Christine in Portland » living in Portland

Shocking incident with TriMet

Christine — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 05:54:15 +0000

Tonight, we observed an incident with TriMet that shook us to our very core–a sight we never thought we would live to see. I felt compelled to submit feedback at their website. Here it is, reproduced faithfully.

I am alarmed to report that the driver of this bus can only be an extraterrestrial, a new driver, or a non-union driver. This evening, while following behind this bus at a safe distance (lest you say we were tailgating and cannot possibly have seen what we saw), we observed your “driver” to not only slow down, but actually come to a FULL STOP at a red light while eastbound on Lombard. When this happened, we knew something must be wrong, as normally your drivers approach this intersection as they would an opportunity to limit population growth. Your driver is to be commended for following laws (this one time) that the rest of us observe all the time. Please commend them, even if this is normally a firing offense.

Living in Portland: Indigo Traders in Multnomah Village

Christine — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 01:22:32 +0000

Indigo Traders, a family business owned by Karla Bean and Samir Naser, is one of my very favorite shops in Portland. The selection of soaps, textiles, and ceramics makes for a wonderful sensory experience, and on First Friday, their open house includes a veritable feast of Middle Eastern cuisine.

They recently opened an outpost across the street from the original location, Indigo Bath. We dropped by to replenish our soap stock and take some pictures a few weeks back; the new space is needed, as they outgrew Indigo Traders quite some time ago.

For what it’s worth, I would post some pictures of Indigo Traders too, but there was quite a crowd, and I am not too happy with any of the pictures I took there.

This olive lavender soap is my favorite ever; the scent is wonderful and clean, and the olive oil makes it very soothing and moisturizing without being oily.

Turkish bath towels…certainly not what you get at Macy’s. They come in a rainbow of colors, dry super fast, and as Samir told us, need less washing than their “standard” towel counterparts because they are not damp all the time.

Indigo Traders (and Indigo Bath) are both full of beautiful displays of the products for sale. There’s a lot of attention to color and texture, especially in the displays of soaps. Even when I don’t necessarily need anything, I love stopping in and gawking. Trust me, it’s fun.

Info:
7881 SW Capitol Hwy
Portland, OR 97219
503.780.2422 | website

Living in Portland: Switch Shoes in Multnomah Village

Christine — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 03:21:16 +0000

I’ve been frequenting the marvelous, locally-owned Switch Shoes for quite some time. For one, it’s easy walking distance from my house. Even if it weren’t, though, they have lovely shoes, and the owners are even more enthusiastic about footwear than I. On First Friday this month, my wonderful roommate and I were in for a while, bought some shoes, and appreciated once again the eclectic selection and perfect combination of shoes, live music, and wine that makes Switch one our favorite First Friday destinations.

I snapped a few pictures with their permission. These don’t begin to do justice to the array of cool things they have, and indeed seem more calculated to show off the spring-like colors and their liberal use of cut flowers in the shop. See the shop for yourself.

One of the things I love about Switch, besides the shoes, are the lime green shelves and the rows and rows of color that great you when you walk in.

They carry a variety of accessories, including both a few locally-made products and hard-to-find pieces by some very unique designers. We were thrilled to see that they are now carrying Espe accessories–from our neighbor to the north.

I hope that they are in business for a long, long time, so do check them out.

7871 SW Capitol Hwy Portland, Oregon, 97219
Phone: (503)445-4585 | website

Living in Portland: a new series

Christine — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 02:53:35 +0000

I’m beginning a new category of postings on this site, Living in Portland. I’m reasonably engaged in the community I live in, whether that means being politically active or shopping locally as often as possible. While not really nonprofit in nature, these activities reflect my values both ethical and aesthetic. In this new series, I’ll be posting about local events, businesses, etc. that are part of my life. I hope you enjoy the content.