Elephants

Elephants has made its long anticipated move to its new home on NW 22nd and this was worth the wait. Elephants has been a leader in the catering business as long as we can remember (yeah, way back when we were in high school when we, he he he, worked there). They are an icon in this town. And now they are even bigger and better, a swanky seduction of the senses!

Now here’s what you do. Pay them a visit and pick out tonight’s dinner (okay, that’s done). And while you are there, check out their fabulous gifts and house wares, the cozy little bar serving antipasto plates and great drinks, the divine and delectable pastry section, fine wine and cheeses. Take a peek at their new Garden Room for your next soiree, elegant and easy entertaining. Anytime you are asked to bring dessert or dinner, just pop into Elephant’s and pick up something just perfect for your perfect impression....and then, naturally, pass it off as your own.

Pay them a visit! You’ll be so delighted you did.

Authentic Italian Daily Dining: Eat, Drink and Stay Awhile

Ahhhh back in the good ‘ol days! When Torrefazzione wasn’t a Starbucks and Italians poured onto its sidewalks on those evenings when the sun never seemed to set! That was as close to Italy as we get in Portland. Take heart, those days are not gone! Paolo Parilli, the original founder of Torrefazione, displays his Italian heritage by creating the perfect cappuccino, a penchant for interior design, and vinophilia generating a true, hedonistic experience right in the Pearl!

Throw on your Seven jeans, a long, skinny silk scarf, a dab of Mac Lip Glass, and you are transported to the Piedmont region in this Portland, casual-chic dining experience. Do not, I repeat, DO NOT forget to stop by on your way on Saturday morning for that perfect cappuccino to set your day straight! Oh, and the wait staff are all eye-candy, too!

Café Allora
hours: M-Sat. 7 AM – 10 PM
504 NW 9th Ave.
www.caffeallora.com

Psst....hey, c’mere. For all your hippy needs, get Lucky! Lucky Brand on Northwest 23rd is your one-stop shopping for all your bohemian bourgeois threads.

From tie-dye bikinis, tunics, distressed jeans and skirts, dangly earrings and suede-fringed bags, Lucky has everything you need to complete your flower child style.

Unleash your free-to-be-you side in style!

How Does Your Garden Grow

The Paper Garden

Just around the corner, off Northeast Broadway, is the Paper Garden. This garden is lush and blooming with all kinds of gorgeous invitations, stationery, baby gifts, photo albums, soaps and clever girlfriend gifts. The radiant splashes of color draw you into a yummy store filled with all things girly and good.

From great totes and diaper bags, lush cotton jammies, bright photo albums, and a wide selection of fun invitations and cards, you will never send a dull note again. They also carry a large number of unique pieces from Portland area designers (like Posh Baby!). When you’re meandering around Northeast Broadway, grab a latte and scoot around the corner.

The Paper Garden makes your paper dreams come true, stationary that is never stationary!

Hey Lady, you Rock!

Rock and Roll Camp

Instead of the traditional book group, we’ve always had this fantasy of being in a garage band. Okay, so we can’t play an instrument, but we think we could probably pull it off (remember Milli Vanilli). Maybe a little training and costume advice is in order to give us that little boost.

If you share our dream and you think you might wanna rock out and write songs with other ladies, there’s a very cool Ladies Rock Camp coming up. You can fulfill your dream and then perform live! You can be a rock star and play a big knock-down, drag-out, sweaty show for friends and fans, showing them how spectacular you are. You can do this, all while helping raise money for the Rock 'n' Roll Camp for Girls scholarship fund (which promotes independence and positive self-expression through music education).

Ladies Rock Camp dates:
April 15-17, 2005

See you there, and until then, keep practicing, keep those calluses tough, and keep day dreaming of the applause as you walk on stage. Release your inner rock goddess!

