This morning I met my friends Bob and Diane at Zells and we started out the morning with lots of laughs and fabulous breakfasts. They have only lived in Portland for eight months so we love to share our new explorations and experiences. There's always a lot to talk about. We three agree that Oregon will be our permanent home instead of California. We're just having too much fun here.
After breakfast Bella and I drove to Tigard to do a quick Costco search. For the first time ever, I got out with only one book and the total bill for my purchases was less than $50. That probably won't ever happen again.
Then I found a Best Buy in Beaverton where I purchased a new CD stereo system with a pad for an IPOD. The young man helping me had to explain what an IPOD was. Then he mentioned something about an MVD player and explained how I could "burn" my music discs from my computer to a disc and play them (huh?????????????). I clearly need to find some young person to help me stay current...................
I bought two Chris Botti CDs and I'm enjoying the fantastic music - my favorite is titled "Italia".
Tonight the Blazers are playing another playoff game so I'm going to stay home, cook dinner and watch the game. Bella will be happy to have me all to herself.
Today has been very productive. Alicia, my housekeeper, came today and she and I rearranged furniture and I took care of laundry and all those household things that need to be done while she cleaned the condo. We even got my two backgammon boards looking great by shining the brass, oiling the wood and conditioning the leather. Tomorrow I have a backgammon match with a friend so it should be fun.
Tonight is "girl's night" next door at the hotel lounge and then I'm going to watch the Blazer's basketball game back at home at 7 pm. It's game number 4 of the playoffs so they have to win tonight to stay in contention. Yes, I know you're saying "She's watching Basketball???? Well, I've learned that if I'm going to live in Portland I need to get involved with at least a few sports and basketball is at least a game that I understand so I'm thinking of it as a learning experience.
While Alicia was cleaning I started designing some advertising fliers and postcards for her new house cleaning business and it was great doing something creative for a change.
eBay continues to keep me very busy and I still have about two thirds of the sterling to clean and put up for auction. It's starting to get a bit boring so I may take a few days off to clear my head.
Mike and Teresa are arriving Friday evening and I have all kinds of fun things planned while they are here. Of course, the Farmer's Market is on top of the list and then after I pick Merry up at the airport they'll be able to choose if they want to go to the Saturday Market or the Cinco de Mayo Festival at the River Front.
Saturday night we'll go to the River Front for dinner so I'm being lazy and not cooking much more than breakfasts. I'm hoping that Mike will agree to teach me how he makes waffles.
Tonight was amazing - the ballet was at the Newmark Theater downtown and our seats were in about row 9 center. Typically the price would be around $100 but we were able to get "rush" tickets at the last minute for $10 per person.
The best part was that we're friends with the Ballet Director so we had a personal tour back stage during one of the intermissions.
Flash photography isn't allowed of the dancers but the one shown here is the woman who takes care of the lighting and music and generally makes sure that technically everything is on cue.
Several of us ended up back at the Heathman for Irish Coffee and a cheese plate so I'm staying up way............... beyond my bedtime. The news just came on and the Blazers are down 3 to 1 in the Playoffs so that's why the City was so quiet as we took the taxi back home.
Well, I couldn't resist the urge another minute. It was time to go shopping and I did a great job by catching some sales at Macys and then at Chicos in Pioneer Plaza. The Plaza is an indoor shopping mall where most of the designer shops in Portland are located. It was my first time there and I took full advantage. I brought home almost $500 worth of clothing for $175 so that's not bad.......................... The sales were amazing and these are things that I can wear here for Spring and Summer and on my next cruise.
After shopping I had reservations at the Heathman and they gave me my favorite table and Eric my favorite waiter was there so I was treated royally and the lunch was fabulous.
Now it's time to go to the Ballet so I'll write more later. The Blazer's playoff game is on now but I can read about the outcome in tomorrow's paper.
