I was in Portland


Thats why I haven't been here. See how that works? I have a nice, calm alone day at the studio today. Feels sooo good and I had a great workout this morning too. So yeah, I am feeling pretty happy about it all. I got to wear a jacket and scarf in Portland. Soo nice and cozy. I love cozy weather. My mom bought that scarf in Portugal when she was a youngster, I stole it. Sorry mom.


It was exciting to watch the land change under us as we moved across the country. I was like, I remember looking at those maps in school and wondering what the mountains really looked like...


Of course I saw my good pal Jessica Swift while I was there. I also got to spend time with the super talented and very sweet Carrie Schmitt. You know how it is, you just start exchanging emails, and we actually got to meet up, so I was pretty stoked about that. Sorry that I didn't talk about art that much Carrie :) PS. She sent me the sweetest care package with info about Oregon. I also wanted to see the super talented Maggie from Simply Kumquat, but I couldn't fit it in. I am so sorry Maggie!


My very fave was Canon beach. We lucked out and arrived on a very clear, crisp day. Lordy it felt amazing to be there. Yes we totally snuggled up drinking tea in our hotel room that night and watched Goonies. I loved that movie sooo much when I was a kid. In our family we still say "I got it...I got it...I don't got it." Tee hee. BTW, this is my favorites scene, it still makes me laugh.


We were celebrating our 10 year anniversary, but really it wasn't a super romantic trip. I got all messed up with my supplements and felt sick a lot. That sucked. Also O and I had some tense times where we basically were totally mis-reading each other and not communicating very well. I felt sad a lot, but the morning we woke up at the beach we tried to go for a walk, got soaked and instead ended up really talking about why we were having tension. It was great to get it all out in the open and feel bonded again. It reminded me that marriage is about getting back together ever day.

This post was originally all about other things. Like Atlanta, and how being in Portland made me want to move away from Atlanta again. But honestly, it sounded really negative, and I don't want to do that. I choose to be empowered and to focus on change, instead of wallowing in what I dislike.

Have you been to Portland? Do you live there? What is it really like in the winter?

Comments

  1. I heard that the dream of the 90s is alive in Portland? Is it true? (Sorry, dumb requisite "Portlandia" reference)

    Looks like an absolutely wonderful time with ocean toe-dipping and blog friend meet ups. Sounds like a dream.

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    1. You know, I just don't seem to be able to get into that show! I seem to be the only one, but it makes me cringe. I do appreciate a good satire though.

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  2. I hate/love getting it all out there and being bonded again. I swear, when it's bonding time? It's like you and me against the world! And nothing else really matters. Then the air conditioning bill comes ;) Happy you got away!!

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    1. hahah! Yes. I read that out loud to my husband, we had a nice chuckle about that.

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  3. That is my absolute FAVORITE scene probably of all time. Goonies is such a classic. As far as winter here, I prefer the mild winters here to the cold winters of the Midwest. Everybody says it is gray, but all I notice is all the GREEN. When it rains so much, things grow like crazy out here. Also, there are plenty of ways to escape if you need a little sunshine. And, the coast! Overall, there is so much natural beauty and road trips to take here it is overwhelming. There is always the coast, which I enjoy in any weather. There is something charming about the rain. I don't mind the winters at all. So cozy! Autumn is usually lovely here too even though that wasn't the case when you were here. XO, Carrie

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    1. I know right! It is soo funny, the barfing sounds. Hilarious (I just heard Tracy Jordan from 30 Rock in my head when I wrote that btw.) I am so torn because what we need to do is just visit and then magically have all of our stuff moved up to Portland. Its the thought of actually moving that is hard for us. We know we would just love living there...First world problems. I was super charmed by that coast, I mean 1.5 hours away....in Atlanta after 1.5 hours driving you are basically still not home yet :)

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  4. Let me know next time you're in Portland!!! I would love to take a portrait of you & O. I love how you wrote that marriage is getting back together again every day. So true. The winter here isn't that bad... I used to live in Connecticut and honestly, it it's definitely warmer than the NE and with less snow. People say that it rains a lot... and sometimes in the spring there are gray skies... but this is buoyed by the gorgeous flowers that come in the spring.

