Garments for You

We discovered the cutest wee little store today.  It's only been open three weeks.  It may be a small space, but it's efficiently filled with BIG fashion.  Every thing they sell is locally made and beautifully designed.  We only wish it were our own big walk-in closet and everything in it was ours, all ours.  

They carry recycled fashion, sun dresses, strapless tops, and custom corsets. Resurrected couture, bold, vibrant, delightful skirts, hand made retro-inspired silk panties, hand-dyed slips, great jewelry and accessories.  They have the cutest kicky cropped pants, and soon they'll be carrying a line of vintage painted shoes.  Plus even the shelving is locally, artfully designed, and the local pin-up art on the walls is a natural fit with the whole style of the place.  We loved everything in it!

Check them out at their Grand Opening May 6th, from 5-9 p.m., and tell them Portland Picks sent you.

Garment Boutique
4136 SE Hawthorne Blvd.
Portland, OR  97214
503.232.7441
www.garmentboutique.com

Sweet Tootsies

We don’t always have time for a pedicure, but we always seem to find the time for shopping (well, duh).  But now we can multitask!  There is the most fabulous new shoe store in town, Tootsies, that opened Saturday.

We love Tootsies. We want to kiss Tootsies. And guess what? We can go there, buy one or ten pairs of shoes (We LOVED them ALL) and then, get this, we can get a pedicure too!  That is what we call multi-tasking.  And it makes so much sense, doesn't it?  It's genius.  Why didn't we think of this?

Tootsies, the new store on Northwest 23rd, carries shoes from designers like Kors, BCBG, Laundry, Pink, Cynthia Rowley, Betsey Johnson and oodles more.  Every day they get new shoes in....a minimum of 200 shoes at a time.  They also carry belts and handbags to die for.   And with the spa-worthy pedicure....it's the bomb!

And their motto: Affordable and Adorable.  That's going to be our new motto too!

Tootsies
820 NW 23rd Avenue
Portland
503.222-0228

Art + Design

Our kids get new Nike running shoes and they are convinced with certainty that they are able to magically run faster, jump higher, frankly fly...because of the shoes.  And, like that but way different, we think that if we had all the professional art supplies, we would surely be artists with gobs of talent. And then we'd have an opening, a first Thursday somewhere, and although our paintings would be awfully child-like (we'd dub it "primitive art") people would think we meant to do that, and they'd go for hundreds, maybe thousands of dollars each.  All this because of the cool tools.

If only we had a muse.  Everyone should really have one.  Then we would be inspired, artistic, able to create a masterpiece, surely.  Well lucky for us, and you, we have found our muse.  That is, Muse Art and Design.   It’s the store for all the cool tools we need to get our creativity bubbling.  

Muse carries every state-of-the-art (no pun intended) tool, brush, paint, pencil, paper…everything! They feature local art on the walls.  They even have a sweet little resource library for some of us that need a little/lotta guidance.  And get this, they have Sketch Book walks.  It sounds so romantic, walking around the city on a warm spring day, sketchbook in hand, inspired by the surroundings.  For sure we would be so good at this, and that parking meter might be beautiful in a sketch.  Check them out and get inspired.  Isn't it time you found your Muse?

Muse Art + Design
4224 SE Hawthorne Blvd
Portland, Oregon 97215
503.231.8704
www.museartanddesign.com

Mom Wants a Laptop Tote for Mother's Day!

Be prepared, so many holidays sneak up on us, and this one is a biggie. You need gifts for mothers, mothers-in-law, friends who are mothers, even something cute and gifty for yourself - this holiday is easy to manage if you prepare, and a whopper of an apology is in order if you procrastinate.

And trust us, we’ve procrastinated. We’ve also learned  that we’re officially too old to present Mama with a paper plate adorned with spray-painted macaroni, glitter, and the words, “I love you!” Yes, we have tried. No, it was not well-received.

So this year we’re heading down to Dana Lynn’s on Northwest 23rd to get a gorgeous Clark & Mayfield laptop tote - with four collections and tons of colors you are sure to please!  If your mom is a corporate bigwig (or just likes to dress like one), we highly recommend a Clark & Mayfield laptop tote. Even if she only uses her computer to send emails to you, her darling child, she will turn heads with a luxurious laptop tote.

We love these as practical gift idea (any time of year). But now before the holiday hits, we have time, precious time, to pick one up. So if we see a little saucy something for ourselves, and we’re not actually purchasing it on the actual holiday, that doesn’t make us bad kids, does it?

Clark & Mayfield
West Linn, Oregon
www.clarkandmayfield.com

See You at Wigland

There is this cool store on Hawthorne called Wigland, and, no fooling, it truly is a land of wigs.  And we've decided since our visit that we want to bring wigs back in style, all the way back.  Wigs rule.  These are all real hair and really hip (and not so hip) styles.  And it's just the solution if you didn't wash your hair.  Forgo the baseball cap and slip on a wig.  

