I've been to Portland, but I've never been to Me

I took the train to Portland on Saturday to visit one of my goodest friends, Stacy.

The Amtrak I was on didn't hit and kill a person. The ride, therefore, was an improvement over my last trip down.

I adore my steadfast, long-term Seattle. But Portland is my illicit love-ah (I will never, ever be able to say or type the word lover without cackling a little), the one I run to when I need a change of pace.

It is its own odd, little planet

with fantastical shopping

a bunch of White People Who Love Their Elms enough to inoculate them

and maniacs who drink hot coffee even when it is one hundred and ten degrees outside

There was only the slightest discontent on this trip: 1) Having to wear the sweat sponges we euphemistically refer to as bras, and 2) That I am too old and too married to play a game Stacy's friend invented in law school called Target.

Being a 39-y.o. mom, I immediately envisioned sport involving my beloved store. Perhaps a gaggle of women trying to fill their carts fastest with cheap flats, dish drainers and lip gloss.

But, no.

Game Rules: Pick a cute guy at a bar and get points for talking to him, more points if he talks to you, points for hand-holding, phone number swapping, etc....

It's a little Heathers-y. Or something. But it is an amusing glimpse into how the other side still lives.

One of the real reasons I visit Portland is to document the contents of Stacy's refrigerator. When I went last January, I was so inspired by its spare contents that I lurched for my sketch pad laptop.

This time I thought to take a picture

Note: two of the items in there belong to me. 

Stacy is a hard-working attorney and, as such, doesn't have endless hours to bounce from Fred Meyer to Trader Joes to Whole Foods, which is my mind-numbing, dreary chore favorite pastime.

As you can see

Keeping an unstocked fridge is as foreign to me as drinking games and recreational activities that don't involve shopping carts as large as Escalades.

But it's fun, for a weekend, going out to every meal, enjoying limitless stretches of time to chat and sip and peruse boutiques and fan myself with a postcard that might say something like:

Dear Seattle and J.~

Portland rocks. But I'm coming home to you soon. 

Comments

[goteeman]

My fridge looks alot more like yours, except I have two fridges - one upstairs, one down, both full... plus a small chest type freezer...

The only time my fridge ever looked like the one above (MOSTLY EMPTY) was when I was single... LOL

J/

[leslie]

I also luuuuurve Portland. Sounds like a fun weekend....what was your Target score?? :)

[Foolery]

Stacy's refrigerator looks about as big as my house, only cleaner. Scratch that -- make that CLEAN, period.

[MommyTime]

Holy Refrigerator Wasteland, Batman! I can't even imagine my fridge (which looks EXACTLY like yours, by the way) in any state near hers unless we were moving cross-country the next day. And while I'm not sure I'd want that life permanently, there is something so very very appealing about your description of the weekend, which I read as saying, "I didn't have to do any dishes, no one opened the door crying while I was on the potty, and no one crawled under the dressing room curtain while I was half naked and unable to chase properly." I know those weren't your exact words, but they were pretty close. :)

[Jane]

If my cupboards and fridge aren't full, I feel ridiculously hungry even when I'm not.

[noble pig]

Portland is my all time favorite city...I'm on my way to that area too as we speak.

[Julian]

Good Stuff!

[Kristin]

I was *just now* lamenting to a friend that because I got married before I turned 21 (waaaaaay before I was 21) I never got to do things like go to bars and play drinking games and such. Damn--now I find I missed out on playing Target too! D'oh, stupid teenage marriages ; )

[Carrie]

I would have thought Target was about buying laundry soap at my favorite store too!

Enjoy the rest of your trip!

[Lisa Milton]

Ah, Portland. Love it here.

[Vanessa McGrady]

Me too!!!! Hey, Angie, let's run away to Portland together when we just can't stand it any more. Or, I will move there and you can visit me. Or, you can move there and I will visit you. Or whatever!

[Mrs. G.]

When I was young and single, I lived in a studio apartment in NW Portland. Good times. At that time, Target was called cruisng.

[Tootsie Farklepants]

Heathers-y! Awesome.

[apathy lounge]

Portland sounds like a fairyland of hip-ness. Something you have to go to Austin to find aroud these parts. I'm so envious.

[JCK]

What fun! Nothing like going to see a girlfriend.

Cracking up over the refrigerator. I remember those days well, but these days my fridge looks like yours!

[Felicity]

That guy buying the coffee looks pretty HOT, might make a good Target...where did you see him again? (Hummm...I wonder how many points I can get if he buys me a coffee? Or writes his number on his "sleeve"?)

[Asthmagirl]

I was born in Portland and lived there for while as an adult. Dang it gets hot (and cold)!
I love that your fridge looks like mine! What kind of ice cream?

[BOSSY]

Wait - that sounds like too much fun Sans Bossy.

[Leslie]

I live in Salem, which does NOT rock. Thankfully Portland is just up the road so life is bearable.

[Nora Bee]

FM and WF and TJ's??? Those are MY rounds! Why are we not meeting for coffee and doing this together??

Oh, and I have found that drinking hot coffee actually cools you down in the heat, because then the heat outside feels cooler than your body temp. Dude, I know? Just another coffee addict rationalizing.

[stephanie (bad mom)]

I love being across the river from Portland; it is delightfully quirky.

I like your version of "Target" better, perhaps because I'm also 39 & married & scoring points with strange boys sounds stressful, frankly. (Unless the boy is a hottie clerk at Whole Foods...Visit me in Vancouver and I'll take you through our local store!)