dahlia

swan island dahlia farm





aren't dahlias just the coolest flowers? i love how they are all a little different and oh my gosh, so many great colors. i had to drive out to canby this weekend and saw a sign on the side of the road that said "swan island dahlias". well this definitely looked like something i needed to investigate so i went into town, grabbed some lunch and drove out in search of the dahlia farm.

the turn off for the farm is off of highway 99 just as you drive into canby from portland. you turn to the right and then follow the signs out about 3 miles until you start seeing dahlias everywhere. at the end of the road is the dahlia farm and it is gorgeous. acres and acres of dahlias! and they have a u-pick so you can cut some to take home with you.

i was telling my friend about this and she said that she had been out there once to cut flowers for a friend's wedding. i think that it would be so much fun to take your bridesmaids out before your wedding and cut dahlias for the ceremony.

i'm not sure how long the season lasts so try to take a drive out soon, you'll be glad you did.

pearl walk two

so yesterday during lunch i decided to go for a walk through the neighborhood and here are a few places that i wanted to tell you about.


cupcake jones
i mean really, doesn't a cupcake make it all better? i decided that since it was wednesday, we should have some cupcakes so i bought a dozen of the minis to share with my coworkers. yummy! my favorite is the red velvet of course. they even put a sugar-coated rose petal on top. but to be honest, i'll take any flavor of cupcake. what's your favorite?

for some reason, everytime i pass by here, i think of samantha jones from sex in the city and thinks it's cute they named a cupcake shop after her. i doubt that's really the case but you never know.
307 nw 10th avenue 503.222.4404


the colorful case. which one should i choose?


one of the stylish portland streetcars. oh we're so cool and euro. if you take the streetcar in the downtown area, it's free.


i needed to pop into oblation papers and press to pick up some cards. i love this store, i buy a lot of my holiday gifts here. they are also a letterpress so if you ever need any cards or invitations printed, they do a beautiful job.
516 nw 12th avenue 503.223.1093


the next stop was to see my friend over at french quarter linens. just stepping into this store makes me feel relaxed. oh how i would love to have my bed fitted entirely in their linens. besides wonderful linens, they also have beautiful home accessories and gift items.
1313 nw glisan 503.282.8200


don't you just want to hop right in? i could never work here. i would be a total freak if anyone ever messed up the perfectly made up beds.


across the street from french quarter is one of my favorite restaurants, andina. it's specialty is peruvian cuisine and it is soooo good. it is also a lovely restaurant and has live music on the weekends to make for a nice dining experience. if you can, i highly recommend sneaking downstairs to check out their banquet room. i would love to have this room in my house. it's gorgeous!
1314 nw glisan 503.228.9535

sorry about these last two photos, my poor little camera doesn't do so well on these really sunny days. it is a portland camera after all!


cha cha cha taqueria is a local chain here that serves really delicious and huge burritos. my favorite is the chile relleno burrito but you really can't go wrong with anything here.

this location in the pearl is regularly frequented by my man gus van sant (shhh it's a secret) and the actor scott patrick green. i'm such a dork if i see them and get all nervous, they are my portland heroes, you know. gus is known for being extremely shy so i would never approach him in this setting but inside i'm dying to give him a big hug!
1208 nw glisan 503.221.2111

so there's my latest little neighborhood walk. i'll be back with more because there are so many great places over here that i can't possibly list all my favorites in one post.

until next time bisou, bisou!

chapel of my eye

sellwood chapel/oaks pioneer church



although i'm not particularly religious by any organized standard (i generally go with dog), i have always had a fascination for little chapels. when i lived in the southwest, i would often take drives on the weekend and find these chapels in every small town. i loved photographing them but since this was the time before digital photography, i have never converted these photos to share with you. i will try to work on this. but in the meantime, i would love to show you some of the chapels i have found around portland. today, i'll start with probably the most well-known of them all, the sellwood chapel, also known as the oaks pioneer church.

the chapel was originally built in 1851 and was called the st. john's episcopal church. it has moved three times from its original location in milwaukie to its current location in sellwood, where it has been since 1961.

in 1960 it had fallen into disuse and was scheduled for demolition but a group of people raised $4300 to move the chapel (by boat) to its current sellwood location and this is when it took on the name of oaks pioneer church. the chapel now hosts about 300 weddings a year.
www.oakspioneerchurch.org

when i was looking for information on the chapel, i came across this beautiful local wedding blog. so if you're thinking about getting hitched, this looks like a great resource. (night time photo from modern romance)
modern romance