covet love

i'm so excited today to tell you about two events in one going on tomorrow evening over at the lovely little boutique covet. covet is holding a fashion's night out in the store where you will receive 10% off all of your purchases and get to hear some really great music. if you have not yet visited this tiny gem of a boutique, this is the perfect opportunity.
covet is located at 429 sw 10th ave.


stop in early and say hello to the beautiful owners athena and ray before ray begins playing at 8:00pm.
(photo by covet)



if you have never heard redray frazier play, you are in for a wonderful surprise. i think of ray as portland's own lenny kravitz but the lenny from the "let love rule" days. ray has such a beautiful and soulful voice and sounds amazing whether playing with a full band or on his own playing an acoustic set. and i must admit, he's very nice to look at well!

so head over and do some shopping and listen to some great music as well.

a swift heart

so we made it through labor day weekend and the summer is drawing to a close. it's amazing how once the long holiday weekend is over the air feels different. i was at the court block party last night and everyone was commenting on how fast the summer has gone by and that they can tell fall is in the air. even the trees are starting to change color. i had to drive to salem early this morning and it was very cool and foggy. yes, it is the end of portland's short summer.

as you know, though, i look forward to fall. it really is my favorite season. here fall is nice because it still isn't raining everyday, we still have a little sunshine and our beautiful greens turn reds, golds and oranges. besides, we have something very special in portland during the fall--our very own version of hitchcock's "the birds" going on over at chapman elementary school.



fortunately, though, our version of "the birds" is much safer as our birds are not ruthless killers but tiny vaux swifts.

over the years, vaux swift would stop off in and around portland on their migration down south to south america. however, with logging and urban growth, they were losing places to stay and somehow found and adopted the chimney at the chapman school as their place of refuge here before continuing their journey south.

since 1994, approximately 30,000 swifts spend the night in the schools chimney where they can feast on small bugs to store up to continue on their trip. when they first started staying at the school, teachers and students would dress warmly in the fall so the school would not start the furnace until the last swift flew out of the chimney for the day. now the school is heated by gas so the swifts don't have to worry about furnaces anymore. basically, the chimney is still there just for the birds.



so evenings throughout the month of september, people gather at the school to watch the swift's performance at sundown. you will see birdwatchers with their binoculars, families with their children and picnic diners with their champagne.

you will see a few swifts at first begin to circle around the chimney. each rotation gathers more and then more swifts and almost magically, the moment the sun sets they all dip into the chimney like bees to a hive.

it is truly a memorable scene so if you haven't ever made it over to see this performance, you have the month of september to check it out. for more information, go to the audubon society's swift watch.
the chapman school is at 1445 nw 26th and guess what their mascot is now? you got it, the swift!

(photo by mike houck)

swedish love

have you tried the restaurant broder over on se clinton yet? the other night my friend suggested it and i've been meaning to get over there so i was excited about checking out a new restaurant.

while they have been open now for about three years they have mostly become known for breakfast and just recently begun serving dinner.


we were not sure what to start our with so the server suggested the surf board which is three different cured fish one being the swedish national dish of pickled herring.


we also started out with this asparagus and tomato salad that was so beautiful we hesitated to take it apart. i'm glad we did, though, yum.

after our starters, we shared a burger that was really rich and delicious. the cheese they used was a chevre and i thought that was a nice touch for a burger. the burger had a lot of flavor and was sooo juicy. i just love a good burger!

the service was really great and they were very sweet to lulu and made sure that she was taken care of as well.


broder occupies the space of the old henry's cafe which i have always loved. if i had my own restaurant, this is the type of space i want, long and narrow. it kind of reminds me of the restaurants in new york that are located on the ground floor of old brownstones.

i have always admired swedish interiors for their beautiful simplicity and this was true for broder as well. i loved the simple decor with the pale blue accents and the sparkling white lights.


ok, i know this is weird but i had to take a picture of the bathroom entry because it was just so simple and pretty. i absolutely love the blue the white and the black accents.

broder is located at 2508 se clinton 503.736.3333

i'm looking forward to trying breakfast over there next.

get chucked

fugitives and refugees

if you either live in or are planning a visit to portland, i highly recommend this unconventional travel guide via chuck palahniuk, the author of fight club. as you may know, chuck has lived in portland off and on for many years and here he lists some of his favorite locales. i read this book a few years back and really enjoyed his very unique insight into my fair city and he made several suggestions for places that i had never been. i have visited some of the places, like the crematorium in sellwood as well as the "bins" (our nickname for the big goodwill over near milwaukie) but there are oh so many more destinations i need to get out to see. check (or chuck) it out!

