I was stretching at the soccer field when I started bouncing up and down on the ground. I looked around at everyone else, and no one seemed to be panicking or even noticing, so I figured a semi must be driving by...15 seconds later I'm still bouncing and no one had said anything! It was only later when the rest of my team filed in that confirmed the earthquake.

Californians.

But I'm not too worried about continuing to living down here. The ivy will hold my apt. together.

*edit*
Ooo aftershocks today!

I just typed up this hella long email about things to do in Portland for Rodin, and I wanted to post it and see what other local favorites are. Comment on the things you can't believe I left out! I also discovered how many typos I make when I'm excited and drooling thinking about food. Sorry about that email, R.

Eastside
One of my favorite things to do in Portland is to go get a beer and catch a $3 movie at McMenamin's Baghdad or Mission theaters. If you go to the Baghdad, you won't be far from a Stumptown Coffee Roasters - one the the highly lauded coffeeshops with outlets around the city and a country-wide following for their beans. And if you need some food with your coffee, Zell's is a wonderfully hidden brunch/lunch spot. Walking up and down Hawthorne st, Belmont st, and Division st will bring you thru the main hipster scene in Portland, with pricey, little boutique stores, dog-friendly bars, and the requisite ladies in Land-Rovers. There's quite a few decent places to take a vegan around here - my favorite was Kalga Kafe. The tempations of the stores will be many, but try to make it to Rimsky-Korsakoffee for a pick-me-up: Rimsky's is an awesome coffeeshop with live music at nights, and secrets that I won't tell you about beforehand. If Rimsky's whets your appetite for the less money-ed, artsy, hipster scene where everyone has U-locks in their back pocket, you can then wander around NE Alberta st or SE Woodstock st. Alberta is part of old Portland, and is slowly being yuppie-ized but fighting it. It also has the Tin Shed (one of my fav breakfast places) and Bernie's (good fried chicken). You'll miss First Thursday and Last Thursday, which is when the galleries open and have wine tastings and when Alberta is taken over by hippies and artists selling their wares, but maybe another time. After all this walking/driving, you'll want a beer and a bit of music, and the Goodfoot is perfect for that. It's a concert venue downstairs, and a pub/pool hall upstairs. They used to have breakdancing nights on Wednesdays, but I'd need to double-check my memory. If you do make it to Woodstock, hit Ottos or the Delta Cafe, where I like to get a cucumber margherita and a catfish Po'Boy. However, since Alberta and Woodstock are basically the North and South border of what I consider the heart of Portland, it's possible you might not get to see everything. Go East out to 84th if you want asian food and such stuff - we recently got our first decent Malaysian restaurant out there. Then when you're about to pass out but need dessert first, one of Portland's newer dessert phenoms, Pix Patisserie has decently late hours.

McMenamin's (many locations)

Stumptown Coffee Roasters
3356 SE Belmont St
Portland, OR 97214

Zell's Cafe
1300 SE Morrison St
Portland, OR, 97214

Kalga Kafe
4147 SE Division St
Portland, OR, 97202

Rimsky-Korsakoffee
707 SE 12th Ave
Portland, OR, 97214

Tin Shed
1438 NE Alberta St
Portland, OR, 97211

Bernie's Southern Bistro
2904 NE Alberta St
Portland, OR 97211

The Goodfoot
2845 SE Stark St
Portland, OR, 97214

Otto's Sausage Kitchen
4138 SE Woodstock Blvd
Portland, OR, 97202

Delta Cafe
4607 SE Woodstock Blvd
Portland, OR, 97206

Malay Satay Hut
2850 SE 82nd Ave
Portland, OR, 97266

Pix Patisserie
3731 SE Hawthorne Blvd
Portland, OR, 97214

Westside
I love starting the day off with a solid breakfast, and my main love is Byway's Cafe. It's also within walking distance of Portland's main tourist draws: Powell's Bookstore. The downtown one is the only cool one to go to until you give up and start living in the suburbs and drive a minivan. Once you're finished being overwhelmed by all the books you have yet to read, walk down the street to Powell's Technical Bookstore. And then up a block to Pearl Bakery for the best bread in Portland. While you're in the Pearl District, you can swing by one of Portland's many breweries, and make a reservation at last years (maybe the year before) Restaurant of the year, Andina. (Only the fanciest places in Portland require reservations, but if you are inclined to plan ahead and have the $, I've included some favorites below.)

