a summer in paris

i'm so sorry my posts have been few and far between this week. i'm having a hard time loading photos from my home computer and i try not to blog while at work. the last thing hawthorne girl needs is to be discovered blogging at my desk! i promise i'll get my mississippi shots up ASAP but in the meantime, i was wondering what your plans are for the weekend? of course i'll be hanging with my favorite guy, lorenzo, his daughter and our critters but i also hope to catch a few movies. this is what i'm thinking...


the movie, paris, starts showing tomorrow night at cinema 21. how cool is that going to be? an amazing theatre, paris, juliette binoche and romain duris, and, oh yeah, did i mention that cinema 21 now serves beer and wine? yes!


and i'm probably the last person on earth that still hasn't seen 500 days of summer. i hope it's still at the living room theater. i've been wanting to see this for so long but haven't made it out so hopefully, this will be happening.

what are your plans for the weekend?

think mink

i apologize that i haven't had enough time today to do my mississippi post that i promised i would do so in true hawthorne girl style, i'm going to do a quick post on a fab store over on hawthorne called mink. i just received an email from them and it reminded me that i haven't told you about this boutique. it's a tiny jewel box of a shop but don't let that fool you, they hand pick the best items and i always walk out of there with something.


mink is located next door to another hawthorne fave, imelda's, so pop in to mink, buy a great dress and then stop next door for the coordinating shoes. this routine has saved me several times when i've needed a new outfit for a special occassion.

mink is at 3418 se hawthorne 503.232.3500

(photos courtesy of mink)

strolling on a saturday

saturday was a beautiful, crisp autumn day so lorenzo and i decided to head downtown to the saturday market. we had a really nice walk. it's been a while since i've been to the market and they recently moved across naito from under the burnside bridge so i was curious to see how it has changed.


walking to the market, i had to get a shot of this beautiful building. this block was purchased by the university of oregon a few years back and has been under renovation. they did a really nice job on the restoration. i'm not sure what the school has in mind for the building but it houses the oregon duck store now.


in the market i saw this shirt--pretty much sums portland up!


look at these cute little truffle soaps. they looked so good to eat but you would be in for a surprise. i think i had enough soap in my mouth when i was a kid, no thanks!


you can even get a beer at the market. you know portlanders can't be without their beloved microbrews. rogue has great beer, too. i like the dead guy ale.


i enjoyed standing at the waterfront and listening to this busker. i wish the orange mesh wasn't in this photo, though. i guess all of the construction isn't quite complete yet.


the bikes are always close by.


i've always loved these columns at skidmore plaza.


the drummers are always so cool. these guys were rockin.


ever since the movie greencard, i've loved the street drummers.


beautiful skidmore fountain.


this guy rides his bike around town selling his artwork. it's so cute and funky bohemian. i've always wanted to know more about the artist.


you know lorenzo and i had to try the tamales. since it was the end of the day, we got two for the price of one. nice!


after walking around the market, we strolled through old town. i've always admired this little courtyard. it was a little chilly so no one was out.


look at the iron details. buildings just aren't the same any more.


near the little courtyard is hoodoo antiques. this antique store is rumored to be haunted. the owner says that sometimes at night when he or others drive by, they've seen someone in the store. he's stopped to check on it several times and not found anyone inside. he figures someone still lives here. he also says he regularly finds his things out of place when he comes in in the morning. oooh!


such a cute shop, i had to get some photos inside.


of course i had to make a purchase. i found some damask fabric that will be perfect in my bedroom for drapes.

hoodoo is at 122 nw couch 503.222.5910

saturday market is open saturdays and sundays until christmas eve then it shuts down and reopens in march. it's a great place to find unusual local gifts. actually, i bought the painting i use for my profile pic at the market.

you can ride the max down so you don't have to deal with parking.

hope you all enjoyed our stroll through old town. tomorrow we'll check out mississippi neighborhood. yay!

a few of my favorite places

hi everyone and happy saturday to you. i'm having a very relaxing day, drinking some coffee, checking out other blogs and hanging with my girl lulu.

i've been thinking about this little blog lately and what i can do to improve on it. i have some ideas but i'm always open to suggestions. let me know if you have any requests.

yesterday's post with my friend's photos has inspired me to get out there and take more pics around town so i hope to get out this weekend with my camera. it's a beautiful fall weekend so i would love to share it with you.

i'm also going to try to get out and get some photos of me up at some of my favorite places. i really hesitate to do this because i'm a little camera shy but i think it would be fun for you to get to know a little bit more about me and hopefully i can get to know you better. i didn't want to make this blog all about me but when i'm reading other people's blogs, i really enjoy seeing them--it makes me feel like i have friends all over the place and so i hope to incorporate a little more of that into this little blog.

but for now, i'm still at home in my jammies and you really don't want to see that. so here are a few of my favorite portland establishments.


frances may is this really cute little boutique over on sw washington. if you go in, say hi to my friend ashley. she is the cutest, sweetest thing ever and i don't get to see nearly enough of her!


frances may is located at 1013 sw washington on this great little strip of shops downtown. 503.227.3402

(both images courtesy of frances may)


then over by the mississippi neighborhood on williams is another great shop called ink and peat. it's a home accessories shop and flower studio and it is so cool. i love to go in here and always find something that i have to have.