portland hearts its dogs

or at least some portlanders do. here is an interesting article my friend emailed me about dogs in the grocery stores here in portland. read it and tell me what you think? do you think we should allow dogs in places like grocery stores and restaurants?

well you all know how much i love my lulu but i realize that there are just certain places that she cannot go and i have never tried to sneak her in. most places here do allow you to bring your pets in to their stores but i always ask if it is ok and never assume. i think it should be a common courtesy to respect people's businesses. and, if your dog has certain personality issues that they perhaps do not do so well in public or stressful situations, maybe it's best not to push them. pets do have a sensitive side that we all need to be aware of and can easily feel threatened.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/03/us/03dogs.html?_r=1&th&emc=th

because if you're not careful with dogs in the grocery store, something like this may happen!

heartsy walk

yesterday lulu and i went for a walk throughout the neighborhood and came across some interesting "art". you know how i love to find these random artsy objects around town and so in honor of today being first thursday, our local gallery day, i thought it would be fun to share some with you.

i hope to see you out in the pearl tonight for first thursday. i'm excited about the opening ceremony/pendleton fashion show.


this is an interesting home-made no parking sign.


there are critters "walking" along the backside of the stump.


ooh, a little pink polka dotted beetle.


there is a little village on top of the stump. i wouldn't park here in appreciation of their creative solution to keep people from parking in front of their house.


look at this funky entrance to a backyard off of the alley.


you are greeted by a lovely person typing. hey, where are your feet?


and another great backyard fence across the alley that someone decorated. isn't that orange garage great?


i love the coral color of these flowers.

happy artsy thursday!

love the lover

tonight i rented one of my favorite movies from videorama, "the lover". i haven't seen this movie in years and can't wait to watch it. i remember the first time i watched it and i was so stunned by the risque content and the beautiful images. i think this was one of the first "artsy" films that i had ever seen. i had just finished college and this was out in the art house theatres the same year. the images this movie imprinted in my mind still make me want to travel to vietnam some day.


remember how grown up she was for a fifteen year old? i absolutely loved this outfit she put together with the slip, the hat and the high heels (not to mention the red lips). i certainy never dressed like that at fifteen!

and how amazing marguerite duras' life must have been? i just can't imagine how so many great works came out of one human being. a few years ago a friend gave me a book called "writer's houses" and it featured marguerite's house. she lived in it for many years and never changed a thing. it was so beautiful.

marguerite duras


jeanne moreau as marguerite

have you ever seen the movie "cet amour la"? it is the story of marguerite later in life when she took on her much younger companion and he spent many years with her up until her death. it was a very good movie and gave you a lot of insight into her life and struggles. jeanne moreau played marguerite and who better to play her? even though i have seen many pictures of marguerite, i always remember her looking like the beautiful jeanne!


sometimes i feel like this when i think about really working on that book i've been writing very, very slowly for the past four years!

my heart will go ahn

priscilla ahn

lately i'm loving the music of priscilla ahn, she is just what i love to come home to after a days work--pour a glass of wine put on some relaxing music and reconnect with my home and family after being away all day. isn't it funny how there is always music out there that complements the mood you are currently in? i don't want to sound like an old lady but anymore i just want to be calm and peaceful and relax in the evenings. my life has been and always will be somewhat busy but at least now i feel like i can enjoy just where i am and the soundtrack of my life will always play a big part.

what are you listening to these days and what is it that you like to do to unwind after a days work? i'd love to know!

pink heartini

so i went to the pink martini show friday night at the oregon state fair and had a really great time. thomas lauderdale did an amazing job composing a recreation of oregon oregon!, a musical created to celebrate oregon's 100th anniversary. china forbes and our former governor, barbara roberts came out for the closing number and it brought a little tear to my eye thinking about how much i love oregon and the people here. i was really happy that my friend and i were able to be there for the show.

then after the oregon musical, pink martini came out for a set and played many of my favorite numbers including "hey eugene". i love this song because you see a completely different side of china. they also played one song off of their new album that drops on october 3rd, "splendor in the grass". i can't wait for the new album and you know i'll be at music millenium to pick up my copy.


china looked fab as always in her flowing tiger print dress. i tried to take some better pictures but my little camera just doesn't do so well at night. maybe for my birthday i could get a new camera? hint hint!


i thought it was sweet during the finale when china sat down with thomas as he played the piano with the military band. it really shows how close they are as friends and colleagues.

my gypsy heart

i must admit, i have a fondness for gypsies mostly because my chilhood dog was the sweetest golden retriever named gypsy. she went everywhere with me from 5th grade until i graduated and went off to college. because of her and how much i adored her, i've always loved anything "gypsy" and would dress up as some version of a gypsy, hippie or bohemian growing up and sometimes i still do. while i have my sweet lulu and willie, now, gypsy was my baby growing up and i miss her dearly.

