hawthorne i love you

when i decided i wanted to write a post about hawthorne, i started to look for images of the heart of hawthorne and came across this one and decided that it is perfect for my ode to hawthorne. i've driven past this mural on the side of a bookstore at about 31st and hawthorne for so many years and i've always had a fondness for it, particularly because it featured one of my favorite tormented authors, sylvia plath.

why am i writing an ode to hawthorne? because as of june 30th, i will no longer reside in my much loved portland neighborhood. it's funny to think about because i thought i would live out my days in this little "quarter". but alas things change and people move on. if not, we would never evolve, right?

it is decidedly so that i have outgrown my sweet pied a terre and before my poor landlord who lives below me kicks me out of the building due to late night, wine induced tromps up above, lucie jumping up and down all day, or a big dog howling every time someone walks by my window, i have decided it is best if i leave on good terms, that and the fact that i have an amazing guy who has an amazing daughter that i want to spend as much time as humanly possible with, and this means moving out to the country to be with them.

so how do i begin to pay tribute to my home of 11 years (i cheated on hawthorne for 1 year over on corbett and quickly came back)? i wouldn't even know where to begin but here are a few things that i will always look back on fondly...

standing outside of the bagdad theater in the pouring rain the first week i lived here wondering what in the heck i had done.

great times with raney down the street in her amazing apartment.

the reunion with my dear friend racheal at the cup and saucer cafe.

hanging at the barley mill with raney, kelly, tim and marin, amanda and frank, and jessie and vince.

st. patrick's day at biddy mcgraw's.

working sunday nights at the italian joint (rip).

countless birthdays at the bombay cricket club with kjirsten and megan.

my favorite safeway and the sweet people that work there, as well as the springtime drycleaners whose owner worries about me if i forget to come pick up my drycleaning (granted i leave it there a ridiculously long time).

and there are so, so many more things i love about my neighborhood that i won't bore you to death with but will always cherish, yes, i have had some good times on hawthorne!

and by the way, i am having a huge moving sale this sunday the 27th so come on over, buy some crap so i don't have to move it, or you can just say hi! (12th ave two blocks south of hawthorne).

in the words of sylvia plath (or gwyneth paltrow playing sylvia) my life in hawthorne has been a "pot boiler", and yes, i will always be a hawthorne girl!

image from todd mecklem
mural by jane brewster