my own private river

those of you who have been keeping up with my blog since my meager beginnings, may remember this post about my love of portland acquired through many, many viewings of my favorite film ever, my own private idaho.

while i had been to portland several times as a kid, i truly fell in love with our fair city while i was living in albuquerque after i saw the film my own private idaho at the funky little guild theater. it was at that time that i made it my goal in life to one day move here.

after moving here, i have visited and experienced so many places from the film and even have the luck to run into gus and scott green in the neighborhood once in a while. (ok, i still don't know where the chinese restaurant is that they all hung out in the film so if anyone out there knows where it is, i would looooove to know.)

when the film milk was released, i was lucky enough (for once) to win tickets to its premier at the schnitz where both gus and james franco talked about the film. i have been a huge fan of franco's since then because he just seems like a genuinely cool guy. and well, gus...enough said, i will love and adore his shy quirkiness for eva!

so imagine my excitement when i saw advertised in the willamette week that gus and franco will be at the hollywood theater this sunday showing franco's collection of out takes of river from my own private idaho that have been put together in a short film. oh you know i will be there. to see the young and beautiful river in never before seen footage is just about it for me.

the bonus for attending this showing is that the proceeds go to help the renovation of the hollywood theater which is one of the most beautiful theaters in town.

so if you are a portland film buff at all, a fan of gus's films, a fan of franco's, or the much missed phoenix (RIP), i expect to see you there!

the screenings take place at 12 and 12:30 this sunday the 25th and the cost is $35.00per person.

hollywood theater
503.281.4215
4122 ne sandy blvd

the bent brick

last week my coworker and i were going out for a bite to eat and she suggested checking out this new restaurant called the bent brick.


the bent brick is located in the beautiful brick building that was once home to the oddball/baddoll shoe store. i've always thought that this building needed to be a restaurant instead and i'm so happy it finally is.


there is a great little seating area in the front complete with a giant jengo sculpture. it would be fun to hang out in this lounge over cocktails with friends.


and then the back of the dining room opens up completely. we have so few nice days here in portland and outdoor dining can be somewhat of a challenge. so the perfect solution is just to open up the side of the restaurant. this would even be nice on a rainy night.

we just had a few light snacks but the food is really good. my favorite was the roasted snow peas. these were snow peas in the pods and roasted on the grill. i loved these so much that lorenzo and i went to the farmer's market last week and bought some beautiful snow peas and then roasted them ourselves. this is my new favorite snack. why had i never had this before?

and i can't believe that i didn't get a photo of their wine taps. all of their wines are on tap. now i really need this at home. delicious wines right out of the tap. yes, please!

so get on over and check out the bent brick for yourself. you will be very happy i sent you.

1639 nw marshall
503.688.1655

so long satyricon

my very first night in portland back in 1998, my best friend picked me up at the ben stark hotel (now the ace) and took me to a "performance" art show over at satyricon. which really was no more than moxy love crux backing up for the strippers.

because this was such a new scene for me, i fell in love with portland and with satyricon that night. well i still love portland but sadly, satyricon has been gone for quite some time for me.

satyricon closed several years ago and then reopened briefly as an all ages venue. that lasted a year or so and then opened back up as a night club. however, fate would hold nothing more for satyricon after the building was set for demolition to become yet another housing project here in old town.

several years ago, we saw the closure of satyricon's restaurant portion, fellini, and that is when we all knew the end was in sight. on any given night at fellini, the average portlander could hang out with band members waiting to play or celebrating after a sucessful show. i actually really liked fellini more than satyricon, as it was not quite so gritty. yet that is what was always so great about satyricon. apparently restaurant codes aren't applicable to night clubs!

and today was the day. my coworker came in my office to tell me the walls were coming down so i had to run out to get a shot of my portland history. satyricon may no longer be here but all of my great memories of that place will always be with me...especially strippers dancing to the moxy love crux.

photos
cxoxs
oregon music news
moi

say it isn't so...

for those of you familiar with my day job, i thought i would give you a little gift.  yes, that's right, pendleton home is having another one of their fabulous opening ceremony sample sales.

