French Stripes

I am a fool for love.  And I love french stripes this summer.  Look at these fabulous picks from France and beyond.  

For chic children who want to look bold against the waves from Melijoe

Shapely with neat decorative buttons from Petit Bateau

Add a little neon for fun and sequins for glamour at J.Crew

And the original from Saint James, official clothier to the French Navy!

Orchid Love

Since when does a drink come with a fashion accessory?  Last night I went with my amazing friend Beth to Silk in The Pearl.  I had a really fabulous cocktail with Lychee purée and vodka and some raspberries and other wonderful things.  It was tasty, but best of all it came with a gorgeous orchid perched atop the loveliness.  I believe that orchids are poisonous, but I didn't eat it.  Oh no.  I placed the delicate bloom on the table and then Beth suggested told me I should put it in my hair.  Of course!  Why didn't I think of that?  Thank you, Beth!  I just happened to have some fancy pearl hairpins in my purse that I carry with me for exactly this type of situation.  30 seconds later, tropical glamour was mine and I was loving my dark hair more than ever.  Happily, we head on down the street to Vino Paradiso to do an Oregon wine flight, so I got take my blossom out on the town for a bit.  Best of all, I lovingly placed it in a small dish of water overnight and wore it again today.  I have a new place in my heart for the beautiful, delicate, decidedly strong orchid bloom.  

Moving Sale

As we prepare to move to Switzerland, it pains us to sell many of our beloved belongings, but we've had to adopt the attitude: if we can't shove it in a suitcase, it's not going with us. 

In addition to household items, also up for sale will be our 2005 Volkswagen Golf TDI.  We average 45-55 miles per gallon, depending on where we're driving.  It is manual transmission, white, four doors, moon roof, CD player, heated seats and much more.  51,790 miles.  Be on the lookout for a post about that soon or email me if you're interested.  

We have some things for sale.  Please email me to let me know if you're interested in any of it.  

AVAILABLE NOW

Kitchen Cart from IKEA.  Excellent condition.  Pots and pans, toaster etc not included.  $100

Awesome dish drying rack.  You wouldn't believe how much this thing can hold.  $15
No longer available!

Two Therm-a-Rest camping pads.  Lightweight.
$10 each or two for $15
No longer available!

Basic tent.  *Free*  
No longer available!

Coleman sleeping bag with stuff sack.  Very warm.  $10
No longer available!

Women's The North Face sleeping bag.  Used three times.  Perfect condition.  Includes stuff sack.  $50 No longer available!

Canon EOS 5 SLR Camera with lens, grip, filters, manuals, bag and other stuff.  

*Not digital*  This camera uses film.  $250

Volkswagen Cabrio Boot Cover.  

For 1995-02 models.  Gives a very neat appearance when the top is down and protects the top.  $125

No longer available!

Overhead projector.  Mint condition.  $40

Lots of art supplies.  Some new, some used once or twice.  Acrylic paints, canvas frames (2) charcoals, pastels, markers, colored pencils, brushes, palettes, etc.  More not pictured.  $40 for the lot.

No longer available!

Isaac Mizrahi for Target Butterfly Bedding.  Queen size duvet cover and two shams.  Used only a couple of times.  $20

No longer available!

Authentic Shaker dining chairs.  Set of six for $375

  

Martha Stewart Collection arm chair.  Sensible clean lines.  Good condition.  $30

No longer available!

AVAILABLE MID-JULY

Bed and nightstand.  $325.  Scroll down for detailed pics.

Sealy Posture Premier Regale Blue.  Includes queen sized mattress, box spring and hollywood frame.  Bought new three years ago, has been covered with an allergy barrier since.  Excellent condition.  $300

Quaint Simply Shabby Chic nightstand from Target.  Good condition.  $25

Striped rug from west elm.  1 year old.  Very good condition.  $75

White Lack coffee table from IKEA *free*

Tillary Sofa from west elm.  Includes Sofa with 2 back supports, Ottoman and Corner Cushion.

Versatile and modern.  See more here.  One year old, excellent condition.  Paid $1400 new.  Attractive Saddle color has been discontinued.  $850

Please feel free to make an offer on any item.

More pictures available upon request. 

We will be adding more furniture and household items over the next couple of weeks. 

If there is something you're interested in, please feel free to send me an email with questions or to see more pictures!  Thanks.  Yodel-ay-hee-hooo!

l'Amour

While I was not the one to introduce Phoenix's phenomenal third album, Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, to our home, I can claim that I am duly obsessed with its wonder.  This is it when it comes to music.  When I say I am obsessed I mean that I want to listen to this album all the time and the only thing that stops me from listening to it over and over again is the fact that I want to savor it rather than play it out and grow tired of it prematurely.  In the past ten years I have only been this in love with two other albums.  One, four years ago, was And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead's Worlds Apart.  The other, 12 years ago, was Texas is the Reason's Do You Know Who You Are which will probably always be my favorite album of all time so let's not even go there.  