"Today I feel like being a brunette, tonight a long Farrah blonde, tomorrow I'll go with a fro."  A wig for every mood.  They have hair pieces too that are totally natural, they just add a little poof and pizzazz to what you already have, and no one is the wiser.  It works especially well when you go out at night.  We were so popular in our wigs the other eve at our bowling party.  They added an element of fun to the night and made us just a little crazier.  We were someone else.  

As my friend Stef says at her adorable wig shop, Madame Bouffant, "Life is short, wear more hair."  Think that'll be our motto, too.

Wigland
1011 NE Broadway
Portland
503.282.1664

Hive: That Stings!

In the groovy, swinging pad in our mind, we have hanging beads in lieu of doors, lava lamps for lighting, and all kinds of interesting seating.  There's the glove chair that makes us feel very petite in King Kong's palm, and the Ball Chair that makes us feel like Mork in our egg.  Every ultra-modern cool piece of furniture and home accessory in our pad is a wonderland of time-tested iconic modern design.  But how do we fulfill this fantasy? How do we complete our crazy crib?  Where do we get this funky stuff?  Well now we know.  Check out hive for your home.  

From humble beginnings fueled primarily on inspiration, hive has grown to inhabit its own free-standing building in the Pearl District.  hive has been noted in national magazines such as Dwell, Index, In Style, Lucky and Western Interiors magazines.  They are here for you, the savvy design enthusiast...bringing the rare and unusual plus time-tested icons of design directly to you.  Their manifesto is this: to share the joys of Good Design while providing value and excellence in service to their patrons.  You might get hooked, but you won't get stung.

For your pad, your crib, your pied-a-terre…there's hive.

Hive
820 NW Glisan St.
Portland OR 97209
503.242.1967
www.hivemodern.com

One Park that’s Safe after Dark

So, we had a friend in town last weekend who was willing to spring for dinner at someplace super-trendy. We started thinking grandiose thoughts of complicated dinners and wearing spike heels, ordering multiple cocktails, taking cabs home, even flirting with boys! Then we felt a little bad. Maybe we should just keep it low-key so we can chat and connect. Maybe a diner? A barbecue joint? Pizza?
 
Then we realized, “Snap out of it! Free dinner…hello?!?” So we chose Park Kitchen as our dinner destination. We dined at the cool-looking copper bar, since the place was still full at 9 p.m., and the whole vibe – though citified and upscale – was also welcoming and warm – we talked to the servers, we talked to other diners, we ate and drank and ate and ate. Oh, it was heaven!
 
So here’s your mission: go to Park Kitchen and order these items, so you can be just like us: chickpea fries with pumpkin ketchup (you’ll never eat taters again), a “salad” of flank steak with blue cheese, parsley and sherried onions (or take this home & put it on a sandwich), and roasted beets with oranges, goat cheese and toasted-almond tahini (no words, people, no words). And tell them Portland Picks sent you!
 
Park Kitchen
422 NW 8th
Portland, OR 97209
503.223.7275

Say Goodbye with Dignity

Designer Spotlight: DB Clay Wallets

We keep seeing these wallets everywhere, in all our favorite stores: Relish, Same Underneath, Johnny Sole, Redux, et al.  These wallets are so cool, made by none other than DB Clay, the hard-working brain-child of creative artist Garett Croft Stenson, who lives right here in Portland.  

We love Garett.  Garett is a bloody workaholic with ties to insanity + brilliance.  He's made over 30,000 wallets by hand and still continues to push on with large dreams and cutting-edge products.  Garett is from a family of 10 kids, is the son of an architect, and his mom, Kerry, is the craftiest lady on the planet.  She raised this boy well and she deserves all the credit.  His knack for design stems from his childhood, and his inspiration stems from those he's now surrounded with.  He has taken his hand-made crafts to the next level by involving cohorts with similar mindset.  He thinks big and in his mind, he says, he has "reached the point of no return.”  Says Garrett, “I am very into what I do and I'm excited to see where all this goes."  

We especially lurv the Great Wall of Vinyl from the 2006, Material Series.  This wallet is a full image transfer directly applied to the black gaffer’s tape canvas. This image was captured in Portland by Garett, where he found this material in the crawl space of a historic record shop in Chinatown.

Greater things have definitely been built, but this wallet isn't bad.

www.dbclay.com

Compliments of SoLo Bar, these saucy songs are just some that can be heard while you're sipping at this new swanky hot spot. (We love their music!)

• Look Where We Are Now
  Teddy Geiger
• I wanted to tell you
  Matthew Sweet
• Brighter Than Sunshine
  Aqualung
• Could I Be Your Girl
  Jann Arden
• Golddigger
  Supreme Beings of Leisure
• Paper Bag
  Anna Nalick
• Bohemian Like You
  The Dandy Warhols
• How Come
  Ray LaMontagne
• A Tale of Love
  Shirley Bassie
• Get Your Way
  Jamie Cullum
• Sittin Back
  Res
• Let Me Down Easy
  Chris Isaak
• Prettiest Thing
  Norah Jones
• L.O.V.E
  Fisher
• Mayor of Your Town
  Leona Naess

Bag 2 Bag

We have a large handbag collection and change purses like most people change their undies.  The problem is, frequently panic-stricken, we tend to lose our driver’s license, or credit card’ or best lip gloss, until we realize they are in one of the other bags we last used.   But now there's Bag 2 Bag...a genius concept made in Portland.  You keep all your stuff in this little bag...your cell phone, wallet, everything...and simply transfer this bag from purse to purse.

