Good Finds

Click HERE for the Dirt Cheap Guide to Portland. There's a list of cheap hotels on there, all of which are right downtown.

Ian Seniff Art

Riding her coattails:

http://ianseniff.blogspot.com/

Anne Jankowski Art

Here is where I get my talent from:

http://annejankowskiart.blogspot.com/

Boy Meets Hunt/Seniffs

Seniffs, meet your new relatives: Eric and Cory Matthews.


I use the term "relatives" in the loosest sense. The sense where my cousin Amber went through a brief phase of trying to be an actress and worked as an extra on the show Boy Meets World as Eric's cousin / accidental love interest in the episode "Rave On." Oh the joy of finding this on youtube!

A good deal

http://portland.craigslist.org/mlt/sub/686318525.html

This place is in a great location and the time it is available is perfect.

Ian

Also, check this out:
http://portland.craigslist.org/mlt/vac/682198552.html

Out of Things to Sell on eBay

Well Moms and Dads, your son/son-in-law has gotten desperate. The buck doesn't stretch as far as it used to. Medical bills (both cat and human), prescriptions, groceries, utility bills, debt of both the student loan and credit card variety, and
transportation are all becoming quite difficult to pay every month.
Due to this financial strain, your boy here has entered the world of professional eating.

Check out my intensity:


Thats right, on Saturday I ate a total of 44 chicken wings in 7 minutes and 30 seconds to become the first ever chicken wing champion at the local jackass bar, The Cheerful Tortoise. I should have been given the prize for just putting up with the patrons of this establishment.



Here is me with my winnings:


Yep, in that envelope is a gift card for 150 bucks to spend wherever I wish. (Soon after this picture was taken I wished for it to be used at Safeway to purchase Alka Seltzer). In addition I received that white shirt advertising that terrible beer and the admiration of several jackasses who earlier in the night called me names that are unfit for blogging. Anyway, I won and they lost.

These two guys were actually pretty nice, especially "Big Black" as he liked to be called:


Just thought I would fill you in on maybe one of my stupidest ideas. Hunts, please do not think less of me. Seniffs, I am pretty sure you have come to expect this behavior.

Ian

For the travelers:

www.travelportland.com is a GREAT resource for visitors to this wonderful little city. Hotel availability, calendar of local events and much, much more. Enjoy, all you lovely foreigners.

Mother's Day Wishes

I hope your days were spent relishing the fact that you turned out two great children... Daniel and Marie.
But seriously, thank you both for being so wonderful during this difficult period. Your support helps us from feeling hopeless or overwhelmed and for that we are extremely grateful.

Also, thanks for all the comforting words about my darling sick Kitty Pryde as she is essentially my daughter and I have never been so worried in my life (except for the past 50 times Busia has been hospitalized). She is coming home tonight after getting some shots and having an IV put in to get her hydrated.

Good bye.

Ian

We are cute.

I have to say, Craig Mitchelldyer is my favorite person with a sweet camera (hi Craig!)

We had our engagement pictures taken this weekend and just received the photo disc today. I just got done looking at 124 pictures of sickeningly cute us. WE ARE CUTE! I had no idea.

Anyway, the pictures came out beautifully and I now know NOT to do the goofy skipping-while-making-faces pose on the wedding day. Somehow, Craig made us look like really beautiful mental ward escapees. Ok, so he's not responsible for the mental ward part. The rest of them we really love.

Here is a sample, the rest you can see later when I have a minute to upload them to photobucket.com. I have a couple of pages of information on (I believe) how to order prints, etc., so I'll update you on how to do that in a couple of days as well.

















And my personal favorite, the best engagement picture ever taken in the history of mankind, "Ms. Katz & Co." (click image for full effect):

Box-Checking

The Knot says that this is what we have to do this month:

Finalize the guest list.

Set aside blocks of hotel rooms for out-of-town guests

Purchase and send guests save-the-dates if your celebration is over a holiday weekend or at a faraway locale.

Start planning the rehearsal dinner. Provide the host with contact information for your attendants and any other guests

Finalize menu and service details with caterer

Order your invitations and announcements (don't forget plenty of extra envelopes)

Grooms: Start looking to buy or rent tux, suit, or other formal attire

Grooms: Start planning your groomsmen's attire: Tux or suit

Compile packages for out-of-town guests with hotel reservation and city information, and mail them out

Grooms: Decide on your groomsmen's attire

Grooms: Give all of the groomsmen the information they need to buy and/or reserve their attire.

Make or buy favors. Allow extra time for custom-made favors (i.e., chocolates in a preprinted box)

Grooms: If you are renting a tux, visit the formalwear shop to get measured.

Talk to your maid of honor and best man about party plans (such as the shower and bachelor party).