The funny thing is that Trail of Dead is from Austin, Texas and Texas is the Reason is from New York and Phoenix is from Versailles.  WTF?  Weirder still is that Thomas Mars, Phoenix's frontman, has a child with Sofia Coppola, director of my absolute favorite movie, Marie Antoinette, which is set in Versailles where Mars is from.  Could this get any more synchronistic?  Probably.  But who cares?  I am going to revel in it anyway.

All of that aside, it is wonderful music in the truest sense of the word.  And you can believe me when I say that, because I am extremely picky and I simply do not say an album is spectacular unless it is.

So get yourself over to the iTunes store and buy Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix straight away.  You will not be sorry. Right now, I just cannot get enough Phoenix.  I am in love.  Vive l'amour!

Adventure

Joel and I are moving away from our beloved City of Roses at the end of July.  It's strange because it's hard to describe just how much I love Portland, but we have a dream to follow and Portland will still be here when we get back.  Since we first starting dating in Eugene, Joel and I have wanted to live and work abroad together in Europe.  Not just anywhere in Europe, but in Switzerland.  How's that for specific?  Amazingly we have set up our lives and education and careers so we can do just that and we're leaving at the end of July!  It's so completely bizarre that sometimes it doesn't seem real.  But it is real and while I'm ecstatic about going, I'm distraught over leaving. How could I not feel sad leaving Portland? It's just so perfect.  And what's not to love about going to Zürich knowing it is considered by some to be the world's most livable city?  Over the next six weeks, I am going to appreciate Portland as much as I can.  Then our wonderful Swiss adventure shall begin.  This is quite a lovely time indeed!

Lilac in a Bottle

I was born in the Lilac City so I know the smell of a good lilac.  Being rather finicky and preferring a very alkaline soil, the lilac is not easy to grow in many places.  When the conditions are right and the lilac flourishes, the scent is positively intoxicating.  So imagine my surprise when I discovered Pacifica's French Lilac perfume.  It's like the real thing.  In a bottle!  Best of all, it rings in at just over $20.  This will definitely be my fragrance addiction this summer.  

photo from pacificaperfume.com

Pacifica Perfumes, candles and soaps are available at Whole Foods Markets in the Portland area.  Shop Pacifica online at www.pacificaperfume.com

Baby Bunny

If you're having a rough day, or maybe just want a dose of cute overload, simply Google "baby bunny" on Google Images.  Here's a little taste of what you'll get.  

photo from seehere.blogspot.com

Are you saying 'awwww' right now?  I thought so.

Smallest Park in the World

As if Portland isn't wonderful enough, it is home to Mill Ends Park, officially the smallest park in the world. The park is said to be the ideal location for leprechaun watching and snail races. It really is small. Joel and I actually couldn't be in the park together on account of its diminutive proportions. You can learn more about Mill Ends Park here.

Heavenly & Blissful

Yesterday I had the most relaxing, peaceful facial at the Aveda Institute in The Pearl.  I must admit that I was a little nervous about going to the Aveda Institute this time around.  The majority of my visits to Aveda have been really positive, but from time to time when you have students doing your services, you wind up with someone who really does not have the knack.  Sorry to be rude, but seriously, the last pedicure I got at Aveda was hell.  I was literally scalded with paraffin wax and left with nail polish not just on my toe nails, but all over my toes, too.  It's one thing to get through an uncomfortable pedicure, but a facial is quite different.  It was a serious relief to have a very skilled student giving me my facial yesterday and as an added bonus, she didn't talk at all.  No one wants to talk when they're getting a facial.  Still, there are those times when you get a chatty esthetician.  Anyway, whoever came up with the facial was a genius.  It is so wonderful to have your face massaged with luxurious smelling beauty products, get hot towel treatment and that lovely steam they blow in your face.  It is the best.  I almost fell asleep at one point.  If you live in Portland and you have not been to the Aveda Institute, you should go.  Chances are you'll get someone really great to do your services.  I think I'm going to go every other week until summer starts.  Seriously.  At $25 per facial, it's a worthy investment in stress reduction and peace of mind.  La.

photo from avedainstitutes.com 

Hipstamatic

Just to be clear, before I start raving about my favorite new app, let it be known that I will always love ShakeItPhoto, because you actually get to shake it.  That said, I feel like it's Christmas having newly discovered Hipstamatic.  I am pretty much completely in love with this thing.  It's cute (very important), easy to use (good) and it delivers (awesome).  See how exciting it is?  You better hit the app store pronto and get it yourself!  At $1.99 can you really come up with a valid reason not to?  I didn't think so.