this time around, it is the spring oc line and mostly women's wear but there is still some cool men's items, they just need to get here quick.  the sale starts at 10 am thursday, july 7th and we will be open for first thursday until 8 pm.

call or email the store if you have any questions. 
800.248.8144
pendletonhomepdx@penwool.com
210 nw broadway pdx, 97209

see ya there!

redray

hey there portland people. i just wanted to give you a heads up that a good friend of mine, ray frazier, is playing tomorrow night at the laurelthirst. ray is a sweet soulful guy who mixes r&b with folk and funk. and all around just a great guy. if you're looking for something to do, stop by the laurelthirst from 9pm-12 tomorrow, june 22nd. what a great way to bring in the summer!

laurelthirst public house
2958 ne glisan
503.232.1504

you don't know jack?

i know, i know, i have seriously been slacking off on my reports of the haps going on in my beloved portlandia. i really have been getting out quite a bit lately but i haven't had very much time to report back to you all. i promise to do my very best to let you in on all of the cool people and places we have here in our fine city. i mean portland is on fire (not literally, thank goodness) right now and i'm not doing a very good job of representing!


so the first thing we need to talk about is the newish restaurant, st. jack. have you been here yet? if not...go...now!

st. jack is housed in that cute little corner spot on clinton that has seen many a coffee shop come and go. i'm so happy they brought this little spot to life because i've always thought it had so much potential.


the interior is simple and white and sparkly. we were there on a rainy night (go figure)and it was so warm and cozy. the candles on the table have dripping wax hanging to the table and it is the quintessential french bistro complete with beautiful pastries housed under big glass domes.

my bff and i sat at the chef's counter and had the cheese plate and pate to start. both were amazing. then we grazed on a delicious butter lettuce salad, and then decided to share moules frites for our dinner. the service was friendly and gracious and i think we probably had our fair share of white wine. we were just having such a good time we didn't want to leave!

i highly recommend st. jack and can't wait to get over there again, very soon.

2039 se clinton
503.360.1281

photos courtesy of the portland mercury and under the table with jen.

eden love

sigh...yes, it has finally happened. someone else opened my dream store.

on the plus side, it's the lovely proprietress cindy, of flutter. and on the plus, plus side, it's four blocks away from my work!


eden is cindy's latest endeavour and it opened just today in the pearl. this store is an up-scale flutter, or perhaps even flutter's older sister. but the main thing, it's distinctly different than flutter.


cindy's inspiration came from a book about the 70s english fashion retailer, biba. she also said that the idea came to her while bedridden this last winter with pneumonia. it looks like she put her sick time to good use.

eden is just a lovely, lovely store. i have a feeling i will head over when needing some inspiration in my own store. she has an amazing collection of vintage housewares and apparel, not to mention a fabulous collection of books. i can just see my paycheck going bye bye right now.


i had to get a picture of this tongue in cheek (or shall we say chic) poster in the front of the store. oh that evil, evil mary jane!

eden is at 221 nw 11th ave
503.222.2285

olympic provisions

last night my friend and i decided to go check out the new olympic provisions west side that has just opened in the old carlyle space.


the decor is considerably different than carlyle's, you would hardly recognize the clean white industrial space.


nate tilden was kind enough to give us a tour of his new wholesale facility. i must admit, we felt really bad that the boys weren't there with us to see this. nate is really proud of all of their meat!


this is the last process of curing the salami. a controlled environment is perfect for the mold they need to finish off this amazing salami.


and here is their finished product. you can buy some to take home with you to have later. we really loved the spicy chorizo salami.


and i love, love, love roast chicken which is what we decided on for dinner. it was amazing, not to mention the accompanying potatoes that went with it.

their dinner menu is really simple but we had a hard time deciding on what we wanted, everything looked so good. we were sitting at the bar and could see everything the kitchen put up.

and nate was so nice to bring us their signature chocolate salami for desert. this consists of fudge with hazelnuts and pistachios that are made to look like salami. it is then served with a citrus marmalade and salt and pepper shortbread. i am not a huge desert person but this was soooo good. that salt and pepper shortbread was to die for, i was wishing there was more on the plate. nate also gave us a sampling of a barolo antica. this is a desert wine of barolo and grain alcohol. i had never had anything like this. it was delish! it definitely warmed me up, suddenly i felt very flush and had to get outside to cool off.