(this image courtesy of sunset magazine)


ink and peat is at 3808 north williams 503.282.2700

(this image courtesy of apartment therapy)


and unfortunately, my next favorite, le train bleu, no longer has a storefront (so sad) but they do have a terrific web store. i used to love to go into their little shop but now i have to settle with keeping up with them on their blog. they always have wonderful designs, i love them all.

(this image courtesy of lucky)


beautiful le train bleu designs.

(this image courtesy of le train bleu)


and right next door to frances may is the beautiful boutique, narcisse. if i had my own shop, it would look something like narcisse. i just love going in there.


they carry the wonderful scandinavian line called noa noa. i think they are one of the only stores in the us that does and let me tell you, these clothes are beyootiful!

narcisse is at 1015 sw washington 503.224.2422

(both images courtesy of narcisse)

so there you have it. get out and go do some fall shopping and have a great weekend. hopefully my next post will have some new shots of portland.

why i heart oregon

my friend miles emailed me these photos from his road trip and they are so great that i have to share them with you. isn't oregon beautiful? i love it here, i just wish i had more time to get out there and see more of it!


our lovely border


oooh, big dinosours in southern oregon!


multnomah falls in the columbia river gorge


the columbia river


more of the gorge

thanks for such great photos, miles! it looks like a beautiful road trip.

kelly kelly hot tamale

i'm so excited today because my coworker has decided to send one of our designs to my ultimate, absolutely, 100% favorite interior designer, kelly wearstler. when i think of kelly, i think of a rock star--a rock star of interior design, that is.

you may not know this but i used to be a social worker. my first college degree is in sociology and i worked many years in a juvenile treatment facility in albuquerque. i liked my job as a social worker. i worked with some truly amazing people and i met some of my very closest friends there. however, i just got my social security statement and realized that i was making $20,000 a year then, and it reminded me of why i left, that and the fact that i have always loved decorating.

i had pretty much peaked at my job as far as promotions went and needed to make a decision whether or not i was going to enroll in grad school so i could move up in my company. i thought long and hard about it and decided that it was not where my heart was. i had always loved homes, i had always received so many compliments on the places i had lived in and i decided that interior design was what i wanted to do. i researched interior design schools and found bassist college here in portland. i moved here, went to school and never looked back on my decision to change careers.



and that brings me back to kelly. there has just always been something that i love about her. and yes, i have loved other interior designers before her but she has taken interior design to a new level. before kelly, designers were sort of in the background but she brought it all front and center and said, "hey, look at me, i'm a designer and i'm just as fabulous as my fabulous clients." and for that, i am forever grateful. and now, i just hope she loves what we do, because i think it's pretty darn cool. and she gives me so much inspiration in life and in work.



that reminds me of when i was in ny for work last year, i HAD to go and see her collection at bergdorf goodman but i was so nervous. i'm still a little girl when it comes to entering department stores and bergdorfs really brought that out. i made my pilgrimage up to the floor that housed her collection and just stood there in awe. i was more than happy to just look at the room but my wonderful friend insisted that we take a photo so she distracted the sales woman so i could take a shot similar to the one above. it was awesome!

oh kelly. i heart you!

photos courtesy my my favorite mag, domino. RIP

it's a trump

greater trumps cigar bar. this photo courtesy of mcmenamins

last night a friend called right as i was leaving work and said she wanted to get together for a few minutes and catch up. she was heading over to powell's books on hawthorne and i had limited time so i suggested we meet for a quick glass of wine at greater trumps.



when i first moved to portland, i lived in this really cute apartment down the street from greater trumps and i would often wander down to sit and read or write and have a glass of wine. i don't know if it's because i've read so much hemingway in my life but i feel like i can be most productive in little cafes. i've always been like this since my late nights studying in college and i still find myself frequenting places like greater trumps so i can get some work done. i often joke and call these little cafes my office.


i've always loved the interior of greater trumps because it's so intimate and cozy. i love how when it's nice out, they can open up the entire front of the cafe. that's so european! and when it's cold outside, the windows fog up and the tiny candles flicker and it takes me away to another place in time.

and i'm not complaining because i will still come here but the smoke can be a little annoying. i mean, even italy and france have gone smoke free in bars! i guess that's why they have so many windows to open. c'est la vie!

greater trumps is at 1520 se 37th 503.235.4530

how noble of you

have you been to the new noble rot since it moved down burnside to the old rocket space? since noble rot is one of my favorite portland wine bars, i've been wanting to try it but just hadn't made it down yet so when my friends suggested we meet there for drinks on saturday, i was happy to check it out.