so because of my gypsy love, of course i heart the gipsy kings. several years back, my friend and i went to see them at the schnitz which was truly amazing. if you have never seen a show at the schnitz, i highly recommend it. it is such a beautiful theater and it really plays a part of any show you are seeing there and it was no different with the gipsy kings who were just incredible. so aside from seeing them at the schnitz, i think the next best thing would be seeing them at edgefield which is where they will be playing this sunday night, september 6th. imagine the gipsy kings out in our beautiful edgefield under the stars. oh, i think it will be really amazing.

it looks like tickets are still available at the mcmenamins website so let's make a day of it and head out to edgefield next sunday to make the very best of our last days of summer. i can't think of a more perfect place to do this.

have a very happy monday!

my heart flutters

i keep meaning to tell you about one of my favorite stores in portland, flutter. if i had my own store (someday), i like to think it would be something like flutter. i love their collection of old and new all jumbled together in it's beautiful, chaotic way. if i'm looking for something special and unique, this is were i go. they have lovely jewelry, soaps, perfumes, papers and so much more. and it's so much fun to walk mississippi ave. i think if i weren't a hawthorne girl, i would be a mississippi girl!




i absolutely love this turquoise wall. i would love to paint my bedroom this color with red trim. (photo by flutter)


this is rizzo, the kitty. (photo by dough beghtel/the oregonian)

so if you haven't been to flutter, go check it out and don't forget to go say hi to the kitty cat and the finches. i'm not a huge bird person but i love the sound of those tiny finches. it's like a little "beep, beep." i just love it. and you know i love my kitties. i think it's so cool that they can live together here, i'm afraid that probably wouldn't be the case at my house.
flutter is at 3948 n. mississippi ave 503.288.1649

bande a part part deux

many more great photos like this on rdujour

to my lovely reader that reminded me of the fab clothing line "band of outsiders" after my i heart my camera post, i found some great shots today on rdujour of jason schwartzman (i heart him too) in the new band of outsiders ad campaign. they are really cool so go check them out. i think jason would be a blast to hang out with, don't you?

shaken not stirred

another one of my local idols is china forbes of pink martini. if i could have my dream life, her's would be high up there on my list. i think she is so elegant when she is on stage. she has an amazing voice and sings in like a zillion different languages. when i travel i hear pink martini on the overhead and it makes me so happy that they have done well and get so much play. and while they are very popular here, they are even more popular outside of the us.

so imagine my excitement when i just found out i have a vip pass to tonight's pink martini show at the opening of the state fair! i don't want to rub it in but I'M SO HAPPY!

i'll let you know how it goes. go to oregonstatefair.org for more info.

i truly heart pdx

so here i am feeling a little sentimental tonight about my beloved city. i was just thinking about my wonderful friends here in portland and started reflecting on my move here and how much has changed since then, almost 11 years ago.

as you all know i grew up in new mexico but had spent some time in oregon when my parents decided to move us here (southern oregon that is) after my fourth grade year. i think we were here two years before we moved back down south. at the time it was very traumatic moving here, finally getting adjusted and then turning around and moving back down (which at the time i was happy about) but because of my time here and the people i met and experiences i had while we were here, i always romanticized about the northwest and eventually decided to move back up. however, there have been many times over the years that the idea of moving back down has crossed my mind. fortunately, my job allows me to travel a great deal and i have to tell you, i am always so happy to fly over mount hood and begin the descent in to portland and i never felt that way about albuquerque. even when i returned from a trip to paris i was happy to see my beautiful portland and to come home. and that is saying a lot because i really love paris!

when i got on-line to look for a photo of portland to post i said i would not post the picture that we see all of the time with the downtown skyline and mount hood in the background because i wanted something a little more real and perhaps even rainy but then i found this great photo of the hawthorne bridge and thought it was perfect. with the exception of one year, i have always lived in hawthorne and i remember crossing this bridge to downtown everyday to go to work and feeling nervous about stopping in the rain on those steel grates and thinking just how crazy it was to have these slick grates in the rain and what the heck were they thinking when they built this bridge?? crossing the bridges is old news now and i do it several times a day and i love coming in to downtown in the mornings and i love even more heading home to southeast in the evenings. we really do live in a wonderful city and i love it more every day. and no, it's not perfect, it has its flaws just like we do but it hangs in there and so do i.

so, i look back on that rainy night in january after i had lived here just one month and the rain poured and poured and poured and i say thank you portland for giving me such crappy weather immediately after i moved here because if i could make it through that winter, i could make it through anything (except last year's great snow of '08 but that's another post entirely).

