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March 3rd, 2006
Short and sweet. We’ve been called that before, well, once before, and this week certainly revives some old warm feelings we had in that regard. But we have an excuse for an abbreviated version of Portland Picks – one of us moved! And big-time moved, like crazypants, hair-pulling, stressed because we got in the house before our furniture did-type moving. Can you forgive us? In light of our short and sweetness, we offer you some savory Picks to make it worth your while. So enjoy! |
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Portland Picks: |
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| 1 | The Sweet Life We used to have a notepad that read, “Things are getting worse. Please send chocolate.” We need to contact the publishing company and have it amended and reissued tout suite. Now it should say, “Please send Verdun chocolate.” We can’t imagine a sweeter way to ease our troubles than savoring one of Verdun’s exquisitely beautiful and decadent chocolates. You could easily spend an hour in their Pearl District store simply poring over the gorgeous displays – each variety is showcased like a tiny little present, carefully wrapped in come-hither foil…oh, it’s too much! Then you taste one of the little beauties (since we have a penchant for dark chocolate, those are the only ones we’ll consider), and in flavors like Cardamom Gianduja (a hazelnut cream), Marmalade, Biscuit & Caramel, Roasted Coffee Beans, Rice Crisp and about 35 more, we predict years of happiness once we’ve sampled them all. And no worries – there’s milk and white chocolate, and even sugar-free, though we recommend the full-bore Dark Chocolate/Full-Sugar/Coconut & Pistachio Pieces version for a total life-adjustment experience. Verdun Fine Chocolate & Gifts |
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| 2 | Smut Peddlers Yes, Smut! But the best kind, we promise. In fact, it’s not even “smutty” smut, it’s just a cool vintage store off Burnside that specializes in quirky stuff like records (need that Adam Ant from 1982?), clothing and household accessories. This is the kind of smut even your conservative Aunt Matilda would be comfortable with…and that ceramic cat may have even been in her house…hmmm… |
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| 3 | Knit One, Purl Two… We are on a mission to find every yarn shop/knitting hut in this town. Even if we (still!) haven’t learned to do it ourselves, we can’t help but enjoy the imaginings that come to mind when we’re surrounded by skeins and skeins of colorful yarns. Oh, the things we could do with them! And when we do get set up for an all-out Adventure in Knitting (or if you are already), may we recommend the Yarn Garden? They have room after room of the most gorgeous yarns and accoutrements, as well as “workshops to soothe your knitting mind.” The salespeople are extraordinarily helpful, too. They will find out what you want (everything from your favorite colors to how soft you like your wool) and lead you through the store to find exactly what you need to make your knitting dreams come true. And once you’ve collected your loot, you can sign up for one of their many, many classes (from making felted clogs to mitten gloves, baby sweaters and even handbags), and relax with a tea and a treat in their surprisingly stylish tea and coffee nook. In fact, even if you’re not a knitter, it’s worth popping in just to enjoy a hot drink and welcoming ambience. The Yarn Garden |
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| 4 | Down-to-Earth Swank Can it be? We have found our newest home away from home. Just sipping a half-caf skinny latte (Umbria coffee beans) in a hand-painted cup in the bright haven makes us feel svelte, saucy, and silly all at the same time. A Modern Cup and Saucer, this place has everything you need: free wifi, delicioso coffee a la Umbria (from Seattle), minis from Saint Cupcake (ooh! The lite cupcake by virtue of size!), a fluffy rug area for tykes to play, a cornerful of toys, a couple of flat panels that display scenes from nature, professional photographs on exposed brick walls, sky-high ceilings, modernist furniture, and all the expansive space that you require to get your thinking done. Even the kids stuff is to drool over from DWR|Jax. At the northernmost edge of the Pearl, Sydney's sits on the land of the last frontier. With Union Pacific trains chugging along just yards away and sitting amongst formerly unused industrial warehouses, Sydney's has that off-the-beaten path sorta feel.The co-owner tells us his vision for Sydney's – to be a place where people can come and get real. Seriously. Forget about all the distractions in life. Come here, sip good coffee, connect with people, take in the art, soak up sun streaming in through the glass roll-ups. It's hot. Like fire. The most beautiful thing about this place is that we could saunter in, mildly hung-over, with our slept-in coiffed-up hair, in our lazy-day sweats, and staff will still serve up your java juice as if you were the most Diva of them all. Their mantra: "Integrity. Honesty. Excellence." Words to live by. Look good, drink well, and love life. Sydney's 1800 NW 16th Ave. Portland, OR 97209 |
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| 5 | Frankly Scarlet |
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| 6 | Soooo Sofada |
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| 7 | Delish D-Dish |
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| 8 | Caffeinated Dreams We always have a bottle of water in our hands. Okay, a bottle of water or a Red Bull. But now, guess what? We can have our water and caffeine in one! One genius fellow in our town has created Potenza, caffeine-laden h2o that’s achieving quite a buzz, so-to-speak. |
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| 9 | Dessert That Helps You Lose Weight! Just kidding. But believe it or not, some of us are still tenaciously clinging to our New Year's resolution of losing a few pounds. (Well, we’re thinking about it…) So, you may think visiting a swanky bakery would not be the best solution to our love-handle woes. However, Bakery Bar has such lovely looking pastries that it's almost like visiting a museum of sugary art. You could (theoretically) visit and just enjoy the view. But, of course, using our sense of taste, not sight, is really what bakeries are all about. Okay – so maybe we can splurge. Just a little. Breakfast and lunch specials at Bakery Bar include scones, coffee cake, soups, salads, and grilled sandwiches. For dessert, try one of the many types of scrumptious cupcakes or a fantastic petits fours. If you are new to the world of petits - think “little.” As in little size and littler calories (but no less small in taste). The Bakery Bar's specialty is fast becoming the cakes for two, which are 4-inch four-layer cakes that are extremely cute. You can enjoy them with a cup of the house coffee, courtesy of the oh-so-yummy Stumptown Roasters. A good cup of Joe with your dessert magically cuts the calories in half. Right? (Feel free to email in with corroborating evidence of our hypothesis). They also do beautiful regular-sized cakes for special occasions such as weddings, birthdays, or the "I just got dumped and want to eat a whole cake by myself" kind of days (although we recommend inviting lots of friends over anyway so as to share the calories and have many shoulders to cry on). If you still feel guilty after a great meal and dessert, you can always take a long walk on the Eastbank Esplanade and enjoy a lovely view of downtown Portland. Bakery Bar |
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| iTunes Playlist of the Week: Sexy Love Songs | |||
| In light of post-Valentine’s day, a holiday we think is frankly for the malls, we have a sexy song list for you. We don’t honor V-Day much personally because we think there ought to be lots of love the other 364 days of the year. So that said, here’s our sexy play list. Mix it up and dim the lights. Oh my....