If you feel like seeing more of the westside, take a drive to NW 23rd street where you'll find the yuppie hang-out of the year. This street has a store entirely devoted to making dog biscuits, if that tells you anything. It also has Pizzicato, an old family standby when we are getting takeout. (Get the caesar salad-it'll leave you with garlic breath for two days). Once you're overwhelmed with all the rainy materialism that walking thru Portland's boutique-lined streets can offer, stop at St. Honore (aka The Best French Bakery I've found on the west coast) for recovery with a Chai, an Almond Croissant, and a Cannelle. Popping into Moonstruck is a good choice for a gift for the girl - locally made, artisanal chocolate in uber-cute molds, and hot cocoa to rival Burdick's. There's the Lompoc if you want a beer, or a McMenamin's on 23rd and one on 21st. Speaking of 21st, if you're feeling frisky, wandering up/down it is also fun, with an awesome indie theater to hide from the rain in called Cinema 21, or go listen to the concert scene in old, restored dance hall called the Crystal Ballroom (another McMenamins branch). If you're going home at odd hours, try stopping by Voodoo Donut for a Bacon Maple Bar.

Byways Cafe
1212 NW Glisan St
Portland, OR, 97209

Powell's Bookstore
1005 W Burnside St
Portland, OR 97209

Pearl Bakery
102 NW 9th Ave
Portland, OR 97209

Rogue Ale House (can't remember if I've actually been here and can vouch for this one)
1339 NW Flanders St
Portland, OR 97209

Andina
1314 NW Glisan St
Portland, OR, 97209

Fancy restaurants:
Clarklewis - (503) 235-2294
Paley's Place - (503) 243-2403
Le Pigeon - (503) 546-8796
The Heathman - (503) 790-7126
Caprial's - (503) 236-6457

Pizzicato
530 NW 23rd Ave Ste 109
Portland, OR, 97210

St. Honore
2335 N.W. Thurman St
Portland, OR, 97210

Moonstruck
526 NW 23rd Ave
Portland, OR, 97210

New/Old Lompoc
1616 NW 23rd Ave
Portland, OR, 97210

Cinema 21
616 NW 21st Ave
Portland, OR, 97209

Crystal Ballroom
1332 W Burnside St
Portland, OR, 97209

Voodoo Donut
22 SW 3rd Ave
Portland, OR, 97204

Typical Day
Ok, so I've just bombarded you with more info than you probably wanted on fun (food-centric) things in Portland. Here's a typical day in my world. Get off work, go climbing at Portland Rock Gym or go run the stairs of Mt. Tabor, and then go get a beer/dinner on the eastside.

Portland Rock Gym
21 NE 12th Ave
Portland, OR, 97232

Mt. Tabor - Portland's own extinct volcano.
SE 60th & SE Salmon Street
Portland, OR 97253

Random Tidbits to tide you over:
Saint Cupcake - I'm sure you've seen the trend of cupcake bakeries opening everywhere. I've had these, and they're not bad, but ...eh.
407 N.W. 17th Avenue
Portland, OR, 97209

Portland City Grill - Bar/Restaurant at the top of a building with panoramic views of the city, and a bunch of rich old guys picking up high maintenance women. Awesome piano bar on the weekends at night, with a good, fancy happy hour. More Ahi Tuna here than you can shake a stick at, if you're not DONE with seared Ahi like I am.
111 SW 5th Ave
Portland, OR, 97204

Henry's Tavern - seriously good fries. Also a big meat-market money scene, which is why I only save it for when I want golden, shatteringly crisp, perfectly salted fries.
10 NW 12th Avenue
Portland, OR, 97209

Burgerville - an entirely Pacific NW fast food chain that is our answer to In-N-Out, without the religion and with better fries and shakes and a seasonal, sustainable menu. Their fries taste like potatoes, but they're not as crispy as Henry's.

Saburo's - I refuse to eat sushi anywhere else in Portland but here. It's got better fish than Todai (who doesn't though, really?), and the pieces are ginormous and oh god I'm drooling just thinking about it. (OK, there are two places in Beaverton that I'll go to, but this is a Portland guide) If you go, be prepared to stand in line for a while.
1667 SE Bybee Blvd
Portland, OR, 97202

Noho's - for the incredibly intense Hawaiian cravings that sometimes call. Awesome poke.
2525 SE Clinton St
Portland, OR, 97202

My favorite bar that I can't remember the name. It's a good bar. That may explain the memory loss. Amazingly good bar food and live music thursday-sunday.
SE Ash and 2nd (may be SE Oak. right around there)
*edit* Produce Row is it's name.