It has been another quiet day starting with taking Merry and her friend to the airport. They are spending a week in New Orleans - and I'll admit that I'm a tiny bit jealous because I've had some wonderful times there - but - maybe I'll have a turn another day.................
After some grocery shopping at Whole Foods (a half bag of groceries for $30) and a trip to Eidelweiss for some German goodies, I've been busy on eBay again.
I just finished watching a movie "The Perfect Man" - cute but is there such a thing????
OK, all my male friends are doing high fives and saying YES......................
I've also started reading a new book by Andre Dubus, author of the House of Sand and Fog. It's titled The Garden Of Last Days and it has captured my attention from the very beginning. (I'm hoping that it ends better than the previous novel which was very sad and poignant).
A neighbor is the Director of the Portland Ballet and I've been invited as her guest tomorrow night to the newest Ballet performance. I am really looking forward to the performance and the theater is a short distance from here so we can walk over. As I keep telling you - it's a delight to live in downtown Portland. It's like a never ending vacation.
Today is my "no" day - such as no hairdo, no makeup, no anything. The surgery went well yesterday but there's still some pain and I don't like using the pain medication so I'm just taking it very easy and having a quiet day.
The morning started out with breakfast at Zells but the remainder of the day I have been working hard to list some of my new sterling purchases. It's really fun to unpack things a little at a time because I've already forgotten about most of the items that I purchased.
Tomorrow I'm having several skin cancers removed by surgery so I'll probably be quiet for a day or two (however - I remember all those trips to the Tropics, the tennis matches, the pool parties and I would not change a single one). It's the price of getting old and that's OK.
I'm selling some items from the estate of a Russian woman, Irina Belotelkin, and you can watch them at: www.goldturtle.com
Click on the eBay sign to the left and eBay auctions will show up.
Today has been busy - Bella got groomed, I restocked the refrigerator, ran several errands, finished laundry and finished all the household chores so it's a great feeling to be back home and organized. Tomorrow I'll have to start working on the sterling that I brought back from S.F.
Tonight a neighbor friend, Callie, and I walked Bella down to the River Front and had wine and appetizers at a cafe "Thirst". We had an outdoor table with a river view and it was fun watching the rowers practicing for the Rose Festival Dragon Boat races. Callie is in one of the rowing teams so she loves the experience and the exercise.
Today was a dynamic day in San Francisco, starting with brunch at Perry's and then off to the Bonham Butterfield's auction.I won the bids on about 12 lots so I have been packing all evening to get the purchases back to Portland. Sterling is very heavy so I'll be lugging lots of weight in my carry-on and suitcase.I've taken quite a few photos so I'll share more when I get home.
You'll have to wait for the photos but we had a great morning. After coffee and newspaper reading we drove downtown to have Dim Sum at a popular restaurant in the Financial District, Yank Sing.It would be difficult to describe the variety of food that they have to offer and every dish looks better the the first. We ended up with at least 6 or 7 items and there's no apology - the food was fabulous and the restaurant is elegant.After lunch Ron and Rosanna walked over to the Ferry Building Farmer's Market before taking the train home and I decided that I needed to go to work.The auction preview was very successful and I suspect that I'm going to spend big $$ which means that I have some work to do when I return to Portland.The items being auctioned are from the estate of a S.F. resident Irina Belotelkin who was a couturier in France in the 1950's to 1970's and she was a gorgeous and sophisticated woman. Many of the items that will be auctioned are from Russia and they are all unique. It's so warm and sunny here Ron is going to barbecue our dinner so we have that to look forward to.I'm renting a PT Cruiser and it's actually fun to drive it so I've been buzzing all over S.F. with "Betty", my GPS.More tomorrow..............................
