The Welcome Wagon

We're back from another fun night out with Alison & Dave & now seems to be the perfect time to discuss the 'Portland Friendliness Factor'.

Yesterday, Alison invited us to go to a BBQ at her friends' place for a graduation celebration, which is where we were tonight. I asked her if there was anything we could bring, but she said no. I told her I felt terrible about going to someone's house, whom we had never even met, empty-handed, but she said everything was taken care of, including the KEG! Two weeks in & we're invited to our first kegger. Nice.

We drove downtown & met Alison & Dave in front of Alison's apartment building. Would anyone like to figure out the odds of our new Portland friend living across the street from the White House (www.portlandswhitehouse.com) where we stayed on our honeymoon?! Isn't that crazy?! She lives in a beautiful, old building that used to be a hotel & it sits diagonally across from the White House. I got to see her studio apartment & man, is it ever cool! You know when you see the oustide of a building & you just know the inside has to be wonderful? That's what Alison's building is. Her apartment has lots of built-in shelves, fun space-saving touches & a very creative feel. I loved it!

Alison & the White House live in an area of Portland called Historic Irvington & the neighborhood is incredible. The houses are quite unbelieveable, but not in a "Holy crap, they're huge!" kind of way. More like a "Wow, you don't see that kind of craftsmanship every day," kind of way. Check out http://www.irvingtonhometour.com/MainIndex.shtml & take the virtual tour to see what I mean. I told John I would happily buy a house in the neighborhood should our sporadic investments into lottery tickets ever pay off. They're not million-dollar homes (although they look like they should be), but they're still out of our league at the moment.

Alison's friends, Brian & Dana, live just a short drive away from her place in a cute house with a wonderful backyard. It was about 5:00 p.m. when we arrived & I STILL felt strange about not bringing anything to offer our hosts or contribute to the party. Aside from that feeling, I also had that tinge of shyness I always get when meeting a large crowd of new people. The one that makes me want to stay in the safe, little circle of people I already know b/c I'm afraid that the new people won't like me. How high school is that?!

Well, I needn't have worried.

Everyone we met could not have been nicer or more welcoming. I can't tell you how many times we have been welcomed to the city since we arrived. "Welcome to Portland" is a phrase we've heard many times & it sounds so nice every time! It's like the people here actually LIKE where they live & are proud that someone has moved from a far distance to be a part of it. We met more of our neighbors here within the first three hours of arriving than we ever knew in Florida in almost four years. Nobody ever came over & said "Welcome to Orlando". Everyone just stayed inside b/c it was too hot to come out!

We got to meet lots of Alison's friends & they're all excellent. It was a semi-strange experience to be at a party where everyone was our age b/c we've become so used to seeing old people everywhere. I had almost forgotten what a real party feels like, but tonight was great! We laughed, we talked, we ate & we drank all night long. I'm so glad Alison invited us b/c it made me feel like we've already got a little group of friends here & that's a nice feeling. When it was time to leave, Brian & Dana thanked us for coming! Thanked us! Even though we didn't bring anything to their party! They're a class act.

Just an aside here...earlier today, there was a story on all of the major news networks (CNN, MSNBC, Fox News) about some hikers who got stranded on Mount Hood. Helicopters & a rescue team had to be sent out to get them b/c two of the people had serious back & leg injuries. Well, one of the rescue guys was at the party! I just thought that was cool.

Later,
PortlandGirl