I just cried over a photo montage of a baby.

Damn it biological clock, get a frickin GRIP.

Holy F Balls, I wouldn't do some of this even if I was hooked up to a rope and harness. Or this.

Makes me think of Zia and Mich.

I keep thinking about buying a house in Ladd's Addition (east portland on division and 12th). And then thinking...no, I should rent first, so that I can get a dog, because getting a dog is much less work, and it'll ease you into this responsibility thing. But it does seem like a good time to buy, since I read Portland currently has a huge glut of condos (which may or may not influence housing prices, I don't actually know) and the housing prices do seem to be dropping. Last year when I checked these smaller houses were in the 400k range. So maybe when it's time to move, I'll be buying a house? The thought is so scary!

But yeah, I check this site like once a month. Go down, house prices, go down! It's still a bit out of my league, but...tree lined! Yard for doggie! Want it! I know it's like Half the house you can buy in Beaverton or the suburbs, but to me it's worth it. It's historic and has parks inside the layout. Or maybe I'm reading too much Helprin.

Any chance I can recruit y'all to the neighborhood? It's closer to the city action, but the neighbors still play pick-up soccer/football every now and then - that's how I found it. And it's got these awesome historic houses from the 20s. And we could all live on the same street and go borrow sugar from each other and yes, it's true, I live in Fantasyland circa Leave it to Beaver. It's a happy place.

Gawd.

I love and hate having people over for dinner, mainly because the crazy neurotic part of me takes over. "What if they don't like it? What if it's horrid and I don't like it?! What if I run out of food??? OMG they'll hate me and run away AHH!!!"

This time, I've done it to myself. I'm trying to make (for the first time) an old favorite that Mar introduced me to...Skyline Chili, or Cincinnati style chili. It's this awesome, almost-sweet chili with chocolate and cinnamon served over spaghetti with grated cheddar and oyster crackers...I know it sounds odd, but it's absolutely delicious. Anyways, the recipe suggests making it 3 days ahead...how wonderful is that for party-planning?! So I made it yesterday, and added the yeast before I put it in the fridge but after it sat out in the rain for 2 hours (to cool it without overheating the fridge). When I tasted it this morning, however, I tasted carbon dioxide. That means that the yeast in there is still alive. I have fermenting chili in my fridge, and 15 or so people coming over for dinner Friday night. This is going to be a disaster. Or it's going to be totally awesome. I won't know until Friday.

Here's what I'm mulling:
-The plan was to skim and boil it down on Friday. This should kill the yeast and boil off the carbon dioxide and most of the ethanol that is being produced. Hopefully.
-I could possibly boil it down tonight, though I'm getting home late and leaving early tomorrow morning for a day/nite in Oregon. If I did this, I could assuage my fears by being able to taste the final product, but then I wouldn't sleep much. But who needs sleep when your credibility is on the line?
-If this chili is going to turn out well, why don't more people ferment their soups? Online searching finds a few hippy sites and methods for home distillation. I am not trying to make chili booze here, so this isn't much help...
-It can't be that bad, I only added 2 tsp of molasses and 2 tbsp of brown sugar. Eventually the yeast will run out of food and die, and I can still boil everything else off, although I have no idea what effect the yeast and byproducts will have on the chili. Sour? Umami? It works for bread...
-I wonder why the recipe calls for active dry yeast? Maybe even after 15 tries this guy doesn't know that Brewer's yeast is the type that most people reference when they put yeast in food. Does he mean for it to be alive or dead? I think he meant dead. Why did I assume alive? I wanted to be special! Well now I'll be special! 15 people will know me as the girl who promised chili and couldn't deliver!
-Friday I can make another batch using a less fancy recipe...but then I won't have time to cool it and skim the fat off the top, so it'll be too greasy...

***edit***
I think it'll turn out ok - I tasted it before I left for OR on Thursday and the CO2 was gone, so I think all the yeast is now dead. Going to go home and boil it up tonight before the party - hopefully it won't concentrate the yeast taste...next time I'd add half the yeast.

