Not your Mother's Bingo

Yikes - games. I hate them. I guess we learn how to play games as children so that we can deal with all the "games" we have to play in our adult lives. Maybe that is why I find it so unappealing to willingly play games if I don't have too. It seems like every real life moment is figuring out our next move.

But - hey, occasionally I get roped into playing a game or two. Especially during the holidays when family or friends have gathered and we are spending probably way too much time together in one room. I have been known to head up a charades game, perhaps a game or two of Name that tune, Trivial Pursuit or something along those lines. I try to be a good sport and go along with the crowd but usually only after much prodding and guilt tripping from family members. I'm not mentioning anyone by name here, but if you feel it could be you, it probably is.

This is what lead me to playing Bingo on Monday night with my daughter and a group of her friends at The Woods, a bar/music venue (ex-funeral home) in Portland. This is hipster bingo. Better music, more keep Bingo/Portland weird attitude permeating the room. Not your stereotypical seniors night at the church hall, no, Bingo is apparently shaking off its old folks image. These people are young, energetic, and they smell more of cigarette smoke and beer than mothballs. But the game is still the same. Bingo at The Woods is one quarter comedy club (as the Caller calls out "Number Don't stop B11", you know, the song by Journey; one quarter bar, and the remaining half a dimly lit bingo hall, bubbles and all.

As the game begins, all eyes are down, concentrating on the cards in front of them. The Caller begins calling out numbers and you can feel the tension increase in the room. You can tell who the serious players are; they are the ones with these fancy felt tip pens, designed just for Bingo I believe. The rest of us amateurs are fumbling with our cards, punching out the numbers as quickly as we can, frantically asking "what number did he just call?" We are on the floor, sitting cross legged, since the place is packed and we were too late to get seats. Trying to maneuver our many cards, purses, drinks, coats and scarves and not trip any one in the process is another strategy game all its own.

There were gag prizes awarded for the corner games, the kite games, but the real money prizes were awarded for the blackouts. My daughter won $58, and I thought I had won $200. But once I called out Bingo and was called up on the stage, the Caller goes through my numbers and then tells me and the entire audience of about 200 people, "Oh no, we didn't call I-16, Kim is not a winner! The crowd cheers. Really really good for the ego, and for feeling quite incompetent and may I say, stupid. Can't even get a bingo card right. But in my defense, there were two of us working the card as I had to get up and order drinks. Yes, Bingo night wouldn't be complete in Portland without PBR, Spiced (spiked) cider, and Tecate Beer.

So after several games and several small wins among friends, bundled up we headed out into the cold Portland night to go home. There were good laughs, good friends, and it was actually a really good time. Who knows, maybe this is our mother's bingo. As they would slip out on a Sunday afternoon to go play, we thought "Boring, boring, boring" - aah, if only we had known.

All is calm ~ All is bright

Driving up to Portland last week, my fourth trip up here this year, and again, with 10 hours in a car by yourself, it is amazing where you will travel. The actual physical destination is just one of the many places you will go on your road/mind trip. I thought back to last year at this very time. My life was falling apart but I put my best Mrs. Santa Claus foot forward and tried to act jolly even if a bit tired, somewhat overwhelmed, irritated with my partner (I know Santa's work lasts all year, but around this time Mrs. Claus has to be seriously one eggnog away from packing it up and moving south). Still, I managed to feign affection for this sometimes challenging time of year.

I arrived in Portland around 5:30 Friday evening, lots of traffic coming into the city. Holiday time, weekends and rush hour aren't usually a great mix. The city looked beautiful, with snowflakes hanging, and even though it was a bit foggy, I could see the city lights reflected in the water as I drove up I-5.

When I made it downtown, parked in a parking garage and started walking down Washington Street, the city looked magical. All the trees were lit with what looked like very pale green lights (they could have been white, not really sure), people were out everywhere, walking briskly in their scarves and hats on what I am guessing to be a rather unseasonably warm Portland evening in December. There was life all around me, it was vibrant. It felt like Christmas, the type of Christmas I always dream of. Those dreams include; cold weather, bustling city shoppers, lots of lights, Christmas carols off in the distance, and a feeling of calm even in the sometimes hectic-ness of all it.

