A Fig in Sweden Portland

small adventures lead to more adventures

I remember the first time we learned how to buy a parking ticket in Växjö. It opened up a whole new world of weekend outings to our closest biggest city.

The equivalent of that just happened here in Portland.

Friday was a gorgeous day here, and I had little in the way of freelance work or errands that needed running. Lewis also had a lighter-than-normal day. Date lunch! I thought about biking in again, but I'm starting to get pretty big, and the uphill ride home is tough with my one-speed cruiser. Instead I decided to try the light rail. When we were living on the other side of town in the apartment, I remember that Lewis mentioned once that you can park at the Lloyd Center mall and ride Max free into downtown.  I had toddler sneaks to buy at Nordstrom anyway, so I decided to give it a try. It was so easy and convenient I can't believe it took me this long to do it. More importantly, I learned that the green line skirts up toward the Pearl District and ends at Portland State University (this tidbit of info will become relevant in a few minutes). The red and blue lines stay closer to the waterfront, and the red line goes to the airport. All three stop near our house (not in the free zone, but still) — near being a 10- to 15-minute walk.

Fast-forward to yesterday morning when we were making our plans for the day. The aforementioned shoes needed to be returned to Nordstrom, and I told Lewis that I saw a farmers market spot there. But a quick Internet search revealed it is only open on Tuesdays. Darn. Then Lewis said that there is a big farmers market on Saturdays at Portland State University that everyone at work talks about. Ding, ding, ding ... the green line goes right to PSU! And riding the train will be a huge part of the fun for Sophie.

When the light rail ended at the PSU stop, we followed the crowds until we saw a slew of white tents. As we walked closer, we discovered that we live a short Max ride away from the best farmers market we have ever been to! It had all the fresh fruit and vegetable stands one would expect. What we didn't expect was how huge it was and how you could spend hours there listening to music and eating great food (crepes!). At one point Lewis turned to me as said, "Are we lucky or what?"

It was one of those awesome moments where we discovered something pretty special about the city we now live in. We also discovered what we will be doing every Saturday from now until October.

dancing in the driveway

It really is the little things. Like when the neighbor started playing guitar on the front stoop yesterday. Which caused my little dancing queen to get her groove on Grateful Dead-groupie style. I sat in the driveway watching her with a smile until daddy rode up on his bicycle ... with a smile.

mommy weekend #1

Who says Mother's Day should involve the kids?

A couple of weeks ago, my sister (3 kids) and her friend Michele (4 kids) came out to Portland for a girls' weekend. It was the first time they had gotten away for a mommy vacation like this. I was happy to join the fun — spending Friday sans Sophie shopping and food-carting in downtown Portland and then driving up to Seattle with them on Saturday for my first night away from Sophie in at least 18 months. It was the Seattle getaway that recharged my batteries. And if I could really nail it down to one moment, it was dinner at Ray's that night.

As we sat out on the back deck looking out over Puget Sound, watching 3 young kids run back and forth, we giggled at them without a care in the world. After all, these weren't our kids who were about to land face-first on the weathered, splintery wood. Later, we laughed so hard at dinner, I thought the baby might pop out. I can't remember the last time I laughed so hard.

On Sunday, Mother's Day, we treated ourselves to mimosas (not me) and a yummy breakfast before driving back home, where I hugged Sophie a little bit longer and a little bit tighter.

My sister and I are already talking about where we're going to spend next Mother's Day together...

this old kit house?

Several weeks ago, we had a garage sale to empty out our basement for the remodel that is happening right now. Mission accomplished, and we even got to meet a few more of our neighbors in the process. One of them had done some work on our house and told me that we were the third owners (though he must mean the fourth) of our 1920 bungalow. (That would explain why the walls and floors are in perfect condition.)

He also mentioned that our home is a kit home, as in the original owners ordered the house via Sears or another maker of homes at the time. How cool! Back then, homes were commonly mail-ordered and shipped in two boxcars to the destination city. A local builder would then pick up the shipment and assemble the house.

I have been scouring the archives of various catalogs to find our house plans. The one above by Portland-based Fenner Homes is the closest I've found. I'm not convinced that ours is indeed a kit home since I have been unable to find any stamped beams or markings on the original built-ins. My next stop is the county courthouse to see if anything is listed on the original deed.

I don't know what it is about finding out about the history of a home, but I am completely captivated by the idea.

Right now, all I know is that in 1931 and again in 1935, the original owners used newspapers to insulate the draft basement. And that The Oregonian used to cost 5 cents.

(Our little bungalow today)