go seth aaron!

when it comes to indie fashion design, portland seriously rocks. our own leanne marshall has already won project runway a few seasons back and now seth aaron in in the final mix. i have not been able to keep up with much of this season but i can't wait to watch tonight's episode and see what happens with seth aaron.

after winning, leanne moved to the big apple. do you think designers have to make that move to truly make it big? portland does have it's share of great local designers who have been able to stick it out for years and stay in this city but they are still somewhat small. i would love it if the winner of project runway could stay in their hometown and make a name for themself.

let's really put portland on the fashion map. good luck seth aaron!

rain rain go away...

as i stated last week, i needed a little sunshine on my face and headed down to the southwest.

did i accomplish my goal? why yes i did as a matter of fact!

but now i'm back home and, portland, as much as i love thee, i am really ready for this rain to go away.

(photo courtesy of cafe mama)

a shot of sun

oy my friends, hawthorne girl here. life has taken an unexpected turn for the better and I find myself at a crossroads (denver international airport). so many new and exciting changes on the horizon that I need a bit of sun on my pale portland skin to put it all into perspective. I will be back in touch, my loves, when I have dried out a little and can think a little clearer after the margaritas have worn off. i'll be in touch very soon!

xoxo

no place like home?

lorenzo and i recently went to see crazy heart over at the moreland theater (one of my favorites). i really loved the movie, especially the scenery of the southwest which left me wondering, can you ever really leave home?

there were so many scenes of the big, blue new mexico sky and it left me yearning for my home state. i know, i know, this blog is about my love of portland so why am i writing about the place i left behind many years ago? well, i'll tell you...

when i was two, my family moved from albuquerque, where i was born, to prescott, arizona. we lived in prescott for ten years before moving up to southern oregon for a new beginning. we lived there two years and then moved back to new mexico where i finished junior high, high school and then college. even though we had gone back to new mexico when i was young, we still visited the northwest every opportunity we had and i had grown to love it here, too.

after i graduated from high school, my parents moved back to the northwest (olympia) and i figured eventually i would join them up here after i finished college. well, after i finished, i worked in albuquerque a few years and when the time presented it's self to move to portland, i took it. however,by the time this happened, my parents had moved back down to arizona.

i think it was due to all of these moves that created this yin and yang in me that causes me to feel a little unsettled when i'm in one place and not the other. i don't think i could entirely live back in new mexico again and i love portland so much, i can't imagine permanently leaving here either. i have a family here and friends and a job that i really believe i couldn't have found there.

part of my original plan of moving to portland (which i still think was the best thing for me) was to eventually spend part of the year in new mexico. i still have a lot of family and friends there that i love dearly and miss very much. i even work for a company that does the majority of their business in the southwest so it should be a perfect fit. i haven't quite figured out a way to implement this plan but i just have to believe that when it is meant to work out, it will.

still, it leaves me thinking, is it possible to have more than one home? is this what it feels like to be an expat living in another country? well at least it's a lot closer for me to go home than taking an international flight!

well, i'm happy to say that i will be heading down south at the end of the month. i will have a wonderful time there soaking up the beautiful sunny skies and being with the ones i love, and then i will come home to you, portland, and take in the soothing rains and be with the ones that i love.

and p.s. go see the movie, it's really great!

i heart these

when lorenzo's daughter saw the heart cookies that i posted last week, she wanted to do her own version for valentine's day. so yesterday, she and her friends produced these works of art.




there were a few "jackson pollock" cookies because she said she needed to fix some of the others artwork!

little red lanterns

the other night i passed by the buddhist temple in hawthorne and had to stop to admire the beautiful red lanterns. it was a crisp, clear night and between the trickling of the fountain and the lovely red glow of these lanterns i was reminded of why i love my neighborhood so much.

if you're over by the barley mill at 17th and hawthorne go and have a look.

mossy tree

while out for a walk with the dogs last week, i came across this wonderful mossy tree. it reminds me of the holidays, i'll have to go take another photo next time it snows.

happy wednesday! don't let this grim weather get you down.

a year in pictures

because work was so busy with the holidays, i wasn't able to get a new year's post up. i decided i would post a year in pictures on lucie's blog since i find myself taking more pictures of her than anything. so go check it out. oh yeah, and happy new year! here's to a great 2010.

hello portland

hello portland, i've missed you!

i had to go out of town for a business trip and with all of the holiday madness, i wasn't able to get any posts done before i left. but, i had a really great trip and two long flights to think about my little blogs and i'm so excited about our new year and i can't wait to share lots of new things with you all.

i had a nice time in atlanta (including some awesome meals) but i'm still happy to say, i heart you portland.

(photo courtesy of dieversa)