as always, nate and his partner's establishments impress me. it was great food, a beautiful environment and fabulous service. i can't wait to get back to try their polenta.

thank you, nate and team for such a great meal and i hope you and jane have a great trip to spain. i can't wait to see what new recipes you bring back.

olympic provisions
1632 nw thurman
503.894.8136

crystal palace

this morning i was lucky enough to be given a tour of the latest mcmenamin's endeavour, the crystal hotel.

the crystal hotel is housed in an old portland bathhouse and the former location of the silverado club located in portland's vaseline alley. i must say this neighborhood has made quite a transformation over the years becoming home to an american apparel store and a new johnny fluevog shop.

and while i'm a little saddened by the new squeaky clean look of this particular neighborhood (there is little left of the old portland of the drugstore cowboy and my own private idaho days) however, i'm happy that this small city block has been lovingly preserved by mcmenamin's. this is much better than being torn down to build another giant chain grocery store or condo building!


most of the rooms in the hotel are european style with a shared bathroom but there are a few king suites with bathrooms. there are four large bathrooms on each floor with just 17 rooms sharing them so i'm sure there is plenty of bath space.

the rooms are all named after bands that have played at the crystal ballroom over the years and are decorated with the whimsical mcmenamin's touch. rooms start at $85-$185, which is very reasonable for being located so centrally downtown.



in the basement is the salt water soaking pool. i love the bamboo lined walls in here.

a few cool things to take note of is that if you stay at the hotel, you are automatically reserved 2 tickets to the shows playing at the crystal ballroom during your stay. if you would like to make use of these tickets, you just need to book them more than 48 hours in advance. after that, they open up to be sold to the public. if there is a sold out show you were hoping to catch, you can always book a room to get the opportunity to see that show.

also, there is an all ages venue (up to 10 pm) in the basement of the hotel that you can access through ringler's annex or the hotel lobby. it's a great live performance space and every show played there will be free. i can't wait to catch a show down there!

the crystal hotel officially opens on may 3rd and m. ward will play a series of three shows to celebrate the grand opening.

303 sw 12th avenue
503.972.2670

the hotel is located near every king of public transportation in town so make your stay here car free.

all images from oregon live

sweet pete!

my friend kjirsten and i went to see pete yorn over at the wonder ballroom sunday night.

it was a great show and ben kweller, the opener was amazing.

the thing that i love about the wonder ballroom is that you can easily get up front and personal at the shows there. i highly recommend this venue.

and don't worry lorenzo, you're way hotter than pete...and that's saying a lot!

hawthorne girl hits williamsburg

last month when i was in nyc for work, i had just enough time to hop on over to brooklyn and check out williamsburg in hopes of finding jason schwartzman filming bored to death (not really, well yeah, maybe). my bff and i hopped on the subway and and got off at the bedford stop. we didn't have a lot of time and it was pretty cold out but we did manage to find two great spots before heading to downtown brooklyn to visit with my friend gale.


our first stop was the bedford cheese shop. the windows full of cheese drew us in, i had no control over the matter! this was a quaint little neighborhood cheese shop full of cheese, salami and best of all, chocolate. how cute is this little corner shop? we need one of these in portland.


the goods laid out before us.


here i am in my infamous pendleton coat purchasing some mast brothers chocolate. if you have never heard of this chocolate, find some...soon. it is to die for. i'm trying to get some ordered for my shop but i fear i will be my own best customer.

bedford cheese shop is at 229 bedford ave. brooklyn, ny 11211 718.599.7588

as my friend and i were growing thirsty, i asked the gentleman at the cheese shop where a good place to grab a glass of wine would be and he directed us kitty corner to juliette bistrot. i feel as if he truly knew us by sending us here!


juliette is a beautiful restaurant that channels paris in brooklyn.


i loved the little bar area the best (sorry for the blurry pic). i must say, after two glasses of wine here, it was hard to leave.


