i am swell

Portland’s Pearl: CARGO

admin — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 18:48:53 +0000

My new obsession is the shop Cargo in Portland, located in the Pearl District. At first glance it looks like a mad Asian market/party store, something on the lines of Pearl River Mart in New York, but inside it is filled with an insanely cool collection of things. Everything from Indian rugs to Mao sculptures to local letterpress to found objects to framed butterflies to vintage doors. It is FABULOUS! There is so much attention to detail too, from the signage to their shopping bags, which are made out of newspapers in Indonesia.

Their online store is set to open later this summer…but really try to make a stop if you’re in Portland. The owners are super friendly and helpful!

I LOVE Portland Food

admin — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 15:08:04 +0000

Portland is a great city for foodies. It has an eclectic selection of options, the produce is fresh and often times organic & local, you can get amazing food for cheap and you don’t get the same food snobbery that you see in San Francisco. Here are some of the amazing things we ate in Portland. I highly recommend Kenny & Zuke’s, Irving Street Kitchen, Pok Pok and Clyde Common. I don’t have any food cart info from this trip as we went on a holiday and most places were closed, but check out the Portland Foods Cart blog and the NY Times video & article (we were actually there when they were shooting) for great tips.

Baseball On the Bay

admin — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 18:01:43 +0000

I’m not the greatest baseball fan by any means, in fact I have to admit I think watching games on TV is incredibly boring, but I love going to baseball games. As when any large number of fans gets together, it’s an energizing and fun environment. And it was fun that Nick was routing for the NY Mets while I was routing for the SF Giants. Did I mention AT&T Park’s location, design and food are unparalleled?!

Eureka, California

admin — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 12:00:56 +0000

Eureka means “I have found it” in Greek and so became the name of the mining town hub of the Pacific Northwest in the 19th century. Erected in 1850, the city still holds onto a lot of its old west heritage while lightly incorporating modern themes, like great signage. We stopped in to catch the Netherlands/Uruguay game as well as to check out California’s first city.

Road Trip From Oregon to San Francisco

admin — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 12:00:11 +0000

The drive from central Oregon to the coast and down the 101 is incredible. The natural beauty is spectacular and reminds you what life outside the city is like. It’s also one of the weirdest drives because of all of the Redwood tree sculptures, especially the ones of the Sasquatch and Shrek! Enjoy….

Oregon Wine Country

admin — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 12:00:54 +0000

One of our favorite things about Oregon is the wonderful wine that comes out of the Willamette Valley. On our second trip through the wine country, we visited our old favorite Stoller Vineyards as well as some new ones Panther Creek, Redhawk and Benton Lane. Similar to the Napa Valley, the Willamette Valley has gorgeous rolling hills, though it’s a bit more lush and feels more tucked away and has the most incredible pinots.

Portland, Oregon

admin — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 12:00:31 +0000

After driving up from San Francisco, Nick & I settled into the Ace Hotel in Downtown Portland and soon after met up with our friends Fred & Ali for a terrific holiday weekend. Portland is definitely a foodie’s city and we had some incredible meals. It’s also a great city for vintage shopping as the prices are low. (I plan to post a separate food and shopping post.) Already I cannot wait to return and see more, especially on the east side.

Some of the highlights of the trip for me were:
1. Eating, drinking and playing cards at Irving Street Kitchen on the 4th of July with the gang before playing with snaps on the streets.
2. Shopping at Cargo in the Pearl District.
3. A funny and insane late night dinner at Pok Pok.

Road Trip From San Francisco to Portland

admin — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 12:00:00 +0000

Nick & I took a road trip from San Francisco to Portland & back for the Fourth of July weekend. We took the 5 up, hitting cool towns like Shasta and Ashland, and for the way back we went through Oregon wine country on the way to the coast. It was one of the most beautiful drives I’ve ever been on and gave us the chance to see a lot of things we would have otherwise missed on a flight, like old mining towns and classic BBQ joints. On the way up we also spent the night in the lovely town of Ashland, which looks quite similar to Marin. We stayed at a quiet pet-friendly hotel called Lithia Springs which has actual hot springs sulphur water running into the bathtubs (pure relaxation). The staff was incredibly nice and actually upgraded us in order for us to be in a room with ESPN so that we could watch the World Cup (since no bars seemed to be showing the 7am Netherlands/Brazil game).

Here are photos from the trip up from SF to Portland by Nick & I on both my Canon Rebel XT and Nick’s Panasonic Lumix Micro 4/3rds.

Golden Gate Park & Kickball

admin — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 12:00:49 +0000

I am a bit backlogged on blogging. Here’s a few Sundays ago when we walked to Golden Gate Park and played kickball. Photos by Nick…

Sutro Baths & Ocean Beach

admin — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 12:00:13 +0000

One of my favorite places in San Francisco is Ocean Beach and the Sutro Baths. So much history lies here. Photos by Nick (for the most part)…