i forgot to take my camera with me so i found some images of the old space and the new space. i wish i had mine with me because i always feel bad when i have to use other people's photos. must remember camera!


this is the old noble rot that was over on se ankeny and 26th. i really loved how the front of the building opens up. and their loft style space was one of the first over in south east. now you see this on a much larger scale all over town but i still like this one because of the fact that it's not so large and obtrusive as many of the newer developments have become. photo courtesy of concierge.com


here is an interior shot of their former space. i absolutely loved their wall color. it was this fabulous lipstick red. i kept meaning to ask what color they used because it was my favorite shade of red. i also really loved how dark and cozy it was in there.
photo courtesy of oregonlive.com


here is their new space down the road on east burnside. they are up on the top floor and now have a larger balcony and a roof top garden.
photo courtesy of portland mercury


and here is their new interior. it's a little more contemporary and swankier than the old place but i was happy the noble rot's personality still stood out.
photo courtesy of oregonlive.com

i really enjoyed my evening here. we had good company, wonderful food and really great service. as it was a saturday night, it was very busy and we ended up being a large group of nine people. we had a small space on the sofa to wait at in the meantime. the staff were very helpful and communicated to us how things were going and really tried to get us a table. by the time we were all there and settled in, the rest of the sofas opened up and we opted to just stay put.

we tasted several different wine flights and ate some snacks of meats and cheeses. they still serve my favorite salad, the noble salad. yum!

when it was time to leave, we were that horrible table that wanted to split our bill on several different cards. the server was so helpful and patient and said she couldn't believe how nice we all were about not letting someone get stuck paying more than their share. hey, i've been there! politeness goes a long way.

i must say, i still like the old noble rot better. i love more intimate spaces. but i understand that places need to grow and i think i could get used to the new one.

noble rot is now located at 1111 east burnside on the fourth floor. 503.233.1999

ahh fall

happy beautiful fall day. i'm having a very relaxing day listening to this album and thinking about any other new music that i've been wanting. i think i may head over to music millenium here shortly and pick something up, not sure what.

what are you listening to today? any suggestions?

i'm still working on my closet renovation. it's turned in to a much larger project than i had originally planned. i'm basically rearranging all of my closets and clothes are everywhere! i am excited about getting it finished, it's going to look really cool. of course i'm also thinking about all of the new fall clothes that i would like to put in my new fancy closet. oy, it's a never ending cycle!

aqui para me

aqui mexican cafe's dining room

i'm going to get in so much trouble for this post from lorenzo but i have to tell you about another one of my favorite portland restaurants, aqui. i've been coming here for several years since it opened and i just love it. the decor is so cute and reminds me of home, the food is delicious and i always get really great service here.

my absolute favorite item on the menu is the chicken enchilada casserole, which you can see is enough for three meals. i love to make my own enchiladas and i always make mine in the layered casserole style but it is an all day affair. sometimes i just want to go have some enchiladas and these are definitely the next best thing to mine. yum!


their yummy chicken enchilada casserole

they also have this great little seating area in the back of the restaurant. when i used to live in a tiny little studio apartment, i would invite friends to aqui and try to sit in the back. it was my little living room down the street.


i also love their little bar made out of galvanized tin


try to get there before 6pm because they have a really great happy hour as well.

aqui is at 1408 se 12th ave. 503.230.9212

boston meet-up

it's been a while since i've tortured you all with doggie pictures of my little lulu so i thought i'd write about her today. i'm so excited i've found a boston terrier meet-up group that i have signed up for and the first meet-up is this sunday, october 4th, at hondo park at 229th avenue in hillsboro. so, if you are a crazy boston lover like i am, check out the boston terrier meet-up group. i can't wait for lulu to make some more friends!

besides, how can you not love this little face?

penner ash

the vats at penner ash winery

after our amazing tour of the allison on sunday, we felt that we needed to visit one more winery and megan suggested penner ash. her thoughts were that since we had a guest from out of town with us, it would be nice to sit outside with a glass of wine and enjoy the afternoon and their space can accommodate this.

so we headed up the hill to the penner ash winery and not only is the drive amazing but once you are there, the view is one of the best in the valley. we each had a wine flight of their daily offerings which they have priced at a mere $5, and then we ordered a glass of syrah to enjoy out on the patio. after sitting and relaxing, we each made our purchases before heading out. i chose the delicious viognier which had the most amazing floral bouquet and then i bought two of their logo glasses because i loved the lavender sprigs etched on them. my fellow wine tasters went for the syrah which was delicious as well.


they have several little gardens on the grounds. here were the tomatoes and nasturtium.

if you haven't visited penner ash, stop in next time you are in wine country. their tasting room is open wednesday through sunday from 11-5 and there are also tours offered on saturday at 10am and sunday at 11am.

and here's another tip for you, you are welcome to bring in your own food so there were several people out on the patio with cheese, crackers and salami. how cool is that!


what a beautiful view looking down into the valley.

penner ash is in newberg at 15771 ne ribbon ridge road 503.554.5545