(photo by planetware)

i bat my lashes

another very cool event happening on thursday is bat for lashes playing at the wonder ballroom. i am totally infatuated by natasha khan, isn't she just gorgeous? and her music is very ethereal and dreamy but rockin. oh i hope i can make it to this show! is any one else planning on going?
the wonder ballroom is at 128 ne russell 503.284.8686
(photo bat for lashes)



oh my gosh, it would be so great to go have dinner at toro bravo before hand! it's right next door. i could really go for some of their chicken liver mousse, yum.
(photo what's cooking america)

andiamo alla festa!

festa italiana at pioneer courthouse square


wouldn't it be cool to win a scooter like this? lulu and i could cruise around portland in it!

this weekend is the annual portland festa italiana, one of my favorite summer events here in portland held at pioneer courthouse square. it takes place this thursday, friday and saturday and it's free. they always have great music and great drawings! oh wouldn't it be nice if i won that trip to italy they auction off each year but i would even take a scooter if that was an option!

so hop on your bikes and head down to the festa! vieni, vieni!

clogged heart

ooh, how exciting! i just found this link on willamette week that states the owner of the swedish line sven clogs is moving to portland. now maybe i can get those custom clogs i've always wanted made. yippee! i'll keep you posted if i hear more
http://tinyurl.com/nw4gxw

latin love

i know i've mentioned the restaurant andina before but it definitely merits more than just one little mention. if you have not ever tried this restaurant, get your best friend and go out and try it asap. i have been there several times over the years since it opened and let me tell you, i have never once been disappointed. the food, the drinks, the atmosphere, the music...i could go on but i want you to check it out for yourself.

my girlfriend and i just went by for dinner and it was so good. we started out with a pitcher of the white sangria and dined on some of my favorite tapas. i love the yucca relleno and the palta relleno, which i always get but next time i go, i want to try something completely different because the food at the next table looked so good i was wishing we had tried it instead, not because i was disappointed in our choices i just can't get everything that i want in one visit!

they also have live music every night which makes for such a pleasant dining experience. i love the spanish classical guitar and they usually have at least one musician there playing.


this is their gorgeous dining room which is great if you have a large group but i prefer the bar area if i'm with a smaller group. (photo from portland food and drink)

look at our fabulous dessert, this is the goat cheese flan. i thought it looked so good that i had to take a picture to show you. and yes, that's a rose on top. love it!

andina is in the pearl district on the corner of nw glisan and 13th.


rodrigo y gabriela

a few years ago, my friend and i dined at andina before we headed over to berbati's pan to see rodrigo y gabriela. they just so happen to be headed back to portland on october 12th and playing at the schnitz, so i think we may need to make this a tradition.

if you have never heard of or seen rodrigo y gabriela you must check them out. they are so cool. my friend and i went to see them two nights in a row because they are that good. it's just the two of them playing guitar and it is one of the best shows i have ever seen. the thing that i love about them is that their music does not fit into one box and they just have such an incredible energy. all ages can listen to this music and love it. i cannot stress enough how amazing they are so go check them out right now, i'm sure you can find them on youtube.

my mecca

when i visit new york for work, i always make the pilgrimage to my mecca, abc carpet and home. i can spend all day here and hit every single floor. one time i saw a help wanted sign there and i almost shucked everything i had here in portland to go work there. i could never see myself in new york, though. i'll just keep that as a dream (unless i have a sudden windfall of money and could live in grand style). no, i think portland is the place for me.


my mecca in portland is cargo. i get so excited when i come here i actually do get butterflies. you can't miss it from the outside. it's the big building in the pearl with chinese lanterns and flags hanging off it. i love how they have used these great frames as a fence on the outside. i would love to do this at home.


cargo is in a really cool old warehouse space at 380 nw 13th 503.243.7804


there is just so much to look at, i could spend hours wandering around here. i loved this room with the peacock feathers. i would love a display like this at home but the cat thinks the feathers are his special gift and he eats them. someday i'll just get a real peacock and the cat may think twice!

cargo has everything on sale the entire month of september so you know where i'll be shopping.

za za zells!

i had to work today but i decided that since it was a saturday, i needed to start the day off with a great breakfast so my friends and i met up at one of our favorite breakfast spots, zells. we've been going to zells for years and i usually get one of two things--eggs benedict, which are awesome there, or cousin maurices eggs which is a scramble with brie, tomatoes and scallions, yum! today i was in the mood for something different so i got the tomato, avocado and bacon scramble and it was soooo good. i'm glad i tried something new this time. i always stick with coffee for breakfast but my friend loves their tea which is served in a french press. zells is a great classic portland breakfast joint so you usually have to wait but it's well worth it. it's at 1300 se morrison 503.239.0196


my girlfriend and i love to sit at the bar and catch up on our gossip.