Spring Smells

photo courtesy of sephora.com

When I was living in Switzerland a few years ago, I got this perfume, Insolence by Guerlain, just after spring had sprung.  I chose it because it reminded me of some Sanrio perfume I had as a little girl with Little Twin Stars on the front of the tiny little bottle.  I have no idea where I got that Little Twin Stars perfume, but I loved it and when I smelled Insolence it immediately took me back to a really delightful childhood state of mind.  I was sold on Insolence immediately and I adored wearing it with skirts and summery tops and feeling flowery and fresh.  I wore it on many hikes through the gorgeous Jura Mountain range with the sun shining on my face and birdsong all around.  Since that time in Switzerland, when I wear it, I feel childlike, flowery, sunny and fresh and I can almost hear the birdsong.  All at once!  It has been great to wear on dreary grey days in the Northwest and today I'm wearing it on a lovely, sunny, birdsong filled day in Portland.  It's simultaneously taking me back to joyful childhood days, sunny days in Switzerland and brightening this perfect day in Portland.  Yum.

Small Stuff

It's always the little things that make me the most delighted.  Like this glass front cabinet with all of the brightly colored cookware within.  This really makes me smile.  I love the black and white floor contrasting with the colorful pots.  And I love thinking of all the wonderful things I cook in said pots.  Mmmm.  Another little thing that's making me happy is the lovely, soft spring rain we're having in Portland and that my husband just finished vacuuming and mopping our apartment.  Lovely.  Little.  Things.

Le Pigeon

As far as restaurants in Portland go, I'd have to say this is one of my favorites.  Just look at that duck with chard and chestnuts.  Heavenly.  I have been going through a giant life-changing decision making process so I haven't posted for the last month.  I've been too busy freaking out and going back and forth.  What I should be doing is going back and forth to Le Pigeon for glasses of wine and profiteroles with foie gras and caramel sauce.  Who cares what you're deliberating when you're eating something that wonderful.  In fact it was so delectable and I was so caught up in savoring it, I didn't even think to take a picture!

¿Por Qué No?

This afternoon, Joel and I went for lunch at Por Qué No on Mississippi.  There was a line, of course, but not nearly so long a line as is often spotted at the Hawthorne location.  Once inside, we were charmed by the colorful, candlelit atmosphere.  The food was delicious!  It is so so fun to be able to go out to lunch on a Monday.  Now I'm going to go take a little nap and read my novel.  Oh how I love spring break.

Delightful Day

It's hard not to enjoy the first day of spring break.  I slept until a quarter past nine, ate a leisurely breakfast of sausage, fresh eggs and hashbrowns, drank not my usual one, but two cups of coffee and stayed in my pajamas until mid-afternoon!  Once I finally decided to don daytime clothing, I took care of some paperwork, got together three bags of clothes to get rid of and even took out the garbage.  That's when I realized how decidedly summery it felt outside.  I got together my things and headed out.  It was a lovely day for walking and being about town.  After getting a few errands taken care of, I had a cup of Tomato Orange soup at Elephant's and read the latest issue of Real Simple.  Now I'm home and you can't imagine how lovely it is to sit and read at this table on an evening like this one.  And, of course, it's needless to say that I am head over heels for our magnolia.  I'd like to give that tree a hug.

Signs of Spring

Can you believe these cherry blossoms?!  They are everywhere and smell amazing.

Our magnolia is coming to life!

Time for a little spring cleaning.

And much to my surprise, my cyclamen decided to bloom!

Early Risers

Getting up early on the weekend is just about my favorite thing to do.  Luckily these days it's easy with the sun streaming in by 7:15.  

By 9 this morning, Joel and I had already enjoyed a nice breakfast at Starbucks on Broadway and were happily walking through Forest Park listening to the birdsong.  We stopped for a little while and watched the tiniest, happiest bird there ever was building a nest out of moss and twigs in a little hollow in a tree.  How lucky we Portlanders are to have a park like that right in the city.

photo from fleurdelys.org

After our walk it was more coffee on 23rd, a few errands and then I spent the lion's share of my afternoon knitting.  My socks are really taking shape!  

The evening began with Indian food and Talk to Her.  I love watching a favorite film again.  Especially when I've forgotten most of what happens.  

Ashland

Here's everything you need to know to spend a delightful, relaxing weekend in Ashland.

{drink}  Noble Coffee Roasting 281 4th Street  

Equally delightful rain or shine.  All beans are roasted in house.  Try the Pompadour.

{shop}  Prize 264 East Main Street  

I wanted to transport every lovely piece and beautiful detail directly into my home.  But I settled for a vintage Paris map, Savon de Marseille Extra Pur Figue and Smith's Rosebud Salve.  

{indulge}  Chozu Bath & Tea Gardens  832 A Street

Troubles seem miles away when your soaking in 105 degree salt water sipping on jasmine tea or sake.  Stay the night in a cottage and snack on healthy japanese fare by the fire for a little après soak.