I heart Portland. It's like Brooklyn as an entire city. Or like the Austin of the Northwest. Or just like, you know, a really cool town. I wish my sister and Keil were still here, but after visiting them, I definitely know why they would decide to pack up and head to Oregon.

What do people in Portland love besides beer and espresso? Chickens. These chickens were for sale at a nursery. For ten dollars, you too can have fresh eggs every morning.



Heather and I took the pups to Wahkeenah and Multnomah Falls for some hiking.





Yeah, you try and get these dogs to sit still...

Linus couldn't get enough of the waterfalls.



Me neither.



Ursula? Not so much. Poor thing freaked out.





The postcard shot:





Saturday was a beautiful day so we went to Oregon wine country: the Willamette Valley. Our first stop (at 11 AM) was the Argyle Winery for some superb sparkling wines.



Drinking at 11 AM? That's crazy! They tried to send Heather to the nut house...



Next stop? The very picturesque Elk Cove



What with all the really adorable boys I saw on the streets of Portland, I started imagining my future wedding there...

Heather fully supported such an idea.





Then we had to head back to watch the Red Wings kick some arse. Another great thing about Portland? There's at least one hockey bar! Yay for Claudia's, a place where a Red Wings fan can actually go see hockey on a projector screen with sound with a bunch of other fans. New York, what's your problem??

Our final field trip was to the coast. Pictures speak louder than words in this case.









On our drive up the coast we stopped for some amazingly delicious Tillamook ice cream. They sure had some bizarre crap in their gift shop - like this wiener dog with a...butt plug?



The Oregon coast is a lot like the Northern California coast. There were a million places to just stop and take in the gorgeous views.



Trust me when I tell you there's a bald eagle in this tree... 'Tis but a speck in this picture, but it was there.



Of course, I also consumed a whole bunch of good food, great beer, and the best cappuccino I've ever had.

I leave you with these words of wisdom:

I just flew in from Portland... and boy are my arms tired!

But seriously, folks, I truly am pooped. I took the red eye overnight and went straight to work. Therefore, while I'd love to catch you up on my (almost) week with Heather and Keil, it will have to wait for another day.

Meanwhile, here's a picture to whet your appetite:



Yeah, I'd say Oregon is maybe a little pretty.

PS- Go WINGS!!!

Game three versus Pittsburgh is tomorrow night at 8PM. Go, Ozzie, go!

Last night I got to see The Swell Season (the adorable couple from the entirely lovely movie "Once") at Radio City Music Hall. Splendid.

Tonight I leave straight from work to go visit Heather in Portland.

Also, the Red Wings made it to the finals.

I'd say it's a good week.

Pardon me, have you met my plant babies?



Yeah, you know you're jealous.
(Unless you're my sister and live in Portland with a real backyard...)

I've got: Strawberries, red peppers, yellow peppers, heirloom tomatoes, grape tomatoes, mint, cilantro, basil, rosemary, dill, green beans, beets, sunflowers, morning glories, poppies, and several other flowers I can't remember but will discover when (and if??) they bloom.

Okay, so I went a little crazy at Lowes...

Strawberries:


Peppers:


Tomatoes:


Herbs:


Mystery flowers:


Sunflowers:


A big shout out to Christie and Marta (plant aunts) for helping me plant these guys!

I’d like to take a moment to introduce you to the the most ridonkuolous reality show you won’t find on VH1, “Groomer Has It” on Animal Planet. It is, I kid you not, the search for America’s next top… animal groomer? Wha??

I tuned in for the judges evaluation this weekend and almost peed myself when two judges in all seriousness got in a giant fight over whether a groomer should put cotton balls in a dog’s ears before giving it a bath.

Set your DVRs and thank me later.

Christie and I decided to take advantage of the nice day today and head to the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens.



The best high in the world? Huffing lilacs.







Sadly, the cherry blossoms had already fallen from the trees, but we did find some other pretty flowers such as these peonies as big as my face...









We came across a cute little renegade duckling...







Christie had a long talk with the duckling telling him he really should come over and let her pet him...



She almost convinced him...



Until his mom came over and chased him away.

After the gardens we headed to Prospect Park to meet the gang. Sadly at that point it was a little chilly, but it was still nice to get in our first park day of the season.

TGI-Springtime.

Hello, Dolly!



Recovered from her back troubles, I finally got to see my idol, Miss Dolly Parton, live in concert at Radio City Music Hall last night. It was everything I hoped it would be.



Memorable quotes from the evening - Dollyisms, if you will:

"People sometimes ask me 'Dolly, why don't you run for President?' and I tell them 'Haven't there been enough boobs in the White House?'"

"There are 2 types of mountain women: The ones that get married and have a lot of babies and the ones that don't get married and have a lot of babies."

"Thanks for spending your money on tickets to my show. I really need the money - cause you know, it costs a lot of money to look this cheap."

"I leave no rhinestone unturned."



9 to 5 was a real crowd-pleaser, so we were all excited when Dolly told us it would probably be coming to Broadway! I had actually already heard about the musical in the works, but it was nice to hear it straight from the horse's mouth.


9 to 5 from Sam L. on Vimeo.