Sunday, March 30, 2008

Get wings, take flight.

So, I'm back from beautiful Portland. It was an amazing and surprisingly relaxing trip. I loved spending time with Rachel and Charissa, and it was so nice to catch up with them again. I'd forgotten how much I really miss those girls. Trips to Portland will definitely have to be much more frequent.

Rachel and I arrived there on Wednesday afternoon, and after a full tour of Charissa's work, we went to a restaurant called the Laughing Planet, which served probably the best organic food ever. Yeah, I felt healthy and eco-friendly at the same time. Then, we walked over to the 2-dollar movie theatre, where we saw Enchanted. Now, it may be one of the corniest movies of all times, but it was so corny that it was terrific. Ah, corny never gets old.

The first stop on our coffee tour was a shop called Rimsky's Korsakoffeehouse. I'd give the coffee about a 8.5 out of 10, which on my discerning scale is actually pretty good. But, what you really go there for is the atmosphere. The whole place is eclectic to the max, with the upstairs wallpaper being cut-out magazine faces. All the tables have ticket stubs, notes, scribbles and everything else you could imagine on top, with some of the tables rotating. It's one of those places that you have to experience. Mere words are not enough to describe it. Oh, and if you ever do get to visit it, make sure you check out the bathroom. Trust me; it's worth it. [http://www.rimskys.blogspot.com/]

The next day, Rachel and I ventured out on our own over to 23rd street. While one of the stores we wanted was closed, and the other we missed, it was still amazing. All the little boutiques with completely unique pieces was awesome to see, and along the way we stopped in another coffee house. This one was called Cafe Reese, which had moderately decent coffee: I'd say 6 out of 10. But, after going there, Rachel and I started talking about the cafe, and we think that it might have been a gay coffee house. Yes, Rachel and Laura really are that oblivious. But, at least it makes for an amusing anecdote.

Continuing on our shopping day, we went to Lloyd Center, which was great and huge. After sauntering and taking our own sweet time, we picked up Charissa from work and decided that Target was the way to go. And can you believe that this Target actually had a shopping cart escalator? Yes, it was that good. We piled tons of clothes into the cart, along with basically anything else we thought was necessary. Shopping is way more fun when you're not the only one buying things, that way you get to spend everyone else's money too. Then, Charissa took us over to McMenamin's for dinner. Let me just say this: whoever was the genius that created cajunized tater tots there should be given an award. After returning to Charissa's current crashing pad, we got to meet everyone that was also 'living' there at the time. It was a great house of people who really love Jesus. There's just verses written all over the walls, on beams, on doors, and pretty much anywhere else you can think of. Ah, to have a house like that would be amazing.

Then on Friday, we woke up to snow. Yes, it's the end of March and there was snow. So, after everyone left the house, we played Beatles records way too loud and made 'Winnie the Pooh' pancakes. Then to complete our coffee tour, Charissa took us over to Stumptown, which is apparently the best coffee in Portland. I'd give it a good 8 out of 10. It's all very simple, with a real laidback, indie-rock feeling to it. Another good coffee choice. And then a trip to Powell's to finish off our trip. Powell's happens to be the largest bookstore in the U.S. Room after room, there's more books that you just have to buy. It's mesmerizing to see all those books. So much information to take in, and so little time.

Well, now that I've rambled on and on about a trip that hardly anyone even cares about, I think I'll go to bed. Either that, or I'll go check out the new PostSecret for the week. It's a toss-up. Thanks for listening.

2 comments:

Rachel said...

Well, I'm glad that you guys had such a good time. I'm sorry that I wasn't around to see you. But if you're ever at the coast or near it, please call. Jenaya is suppose to be working on my blog so I can have a link to yours, but we'll see how long it takes her.

Love, Rachel

Rachel said...

Hey, do you still write on this? Just kidding, I know how busy things can get. Thank you for your text message, it's crazy to think it's been a year! But God is good and has really blessed us. Talk to you later,

Rachel