My name is Sarai, I live in Portland, OR and love to make things.
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It’s always strange to return to a place you used to live. My experience has usually been one of ambivalence. When you move away from somewhere, people will often ask why. Over time, you end up repeating your reasoning often: it was dirty, it was expensive, it was dull. These are [...]
This past weekend, we wanted to get out in the sunshine and go for a bike ride, so we headed to the nearby Mountain View Cometery in Oakland. This is a gorgeous old cemetery established in the mid-19th century, and designed by the same architect who designed Central Park.
It’s not only beautiful, but also [...]
Continue reading A dreaded sunny day, so let’s go where we’re happy...
For a while now, I’ve been hearing about some super secret button store which is stocked with all manner of vintage buttons. I never understood why it was a secret, because I’m sure such a tiny little business could use the support and customers!
Anyway, I finally found it. Exclusive Buttons in [...]
We had a wonderful time in Sonoma last weekend. Hot air balloons are neat.
…and I love horses.
Afterward, we had breakfast in this beautiful garden. It was basically a scaled up version of my dream garden. There were separate mini gardens within it for various cuisines: Italian, south american, etc.
We also visited [...]
One of the things I really missed when we lived in san francisco was the beautiful, overflowing gardens of the east bay. I’m so glad we’re back.
This is a walk we frequently take through the neighborhood. We don’t live in the swankiest, greenest of neighborhoods, but we live very close to one. [...]
The Maker Faire was fun, although I must admit I’m beginning to feel like I’ve seen much of what there is to see there. It hasn’t changed much from year to year, except that there is way more corporate sponsorship, though that seems mostly limited to the expo room (we called it “corporate ghetto”).
BUT [...]
Last night, we checked out Oakland Art Murmur, a regular art event on the first Friday of every month. We saw some wonderful work, including photography, paintings, video, and large installations.
There were several paintings I was really drawn to, but not having that sort of money to spend, I was happy to come away [...]
Yesterday we went to Kinokuniya for japanese craft book goodness, then just took a drive down to the ocean because it was so clear and sunny, and back up through golden gate park. It reminded me what a sigh-inducingly beautiful city this is. When it gets warmer, we’re going to go for bike [...]
On Saturday, we went to see one of my best friends perform her burlesque act at Tease-o-rama. It also happens to be Fleet Week, so there was a huge pack of loud drunken sailors behind us. (Actually, they were mostly quite nice, but they were loud).
There were some pretty incredible acts this year. [...]
I wanted to mention how amazing Al’s Attire is. Located in North Beach, Al does custom tailoring with a vintage flair. He specializes in suits, does some amazing women’s coats, and also has plenty of classically styled dresses, blouses, and men’s shirts around the shop. He’ll work with you to pick out [...]