As is often the case when pastrami is a menu item, I ordered and indulged.  Pastrami and I get along very well.  Bets had the Prosciutto with homemade fig jam.  And we had some tasty stouts.  And we had some soup.  And when we were full and happy, we had a rousing match of Ms. Pac-Man.

I did not know this about my wife: she’s a Pac-Man Wiz.  She sailed through the levels.  I’d wait for my turn and watch agape as she devoured those little dots.  We squealed together and shouted at the ghosts she squeaked past.  We laughed and high-fived.  It makes sense that she’d rock at Pac-Man.  It’s chaos and order; high-stakes; rules and patterns.  She’s good at those things.  And it was fun.  She’s real good at fun.

Today, we’re getting ready for Crafty Wonderland (it’s TOMORROW [5/7/11], Portland people! And we’re going to have a great sale bin!), we’re sending orders, sending samples to an exciting possible new account, crossing our fingers, finalizing some design choices on the new line,  eating the ghosts we can get to, and devouring all those little dots.  One level at a time.

High-five.

***Song of the Moment: 1000 Miles Per Hour, by OK Go***

The plan was always to start work back on the 3rd of January.  Here is what we did instead:

The bridge to home.

Hypnotized by color.

That guy. He's my favorite.

Not sure if it's within our reach, but I sure do love it.

I love this city.

Lunch.

Is this the one?

Mt. Hood puppet show.

The best.

We had decided not to give each other presents this year.  We’d promised we weren’t going to break the rules, and sneak a gift in at the last moment.  I think that will go down in history as the worst promise we’ve ever made.  Yesterday made up for it.  The great thing about life and being human is that you can always decide to reverse something that wasn’t supposed to be.  You can decide to make a change.  In our case it had to do with silly Christmas presents and deciding that it wasn’t silly at all to give your loved one somtehing.  So we went out in search of the things that would give us warm feelings for years to come, something that would make us remember what we got for Christmas 2010:  a new bed.

I think we hit every single furniture store in Portland and didn’t quite find what we were looking for…but we had a heck of a day trying.

Happy Tuesday!!

-b

***Song of the Moment: Runaway, by the National***

Read around and you’ll find that there’s no other city whose bloggers write about its weather more than Portland’s.  Funny.  It’s not that I hate the dark rain and love the shine; rather the contrary, I actually appreciate them both, the same.  I’ve learned that the clouds make me notice, thus love, the sun more and vice versa (just not quite aaaas much).

I do love the sun.  so much.  The two of us go together so well.  We brushed hands as it came through my studio window this morning and I got that feeling.  You know what I’m talking about…the feeling you get when your hand accidentally (yeah right), barely passes by the hand of that fella or gal you’ve had your eyes on for weeks.  It sends a rush through your body—a tingle straight to your core.  For the remainder of the day there is NOTHING else you can think about.  It’s giving me chills as I write.

The sun’s flirt was so immediate, yet subtle and coy, that I simply had to know more.  There was no choice; I abandoned my piles of work for a moment to go on a sun day walk.

One of my most favorite things to do in this city, is walk.  I fell in love almost instantly, trying not to delve in too deep, too soon.  I wanted to appreciate the slow moments that lay before me.

I forget just how much joy it brings to my life.  Sometimes I will intend to take the bus or the streetcar and purposefully, almost sneakily, skip the ride—as if I’m going on a forbidden date with the streets of Portland.

Today, I was so grateful that I could blow over work for a short tryst with something beautiful:  Portland in the Sun—with me.

Grass Roots

This is my favorite image from today.

I’ll be sure to tell you all about it when I return.  For now, enjoy this photo I took in Veracruz.  I am in love with this color:

the perfect blue light

Have a beautiful weekend, you all.  Can’t wait to talk with you again soon.

***Song of the moment: Nantes, by Beirut***