My first month in Portland in Pictures

So I haven't posted for a bit cause the prospect seemed overwhelming, and it was. Is. And I haven't been keeping up with emails and telephone calls* like I'd like to, either, so I hope this post serves as a way for people to know what I've been up to. This is going to be picture heavy and writing light so that we can put the month of August behind us (I imagine most of us have!) and then I'll start thinking about telling you what I have been up to in September!

The month of August was hot during the day, but really nice and cool at night. No rain!

Still keeping it real on the west coast in my bonnet. I'm definitely "bonnet girl" around here.

Ok, be prepared for a lot of pictures . . . Really A LOT!

Our second day in town, we bought a bed. Our first adult bed! It's so lovely, I could stay there all morning. But we've got a coffeeshop nearby that we love to go to.

Here's AA at Fuel, the nearest one at a block from our house. After we took this picture, we became friends with the guy in the foreground (Chris). Portland is like that.

at Fuel with my favorite drink (rooibos chai with soymilk)

Right by our house is the food coop.

Between the coop and the farmer's markets, we've always got fresh food at the ready.

And the produce from Oregon is incred-i-ble!


Even the bread you can get at the coop and at the farmer's market is some of the best I've ever had. Here's Dave, of Dave's Killer Bread, at the Farmer's Market. He's super nice, too.

Other people that are nice are some new friends. I think I'm more shy with my camera around here than in NY (maybe cause everyone's a blogger around there?!) but I did manage to take some pictures of some of the sweet people I've had the pleasure to hang with. Somehow I didn't get around to snapping pictures of Sarah, or Kat, or Joanna, or Jess in the month of August but I assure you I have hung out with them all! (I'm still hoping to meet up with other folks from the internet soon! I'm looking at YOU Portland bloggers!)

with Vanessa and Chris, making vegan smores in their backyard

their super kid, Enoch

and friend, John, at Handmade Bazaar

picking out plants with Alicia. Here's her string of pearls plant. We bought it at Buffalo Gardens where the owner Sandra tends to urban chickens as well as plants.

Did you know that Portland has the largest urban chicken population? I forget where I read that.

Anyway, speaking of plants, this is the first time that Aaron and I have had the space to devote to outdoor plants, and we've been loving it. Here's our basil plant.

Ready for pesto!

And little lettuce and chard starts I bought with Alicia grew quickly into bold, vigorous plants.


You should see them now. They're huge and ready to eat! I'm hoping to have a salad party soon cause there's six whole heads of lettuce!

Being here has really affected my cooking. The availability of such great produce plus getting to see small plants grow into big plants ready for eating has really fueled my desire to eat better. I've been loving the challenge of making what we get from the farmer's market work into a good meal.

Here's the greatest corn on the cob I ever had, with steamed swiss chard, sauteed summer squash, peppers, and locally foraged lobster mushroom, with fresh tofu, tomato, and basil sandwiches.

While Portland has been heavy on the fresh and healthy food, this city also has two of our favorite junk foods of all time: pizza and donuts!

at Kalga Cafe

at Bella Faccia

at Star E Rose

outside New Seasons Market

and at home!

While we've been getting around mostly by foot, public transportation here is pretty good.

the bus

the max

Unlike NYC, lots of people have cars here. There are tons of painted cars, old cars, and other art cars. I started taking pictures at first, but there are so many of them it becomes hard to go anywhere without taking pictures of cars! Here are some of them:



super prevalent are all the bugs all around Portland

but busses are even more common in my neighborhood



The first few weeks I lived here, I kept getting "Magic Bus" stuck in my head! It's kinda like everyone just came here from somewhere or they're just about to leave. This purple bus was on its way to Burning Man.

At first this kind of car completely surprised me, but now we see cars like this all the time. At one of the craft fairs I saw a bumper sticker that read: "Hybrids are Sexy, Biodiesels are Sexier!"

There's tons of craft fairs here. There's the one that happens every Saturday under the Burnside Bridge, but then there's all the smaller ones:

Crafty Wonderland at the Doug Fir once a month
and Handmade Bazaar. I saw lots of great things and met lots of neat people at those. Then there's the monthly art and craft happening that happens in my neighborhood every last thursday. People from all over flood the neighborhood.


I just watched this time, but at last week's street fair, I joined in!

In addition to all the craft fairs, there are all these other great stores:

Scrap: The School and Community Re-use Action Project

and Powells Used Books!

But since we don't have much money right now, we spend a lot of our free time hanging in the parks.

Alberta Park

Holladay Park

Waterfront Park

Wilshire Park

Park Blocks

Irving Park

and walking around the neighborhood. There's lots of painting and murals around here.




We've even got a clown house!



What's been nicest of all is how our little rented ranch house is slowly turning into a home for us.

and that's been really sweet.

I hope you come visit soon! We miss you!


*NYC types: I still have my "917" cell phone so a call to me is still like a local call!