Pick up your invitations.

If you are handling the bridesmaid dress order, confirm the delivery date

Brides: Confirm delivery date for your gown and schedule fittings

Start addressing invitations or drop them off with the calligrapher (you'll need to send them out at the two-month mark).

Talk to people you'd want to do special performances or readings as part of the ceremony

Start taking better care of yourself (eat right, exercise) so you look and feel great on your wedding day

Arrange for all insurance policies to include you and your future spouse: health, auto, homeowner's, and life insurance.

Grooms: Choose and buy any accessories you will need: shoes, shirt stays, cuff links, and a pocket square.

Brides: Provide a guest list to bridesmaids for your shower.

Arrange wedding-day transportation for you, your wedding party, and guests (as needed).

Send out invitations (be sure to add extra postage for overseas guests).

Begin working on vows, particularly if you're writing your own.

Confirm reservations for out-of-town guests.

Begin writing the ceremony program if you are having one.

Who knew that weddings were so much work??

Stimulus Check

Mine was deposited but it was only for 360 bucks. Where is the missing 240?

Did anyone else receive their checks? If so did any of you get shafted as well?

Ian

Whew! (that is a heaved sigh of accomplishment)

So, we have gotten SO much done in the past few days. We are wedding workhorses, and we are proud. Here is a sampling, for bragging purposes:

*Sent my ring in to have a band made for it. I saw the wax cut of it yesterday and let me tell you- it looks awesome. They look like they were were made for each other! Kind of like me and Ian. Aww.

*And on a ring-related note, the jeweler who is making the wedding band told us that my engagement ring is not white gold after all, but PLATINUM! Just goes to show you, always buy your jewelry from little old ladies who don't know the difference.

*Bought our plane tickets to HAWAII!!!



*Booked a river-view room at River Place Hotel for our wedding night. Yay!



*Um, I think Ian called Cricket Cafe to see if we can have breakfast there the morning after the wedding with the families and a few friends.

*Did I say that we registered at Macy's? We are still looking for a bedding set that suits our style and has a reasonable thread count / price ratio.

Is that all? I can't seem to think of anything else at the moment, but suffice it to say, we had a very productive weekend. Two weekends ago, that is. Last weekend was the laziest 2 days man has ever known. We wore pajamas, ate chips and became intimately acquainted with the couch and DVD/Nintendo player. It was a disgustingly luxurious 48 hours of vegetation and mild gluttony that will not be soon forgotten.

More updates to come!

One for the Students

On my way to work I spotted a flyer for a Portland hostel and remembered that we, in fact, do have a couple of hostels in the area. So that's another option for all the college kids and grads, or really anyone who wants to save some money on lodging for the wedding. The one I have seen is a really nice house on Hawthorne St., a great area for shopping, restaurants, people-watching and general hanging out.

The picture of the other one, which happens to be conveniently right downtown, shows a gorgeous old Victorian house on NW 18th (also a great area with tons of fun stuff within walking distance.

This one has dorms and private rooms, free wireless internet, and several tours available. The dorms are $20 a night and the private rooms start at $36 and go to $69.

If anyone you happen to talk with is interested, send them our way for more information!

Also, here's a list of some things to do around Portland while you're here!

I got one too

Just look at those womanly hands.

Mine is less diamond filled.

Who has the most beautiful engagement ring?

ME!! Wanna see?




Ian gave it to me! He's neat.

WE'RE HAVING A BABY!!!!!!!!! (sort of)

Wanna see? We get to take him home in 4 weeks! Meet Chippy Koopa, your new grandbaby.




And if you wanted to see a recent picture of your other grandbaby:



Ok, please let us know if we start turning into "CAT PEOPLE", as in "the cat lady" but both of us.

For Your Browsing Enjoyment

My dad's recent reply included some links to suit ideas for Ian. Unfortunately, they were blocked visually by the "leave a reply" box and thus un-linkable. As I find his ideas particularly pertinent to the question at hand, I have reproduced his full reply here:

OK, I got some great ideas for you:


First, the stylin' look.


Or, keeping the locale in mind, there's this.


Or, with the new slim & trim look, you might consider this.


Kinda dressy, no?

Then there's something in white. White is always classy.


OK, that's enough of that. Just thought I'd drop a little levity into this blog!

I hope you found that as helpful as I did. On with the search!

Suit

A few questions on what I should wear:

What should I wear?
Macy's has a buy one get one free sale, is that too cheap?
If it is, how much should I spend on my suit?
I am losing a lot of weight, when should I get this thing tailored?

Lisa likes fancy ($$$) but I want to look good without going broke. Ideas?

Ian

Dear "Brandon Warner"

Who are you and how did you find me? You are not my moms and dads!

