I didn't get to spend Valentine's Day with my love, but Chick and I had a wonderful dinner and presents in Beaverton and Brian and I set out on an adventure Saturday the weekend after Valentine's Day (Thankfully all the snow had finally melted!)
Monday night was Kasey Musgraves in Portland and she was fabulous. Soccer Mommy opened the show and they were also really great.
We had an amazing dinner at Swank before the show and although the food was mixed (some dishes were great and others just so so), we had a wonderful bottle of wine, our service was excellent and the restaurant itself had a great vibe. We'd try it again, or head next door to Swine, their Bistro/Pub next door.
Enjoy!
Stacy
I got back to Portland and back into a routine with some fun things on the calendar to start the beginning of September/end of Summer!
Last Sunday Sandra and I went up to Ridgefield, Washington to the Sunlight Amphitheater to see Lady Antebellum along with Kelsea Ballerini and Brett Young. A fun night, which started off at Joe's crab shack and ended about 12:15 am the next morning!
This last weekend was annual girl's weekend and our trek down 23rd avenue in Portland for treasures, people watching and lunch with wine at JoBar (cupcakes from Saint Cupcakes)!
Summer in winding down...our air quality has been bad with forest fires in the area and the sun in now setting earlier and earlier each evening. We continue to sneak in as much summertime fun as possible in anticipation of the changing season.
How are you spending the last days of summer?
Enjoy!
Stacy
We had an extended Girl's Weekend this past week with Brian having to fly to the east coast for work. I spent the weekend with Chick in Portland, celebrating the last of the birthday meals then heading into the weekend with gardening and lunching.
Last Thursday night, Chick treated me to a great and exotic Thai meal at Pok Pok NW. We slurped down some refreshing cocktails and dined on Ike's famous Thai wings followed by a pork belly/shoulder curry and a spicy Thai herbal salad with coconut milk dressing. I love the NW Portland location and I can see myself dropping by for a cool cocktail and a double order of wings again very soon!
Summer is here, even if the solstice doesn't start for another 3 weeks. Portland has had some amazing weather and we took advantage of a cooler Saturday to shop several nurseries for plants and then spent a few hours on the patio at Cafe Murrayhill enjoying and amazing lunch and a bottle of wine.
Sunday we spent several hours making the backyard beautiful, including planting a gorgeous pink hydrangea.
Enjoy!
Stacy
Welcome back to me!
I've taken a bit of a break from regular blogging to give time to myself and to honor the wonderful 12 days that I was in Maui....my longest vacation in 20 years and my longest time in Maui ever.
It will also probably be our last trip to Maui for awhile and while that brings me great sadness...I know that there are other place in the U.S. and in the world that we would like to visit...so our time in Maui has come to a sort of end....for now.
Where has the rest of May gone? Next week it will be all talk of Summer and Memorial Day BBQs and fun in the sun (let's hope), but what has been keeping us busy since we got back from Maui?
First off.......
Kentucky Derby Day at Emerald Downs! We had an amazing day and I won $336.20 on a $2 ($24) exacta box.
We also had a family reunion and Mother's Day festivities, plus going to see "An American in Paris" at the Keller Auditorium in Portland.
This past weekend was the Preakness, and although not as financially successful as the Derby, we still cashed some tickets and I wore a hat. Perfect!
Whew.....
I feel all caught up, now!
Enjoy!
Stacy
We enjoyed a fun-filled weekend in Portland, our annual "Girl's Weekend".
Saturday was spent in NW 23rd...a long time favorite of ours. A great place to people watch, shop, bring home many treasures...then sit and have a fabulous lunch.
The rest of the weekend was enjoyed at Rebecca Lane....a great end of summer like weekend with cool mornings and blue skies with abundant afternoon sunshine.
We watched the Ducks take on Nebraska on Saturday night and the Seahawks open the 2016 football season at home against Miami on Sunday.
How was your weekend?
Stacy
After over 20 years of being closed to the public, the Alberta Rose Theater in the Alberta District of Portland has re-emerged as Portland's premier setting to hear acoustic music, art house films and live performances.
Opened in 1927 as a motion picture house, it showed movies until 1978 then closed. In 2010, Joe Cawley turned the 1920's movie house into a unique and intimate concert venue. The theater has 300 fixed seats, a mid-sized listening room where every seat feels close to the stage and the artists performing.
Last Wednesday, Chick and I saw Paula Fuga and Makana perform at the Alberta Rose and it was an amazing evening!
Praised for her spellbinding vocals and ability to stir the deepest emotions with her soulful melodies, Paula has established herself as one of Hawaii's most sough after live performers. Her music featured soul and jazz-infused lyrics, and seamlessly mixed English and Hawaiian languages, supported by the traditional Hawaiian instrument, Ukulele.
After Paula performed an hour set, we were treated the the talents of Makana, an internationally acclaimed slack key guitarist, singer, composer and activist. He is recognized as one of the top guitarists in the U.S. by Guitar Player Magazine and was honored by his peers in Hawaii with the Ki Ho'alu Foundation (Slack Key) Legacy Award. His songs ranged from traditional to highly original, both instrumental and lyrical.
Before the show we had cocktails and appetizers at the Whiskey Branch Bar located next door to the theater.
Enjoy!
Stacy
Friday night was my first commute to Seattle entirely in the dark. I miss the long days, especially when I travel on Friday nights. It's cold, dark nights like Friday that I am reminded how lucky I am to travel by train (or in this case, the Bolt Bus). I did manage to sneak in a quick dinner downtown at the Veggie Grill before the bus headed north!
We spent Saturday night listening to a bit of music at the Easy Monkey Tap House. My step-dad Kenny played two sets on bass with the Rusty Williams Band. Their music is toe tapping rhythm and blues with some original songs and some classic oldies thrown in for good measure.
We packed up the car up on Sunday and headed to Portland dodging rain showers the entire trip south.
How did you spend the first weekend in November?
Enjoy!
Stacy
The second weekend in September is hereby declared...ANNUAL GIRL'S WEEKEND in Portland!
In honor of this occasion, Chick and I spent Saturday afternoon shopping along NW 23rd Avenue in Portland followed by a long lunch at Jo Bar.
We've thought about going to other places in the city, but we always end up back on NW 23rd...plus I can't resist the best place in all of Portland to people watch!
It's been an amazing summer and capping off one of the last Saturday's of summer in Portland is always memorable.
We ended up with quite a haul...a bit of this and that and celebrated our treasures with an amazing bottle of Chardonnay and an incredible lunch. Chick had the Jo Bar burger and I had the scallop risotto with capers, saffron and cherry tomatoes. FABULOUS!!!
Our haul included...
Decorative napkins from Kitchen Kaboodle
Bath bombs from Lush
Black Shoe Boots from Ether
A chalkboard heart from Paper Source
Pumpkin Sauce from Williams Sonoma
Chocolates from Moonstruck
Hooray for Girl's Weekend!
Enjoy!
Stacy