Lobella

We’re the first to admit we’re all about fluff and flowers. If we can’t say anything nice, we fight to not say it at all. We are sugar and spice, that’s for sure. And we hope that’s why you find us so refreshing. We at Portland Picks don’t want to talk about politics, or war, or anything you might find on MSNBC. We don’t pretend to be something we are not. After all, if that’s what you’re after you can read it in the Oregonian, listen to it on Rush, or find it in Willamette Week. To everything there is a season, and all that. But beyond the fluff and fashion, we do try and empower you, and bring things to the fore that will allow you to be the best you can be! And in the Oprah-esque fashion that we adore, we have Lobella Inside & Out.

Welcome to Lobella Inside & Out

Join women, like yourself, for a special 3-day weekend to relax, rejuvenate and rediscover your radiant beauty, inside and out. Lobella women celebrate their true selves. You are not what you do, you are not merely someone’s spouse, you are not defined by task or relation… You are a creation unto yourself, filled with energy, presence and contribution. You will refresh your true self in the safety and companionship of women just like you.

About Lobella Inside & Out

Lobella Inside and Out, created by women for women, is a 3-day intimate getaway set in the elegant and richly appointed Fifth Avenue Suites. At last, you can sincerely take time to celebrate and pamper yourself and the enriching qualities of being a woman.

This Lobella Event includes an extraordinary spa experience at Aequis, rated one of America's best spas according to Portland Pick’s and others like CitySearch.com. If you are seeking true renewal and bliss, the Aequis Spa retreat will jumpstart your journey to serenity, balance and well-being. As you reconnect to the joy-filled woman you truly are, specialists will offer you a hair consultation and cut. Your outer beauty will also be enlivened with a tender and supporting make-up/eyebrow and facial consultation.

Naturally, you'll learn about clothing expression and style to provide you with a positive, personal interpretation of your feminine self. Lobella Inside and Out offers additional inspiring speakers covering topics from health intuition, energy and nutrition to spirit and intention. This will be a weekend with the girls which can create some lasting changes in your life.

This is a weekend reserved to expand your life! How can you possibly choose to be anywhere else? You deserve this, you’ve earned this and you’ve waited long enough.

And that's not all: A special offer to our Portland Picks readers; Bring your girlfriend and receive 2 for the price of one through March 14th.

For More Information about this amazing “trip” log onto
www.lobella.com

A little color....a lot of style.

We LOVE it when the UPS man comes to visit. We clap our hands, squeal, jump up and down and run to greet him. We are fairly certain he thinks we have the hots for him and is feeling quite lucky with his route through the intersection of Stepford and Wisteria Lane, but really he’s just like Santa. It’s just the gifts we’re after.

Well, yesterday was like Christmas again. We opened up a box to find THREE gorgeous, classic, bright, vintage inspired handbags, handbags you will adore too! We simply had to PICK them. Okay, it helps if she’s a friend and sorority sister from another lifetime, our hip trendoid friend, Amy. Her groovy belts can be seen in magazines like In Style and around town on Who’s Who and sold at Meringue. But now she’s expanded her line to include amazing handbags as well. They are so new, you can only get them online at the moment, but we’re hoping one of our Portland boutiques will be carrying them soon.

Best to grab them now and be a trendsetter! Thank you, Amy! Oh, and thank you, UPS Man (can’t wait to see you tomorrow)!

“Stella!......Stella!”

“This collection is for women who take both their sport and style seriously. Why should we sacrifice one for the other?” Stella McCartney

Shoes, yoga mat, running and fitness clothes with finesse. We need these. We covet them. The new Stella McCartney collection for Adidas. We’ve been waiting for you!

Coo!

We discovered “You’re Such a Baby,” a new website and store from Los Angeles that offers baby and toddler everyday gear and truly unique gifts (also, just added: women's and house wares) with a fresh take on vintage-inspired design.

These clever items can be found in several high end boutiques in the Los Angeles area, and some can be found at Portland’s Retread Threads.

Remember Spirographs in the 70s? You’re Such a Baby has “Spirographics” t-shirts for women. They are so groovy, and remind us of our horse and buggy days, the groovy days of Spin Art, and Light Brights, we love them!

