A blue, brick wall. A white door. An understated sign. Although they are on Fore Street, in a prime location, it would be easy just to walk right past. Don’t do it. Open the white door and go inside: stepping into Lovely Things was the best surprise I’ve had in some time. You should open [...]
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The waiter brings you a book, and a bell. That’s the first sign that Dobra Tea is different than any other tea shop I’ve ever been in. I have to confess that tea is my weakness. Not just any tea, mind you, but carefully brewed tea … it is the ritual of tea, if you [...]
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Last week, as I was writing about Shipwreck & Cargo, I mentioned that visitors don’t need to purchase a cheapo made-in-china Portland tee-shirt as a souvenir when there are so many great shirts being made right here. However, I neglected to point you to any of them. So, here’s a quick round up of five [...]
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This is a true story: I used to work in a business that shared a wall with Bull Feeney’s, and somehow we managed to schedule a Very Important Meeting at 1 pm on Saint Patrick’s Day. We had no choice to but to laugh (and vacate the building, moving the meeting to a more … [...]
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Since the downsizing and subsequent closing of the Portland Greengrocer, and the closure of the old Public Market, one thing that has been sorely lacking east of Marginal Way is a great place to buy fresh veggies. Whole foods and Trader Joe’s do something to fill that gap, but Whole Foods is pricey and Trader [...]
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I’m going to be blunt. I was pretty dismissive of Shipwreck & Cargo before I walked in the door. There is a review on Yelp that kind of sums up my misgivings about even going inside: “It’s a tourist trap that definitely caters to the cruise ship crowd. It has your typical assortment of tees, [...]
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My inside voice always subtitles Blanche & Mimi with the words “that great baby store” although it’s not really true — they certainly have a wide assortment of treasures that aren’t related to babies in the least. It’s just that, whenever I have a baby-shower related need (now that my own baby has grown tall [...]
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With its unique architecture, and its prime position on Commercial street, Farmer’s Table has to be one of the most attractive restaurants in the city. I don’t mean that glibly – regardless of what dining establishment has its home there, the building itself always enticed me. “Come in, eat here,” it seems to say, “with [...]
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So, Friday night, what with it being Restaurant Week and us having some foodie friends in town, my husband and I took the rare opportunity to go out for a totally grownup dinner. I’d been wanting to visit The Salt Exchange for quite a while, and this seemed like an excellent opportunity to visit a [...]
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First and foremost, many thanks to Flickr user johnolore for making the beautiful image I used in the header available on Flickr. It perfectly captures the beauty of the stark winter trees we see all around us. Here’s the full image: At my house, we’ve all been cooped up inside from a variety of those [...]
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