ordered the huevos rancheros. i generally do not order huevos in restaurants because being from new mexico, i'm usually disappointed with the huevos up here. well, the waiter assured me they were delicious so i went ahead and tried them because new mexican comfort food was really sounding good to me. and guess what, i was pleasantly surprised! they were really good with the chunky ranchero sauce and just the right amount of kick. the eggs were cooked perfectly and it really hit the spot.


i'm not sure if i'm ready for this everyday but sometimes it's nice to just sit and watch the rain. and cafe nell is a great spot to do this in.

it is located at nw 20th and kearney 503.295.6487

they also have a small parking lot in back which is great when visiting the nw neighborhood.

portland as brooklyn?

sometimes during down time, i like to pop on over to the selby and voyeurize (is that a word?) the homes of fabulous creative people.

today i discovered a post on the photoshoot of the cole haan fall catalog shot in both brooklyn and portland.

i have often thought to myself that there is this strong tie between brooklyn and portland and it was so strange to see it out there in the universe. i mean, i've always felt this, so clearly others must have as well.

what do you think? are portland and brooklyn just their own unique places that happen to have a similar vibe or is portland to seattle as brooklyn is to manhattan? i like to think we are our own unique places with just a great collective of similar minded open and creative people. i think there was a brief time that portland was the younger sibling to seattle but i really think we've gone out on our own and created our own feel. and i love seattle but i'm still happy that i chose to come to portland instead. besides, we need a good road trip city!

anyway, check out the cole haan shoot. it's really beautiful and fun to see portland shots side by side with brooklyn. see if you can tell which is which!

any day now...

i am anxiously awaiting the opening of the h&m store in pioneer place. i'm not sure of the exact date but it is slated to open fall 2010! 700 sw 5th ave 503.228.5800

oh my god, i die!

photo of my girl lou at the champs elysees h&m opening, courtesy of rdujour.