I was here last year at this time too. This will be my third year in a row to come to Portland to spend Christmas with my daughter and it always brings home the true spirit of Christmas. Home is where your heart is. So I guess your "home" can be many places at the same time. It comes down to people, people you love, people you care about, maybe just as Barbra Streisand has said, people who need people.

For this one season it seems we put our financial worries, our health worries, our general life worries on the back burner long enough to put a batch of gingerbread men in the oven instead. Not so much denial about what is going on around us, but more a time out to appreciate all that is good. And hopefully we all have some good. There is a softness to the season that prevails even as the commercialism and the in your face adverts try to sink you. There is one thing we all have in common, the one thing that lives in all of us, a spirit of hope, that never-ending hope that things can always get better, that love is alive, that life is worth living.

I don't think I've heard a more beautiful quote about Christmas than the one made famous by Agnes M. Pharo, which I have used many times before but it bears repeating;

"What is Christmas? It is tenderness for the past, courage for the present, hope for the future. It is a fervent wish that every cup may overflow with blessings rich and eternal, and that every path may lead to peace." Agnes M. Pharo

Merry Christmas everyone :-)

Basking in your warm sun

Towards the Sun, Follow the Sun, Sunshine on my shoulder, we all crave the sun, need the sun, run away to vacation in the sun.  Why then, would I even be considering a move to Portland, the land of gray skies and little sun? No doubt the sun warms our skin, warms our souls, gives us a healthy glow, and nourishes us with necessary Vitamin D.  But my sunny life here in Napa is depleting me of many other nutrients, like laughter, love and the energy to jump out of bed each morning, excited to see what each day will bring. I don't think I am in need of a prescription for Zoloft or Lexapro, nothing that drastic, but it is obvious that I really do need to examine my life, decide what is important, what inspires me and in general, how I want to live the rest of it. I think it was a Cheerios commercial on TV, where the man makes birdhouses and wants to keep his heart healthy so he can continue doing what he loves, and he loves making birdhouses.  What do I love?  Hmm.  My interests change as often as spring turns to summer, or sometimes as quickly as day turns to night.

But what never changes is my love of home life, family, friends, and for me, Napa seems to have a shortage of all of those.  With my family and friends scattered across the country, I'll admit, the number one reason I'm thinking of a move to Portland is because my daughter lives there.  And as corny as it sounds, she is my external and internal sunshine.  I wasn't one of those mothers who had a baby, reared them until the ripe old age of 18, and then kicked them out the door, so that I could be off and running to live the second half of my life on some cruise ship to the Caribbean or some retirement community in Florida.  I still want to be part of her life, and really, I'm not a stalker or a helicopter mom, I just want to attend her performances, take an occasional early morning walk in the park, meet for lunch, have tea at the Tao, once in a while snuggle up together and watch a movie, and lucky me, she wants that too.

Olivia and Bryan - aka Suckerforlights

I've always believed that it is the people that make a place.  I've said it before but maybe I need to hear it again, you can live in paradise, but if you live there all alone, your little paradise can become your own little run down strip mall. To me, Napa is like the great *pretender.  I have lived here for the past 20 years and watched the wine industry take over the valley, completely.  We now have over 400 wineries.  We have some of the countrys' most upscale restaurants and sought after chefs, Thomas Keller and his French Laundry, Iron Chef Morimoto and the new Morimotos on the Riverfront, Richard Reddington of Redd in Yountville, Tyler Florence, Michael Chiarello and Cindy Pawlcyn are just a few others that staked a claim in the Napa stew of celebrity chefs.  From the newer architecture to the popularity of Bocce ball, Napa is a mix of French and Italian wannabes.  It can be a wondrous place if you own a vineyard, a winery, an upscale restaurant or work in an industry that profits from tourism.  Napa is definitely a small town that caters to its visitors and not the local residents.  An upscale Mayberry, all polished and perfected, for all the world to see, an image to uphold.  Food carts are few and hard to find, we have about 4 total and for those 4 I'm sure the permits and licensing were a nightmare to get.  They are located off by the railroad tracks, out of sight.  In Portland they occupy it seems like most every corner, giving the people who live there the opportunity to eat great food at a great price, at perhaps a small bistro or picnic table next to a trash can.  Ah, please, Napa would have to give their eyes an eyewash of antibiotics after witnessing that!  There is a great little book out about the food carts in Portland that my daughter bought me last Christmas, http://portlandfoodcartsbook.com/

And yes, in Napa there is the sun, the weather definitely makes life easier.  No ice to scrape from the windshield, no snow to blow out of the driveway, only seasonal rain fall that makes you remember, Yes Virginia, there is a season called winter.