The flight from Portland to San Francisco went smoothly and when I landed it was a special feeling to be back in California. I rented a car, rolled the windows down, turned the radio to my favorite station 103.7 and hit the freeway with a "California Attitude" - no signaling when changing lanes - driving at least 10 miles over the speed limit and getting prepared to play "bumper cars" if necessary.I'm staying at a condo with my long time friends, Ron and Rosanna, and we just finished an elegant dinner. I'm sipping cognac as I write this so if I spell something wrong you'll know why.Tomorrow, Dim Sum is planned for lunch, then the Ferry Plaza Farmer's Market and finally I'll go to work and do a preview of the auction at Bonham's and Butterfield's.
The weather here today is fabulous so it only seemed right to meet a friend for lunch at Jakes Famous Crafish Restaurant on 12th and Stark. First we made a stop at Stumptown to get more coffee beans.
Jake's has a fabulous Chef and they offer a "Blue Plate Special" each day for only $7.95 and today is was fresh fish. After lunch we walked through the Pearl and caught the streetcar to take us out to 23rd Avenue. The only bad thing was that Bella was still at home so she couldn't join us.
Tonight is the annual meeting of our Homeowner's Association so we get a "free" dinner next door at the Hotel. (I guess that my $436 a month HOA dues are helping to pay for it). There's always a cost to living downtown and I have no regrets.
I'm looking forward to flying to S.F. tomorrow to see Ron and Rosanna and spend some money at the Bonham's Butterfield's Auction.
Today started with French Press Stumptown coffee with a friend - then Zells for lunch followed by a drive to the nearby waterfalls that are full of rushing water right now. I've seen them in all the seasons. This is one of my favorite times to visit them because the falls are extra full and there are numerous tiny falls that you come upon unexpectedly that won't be seen once the weather warms up.
A tourist from Illinois saw me taking photos and asked if I would like one of me and Bella so I'm sharing it with you.
No photos today. I was a captive in my condo waiting for someone from Comcast to put some sort of black box on my TV. They gave a window of noon to 8 pm so I'm not complaining because they just left so I can at least fix dinner without an interruption. I have 3 TV sets and it turned out that only one needs the little black box to make a conversion. I'm not sure that I'm going to be able to stay current with the new technology!
For my friends and family in California, I'm told that Oregon is a "test" for this process where if you don't have a HD box already installed you have to have this additional little black thing (that's my technical description - smile) attached to your TV. Otherwise, you won't get any channels.
Tomorrow Bella and I are going out to Tigard to do our "big box" shopping and have lunch at Davidson's.
The first of any holiday after you have lost a partner is difficult but my friends made this day a special one. I met David and his wife Connie from working at the Albertina Kerr Center and they have become my "adopted Portland kids". David is the one who gets on ladders to fix things, puts appliances together and basically helps me with anything that I need. Today Bella and I were invited for dinner with their family and I met many of them for the first time. As you can see there were several dogs; Bella being the smallest and Darth (well named) the big guy with a tail that can destroy any and everything resting on a table or chair. Pictured are David with his dad, Arden and Mehrdad, a United Airlines Pilot based in S.F. Also shown are Mehrdad's lovely wife, Susan, Cece, David's sister and Connie, his wife. The young man with Darth is their son Trevor.
Dinner was the kind that most of us remember or dream of - you know - way too much food, laughter, loud conversation, barking and snacking dogs and general mayhem.
Their home overlooks the Columbia River and as I drove away I saw a beautiful sunset of a radiant orange/red sun in between dark gray rain clouds. It was like a beacon that led me back to Portland.
Happy Easter !
I should be embarrassed for having such a lazy day but it's Friday............. I got the fireplace going this morning and a friend joined me for some spirited backgammon. At noon we went over to the Serratto Restaurant on 21st Avenue and Kearney for lunch and it was one of the best lunches I've had there. The service was exceptional so we had a wonderful time.
After lunch we went over to 23rd Avenue to walk around and do some shopping. For those of you who know Union Street in S.F., 23rd could be described as being much the same - but a tiny bit better - because there are so many small cafes and the shops have upscale and unusual merchandise. At one end there are larger stores like Restoration Hardware and Pottery Barn so there's something for everyone.
