west is best?

it's unnbearably hot and humid in nyc these days, so i'm feeling a little nostalgia for the years that i spent living in portland, oregon. 

the summer weather there is so fantastic- warm but no humidity. everything is green from all the winter's rain, and it's just gorgeous. in my rose-colored memory glasses, all of the pacific northwest is like one big summer camp.

since my husband had never been there, last year we went to portland for a long weekend. here's some photos, in case you're also wishing for a cool breeze and some delicious coffee:

 

(liquor at the clyde common restaurant at the ace hotel.)

 

(speakers in an audio store in sw portland. an imports store in the pearl district.)

(the bike gallery on sw 10th ave.)

(a vintage store on se hawthorne.)

(a crepes restaurant on se hawthorne. mount tabor park.)

(a music shop on ne alberta.)

(a fire pit outside a restaurant on ne alberta.)

(yakuza on ne 30th off of alberta.)

(a tributary of the multnomah falls. a vintage shop on n mississippi.)

(people i don't know eating delicious tacos at porque no? on n mississippi.)

(le pigeon restaurant on e burnside. a lot of japanese anime video at powell's books on w burnside.)

 

(the ladies room mirrors at the delux hotel.)

i really do miss living on the west coast. it"s smaller, and quieter than nyc without a doubt. but somehow it also seems more vast, more expansive and limitless. 

i love the idea of a life that has me regularly on both coasts of this country....

sorry, midwest, i just haven't had a good love affair with you yet!