Food carts in Portland - gotta love em

People in Portland seem to be satisfied earning enough money to get by, but truly value their free time much more than a large paycheck and a substantial savings account.  They love to meet up with friends, eat out, drink wine and beer, attend festivals, listen to music, get involved in the community and in general live a kick back, unpretentious lifestyle.

Of course for me Portland has more than great food, it is home to the neighborhood coffee house. Coffee, coffee coffee.  You have the Stumptowns and the Starbucks, but you also have a multitude of home grown coffee houses and roasters.  On our outing to Sellwood last weekend, a neighborhood in the Southeast, we came upon the Blue Kangaroo.  Best mocha I ever had, with Red Square on Belmont coming in a close second.  This has truly become one of my joys in life.  Trying every coffee house I come upon and rating their product and baristas.  And I have met some of the happiest and seemingly content baristas around in Portland.

So far, our favorite and happiest Barista in Portland!

To sum it all up, we can get all the sun and shine we need from that actual bright burning star or we can get it from people, places, things, family and friends.  You might get it from a friendly barista serving a great cup of coffee, a little schnauzer excitedly taking you on a walk, an awesome dinner at a cheap Thai food cart, acknowledging what is important to you, or just plain relaxing, simplifying and enjoying your way through life. Finding whatever it is that lights and warms you up inside, and it might be something as simple as making birdhouses, but once we find it, it can be like a strong dose of pure sunshine.

Little David Bowie waiting patiently outside Blue Kangaroo in Sellwood while we grab a coffee- best mocha ever!

Jackson Browne - The *Pretender
I'm gonna be a happy idiot
And struggle for the legal tender
Where the ads take aim and lay their claim
To the heart and the soul of the spender
And believe in whatever may lie
In those things that money can buy
though true love could have been a contender
Are you there? Say a prayer for the pretender.

Eagles, Salmon and Bears, Oh My!

Here I am in Alaska - away from the rest of the world (with the exception of a hundred or so other fisherman escaping the rest of the world) only to be introduced to the owner of a food cart lot in Portland – again – coffee again – my heart starts pounding harder again - a business plan begins to emerge.  But wait – I just accepted a position at one of the areas finest art galleries – opportunity, commissions, decent paycheck - the bittersweet singsong of responsibility pounds in my head. Quit daydreaming - shake it off -commit yourself to something!  But what a coincidence!  Just when I am ready to put the coffee pot on the back burner, I meet this person who is opening a new lot of food carts in Portland and would love to see me have a coffee cart there.  I hop on the float plane with visions of lattes, french press coffee and orange cream cheese muffins like a Mitch Miller singalong bouncing along in my mind.

Now back home, getting ready to go into the gallery and I am pressing my nice black pants, putting on my heels, bracelet, earrings, trying to look a bit sophisticated after returning home from a very unsophisticated few days on the Alaskan ocean – where the only thing I was putting on in the morning was chap stick, a beanie and my slickers.  Spending 10 hours a day on a fishing boat where I am peeing in a bucket, wiping blood off my rain boots, eating PBJ sandwiches on WHITE BREAD – now to be home with the luxury of a modern bathroom, dry clothes that smell of Bounce instead of dead fish, and a full refrigerator of food -quite a transition. Not a bad transition but just one where it feels that the real me is a person somewhere in between. Coffee house – food cart – art galleries – angler - Queen of Sheba – who knows.

Owning your own business is more work, this I know, more stress but also more freedom. Even if I were to work 80 hours a week as opposed to say, the normal 40 most people put in at a full time job – to me, it is still more freedom when you find your souls work.  I have had people ask me, "Do you really want to own a coffee house or do you just love being in a coffee house?" - Good question.  I think both. But what do I know?  I can't truthfully say for sure.

Being away from civilization as we know it for a few days can make you look at life a lot differently. You get a sense of how simplistic it really should be and how complicated we have made it. In nature it seems that everyone and everything knows their place, they know where they need to be, what they need to do.  Even though their living conditions and means of finding food, shelter and basic survival is much more difficult than ours, it is nonetheless a simple existence.  To know where you belong, to be at peace with your place in life.  If only it could be that clear and simple for us.  Maybe if we spent more time in and with nature we would know ours too.

