home again home again jiggety jog

I'm baaaaaackkkk from Portland Art and Soul. It was a magical time - with lots of fun, creating art and hanging out with old/new friends. It did seem rather low on attendance, and the usual totebag full of all kinds of "stuff" donated by various companies, individual artists etc. was very sparse. The tables that previously held many incredible altered art creations was non-existent. But the people...ah the people....were every bit as wonderful as in past years. The first two nights I stayed at the Embassy - the main venue - and then switched to the Holiday Inn for the next five days. This was due to the fact that I had two different roommate arrangements and they each had booked the reservations. If I do go back once again, I would definitely stay only at the Embassy. The price is a little more, but oh so much more with it. Each evening was the "Manager's Special" with free drinks and snacks. I only made it there twice, but had a great time when I did. We sat around and talked, laughed and sipped.

A highlight for me was spending one whole afternon with Michelle and Lori. Michelle picked us up at the hotel at 1:30 on Saturday and drove us to THE BINS!!! We spent two hours there (Lori had never "been" to the "bins") and then went to SCRAP for a short half hour or so. Michelle took us to a great little pizza place for dinner. I just love those girls from my Charmster Group. Since Lori lives in upstate New York and Michelle lives in Portland, we don't get to see each other often. We went back to the Embassy afterwards and totally lost each other at the VENDOR FAIR.


Another highlight was on Tuesday, when Ginny and I drove to the Japanese Gardens. She had a friend-of-a-friend meet us there. Betty is a docent for the gardens and we had a personal two hour tour that was just wonderful. The weather was spectacular - a Chamber of Commerce sort of day - and I was enthralled by the beauty and serenity. She told us that the night before was the once yearly Harvest Moon Festival - where all the sculptured lanterns within the garden are lit up, soft music plays and everyone wanders. Next year I want to go! And, I'd love to meet up with Betty again - she was a sweetheart.

Afterwards, Ginny and I headed for the Columbia Gorge to see waterfalls. I joked about finding a Starbucks at the base of a waterfall (I greatly missed my lattes this week) and would you believe, that at the bottom of the Multnomah Falls was a coffee/snack cart!!! Ask you shall receive...

We had lunch at the Multonomah Falls Lodge and headed west once again. On the way, we stopped in Troutdale so Ginny could see McMennamin's Edgefield - previously the Porltand Poorhouse. She was duly impressed and loved it. We got lost (for the second time that day) on the way home and, when we reached the Holiday Inn, went into the bar and drank two cosmopolitons (sp?)each.

Later on I'll talk about the classes...