Tonight the complex has their Friday night "social" - you remember - we eat, drink and gossip (I mean we talk about relevant issues..................... and pretty much attempt to solve all the world's problems).
It was cold enough for a fire this morning and now, as I write this, the slider is open on the balcony to let in some balmy fresh air. I'm hoping that the weather will be nice tomorrow for the downtown Farmer's Market.
It has been a good day - busy earlier and quiet in the afternoon. I started out with running a bunch of errands (visited my favorite La Palapa) to buy some fresh made tortillas and then took care of the more mundane shopping.
The next several days I have lunch dates with friends so that's a good thing. Easter I have been invited to my friend's house for dinner and Bella gets to go along so I'll take photos.
It's the weekend so I wish you all a happy Easter.
Here's another post for my Portland friends. If you love imported wine at a fair price with tasting notes and amazing personal service, take a look at:
www.squaredealwine.com
If you get on their e-mail list, you'll hear about some great Farmhouse meals, cheese and wine seminars and other social events.
Steve's Cheese is located at the back of the wine shop and if you love imported and artisan cheese, it's one of the best shops in Portland.
They are on NW Thurman near 21st Avenue so you can even get there by Streetcar.
This is a note to my Portland friends. I just got the Oasis summer catalog (offices on the fourth floor of Macys) and there are some great classes scheduled. How about joining me? I've enrolled in:
- 606 Preview of the Rose Parade
- 608 Historic Wilsonville tour
- 610 Cornell Farm, Container Edibles and Hands On Cafe
- 614 Walking Tour of Historic Forest Grove
The Oasis web site is at: www.oasisnet.org/portland
The girls are on their way back to California so the condo seems very quiet. I didn't realize that three grown women could act so silly and have so much fun.
Now it's time to return to the real world - you know - things like laundry, cooking, cleaning and all those fun chores (sigh).
Here's a photo of my daughter, Lori, and me at the streetcar station.
My son, Mike, and his new wife Teresa will be visiting in less than a month so I'll be able to introduce them to you soon.
If you are looking for one of the most fabulous restaurants in Portland, then Higgins is the one. Tonight we shared a spinach salad with roasted beets and bleu cheese, followed by a small plate of razor clams and finally a flank steak entre with a port wine reduction. To make it perfect we took a 1999 Mondavi reserve limited edition wine to accompany the meal. Yes, I'm still writing about food but when the girls leave I'm going to have to stop dining out for awhile and get back to reality.
We girls are having a great time this weekend. Today all three of us had pedicures and manicures followed with a walk down to Alder Street where there are about a dozen or more food trailers. Everything from a variety of Asian foods, Ukrainian, Mexican, Crepes, Soups, Indian and more. It was fun because we could each choose our own style of lunch and the prices are reasonable. It is so beautiful today that everyone was out so the lines were long.
Pictured is Pam and Lori out on my front balcony. We're getting ready to take appetizers and wine to join our friend, Merry, in her condo upstairs and then we're off to Higgins for dinner. The girls fly out tomorrow afternoon so we've been out every minute possible.
My new shipment of sterling came today from San Francisco so after they leave, I'm planning to get some work done on eBay.
The morning started with breakfast at the condo (we cooked wonderful fresh things from the Farmer's Market). Then after a glass of champagne we headed for the streetcar and rode it all the way to 23rd Avenue. I've always just traveled in the free zone so today I had to learn how to buy tickets. 23rd Avenue consists of at least 12 blocks filled with darling cafes and boutique shops. I've been looking for Chai tea and we found a shop that specializes in it with about a dozen different blends. I have a cup steeping now and the smell is amazing with cinnamon, cloves, orange peel and lots of other spices. After walking through both sides of 23rd we stopped at a cafe with outdoor seating and had drinks and appetizers. Bella was in heaven because there were darling dogs everywhere so she got lots of dog and people attention. She was so tired I had to carry her back home. Before catching the streetcar back we stopped at a small market on 21st and Johnson to buy a baguette, sliced meats, olives and more wonderful things to add to the imported cheeses that Lori brought from her store. Tonight will be a snack night instead of cooking dinner. The weather today is a 10 on a scale of 1 to 10 - balmy and sunny with temps about 70 degrees. People are outside everywhere and the parks are mobbed with families. It's truly a lovely and happy day and the girls and I are having a great time enjoying the wonderful things that Portland has to offer.