And be sure to check out their hat box gift sets for baby, twins, and triplets even. They are the most unique gifts you can find for baby. There’s the Movie Kids box for the little Hollywood movers and shakers, the cowboy hat filled with vintage cowboy t’s and bibs, and the other retro suitcases filled to the brim with quality goodies for baby. “You’re such a baby” has you all covered.

Sold at
Retread Threads
931 SW Oak St.
503.916.0000
retreadthreads.com

Check out Petite Pirouette for tutus in 41 colors. These make us melt (and tempt us to “try for that little girl”)

Petite Pirouette...Because life is a little more fun in a tutu!

Frustrated with push-up bras on the market and going from one department store to another, Bita Saviss found herself buying push-up bras that didn’t give her the full look she desired, or the comfort she needed.

The 24-year old USC graduate got to work and made it her business to create a bra that gave her a full cleavage, while providing comfort all day.

After many prototypes and insuring a perfect fit of each size, the birth of the patented Lavand Distraction Bra; guaranteed to add 2 full-cups (!), while providing a natural look (!!) and all-day comfort. Look like a million bucks without the permanent commitment. You are guaranteed to be a very nice distraction!

Lavand Distraction Bra can be purchased at www.BitaSaviss.com and at various boutiques. For a boutique near you contact shop@bitasaviss.com

First there was the spring head fake....weeks of shorts and tanks, chirping birds, and confused little flower buds. We should have known it wouldn’t last. In a strange twist of events, we fantasized that the earthquake from the tsunami shifted the earth’s axis just a smidge. All our perpetual rain was sent South and their perpetual sun came here. Future meteorologists would puzzle this wacky trick of Mother Nature, though we wouldn’t be complaining. As payback, we’ll probably have to endure rain through August. Oh well, such is life in Oregon, the not so terrible suffering to live in this Shangri-La.

To make it just a little easier, add a little sunshine to your life with this Spring "Must-Have." This beautiful orchid is hand fitted onto pink suede. The ends of the lariat necklace are accentuated with rose quartz and rhodolite garnet gemstones secured with sterling silver wire. The flowers are picked when they have reached their optimum beauty and then poly-resin coated to completely preserve the vitality of the living flower for eternity. Something we need to hold us over until those little flower buds rear their pretty little heads.

The Chick Game.com

We’re not saying you need too much prodding to get the dirt dishing but to help cut to the chase and ensure quality drivel, The Chick Game, will get the party started. The Chick Game will help you reminisce about old boyfriends, crushes, breakups, scandal, all things girly and shameless. This game is hilarious entertainment at your next Girl’s Night In.

It also makes the perfect hostess gift for grown up girl slumber parties, showers, bachelorette parties and girl’s night out. Don’t leave home without it.

Remember our oft chanted motto: delegate, delegate, delegate.

Yes, even when it comes to your ipod, let someone else do the dirty work. How about a mixpert that will create an audiostiles compilation just for you? You’re already cool. You know what you like. Just tell these guys, and wha-lah, extended cool factor with these play lists of your dreams.

Just let them know what kind of music you prefer and what you’d like to add to your wish list, pay just $35 an hour for the programming time plus a $15 itunes fee, and these Stile masters will customize play lists just for you and your beloved ipod that will keep you jiggin and jivin’ for hours.

They will broaden the scope of your music, keep you current, contemporary, find the obscure, and blend it all together. Urban, rock, folk, hip-hop, country, world, blues, jazz, pop, ‘50’s, ‘90’s - you set the parameters. The possibilities are endless....and others will covet your tunes. Yes siree, you continue to astonish! You are still cool down to your ipod. “How does she ever do it? ”

Heading somewhere warm for spring break?

The Gap has the cutest bikinis just in time for your spring vacation, suits to flatter every shape. In bright geometric shapes, and mix and match candy colors, in tie-dye, florals or feminine ruffles.