These are available at Fuchsia, Moxie, 77, Dolce Vita Pearl, and Fashion Nails in Lake Oswego, or email bag2bag@gmail.com

Fabby Gabby

If only we could get away with wearing tutus, at our age.  But would people be scared if suddenly we traipsed around in tulle and pink leotards?  Probably.  We did just put in a ballet bar, but that was more of a stretching thing.  Though we can live vicariously and buy tutus for all the baby girlies in our lives.  Oh and we will.  Especially now that we've discovered Fabby Gabby.

These are so cute, so adorable…they’re enough to make you pirouette.

www.fabbygabby.com

Your Newest Full-Time Job

Cup-A-Cake

Surely you’ve noticed— the cupcake rage has hit every city across the country!  From Portland's Saint Cupcake, to Magnolia Bakery in New York City and Sprinkles in Beverly Hills, cupcakes are irresistible and whimsical desserts to celebrate any event or simply satisfy your sweet tooth.  There’s even a National Cupcake Day on December 15!  

To transport your cupcake cuties, The Container Store, natch, introduces the Cup-A-Cake Container. With the Cup-A-Cake, our customers you can transport your favorite chic treat anywhere you’re headed—disaster-free! Whoever invented this obviously has a lot of time on their hands, but we are grateful.  Thanks!

We Love Mother

Show momma how much she means to you.  Whether it's Mother Earth or the woman who always knows best, celebrate all she does for you.

 P.S. Happy Mother's Day!

www.oliveandbettes.com

Pamper Your Mother at Skamania Lodge

…by treating her to the Queen for the Day Mother’s Day Getaway Package! This fabulous treat is available May 13 and 14 only, and space is limited, so make your reservations now for a Mother’s Day gift that is hard to top!
 
The package includes:

• One night lodging at Skamania Lodge~
• Tiara & red rose upon arrival~
• River Rock drink coupon~
• Sunday Brunch credit for two in the Cascade Room~
• $50 credit in the Waterleaf Spa~
• Gift Book~

Make your reservations now!
Package prices start at just $289*
 
Book online at: www.skamania.com
Promo Code: QUEEN
Or call 1.800.221.7117
 
* Rates valid for a Forest View guestroom. Rates do not include taxes, gratuity or Lodge fees.

Other getaways are available, too - check www.skamania.com

UrbanMamas Day 2006

Saturday May 13th10 am - 2 pm

We're thrilled to be able to host urbanMamas Day 2006, our first annual celebration of all things [urban]Mama! On the same weekend as Mother's Day, we hope to meet new friends, reconnect with other mamas, enjoy one another's company, lounge in the comfortable community space Milagros' Family Room, and - most of all - connect with other mamas and their families.

We'll provide the Delphina's breakfast treats, Milagros is graciously providing their Family Room and the Kobos coffee, and you all will provide the urbanMama community that we love so much.

We have some goodie bags in the works, and if you'd like to share with the urbanMama community, just email!

So far, our bundles of fun include:

• treats from Portland Picks
• gift certificates for the much-drooled-over Mama & Papa Calling Cards at Event Bliss
• gift cards for services by Amy McMullen Photography
• bath & body potions, plus gift certificates for nail, hair, & skin services, compliments of Madeline Roosevelt.
• BellyBars: nutrition for before, after & during pregnancy.
  

Crave Urban Bus Adventure

• When: 10 a.m., Saturday, May 20
• Where: Sydney's Cafe
  1800 NW 16th Ave.
  Portland, OR 97209
  featuring Girls, Inc.

Come spend the day and experience the city, fashionista-style.  Join us Saturday, May 20th for the Ultimate Girlfriend Adventure!

You will visit one-of-a kind boutiques and specialty shops—each one a hidden gem!  A small fee of $45 includes lunch, wine (if you’re over 21), special treats at each of our stores and a Crave Goody Bag.  Fabulous Crave Spa Services (think Indian Head Massage) on the bus while we travel between locations. Amazing Crave Savings and deals at our select stores! SPECIAL VIP PACKAGE available with your own personal shopper—call us to find out more at 503.226.2377.

Gather your friends together and reserve your spot today!
 
www.craveportland.com
Space is limited, so don't delay.

Ronald McDonald House Charities

You are invited to a benefit fashion show for the Ronald McDonald House Charities this Sunday, May 7th, at the Portland Art Museum Grand Ballroom.

Also featuring a Designer Trunk show (free admission) in the Sunken Ballroom from 2-5pm

The Fashion show will highlight 30 local designers & 40 models, 6-8pm in the Grand Ballroom, tickets $15 - $25.00 each

All proceeds benefit the Ronald McDonald House charities

For more information, please visit  itzmeagain.com/fourseasonsshow.htm