City Series: Portland
Here are three fun facts:
Fact #1: Grant is a native Pacific Northwesterner and grew up right outside of Portland (hence, his natural disposition to wearing flannel and his unwavering loyalty to the Rip City Blazers).
Fact #2: We visit the Portland area a few times a year. It's always fun to visit family and friends.
Fact #3: Up until this past weekend, Grant and I had never gone sightseeing in Portland together. Not ever. Shocking, right? The most time we had ever spent within Portland city limits was making a mad dash from our Amtrak at Portland Union Station to the Moda Center to watch a basketball game.
Obviously, we had to remedy number three by actually spending time wandering around the city and the perfect opportunity came this weekend when we had the honor of being asked to be our baby niece's godparents. We packed our bags and made the 10-hour drive up. We did everything from taking the elevator in the U.S. Bank Tower for the 30th-floor panoramic view of the city to watching scores of people stand in line for some piping hot Voodoo Doughnuts. We had brunch at Cheryl's on 12th and an early dinner at 10 Barrel Brewing (separate posts to come).
A highlight was walking around Portland's famous Saturday Market, a massive weekly street fair featuring more than 250 local artisan booths.
Our top recommendation: Make sure to visit Stephen Poon, the talented artist and mastermind behind some of the most creative posters you could ever hope to hang on your walls. His Etsy shop is called OutNerdMe, and as you can guess, features posters from TV, movies and comic books that span the breadth of geekdom--in a good way. His designs feature sleek silhouettes filled in with theme-appropriate words, names and catch phrases. It's every nerd's dream come true. Trust me, I'm a nerd.
Grant picked a Gandalf silhouette and quotes, while I chose a Harry Potter one. Stephen said we could pick out a third one as his gift to us and we, of course, set our sights on an outline of Oregon state filled with sayings like, "I just moved here from California" and "I brew my own beer." We're going to buy frames for our new posters and will post pictures on our Instagram as soon as they're up.
Are you envious of our new posters, but you can't make it to Portland any time soon? Don't worry, friends. You can still buy Stephen's art at www.outnerdme.com. Tell him Grant and Teresa sent you.
If you get a chance to visit Portland's Saturday Market, stop by to see artist Stephen Poon and his awesome posters. If you're not in the area, check out his store at www.outnerdme.com.