This season you’ll see a lot of boy fit bikinis. The low-rise boyfit shorts are so sexy and slimming and stunning. You’ll be the hit on the beach with these sexy suits, many of which are on sale.

Now get shopping little missy, and while you’re at it, don’t forget the hat! You need to love it and live in it, honey, to preserve that beautiful flawless face of yours.

Now you’ve got your sexy new bikini, your sunhat, and you’re covered head to toe in spf 45. You may be just another pretty face, but you, dear friend, are no dummy. You know you need to protect yourself from those feisty rays, stave off sun damage and skin cancers and preserve your youthful radiance. But let’s not go crazy. You like to be tan. You feel skinnier in a tan. And what good is going on vacation when you have to come back as Oregonian white as when you left. You want a return on your investment naturally. You want people to know you’ve gone somewhere sunny for cryin’ out loud. Cursed are those days gone by when you could freely bake in the sun until you sizzled, coated in Baby Oil! Who knew cooking yourself for 8 hours on end until you were blistered and nauseous was bad for you?!

Well remember our motto girls: Fake it! Yes, that’s right. Pretend if you must. Life’s an illusion anyway. And for a great fake, you can be tan, seductive and strong with Glamazon, Benefit’s liquid bronzing tint. Brush it on cheeks, forehead & nose and blend for a soft, rosy, natural glowing tan that lasts all day and looks jungle-inspired.

Our new favorite book is How I paid for College (A Novel of Sex, Theft, Friendship & Musical Theater) by Marc Acito. You won’t be able to put it down. It’s about a New Jersey high school student struggling with his sexuality and in conflict with his father about secondary education.

His dad wants him to study business, but he wants to go to Julliard and study theater. This is a curl-up-with-coffee-no-cellphones-page-turning-stop-only-to-keep-from-peeing-your-pants-hilarious novel! The movie rights have been snatched up already! Check out the animated narration excerpt from the novel on his site.

It’s hilarious! Marc is hailed as “the gay Dave Berry!” Marc is a local celebrity, too. He holds workshops in conjunction with Powell’s Books for fledgling writers.

Medium, starring Patricia Arquette, Jake Weber, Miguel Sandoval & April Grace (Mondays on NBC; check your local listings)

If you’ve been wondering where Patricia Arquette’s been in the last ten years, you’d be right if you guessed: a) married and divorced from Nicholas Cage AND b) now VERY together with hunky Thomas Jane and their baby girl, Harlow. Sure, she may have taken some time off to do the family thing, but we’re thrilled she’s back in this fascinating new drama on NBC Mondays.

Based on real-life medium Allison Dubois, Arquette plays, you guessed it, Allison Dubois! Dubois, a mother of three struggling with managing a home with her husband Joe, ‘discovers’ a gift she probably always knew she had…she can see and hear dead people. As an intern for the local D.A.’s office, Dubois embarks on assisting local law enforcement (as well as the Texas Rangers) solve crimes that were previously unsolvable. The radiant Arquette shines as a woman who is just as confused as those around her when she pinpoints locations of bodies and nabs the perpetrator after conversations with the deceased. Weber, as Joe Dubois, is perfectly cast as the amused and supportive husband (who’s also a rocket scientist!) who accompanies her on this strange journey. If the first few episodes are any indication, tune in Mondays for one of the season’s best freshman shows and a bright future for Arquette on the small screen

This week we are featuring a classic cocktail from a very important organization: The Founding Chapter of Ladies United for the Preservation of Endangered Cocktails (otherwise known as LUPEC) Check out their site for a whole list of traditional cocktails as well as their personal and humorous review of each.

Violet Fizz

1 jigger Dry Gin
1 teaspoon Raspberry Syrup
1 teaspoon Cream
Juice 1/2 Lemon.

Directions: Shake well with ice and strain into glass. Fill up with Soda Water, serve with a swizzle. You know when a recipe calls for a jigger, you are in for one heck of a beverage!