Thank Goodness for being able to vent the crazy!
***

Off the personal neurosis track, I think we should Nix the Farm Bill. No more corn subsidies!

I have got to be the worst predicter of human interaction ever.

It's so weird when you're good friends with one person, and good friends with another, and they hate each other. Is there a way to predict who is going to like whom? Common interests aside, it's like pulling teeth to get my friends to hang out with each other, and even if they do, friendship certainly isn't additive. I want one of those big, cohesive friend groups. Why is that so hard??? They both cook! They both like the outdoors! THIS is why dating could never be exclusively online...there is NO way to predict chemistry with words and bits and bytes.

Maybe I'm being too nostalgic...but our h.s. crowd gets along so well with each other! We like each other's friends! I didn't realize that's so rare in life. Is being friends with me not enough of a bonding/hardship experience like h.s. or college was? Haahaa, don't answer that.

(BTW Adam - when you get a chance (like, i know, free time grows on trees), do you think you can add My Cage to the funnies?)

Besides moving frantically on the first (furiously avoiding the roommate getting it on with Miss Spanky yet again), the parents visiting and eating fabulously in between unpacking all my shizzit into a tiny place (I thought the fifth mixing bowl quite necessary when I had a big suburban kitchen), and relaxing on Labor day with a S'more Pie for my belated birthday (graham/caramel crust, chocolate icecream, and a big mound of caramelized marshmallow creme on top nummmmmy), this weekend flew by! I'm uber happy with the new place and roommates, though I am so sore after moving all my stuff up 3-4 flights of stairs!

I miss being 25 though. 26 was that line on the timeline when I used to see myself getting married, and as we all know, I have commitment issues. And the whole subscription! (da dum chhh....I've been saving that one for a while. Aren't you Thrilled???) I mean...do you think I could finally make up my mind about the guy I'm dating? Nooooooo....

Anyways...back to endeavoring to be more engaged in my life, my relationships, and my job!

To everyone who's going to be in town for Adam&Nat's wedding: want to grab breakfast at 10am on Saturday? Ali isn't going to be able to make the reception because she's leaving Saturday at noon for an Alaskan cruise with her mom, so we're trying to set up a mini-get together around the bride 'n groom's schedule.

I'm inviting everyone who reads this and more(Grayce, this means you too!). I was thinking my place? Nothing fancy? Karina, if Adria was feeling up to bringing the new baby around that would be awesome! I'm sure there are people that don't read this blog, so if you see this please let them know. I don't quite trust that my contact lists are up to date anymore now that everyone's going and getting married and stuff.

We could also go out to a restaurant, but I kinda figure they'd all be full and $$ and we wouldn't get a chance to visit with everyone anyways.

Remember being too poor to buy things? I remember the first pair of pants that I pulled out of a dumpster...they were awesome! Now it's a "movement" with a "leader" and people that are giving up their corporate whore jobs to do this. I totally agree with the theory, though I'd rather work towards retirement and instead limit the amount of consumerism I indulge in...you know, like a moderate and not a crazy person.

I wonder what the Stanford bins are like...

Austin was awesome. Got to see Riad/Ari/Hippo all in one place, and then hung out with Katie B. Sunday and ate Brisket. Brisket has a flavor, and it is awesome. And Austin is a trip, y'all.

And...it was such nerdy fun to spout I Can Has Cheezburger captions for the weekend! Riad said we all sounded like asians, but whatever, he doesn't have a bucket.

Soooo tired now! And I ate all mah brisket! Sadness.

Just not very successfully. I think I'll get a black one with Brain Age, Nintendogs (Dalmation version w/ german shepard and boxer starter), and Animal Crossing.

What other games do you guys recommend?

I've been reading Jillian's status messages which are actually quotes from some inspirational mindwashing book on running. I think I'm falling for it. Past knowledge of the pain and agony of training and racing is being shed, revealing an inner core of hope, decisiveness and being a dumbass.

Any other girls up for running the Nike Women's Marathon in SF? You get a Tiffany&Co necklace for finishing. I WANT one. Grayce, I'm looking at you. Because you're probably the only other girl that reads this with the right blend of running/consumerism. :) You can crash on my couch!

Oct. '08. Start running! I figure it's the last year I'll be in SF, so it'll be perfect!

Here is a fascinating talk by Marion Nestle, the author of "What to Eat". Goes over portions, supermarkets, and was fun to listen to.