in the center of the restaurant was a little atrium that reminded me of bronte's rooftop garden in green card. i wanted to get a better photo of it but they were having a staff meeting and i didn't want to interrupt.


here is my bff kjirsten enjoying a rest and a glass of wine after i drug her shopping all over soho. it was a much needed break!

juliette is at 135 n. 5th st. brooklyn, ny 11211 718.388.9222

I have read on their website that they have a fabulous roof-top bar as well so if you find yourself in brooklyn during the warmer months, this would be a perfect place to waste away the afternoon.

historic portland

back when i had free time to do things like volunteer, i worked with an organization called the bosco-milligan foundation. this foundation is focussed on preserving historic portland artifacts big and small- from the building all the way down to a door knob. bosco and milligan were two gentlemen who's passion was to go around portland collecting old bits of buildings that otherwise were headed to the landfill. they amassed quite a collection of architectural salvage before they both passed away quite prematurely.

for a while the historic preservation league of portland was responsible for their collection but it required more attention than they could give and thus the bosco-milligan foundation was formed and has been run ever since by a close friend of benny and jerry's, cathy gailbraith.

the photo above is a buidling that the two owned and ran their stained glass business out of. for many years it sat untouched lacking the funds it needed to be renovated. if you have been in portland for a while, you will know this building over on se grand ave. well, a few years back, the renovations were completed and the building was reopened as the architectural heritage center and the home base of the bosco-milligan foundation. this building works as a resource center and library for all things old portland.

i mention this now because the archtectural heritage center has some really cool programs on a regular basis and this spring they are hosting walking tours of portland. the tours begin in april and run through the summer. there are some really great neighborhoods on their list of tours-belmont, hollywood, yamhill, vista and reedwood. i can't wait for the reedwood tour, i've always wanted to check out the reed college campus and this tour focusses on the mid-century houses on and near the campus.

many of the tours require pre-registration since there are only so many spaces available. so go to the ahc site for more information and to register for the tours.

when i was in interior design school many years ago, i went on several walking tours of portland and let me tell you, there are some amazing gems in our community often designed by very well-known architects.

so what better way to spend the warm months here than getting out and getting to know the historic neighborhoods of portland!

lucie and the girl

when i first started iheartportland, i would occasionally torment my readers with cute pics of my little baby girl lucie. well, i decided that i did not want this to become a dog blog so i created lucie's own page, lucie sees. however, yesterday, i took this picture of her that i just had to share with you.

the timing is actually perfect because between my portland blog, my fashion blog, and my work blog, i have been having a hard time keeping up with little lu's blog.

and hence, a few weeks ago, i came to the decision to throw cute photos of lu into my portland blog again and retire lucie sees as it just isn't getting as much attention as it deserves.

i apologize to those of you who are not dog people (do you really live in portland?) but alas, it is my blog and lucie is a part of my portland life. so i ask that you tolerate my completely self-indulgent photos of my baby once in a while. and i ask you, how can you not love this face?

murder in portland part 2

i know i have mentioned the author cara black on i heart portland before. she writes a series of murder mysteries based in paris starring the stylish and smart yet not so great decision maker french detective aimee leduc. aimee inevitably finds herself in some sort of bad predicament in paris usually due to the fact the a criminal has pulled on her heartstrings yet again. oh aimee, when will you ever learn?

sometimes the stories are a little far-fetched for me and end like the da vinci code (completely unrealistic), but there is something so endearing to me about cara's novels. most likely the fact that they take place in and around paris, of which cara knows very well due to the help of great friends and the paris prefecture as well. it really is like taking a little vacation through the quartiers of paris.


cara will be in portland again on the 26th of march speaking at the alliance francaise. if you have not been to an event at the alliance and you are even remotely a francophile like i am, you should check it out. it is in a beautiful old victorian house in goose hollow that the alliance runs its programs out of, and there is no better place in portland for cara to transport you to paris than here. hop on the alliance website to register for the event because it is a very intimate space.

cara will be in town reading from the 11th installment of the aimee leduc series, murder in passy.

antler art

speaking of antlers. i was perusing besotted and came across these beautiful images by the artist anne siems.





