just got back from my visit to Seattle/Portland. I went there thinking i was going to love Seattle so much more, but in the end I fell in love with Portland.
If i can say one thing: the food in Portland was AMAZING. That's all that really needs to be said. When deciding to move somewhere, the available cuisine is of the utmost concern. Forget cost of living. Forget job market. Forget community. Forget aesthetics. If there's good restaurants, everything else will follow.
seriously though, both cities were awesome. Seattle is by far the more beautiful location, and we had a lot more time to explore. We walked around a LOT. It's so green and the combination of hilly land and lots of water makes for some of the most amazing views I've ever seen in an urban area.
But we were only in Portland for like a day and a half and it already made a much greater impression. The residential areas are more open and cozy feeling, unlike the Seattle areas that could feel kind of uptight. And it seems like there's cool stuff sprawled out everywhere, instead of just in the center of the city. The downtown area also seemed a little more chill (minus the really trendy rich area "The Pearl") and there were a ton of cool bars and coffeeshops for hanging out. In general it seemed like a younger, livelier city with a lot more stuff to interest me.
all in all, i really wanna go. and i'm really psyched. But i'm also happy to have gotten home to my cats and to start bartending classes
Oh yeah. i started bartending school today. It made me realize how much i love school when it's a subject i like.
I love the pirate face.
Mwah Boy!