These LUPEC ladies and their site are dedicated to “the Gin Fizz, the Widow's Kiss, and the Singapore Sling – the drinks our mothers and grandmothers drank, the drinks we strive to save from extinction as a small measure of remembering those great women and their great cocktail parties.”

Check out their site where you can find incredibly important information about those cocktails, as well as their history and the rituals, barware and hors d'oeuvres that accompanied them.

Now remove the pineapple chunk from your cocktail, raise your glass, and drink to their memory! Up in ya!

• Pretty in pink glamorous dresses
• Nautical accents (ala Spongebob?)
• Bangles, bangles, bangles
• Ballerina-inspired shirts, skirts & flats
• Peek-a-boo toes in pumps
• Big, chunky knit scarves
• Floral adorned enamel necklaces --- think romantic!
• The caftan (remember mom?)
• Shirt-dresses…dress them up or down. We love Ralph Lauren’s classy takes
• Wedge-heels in boots and sandals-ultra-feminine
• Lockets and pocket-watches
• African-inspired jewelry, shoes…you name it! Think bold and bright!
• Plunging necklines in dresses, knits & blouses
• Showing off your natural wave
• Floppy Hats and Fedoras (beware: sun)
• Champagne on the Rocks (in tumblers)
• Headbands
• Bowls of Old-Fashioned Sweets in place of flowers at a dinner party
• Bohemian Jeans – distressed, embroidered, sequence.
• White Tanks

This is just the beginning of an exciting season
full of color, texture and shine!!

Are you planning a Winter or Spring Break beach vacation?
We also now carry the best rubber flip flops in the world
made in Brazil!

Sale continues on all remaining Fall & Winter styles!

Bella Moda Designs
Imported Shoes
Exclusive Ladies Shoes in the Pearl
1128 NW Lovejoy Street
503.224.9994

Dragonlily Boutique:
Time to get out of those boots, yank the wooly cap off your adorable head and start dressing like a girl again..

The “Hourglass Dress” by Dervish –makes every woman’s body curvy, sleek and sexy, in a very uptown way – think heads turning and jaws dropping…

Frothy, flippy, one-of-a kind-party dresses by Frocky Jack – bare shoulders, delicious understated colors and luxe fabrics – think Venice on a warm summer evening…

Slip dresses, skirts, crop pants and halters by Tinctoria – rich hemp/cotton fabric in glorious earthy colors and simple shapes – think sun-drenched days on the Willamette…

Yummy bath treats by Tallulah, matte silver & bronze earrings and neckpieces by OreLaFey, “story” bracelets and earrings by Savoy Truffle, saucy new cards and wall art by Brenda Dunn, maribou hair clips, leather cuffs,…and more coming in every day!

Stay Happy, Stay Beautiful and Remember…Life’s too Short to Wear Boring Clothes!

dragonlily boutique
1740 SE Hawthorne, Portland,OR 97201
Monday-Saturday 11 a.m.-6p.m. Sunday 11 a.m.-5 p.m.
503-234-LILY www.dragonlily.org

Lace Up and Treat Your Body and Mind to the Northwest’s Best Walking Event

Early registration for the 2005 Willamette Valley Relay, the Northwest’s premiere long-distance walking event, is now open to all walkers. Set for July 15th and 16th, the annual walk-only event will take walkers of all levels on a fun and challenging 135-mile journey through Oregon’ s pastoral Willamette Valley. In addition to promoting the health benefits of a regular walking program, a portion of the event proceeds will benefit the Legacy Comprehensive Stroke Program.

Walking teams of eight to 12 can download registration applications at www.wondersofwalking.com. Information, including course maps, costs, discounted lodging and more, can be found on the site, as well. The deadline for registering is May, 15, 2005, to avoid a late fee.

Come for the Challenge, the Exercise, the Fun, and Oregon’s Scenic Beauty

The Willamette Valley Relay will travel through the most scenic portions of Oregon’s Willamette Valley, from Champoeg State Park to Alton-Baker Park in Eugene, utilizing scenic and lightly traveled roads.