Paradise City

Hello from my new house!

I apologize in advance if I fall asleep in the middle of this entry. Between seeing shows every day (Music Fest NW) and moving all of my earthly belongings across town, there hasn't been much opportunity for rest. Luckily, today is a lazy Sunday -- I slept in my new room for the first time last night, and this morning I sat on the porch and read the paper and made half-hearted attempts to continue unpacking.

Can I tell you about my new neighborhood? I'm now down in SE Portland, in an area that I have tentatively nicknamed "Cute Boy Paradise." It is really right in the middle of everything (SE Portland is sort of the standard place where everybody lives and does stuff), whereas my old neighborhood was a bit more isolated and less developed (but still wonderful). I can basically walk or ride my bike to everything, including the best grocery store ever, which is 4 blocks away. THIS IS GOOD NEWS. Also, my rent is cheaper than it was in Urbana! Also also, my window opens up to the roof, so I can sit on top of the house and look out over the neighborhood. Yes! It's always been a huge hassle to get from North Portland to activities in SE, so I'm looking forward to living down here and getting to know a whole different part of the city.

My new address is easy to remember:

2424 SE 24th Ave.
Portland, OR
97214

I'm just... really super excited. Pictures will come after I finish unpacking.

So anyway, there was also Music Fest NW. As I predicted in a previous entry, it was in fact both "totally awesome" and "totally exhausting." On Friday I saw live music from 5:30 pm until 2:00 am! I want to lie down just thinking about it. The high point was most definitely seeing Built to Spill play "Perfect From Now On" in its entirety; I actually sort of started to tear up during the first song, just because that album has been on heavy rotation during so many points in my life. Oh man! Yeah, the whole festival was pretty great.

For no real reason, here is a photo of what I had for dinner a few weeks ago. Maybe this is why I can't button my pants anymore? (note: not an exaggeration)


Dude. That is chocolate almond cake, caramel mousse, and salted almonds, all covered in chocolate. Accompanying it is a Rogue chocolate stout with mocha ice cream. I felt very ill afterwards. Luckily, I went from living near the N. Portland location of Pix Patisserie to living near the SE location, so I can continue being gluttonous without any extra effort. I'm also living near the SE locations of a few other of my most beloved N. Portland hangouts (Fresh Pot, Albina Press, Por Que No, even Powell's has a SE location near me) so I can basically live the same life I've been living all along. But with more cute boys!