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Hip Happenings: |
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| 1 | Look, Feel & Party Like a Star! The Lippman Company, Portland’s largest locally owned party store, has everything you need to accessorize your party, your home, and yourself for your Oscar night soiree on Sunday, March 5. They are staying open late on Friday, March 3 until 11 p.m. for last minute Academy Awards shoppers – just follow the giant spotlights in the sky!!! Their realistic Oscar replica statues are the must-have item for Academy Awards night. You can engrave them and award them to your guests or use them to hold some clapboard or Hollywood balloons. The Lippman Co. has also stocked up on everything you need to host a night of glitz and glamour from Hollywood- and film-themed decorations and tableware to boas, movie star shades, and other accessories that will help you look and feel like a star. If you plan to go all-out for your bash, they also rent real red carpets and stanchions with velvet ropes to make your guests feel truly special as they arrive. As always, you will find a wide array of other unique party supplies in the rest of the store to complement your Hollywood theme.
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  lippmancompany.com |
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| 2 | Street of Eames Modern Home Tour Street of Eames is Portland's first modern home tour. It's named after Charles and Ray Eames, the husband-and-wife iconic designers known for their modern works in architecture and furniture from the 1940s to the 1970s. This new citywide cultural event celebrates Portland's mid-century and contemporary modern gems, many of which have never been open to the public before. Sponsored by Windermere Real Estate and the Portland chapter of the American Institute of Architects, the tour is raising money to maintain an award-winning after-school program for public elementary school students who live in the downtown homeless shelters. The tour features the ultra-modern Belmont Lofts and Ann Sacks' penthouse, as well as influential mid-century designs by Pietro Belluschi, James Van Evera Bailey, Herman Brookman and Joe Eichler-era builder Robert Rummer. This one-day, self-guided tour runs from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, April 8. Tickets are $30. They are only available in advance and only available online at www.streetofeames.org. Related events include a free First Thursday kick-off reception from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Pearl District Design Within Reach studio, 1200 N.W. Everett St. |
 streetofeames.org |
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| 3 | Warm Up Your Winter with a Night at the Heathman Hotel The historic Heathman Hotel, Portland’s premier, full-service luxury hotel and a property often looked to for the best Portland has to offer, invites guests to fight off Old Man Winter with a change of scenery and a variety of packages to suit any mood. From a girls-only weekend of pampering, to exploring the city, its arts and its legendary culinary scene, there is a package at The Heathman Hotel to help make Punxsutawney Phil’s six more weeks of winter fly by. Our fave: Girls’ Night Out All packages are based on availability and can be booked by calling 800.551.0011, or by logging on to The Heathman’s newly redesigned Web site at www.heathmanhotel.com. |
 heathmanhotel.com |
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| 4 | Balvo Makes Us Happy And their new happy hour makes us even happier. Now we can loiter from coffee to cocktails. Balvo is our new coffee hangout and our favorite place to grab a cup of Joe. (We especially love their Bicerin!) Well now, for the icing on the cake, or shall we say the cream in the coffee, Balvo has a new happy hour menu, and it just debuted this week. "Ora Contenta" is available seven days a week from 4-6 p.m., and from 10 p.m. till close. They are serving a limited, discounted menu for food and drinks. Drinks include all draft beer at $2.50, specialty cocktails for $5, well drinks for $4, and a ½-liter carafe of wine for $10. We’ll drink to that. |
 Balvo Caffe Menu.pdf |
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| 5 | Do Good...Look Good 77 (our fave salon) is having a promotion, selling their 10 oz. cans of Rusk W8Less Plus to benefit Locks of Love and NCA Disaster Relief Fund for Katrina which are the beneficiaries of this years 21st Annual Beauty Ball. If all cans are sold it amounts to a total of $5,000.00 to benefit victims. This fabulous hairspray can be purchased at: 77 For more information on locks of love visit www.locksoflove.org and for more information of NCA disaster relief fund/katrina visit www.probeautycares.org. |
 probeautycares.org |
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So next week we’ll be back in action, filling your calendar once again with a long and detailed list of fun and fantastic things to do. Until then, be sure and hit the places we mentioned this week – they’re all extremely worthy of your patronage. After all, they’re Portland Picks! xoxo |
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