07/09/11

Tasty & Sons for BREAKFAST!  You have to get there early (when they open) so you don’t have to wait for a table.  And they are not open yet, but there is a LINE!  Whoa!!!!  Why is there a line you ask?  Well, because the food is the most amazing stuff you will ever shove into your face!  Rita and I had three full breakfasts and an “appetizer”!  We shared all of it and then?  Well, Amber’s belly bloated up to pregnancy standards…oops! 

I think today was also the day that we stole a bunch of bamboo from Rita’s neighbor.  He cut it down and saved it for Rita, so technically it wasn’t “stealing” but…um…she’s gonna make a fence with it!  Wheeeeeee!!

7:00 pm:

Bike RIDE!!!!!  Down to

Mississippi St.

for the street fair!  YAY!  We’re stopping by Sidecar 11 (a bar) to see Margo.  Rita and I grab a seat outside right by the front door (it’s a high table—bar height—so we won’t get trampled by the thousands of people millin’ aboot on the sidewalk and street!  Inside to get drinks and Margo makes me the most ah-mazing whiskey ginger drink!!!  FRESH smooshed ginger, fresh smashed mint, whiskey, spritzer.  WOW!  Rita and I are hanging out, talking with Margo and her husband randomly off and on and Amber (being who she is) is CRAZY excited about being in the middle of SO many people.  She gets SO excited that she randomly reaches out as two hipsters walk by and offers a hug to them.  Ehem.  Well, they smirk and look at me as if I’ve gone bonkers then continue on.  I get a wee bit sad…no one denies Panda Pants a hug…do they?  Ooof.  An older woman who witnesses this starts to walk by, looks at me, I hold out my arms again, AND………..  HUG!!!!!!!  YES!!!!  Awesome!!!  Although she does pat me on the back while she hugs.  That’s weird.  I don’t like the back-pat/hug.  It feels impersonal and strange.  Of course, maybe she’s not used to hugging random strangers on the sidewalk…perhaps it was her first time?  She’ll get better at it! 

This one woman started a revolution of hugs from Amber to everyone (mostly) who walked by.  (hearts)  There must have been at least 30 Portlanders who got the Amber hug that day.  Wow.  Happy.  Fueled.  We talked to perhaps 15 random people too, just ‘cause we could.  One punk rock dude in his 30’s walked by, did a second look, got offered a hug, accepted with great zeal, then pulled back, looked at me again and said “you are absurdly gorgeous.”  Statement.  Tssssssssssss.  You are.  ALL of Portland Oregon is.  Real people who love to hug and talk and make connections with other humans.  This is one of the reasons why I almost didn’t leave Portland (West Coast).  How can you have an entire city that is drenched in such giving??!!  AHHHH!!! 

Rita and I spent the entire night out on Mississippi.  Hanging with random people and making friends with strangers.  Maybe Rita will see them again?  I hope so!!