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    1. Oh my goodness! I know, I should have announced it and let everyone know. I have just been feeling so tired lately that I didn't even think about it. I would love for you to photograph us, you are so freaking talented!! I am glad to hear that about Portland winters. I lived in NYC and those winters are not my cup of tea! I like drizzly weather actually, its cozy and this girl loves anything cozy. We will be there again for sure, and soon. I will hit you up.

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  5. Next time, my darling! Next time. :)

    Portland's "winter" is something this Colorado gal just loves. It's all the good things about winter (the encouragement to bunker down and get a lot of work done, the cold, the jackets and sweaters, the dark -- which I kind of love because it means all the shops downtown keep their lights on and it makes it kind of interesting and ) without the city-crippling chunks of ice and snow. Without the hard freeze that kills your garden outright.

    Having said that, if you struggle with any kind of seasonal gloom you need to REALLY think hard before relocating to the pacific NW. You also need to visit in the dead of winter (late December, January) to really get a sense of what it's like. I grew up in he high plains, without much rain at all -- positively THIRSTING for it -- and so moving out hear is literally a dream come true for me. You are in Atlanta and have thunderstorms -- that's not the kind of rain we get here. (We are too far north to get thunderstorms, and that is one thing I miss very badly.)

    I will second the comments about the GREEN, with more me far outweighs the grey. But I grew up with winter, with the brown death that that was. Here it is green and alive. I think Jessica might be able to speak to the winters here, since she'd experienced both Colorado winter and the south's non-winter. Think about our weather like England or Ireland's. Lots of drizzle, with occasional 3 or 4 or 5 days of downpour like we had at the end of your trip.

    I think the cold is also very different. I grew up with "dry" cold. Here there is "wet" cold, which at times feels a lot colder than it really is. The light is also REALLY different from the sunny lands. There is light but it's more muted. You develop a love for the sort of filtered light in early spring that makes the colors of the blooming flowers, or the brightly colored houses really pop. I consider the colors here to be much clearer than in a saturated sunny place, though again, I am really biased.

    I could go on and on about the weather here. Different people address it in different ways. There's a reason great bookstores and coffee shops flourish here -- it's the thing people want to do most on a rainy day. Some people don't do a whole lot in the winter time and kind of get hermity. I pull out the wool fedora, put on a coat and go exploring. I've been here for 5.5 years, but still feel like I'm in the honeymoon phase.

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    1. WOW! Thank you so much. I am very sure that I would not be able to take a dark, wet winter. In fact in my heart it is a fact that I have tried very hard to ignore. What I can not ignore is how much Oregon got under my skin. I want to go back, I must go back. For the whole summer. We are planning it now...Hopefully three months in the summer...every summer! I must.go.back.and.be.there!!

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  6. I have been unplugged and out of town and so I missed this the day it was posted. I am so glad that you and O always seem to come back to ground zero. That is important in a marriage and really does make it stronger. I lost my husband this past summer and life has not been the same nor will it ever be. However, the memories are wonderful and full of both easy and hard times, all of them good. I feel a kinship to you as I am a retired art teacher from the public school system now doing free lance work, I also am the mom to 2 beautiful young adults that were adopted when only weeks old. I identify with your reproduction woes, your art frustration at times and your willingness to make a good marriage even better. Keep believing! xo

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    1. Dianne. Thank you for stoping by to say hello. I am so so sorry that you lost your husband, I don't know what to say. No one who has not experienced that could understand your loss, but I can sympathize with the solace you find in your memories. I admit that when I am angry with O, or we are just not bonded as we like to be I remind myself that this will be a memory one day and it forces me to live in the moment more, and forget trivial problems with more ease. I am happy that you find a kinship with me from my humble blog. Thank you for your encouragement! I appreciate you.

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  7. I just have to say that you are looking positively radiant these days.

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