I finally made it to Portland this weekend for the very first time! I have been putting this trip off forever it seems, but forces finally converged and I made it. I attended a book launch/award ceremony at Mark Downey’s Lucid Images Gallery, and had an excellent dinner with my dear friends Ali and Neil at Gino’s.

My friends also gave me the full tour of the city – from the Japanese Garden to the Pearl District and through more than a dozen cool neighborhoods. (By the way, the Japanese Garden was beautiful in winter, but I’d really love to see it when it looks like this or this!) Overall, Portland looks like a great place to live. My friends who live there love it. The numerous inviting neighborhoods each have their own mini main street and unique personality, real estate is attainable, coffee shops abound, there is no sales tax, and I must have heard ten times how “nice the people are”. Kelly and I will be returning as soon as possible to scope it out again!

The funny thing is I took almost no pictures of the actual city. I guess that’s because I was too busy shooting pictures of Mark’s gorgeous 5-year-old daughter Malaya. Oh well, I guess I have to go back! 😉