I know PDX is hating me at the moment so here is my love letter to the city that is this….. close to perfect.
1. Powells. Where else can you spend an entired day looking at books and not coming across a starbucks, overly happy sales people, or repeating the same section twice? I have had friends want to move here for Powells alone.
2. Portland Parks and Rec. I am not sure if any of you know this but we aren’t wealthy. Really. Not Rich. We spend a lot of time at out local community center and never have I been to a place with so many classes offered and so many amenities. And the HUGE plus is that it is afordable. Oh AND in the summer they have free movies in the park…how awesome is that?
3. New Seasons. Although we do not shop there often (see above wealth) I LOVE New Seasons The bread (an olfactory dance), the meat(a vision in red), the produce(freshness at it’s finest), and best of all the desserts (nearly pornographic). We never get out of there under $30. Never.
4 . Abundant Yarn. Yarn. Cafe. Foot spa. that is all I am saying **wait PLUS on Friday they have a mommy and me knitting time. How freaking cool is that????**
5. Sellwood park. MNM and I got married there *sigh*
6. Wallace Books. It is this little over stuffed book shop in Sellwood. The people who work there know where everything is and that always amazes me. Mostly used books and worth the effort to find it.
7. Trimet. I don’t drive and Trimet was one of the biggest reasons that I moved to Portland. They are usually on time, clean, and easy to use. I am very thankful to live in a city with a pretty good public transportation system.
8. Sauvie Island (and all the other local farms). My little family has yearly traditions and most of them center around food. In the summer we pick berries and make jam, in the fall we pick apples and pears and go to the pumpkin patch. This will be one of the things I will miss the most if we leave.
9. Farmers markets. This was going to be all about the downtown farmers market with it’s overflowing bounty of love in the form of veggie goodness BUT the Hillsdale farmers market is open year round so I guess downtown just got served. (I still love you baby) I love going with the family and picking out or veggies and fruits for the week as well as some cheese, meat, bread, and maybe a pie…………………………….or two.
10. SCRAP, Red, white and Blue, Knittin Kittin, Villiage Merchants, The children’s Exchange…. I love thrift stores. BG (before grey) MNM and I would go on weekend long thrift crawls searching for funky shoes, fabric, dishes, and whatever we neeeeeeeeded that day.
11. Multnomah County Library. BEST. LIBRARIES. EVER. I dare you to argue.
12. McMenamins and Academy Theatres. Watch a movie with a beer and some pizza. The Kennedy School has movies that you can bring your baby to and have a beer and pizza and no one stares you down!!! The Academy Theatre has babysiting. I can’t even go on it is just too awesome.
13. Last but by no means least is my community. Never have I felt so supported (no matter what they say about IN) in my whole life. I feel like I have made friends here that truly care about me and my family. They are my social network, my spiritual and menu advisor, my rock, my wailing wall, and my folly and I am so so greatful.
Yet another gangster movie that I love.