a full house

May 26th, 2008Tags: , , , , , ,
| beauty, beer, farmers market, friends, fun, good stuff, life, oregon coast, portland | chris | 0 comments


last monday our good friends gabriel & jaclyn arrived in portland. they are in the middle of a grand road trip to alaska and are stopping in portland via the “long route.” first they stopped in denver to stay with a friend, then los angeles to go sailing for a few days with a friend, and now here in portland for the last week. they leave today to finish the last leg of their trip through british columbia and on into the great frontier. gabriel will be a guide in the alaskan backcountry while jaclyn nanny’s for a family for the summer.
on friday night, our good friends ren & rebecca flew in from iowa city. just before that, however, our old buddy pete found out the gang was going to be in town, so he jumped a train down from seattle. so friday night we went to bailey’s taproom for a tasty brew, hit up the farmers market saturday morning, then a hike in the sun up by the rose and japanese gardens. (we also cracked open my homebrew, but that post will be coming later) yesterday we rented a van, piled in in road trip fashion and hit the coast. after spending time at haystack rock in cannon beach, looking at the abundance of life in such a small area, we walked through town in search for a kite. then we drove further down the coast to find the right spot to put some wind under our stringed rainbows.
now, pete has boarded his train and is safely home, gabriel and jaclyn will be packing up and heading out this morning, and ren and rebecca will be here until this friday for some more portland shenanigans.
(p.s. if you didn’t put it together, that is 7 people in our 550 sq. ft. apartment. :) )

biking portland

December 17th, 2007Tags: , ,
| bike, good stuff, green, portland | chris | 0 comments

the business of biking.

video and story by the new york times.

for the love of beer

December 12th, 2007Tags: , ,
| beer, friends, fun, good stuff, portland | chris | 1 comment


the week after we went to the coast (maybe 2 weeks ago or so), portland had its holiday ale festival.
deeann and i went to the opening night on thursday and needless to say it was completely packed. not only was it the opening night but we happen to go at about 445 when everyone was getting off of work. so we had a small handful of tasters and were on our way. the event was under a series of giant tents that completely covered pioneer square and kept us warm and cozy (and dry).
sunday, our friend pete from iowa city who is currently living in seattle, came down to have a few with us. if you’re drinking good beer, pete is the guy you want around. actually, pete is just nice to have around.

being a micro brew connoisseur, pete was able to explain different brewing techniques, hoppy vs. barley flavors, and most importantly, have a good time with us. we paid 4$ for a mug and just 1$ for a “taster” which was about 5 ounces of beer. actually a pretty good deal when you boil down how much you would pay for a pint at a pub.

our favorites: (gotta love these names)
st. nick’s sock knocker — a barrel-aged strong scotch ale from karlsson brewing company in sandy, oregon
brewdolph — a belgian specialty from lompoc brewing company in portland
wreck the halls — an american ipa/winter style strong from full sail brewing company in hood river, oregon
fa la la la la — a simple winter ale from double mountain brewery & taproom also in hood river, oregon

bottoms up.

christmas at the square

November 23rd, 2007Tags:
| christmas, fun, just stuff, portland | chris | 0 comments

tonight was the tree lighting at pioneer square. it was pretty cold, about 36 degrees and dry(thank goodness). we went down early to take a trip in to the apple store and get a good seat at the tree lighting. a load of people made it out for the festivities, although there was already plenty of people out doing there black friday shopping.

when we went into pioneer place(a mall downtown) a strange anxiety set in. people everywhere, christmas songs playing, consuming, consuming, consuming. after we squeezed our way out of the apple store we were frantically searching for an exit. isn’t it funny how it’s so hard to get out of those places. whew!

anyway, we got our hot coffee drinks and sat down on the pioneer square steps to start this holiday season. with music by the portland jazz orchestra with valerie day, it just warmed you from the inside out. something about christmas tunes and jazz, i guess. with everyone dancing and singing, santa made his appearance with a giant plug to light up the tree.

so they lit it up, the singing continued, and we made our way home for a hot apple cider.

next thursday through sunday the holiday ale festival will take place at pioneer square. you’ll be sure to hear a few stories from that too.

flickr pics

giving thanks

November 22nd, 2007Tags: , , , ,
| autumn, family, friends, good food, life, portland | chris | 0 comments

November Roses in the South Park Blocks
today was a good day. of course sleeping in always makes for a good morning, prepping a big thanksgiving meal is also a good start to the day.

we got up and went for a walk through the south park blocks. we stopped at the park avenue coffeehouse and chatted about our weekend plans, stopping and taking pictures of the brisk morning and the november roses.

when we got home we started in on our thanksgiving meal. on the menu: cornish game hens with cranberry-orange glaze, roasted garlic mashed potatoes(with a cranberry-orange reduction), a jelly fruit salad, and of course, pumpkin pie with real whipped cream. it was all so delicious.

its been a very relaxing day. its kind of strange to be so far from iowa and family and friends. mostly its weird to not be around those things that we would normally associate with thanksgiving. Fight with a game hen. I won.obviously family and friends, but the first dusting of snow, seeing people we haven’t seen for awhile, those little things that in the back of your mind you may not see them, but when you don’t you wonder where they’ve gone.

despite being so far from the familiar, being here with deeann and preparing our own meal and talking about what we are thankful for, there is a certain joy in that. it’s good. being here is good. it’s different and sometime quite weird, but its good.

i hope you all have much to be thankful for. i know i do. happy holidays to you all and i hope to hear from you soon. :)

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