aren't they beautiful and ethereal? the would fit perfectly in little bird!

le petit oiseau

last night i was finally able to dine at little bird, gabriel rucker's newest restaurant here in portland.

it's really close to my work but i hadn't been able to try it yet, mainly because they reccommend getting reservations. my freind and i were planning on getting together for dinner so i thought this would be the perfect opportunity to check the place out.

let me tell you, it was soooo good, i really should have gone there sooner!

first off, the interiors are so cute with the perfect mix of woodsy portland meets french bistro. i especially loved the robin's egg blue walls and sparkly candle light reflected in the huge mirrors that frame the main wall of the restaurant.


my friend and i dined in the upstairs dining room which was great because we had a full view of the dining room downstairs. upstairs, i loved the addition of the antlers to the mix. i know the whole antler thing is working it's way out of fashion but it's such a portland thing, i totally love it. i even have a little roe deer mount in my office at work. even if i'm not the least bit outdoorsy, i can still appreciate the decor, right?

anyway, back to our great meal. we started with duck liver mousse, then had moules frites, and their cod beurre blanc for dinner. it all was delish. a fabulous glass of white cote du rhone accompanied our meals nicely. however, i think the best part was the basil leaf creme brulee and one of the best cups of coffee i have ever had. i'm not a huge dessert person but i rarely pass up creme brulee and this was definitely one of the best i have ever had. in fact, i think i need to get back for some as soon as possible. i also can't forget to mention the great service. our server leiv was fantastic.

so if you are even remotely a francophile like i am, check out little bird. c'est tres, tres bien!

portland at the grammys

congratulations to portlander esperanza spaulding with her best new artist win at last nights grammy awards. this beautiful and talented girl is really incredible and i hope (or should i say espero, j'espere, etc) that we see a lot more of her in the future.

i tell you, i would kill for her hair (coming from the girl with the straightest hair ever!).

congrats esperanza!

hawthorne girl takes new york

it's only fitting that this be the follow up to my last post, written over a month ago. january was a crazy whirlwind of work on the road and i can't be happier to be back in portland.

i received a call from my boss on saturday night while waiting for my flight to leave newark that my coworker and i were in the sunday style section of the new york times. yes, it appears as though our crazy pendleton meets opening ceremony coats caught the eye of bill cunningham while we were walking the shops along madison avenue. i must say we were quite the spectacle in a sea of black with our bright colors...and it looked like it paid off!

when all is said and done, it was the best trip to new york ever and this was just the icing on the cake. i met so many incredible people and drew so much inspiration i was excited to bring the experiences back home and implement them into my life and work.

i apologize for my slacking on posts and hopefully will get the blog back up and running. thanks for hanging in there!

boots glorious boots!

hello my portland peeps, how is everything so far this new year? we wrapped up the holiday season (literally) in the store and are ready to move on. it's crazy but next week i'm heading to atlanta market to shop for ornaments for next holiday season. let me tell you, it's hard to look for ornaments in january!

and while atlanta does not seem like it would get very cold, last year i absolutely froze my arse off so this year i'm planning my wardrobe accordingly. not to mention that i'm heading to new york at the end of the month and we all know what new york is like in january. warm togs are definitely in order.


so i decided i wanted to use my holiday money from lorenzo on a new pair of boots. i'm heading over to johnny sole right now to get these beauties, the frye melissa riding boot. i love frye boots because they are stylish, last forever and i can stand in them all day.


i also just purchased this crazy pendleton meets opening ceremony coat at a sample sale. i think it will keep me plenty warm layed over some key pieces. that and i'll definitely stand out in a snow drift!


i'm not really a hat person but i figure that if i'm going to wear something that i don't normally wear, then i can be a little outlandish. so i'm going on the hunt (ha ha) for a furry hat like this. (image from garance dore)


and then i'll need a chunky scarf like this to tie everything together...oh i'm so clever. and then i think i just may be ready for my east coast travel. (image from the sweet 7)

let me know if you have any suggestions where i can find great accessories like these in portland.

and i hope you all have a fabulous weekend. tgif!