I haven't had much downtime considering I am jetting across America for work and then for vacation next week. Or, as my father has decided, I'm running for president.
Even though it's a pain spending each day of one week in an airport (literally...), it's a nice change of pace to get myself out of the office and into the field. I am missing Chicago though, especially because our incomplete lovenest is still waiting for me to come home and unpack it. Another story...
So all three cities I have never been to before. I was pretty stoked when my boss decided I should go to ...
PORTLAND!
I'm just going to come right out with it. Portland may or may not be the weirdest place I have ever been.
I stayed here:
A lot of people describe the Jupiter Hotel and adjoining Doug Fir lounge as "retro", "fun", "edgy" and "an experience". It was an experience alright. Even though Doug Fir lounge is supposedly home to the most live shows in all of Oregon, this place just freaked me out a little.
You can't make this stuff up.
The outside really made me nervous as the place is more like a motel - double decker action with doors opening to outside.
Luckily the room itself was prettiness and clean, which helped me understand the hype a little more clearly.
Even though this was there. Waste-reducing soap. Seriously...
Oh and these.
I have always heard that Portland is a hip place with an outdoorsy flare, but first impressions mean a lot and the only word I could think to describe this place was "rough".
The hotel room doors were also giant chalkboards. This, I loved. But again, the roughness! The language! It was a little hard to take in.
My first morning in Portland, I emerged at 9:30am, feeling like I was a sinner for waking up this late on a Monday. After all, 9:30am in Chicago and you've already missed all of the traffic and commuters.
Apparently not so in Portland. I wonder if this "July" weather could have had anything to do with it?
Seriously, nothing was open until 11am. Except this lovely little coffee shop, which began the softening of my heart towards this little mountain city.
They made me a yummy egg sandwich with avocado on wheat bread. Paired with a soy latte and part of a lara bar (which I brought from home because I'm a psycho), this breakfast was dynamite.
I really enjoyed the fact the pierced ladies manning the coffee bar did not bat an eyelash at my healthy eating requests, which is very unlike Chicago, where the mere mention of "wheat bread" and "no meat please" is enough to earn some very offended stares.
As I walked around the quiet east side of Portland, I started to realize this place was not half bad. In fact, it was kind of right up my alley in that it sort of resembles a giant outdoor Anthropologie store. And that, I can be very very okay with.
Then I discovered this amazeballs hardware store that must have taken up a whole block. Since the 19 vintage clothing stores were not yet open, I wandered in and took in the views of hundreds of old and beautiful glass knobs, screws, gadgets....
And LIGHTS! They had a million bajillion old school lamps n' stuff. At this point I'm thinking, touche Portland. You're not half bad.
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