Most of my friends are still married but now that I'm a single I've learned that it's difficult for an older woman to find a man for love and/or companionship. SO, I have to tell you about the older woman who walks into a bar, sits on a bar stool next to a man her age and starts a conversation. When they start talking she asks him what he does for a living and he says that he was just released from prison. She asks him why he was in prison and he replies that he murdered his wife.
And - she says "So, you're single?"
Well, friends - that's pretty much how it is...................................................
I picked up the girls from the airport at 10:45 and by 11:30 we were at the downtown Farmer's Market. It was later than when I usually go so the pate man was sold out and there were no "happy eggs from happy chickens". We did manage to pick up some breakfast tarts and lamb sausage for tomorrow morning's breakfast. After the market we took the streetcar to Kenny & Zukes Deli where they specialize in pastrami and corned beef sandwiches. That place is amazing and they are always busy so after a wait we sat at the counter and watched the chefs while they were cooking and joked around with them when they weren't busy. The guy in the photo is wearing a shirt "Body By Pastrami" and he is adorable (he cooks well, too). Then we made it to Powell's Book Store to pick up some reading material - then on to Whole Foods where we picked up fresh fish and other wonderful things for tonight's dinner. SO, do we just eat when we get together???? Well - yes - with a little wine to wash it down. OK, maybe lots of wine.
Well, it's 4:20 so it's cocktail time somewhere............................
Oh, my. Tomorrow's forecast is about 70 degrees and we're all practically dancing in the streets. Bella is exhausted after watching me and a new friend having a marathon backgammon game this morning. (Well, I lost - but there's a rematch in the near future).
Friday nights at the Lincoln Tower are a great way for the residents to get together and have a cocktail and appetizers. We consider it a social event (but you really know that we just gossip about everything going on here). It gives me a good reason to try to be discrete but that doesn't always work (smile). Lori and Pam are really excited about their visit and with the weather being so nice, we're going to be "out and about" most of the time. Kenny & Zuke's and the Farmer's Market are on the top of tomorrow's list. Then we need to hit Pearl Bakery, Whole Foods and Peets for some course ground beans for French Press. Why do I always talk about food?????? Because it's a good thing.
Today was a great day because I was able to make over $300 for a local Catholic School who had some items that needed to be auctioned. I volunteer the time and labor and they will get the full proceeds. It keeps me busy and I know that I'm doing something for the community.
As usual the weather report was misleading. The forecast was for thunder and hail storms this afternoon so when I left the condo at 10 a.m. I was bundled up for a winter's day. As it turned out, the sun was out most of the day. I had another class at the Oasis Learning Center - an advanced class on organizing e-mail files and using other tools. I was amazed at how little I knew. After class I walked by Jakes Grill and since it was lunch time, I stopped for the Blue Plate Special ($7.95) and it was delicious.
The day didn't start out too well, however. One of the garden units left water running and it overflowed into some of the storage units (yes mine was one of them). Water came in through the ceiling and along the outside wall. Right now my service room is full of stuff drying out and there will be more things that will have to be discarded when the water stops. Yes, it's still dripping so security guards will monitor the units through the night and try to avoid any more damage.
I'm looking forward to a great long weekend because Pam and Lori will be flying in early Saturday morning. Kenny & Zukes is already on order and the weather is supposed to be dry and in the 60s (crossed fingers). Needless to say, we girls will have lots of fun and lots of laughs.
