drew asked a trenchant question yesterday as we were passing a horde of punk kids milling around outside a house, instruments and attitude in tow: "we've moved on to the next phase in our lives, haven't we?"
we were on our way home from the portland yard, garden and patio show, having spent a good five and a half hours, not including the hour walk each way, exploring such scintillating topics as "gardening with succulents" and "hardscaping for landscape success." and we were looking forward to a quiet evening of magazine perusal, following an early-bird dinner at the original taco house. so, yeah, i'm going to say we've moved on to the next phase in our lives. so far, it's pretty fun, until i find myself staring wistfully at the live music listings in the paper and wondering if i'll ever go to a club show again. eh, club show, garden show - what's the diff?
tonight we had a little oscar party in our shared house, so i actually do have some leftovers to report. n made vietnamese salad rolls with shrimp and a spicy peanut sauce, so to continue with the hand-food theme, we made tilapia tacos with a yummy, spicy mango salsa. i say "we" because now that we actually have access to a kitchen big enough for two to use, drew has been prepping up a storm in addition to fulfilling his long-standing role as "the person in the house who handles meat-cooking." another phase in our lives together, and very rewarding, might i add.
scattered thoughts on life, on design, and on {beatrice + the bird}
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Sunday, February 18, 2007
we have a house!*
it's a 1915 portland bungalow in s.e. portland, much farther from work for me than we'd hoped, but perfect in almost every other way: original leaded glass, craftsman built-ins with original hardware, a wonderful front porch, and in need of much, much work (see the photos below for a glimpse). 
we found it on saturday, wrote an offer almost on the spot, because our realtor said we wouldn't find anything similar to it again, and found out that night that our offer had been accepted. totally daunting and exciting at the same time. we celebrated that night with pear and kiwi cocktails at masu, then a $3 movie at the laurelhurst, and started asking ourselves how we could bear to leave the hawthorne district, where insanely good sushi and wonderful theater-pubs are abundant and in walking distance. we're staying here with the lovely nancy until we close on the house in april, and we couldn't begin to afford the neighborhood, but man is it fabulous.
so yesterday we spent the day exploring the willamette valley pinot noir country - which is under an hour from our new place - and discovering all the great things about our new neighborhood. it may not have the laurelhurst or masu, but it does have an extinct volcano-slash-nature preserve; a bike path to the river; a park with a pool, skating rink, and off-leash dog area; AND several girly bars within walking distance. perfect.
and then today, we spent the afternoon at the home and garden outpost of powell's books researching historic home renovation, craftsman architecture and green building techniques until our eyes felt like they might fall ought of our heads. we've got a lot to learn, and a lot to sort through (like how i don't really need arts and crafts wallpaper in a house we're just going to sell, no matter how gorgeous it is); but we're on our way.
*drew says i can't say we "have" the house, yet. we haven't settled, and the home inspection later this week could turn up stuff we're not ready to handle. stay tuned.
we found it on saturday, wrote an offer almost on the spot, because our realtor said we wouldn't find anything similar to it again, and found out that night that our offer had been accepted. totally daunting and exciting at the same time. we celebrated that night with pear and kiwi cocktails at masu, then a $3 movie at the laurelhurst, and started asking ourselves how we could bear to leave the hawthorne district, where insanely good sushi and wonderful theater-pubs are abundant and in walking distance. we're staying here with the lovely nancy until we close on the house in april, and we couldn't begin to afford the neighborhood, but man is it fabulous.
so yesterday we spent the day exploring the willamette valley pinot noir country - which is under an hour from our new place - and discovering all the great things about our new neighborhood. it may not have the laurelhurst or masu, but it does have an extinct volcano-slash-nature preserve; a bike path to the river; a park with a pool, skating rink, and off-leash dog area; AND several girly bars within walking distance. perfect.
and then today, we spent the afternoon at the home and garden outpost of powell's books researching historic home renovation, craftsman architecture and green building techniques until our eyes felt like they might fall ought of our heads. we've got a lot to learn, and a lot to sort through (like how i don't really need arts and crafts wallpaper in a house we're just going to sell, no matter how gorgeous it is); but we're on our way.
*drew says i can't say we "have" the house, yet. we haven't settled, and the home inspection later this week could turn up stuff we're not ready to handle. stay tuned.
a few more photos, including the original glass and box beams, and the oh-so-horrifying kitchen, because that's my specialty:
Wednesday, February 07, 2007
i live in portland now
and as of thursday, drew will, too. it's been a whirlwind year, and we're only barely into february. to recap, in images and a few scant words: 
at times it was unbelievably cold and windy, like being on the moon. but we made it. and then drew had to fly back to baltimore, and now he, bea and rick are somewhere back in idaho, driving across the country again.
we celebrated christmas
and new year's eve.
we drove across the country via chattanooga
, st, louis (
that's the arch!), kansas city, and the wilds of kansas, colorado, wy
oming, idaho and oregon.
at times it was unbelievably cold and windy, like being on the moon. but we made it. and then drew had to fly back to baltimore, and now he, bea and rick are somewhere back in idaho, driving across the country again.
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