(How funny. I wrote this during the A-to-A Challenge and forgot to post it!)
This year, we are finally getting Saturdays off — yaaaaaah!
Mitchell made us bump eggs from Ralph — chicken, duck and turkey, yummy runny heavenly over toast. We wandered around Portland today, as wandering is one of our favorite things to do. Portland Saturday Market was a quick dash because it began to pour, so just the basic, what we can’t get in the markets: local organic corn tortillas in the pepper flavor (as if they are too hot?) and amazing carrots.
We headed over the bridge to Sellwood for a bit of rummaging in the antique stores. We tried dickering a bit but Oregonians don’t dicker. A woman had boxes of old screws and nails (Mitchell likes weird stuff) and they were $10 a cigar box, a bit steep, and she was going out of business. He offered her 25 for four boxes, and she could keep the nice boxes and sell them separately. “Nope.” She has one week left in business and she turned down $25 for old screws and nails! Both of us are Californians, and I was raised dickering in Mexico, so “What’s your best price?” is standard for me unless it really is a great price.
We ended up with lunch at our favorite Cha-Cha-Cha. This is a chain in Portland, and it’s a weird chain, in that each family member owns one or two. The quality varies wildly from one to the next. Unfortunately, the one that is our favorite is in Sellwood, the farthest away — but omigoddess it is good basic Mexican food, which I miss. And I want to paint our office the colors of Cha-Cha-Cha, and work in a space drenched in bright orange and fuchsia. Mitchell says it is not advised: color bounces off walls and onto objects, so the problem is not being able to see a color clearly. He is right, but I can still dream.
Lunch was so huge and so late we did not eat dinner, but picked up the cats for a night with us at home, curled into bed with chocolate cake and cold goat’s milk. Not enough good cake in this town, and so far, New Seasons has the best. Chocolate Port, and German Chocolate, yum.
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Sounds like a great day! I’m a terrible bargainer – i can’t even attempt it – too shy, chicken, verbally intimidated. Odd how parts of our country differ on the practice even at antique-y places.
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My former husband’s daughter was a New Yorker and would bargain at Sear’s — literally, “What kind of discount will you give me if I buy 6 t-shirts?” And she made deals!
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See? I need a wing woman like her!!
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Even after living in Mexico for a few years I suck at bargaining. R is a shark at it. You description of wandering around Portland is delightful and brought back many memories. We lived near 23rd Avenue and used to hang out there a lot before it got crazy touristy. We need to take a little meander south this summer, I think.
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When I was married to my first husband I used to come to Portland to wander, and always ended up on 23d, often thinking that if I moved to Portland I would want to live there. Our Studio is at 26th, and we love the neighborhood. I am sorry 23d has been upscaled — I liked the bohemian atmosphere, and so do most of the NW-ers.
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I visited Portland years ago, and I remember moss growing on the lawns. A beautiful place despite it. We have a great Mexican place near us — Sol Azteca, certified authentic by my Aunt Mary who used to live in Mexico. It’s a favorite place. 🙂
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OOOH, send me some. Always on the go for Mexican. When I was young you could not even buy avocados in Boston. I used to ship them to my boyfriend who was going to Harvard. Gads I sound old — I’m not really — but food has moved globally!
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Whole Foods is everywhere, bringing with it avocados and watercress for the masses.
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