  One place I know I should be - spending time, laughs, hugs, shoulder and knee pains with family. . priceless.

Salmon with Maple Thyme Glaze

Ingredients

1/2 C. country-style Dijon mustard
4 1/2 Tbs. pure maple syrup
3 1/2 Tbs. water
2 Tbs. prepared horseradish
6 (8 oz.) salmon fillets
1 1/2 Tbs. golden brown sugar, packed
1 1/2 Tbs. fresh thyme, chopped

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 F. Whisk mustard 3 Tbs. maple syrup, 3 1/2 Tbs. water and horseradish in small bowl to blend. Arrange salmon on baking sheet. Whisk 1 1/2 Tbs. maple syrup, sugar, and thyme in another small bowl to blend. Spread thyme mixture evenly over salmon. Bake until salmon is just opaque in center, about 20 minutes. Transfer salmon to plates. Spoon mustard-horseradish sauce over and serve.

(Alaskan photography courtesy of Pamela Espinosa)

Making our dreams a reality

Tuesday, February 2nd 2010 - Groundhog Day - My introduction

Everyone entertains the idea of owning a coffee shop at one time or another. Why? Because everyone loves going to a coffee house, whether it's the local Starbucks or a small quaint hole in the wall, with mismatched chairs, local art, heads hidden behind laptops and that feeling that you belong. I'm no different. I love the coffee house scene and even more than that, I have that entrepreneurial spirit - it runs in my family.

Now at this point in my life it is time to take the plunge, never mind the bad economy or all the doubts that keep entering my mind, the fear that pricks at my skin every chance it gets. Something about this feels right. Even the timing. Here we are in Napa, California. I've lived here for the past 20 years and I'm ready to move on. Moving to Portland Oregon, where in one breath someone will say, "Oh what a great city", and the next breath, "oh, but how are you going to stand all of that rain?" I was born in California but have had the opportunity to live in some other locales, even places without ideal weather. North Dakota for example. Denver, Colorado for another. And what I have found is that it is the people, the sense of community which draws me to an environment, over the weather. You can live in paradise, but if you don't have any friends, any real connections, even the sunny perfect days can get very depressing. So, with that said, I'm ready to try and endure the endless days of wet and gray.  But maybe you should check back with me in a year's time and see how I'm faring with my new Hunter rain boots, raincoats, and frequent visits to a spa where they have that special sunshine lighting, I might be singing a different tune.

I started searching Craigslist for businesses to buy mid year last year. I searched the entire Bay Area, too expensive, Napa, too expensive. I started to lose hope. It seemed like every place I would choose to live would either cost me as much or more than where I already lived. We thought about Portland and took a quick 3 day trip in December to check it out, look at a little real estate and get a feel for the place. I wasn't that impressed. I was happy to be home three days later. I put Portland out of my mind. For a short time. But it keep nagging at me, this obsession with a coffee house, and a city like Portland seemed the perfect place. They have hundreds of coffee houses already, this I know, but the people there really embrace their local shops, they all have their favorite, it is almost a form of ownership for them. They get involved. So, after my daughter left L.A. and moved to Portland we went up a few more times, still happy to return home after each visit.

I kept scouring the ads on Craigslist and responded to a few of them. Eventually finding the one that would become ours. It just looked like too good of an opportunity - we could afford to get into it. After checking out the space, the inventory, the neighborhood, doing some market research and just hoping for the best, we decided to throw caution to the wind and put our hearts and soul into opening this incredible little place that would be ours. Artistry Cafe. A real test as to what we were made of. The stamina, patience, fortitude and love that would be required would be a challenge, but we were ready. Notice was given at my job, to our apartment, and now the work begins looking for a new place to live, packing, finding movers, getting into our shop by March 1st, getting it in shape and ready to open by April 3rd. Exciting and overwhelming, this is going to be great. It is actually going to be all kinds of things, but I'm confident that the good will out weigh the bad, and we will be successful in bringing forth a space that not only serves great coffee, pastries, and other wonderful edibles, but nourishes so much more. The creative spirit that we all have. So, here we go, our adventure begins and I will document it all. The little boring details, like signing a lease to our opening day to a realistic account of what it will be like running a coffee house. Stay tuned.