I've never been to Oregon before, but apparently Portland is the new hipster haven (alongside New York City, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Austin, Texas of course). I never got it before - isn't Portland a wet, grey place? I used to think, "What could possibly be so hip about rubber boots and frizzy hair?"

OK, so maybe the music scene is pretty alright. And maybe there is a really cool computer game called Oregon Trail that I used to play all the time when I was a youngster. However, these extraordinary double-decker business models alone make Portland, Oregon one cool cat.

Here is a double decker bus that was turned into The Grilled Cheese Grill. That's basically like my fantasy restaurant on wheels...Who wouldn't want to eat in a double decker dining room??

Hold the line: The dining tables aren't covered in old yearbook pages from an elementary school in Southeast Asia, are they? Coolest. Restaurant. Ever.

Photo source

Now, I'm not sure if I have blogged about this one before... I read an article a few months ago in the paper about the fabulous Erin Sutherland, who used her unemployment money to purchase a beat-up, 1965 double decker bus and spent 6 months refurbishing it to transform it into Lodekka, a vintage dress shop.

How inspiring! As much as I love grilled cheese sandwiches, I'd have to say I'm more passionate about vintage (it's a close call though). To have a little shop like this would really be my dream come true:

I think a little getaway trip to Portland is in order for the near future...

Cherrybomb

Holy Tsunami, Batman! Apparently, it's monsoon season all of a sudden here in San Diego! I don't mind really. In fact, as long as I'm inside, I love the rain.

Watched The Runaways last night - the story of the 1970's all-girl rock band. Dakota Fanning plays lead singer, Cherie (Cherrybomb) Currie, while Ms. Kristin Stewart plays rhythm guitarist/vocalist/kick-ass butch lesbian Joan Jett.

Although the storyline was pretty much nonexistent and the outcome of the movie was pretty predictable, it was amusing to see D.Fan all grown up! She's kind of got a Taylor Momsen thing going on in this movie if you ask me...

And of course, it takes place in the 70s, so I was salivating over bellbottoms and platforms the entire time. Here are some screen-shots from the film:

A week (or so) in pictures

Last week, Noel and I went to the historic La Paloma theater in Encinitas to see 127 hours. I have lived in San Diego my whole life and have always known about La Paloma but have never actually seen a movie there. Aside from a slight draft and the intermittent (yet adorable) jingle-jangle of a dog collar (Oscar, a terrier of sorts), what a treat it was to see a movie the way it is supposed to be seen!

Then (1928!):

Now:

Catching my breath from running up and down the stairs in Solana Beach:

A 2AM Slurpee run with my cousin. Decisions, decisions:

Happiness is a warm pizza:

A decanter I picked up on my thrifting excursion yesterday afternoon (it came with 6 matching glasses).

Tomorrow, I'm planning on getting some new things up in the store. That, and cleaning out the fridge.

Hope you all had a lovely St. Patrick's Day!

Secret Mission

To unassuming passersby, we looked like we were taking an innocent Sunday stroll around the neighborhood. However, nobody saw the scissors we brought along with us. We were actually on a super secret succulent mission.

A few weeks ago, whilst taking Beast for a walk, we stumbled upon a rather large and impressive succulent garden just around the block from our house. And though we don't know anything about gardening or propagation of succulents, here are the samples we collected yesterday afternoon:

With the help of instructional videos on youtube and wikipedia articles, we learned that we have to dry out our clippings for a couple of weeks before we plant them. So when the stems have calloused over, we can start our own succulent garden!

I love plants! They're like magic tricks!

What's for Dinner: Kale Frittata and Baked Tomatoes

Here's a little frittata number I whipped up the other night for dinner:

Here's the recipe:

-1 bunch kale

-1 medium-sized white or green onion

-4 chicken apple sausages (look for the brand, "Aidells" in the meat section of your local market)

-1 cup feta cheese

-olive oil

-8 eggs

-1/2 cup milk

-garlic salt

-salt

-pepper

-cooking spray

Preheat the oven to 325 F.

In a pan coated with olive oil, saute the kale. Dice up the onions and the sausage and add to the kale once it has started to wilt and reduce down in size. Stop sauteing when the onions look translucent and/or when the sausage is browned on the outside.

Crack the eggs into a large bowl. Add the sausage-kale-onion mixture as well as the feta cheese. Add garlic salt, salt, and pepper. Mix it all up with a whisk.

Pour the mixture into a greased 8x8x2 oven-safe pan (or a pan of similar dimensions). Put it in the oven for about 40-55 minutes, or until the center of the frittata has solidified.

Fun to make, delicious to eat, and makes for great leftovers!

Now for the side-dish... baked tomatoes!

Here's how:

Cut tomatoes into 1/2 inch slices. Place them on a baking sheet (I lined mine in aluminum foil for easy clean-up) and give em a generous drizzle of olive oil. Sprinkle a pinch of minced garlic on each one and season with salt, pepper, and garlic salt. Finish them off with some parmesan cheese and throw them in the oven (400 F) for about 10-12 minutes, or until the cheese starts looking toasted. These are great a la carte, but they're also pretty delicious on a piece of toasted bread. If you'd like, doll them up a little bit with basil, oregano, and/or bread crumbs!

Try it! You'll like it!

What a beautiful last couple of days it has been here in San Diego! It feels like summer! In fact, I even skipped out on 1/2-off day at Amvets so that I could hit the beach on Wednesday. It felt so good to soak up some sunshine!

Saw Yann Tiersen last night - I read a couple of his live reviews before the show and I'm happy that I did, because otherwise, I would have had different expectations that ultimately could have ended in disappointment. If you ever go to see him live, do not expect a grand piano center-stage and occasional accordion flurries a la Champs Elysees-Parisian cafe-baguette-beret. Pas du tout! Rather, envision the French Pink Floyd. Yann Tiersen live = classically composed, variations-on-a-theme rock music and 7,987 sustain pedals. (Maybe over-exaggerating on the last bit about the sustain pedals, but there were a lot!) Nonetheless, it was still an enjoyable show.

Anyway, I've really been in the zone lately with this whole decorating thing. Check out these vignettes! (And please take notice of Strong Man on the bottom shelf):

I found this picture floating around somewhere and I love the concept - actual bookshelves. Brilliant. I might have to be on the lookout now for old books with pretty spines.

Maps & Atlases

Oh to be blonde and have My Little Pony hair.

WINNING