Lovingly,
Lisa

Honeymoon Registry

Look what I did!

Richter said "Our memories are the only paradise from which we can never be expelled."
Therefore, I think memories of paradise would make very appropriate gifts.

Please do not be appalled by the quite lame descriptions with their over use of exclamation points. These were generic options that were provided on the site. Why did I not change them? I am lazy and that site is far from "user friendly".

Note: Neither is this one. This is my fifth time trying to get "Look what I did! to link to what you are actually supposed to see instead of just not appearing at all. The way I want it to appear is how Lisa makes things look, the way its coming up (no link, just the exclamation "Look what I did!") makes me seem crazy.
Note: I got it on the seventh try. I hate computers.

-Ian

Fire on the mountainous belly

I hope you all like fantastic beer and spicy fried things dipped in sauce.

That is all.

Nevermind.

Apparently nobody likes the vintage car thing. Apparently some people think it's a crap idea and that I should be shamed and scoffed upon for coming up with it. I am going to go sulk in the corner. I suggest you all plan the wedding for me until I come back. Just remember that this could have been yours (ours):

OKAY! If you scroll down to the post with all the hotels, you will see that I have updated it at long last. I hope to get more budget-conscious options up and include all the prices and special features soon, but for now you can consult the internet on your own. Or look at something like Wanderlust,
Hotels Cheap ,Travel Guide or something of that sort.

Not just for couches anymore!

So, craigslist is the greatest resource for every need one could possibly have. I posted there recently asking if anyone has or knows anyone who has a cool vintage/classic car that they would be willing to let us use for our getaway car (since renting one through a limo company costs $500!!!) and this girl emailed me today telling me that her cousin has a few cars that he lets people use for "props", etc. and for weddings! I emailed him to see what that would cost and if he would let us use it to drive from the farm to our hotel downtown. I will update with his reply, but for now, please enjoy these pixeltastic picture representations of the glorious possibilities.

Question:

Does anybody read this thing anymore?

Much love,
Lisa

P.S. I am getting so much wedding work done, it's ridiculous. I will update if the above question is answered...well, at all.

Our Condo... for 5 Days

Our honeymoon destination on the beaches of Molokai!

Hello

I thought that for those trying to save money on the trip, there are numerous other options for lodging:

Silver Falls State Park, has cabins and areas for camping as well as bathrooms and showers. Its far away but spending 2 days here is so amazingly worth it -

Stub Stewart State Park is the playground in your backyard. Just 31 miles west of Portland, the park offers camping, picnicking and hiking. If you like trails, this is the park for you. Explore nearly 15 miles of new trails. Bring your horse or bicycle and spend hours exploring the far reaches of the park. After a day of play, finding a quiet spot to relax is easy in the 1,650 acres of lush rolling hills, forest and deep canyons.
Cabins are 39 bucks a night.

For those of you with a KOA membership
Cascade Locks / Portland East KOA
The have "Kabins" and "Kottages" and they love "K" and use it in an oh-so-clever manner.

These just may be a couple of fun ideas for those who are staying more than 3 days who want to mix a little wilderness with their hotels.

I am also making up a guide of fun places to visit and eat while in town, just so we don't have naive midwestern folk who think "Old Town" will provide them with excitement... well the good kind of excitement at least.

Oh, and depending on the size of my next paycheck, it looks as if we are going to reserve our condo in Molokai. . . Lets hope my bank doesn't mess up like Lisa's

-Ian

Shoe Crisis Averted

I come heralding the wonders of Zappos.com! They're way cheaper, have a huge selection, plus you can search by style, width, heel height, color, and price. Here are my favorites (the white ones I chose are dyeable,and obviously some would work better than others in terms of heel width):
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.

10.
11.
My feet have a bright future, clearly. I'm never going to a shoe store again.

Rest Those Heads

I've been doing a little hotel research on behalf of all you out-of-towners and I've come up with a few suggestions. My official recommendations, in no particular order:

1. Our Apartment

For the small price of making sure Kitty Pryde has someone to play with, you can live like a local at the fine Westfal (yes, just one "l") Apartments. We offer a luxurious futon sleeping experience (sleeps one. Two if cuddly)adjacent to our Queen deluxe suite. Amenities include kitchenette, bathroom, and lovable cat. We currently have one spot taken by Cousin Andrew, leaving 0-1 vacancies. Call for reservations.
1880 SW 5th Ave.
Portland, OR 97201

2. Econo Lodge

$50 at the Expo Center, a hop on the MAX train gets you downtown in 5 minutes. You might get scabies, but it'll be affordable.
405 NE Columbia Blvd.
Portland, OR, US, 97211-1421


$109 SW 4th Ave. A foot and a half from our apartment building. I think it may actually share a wall or something. Again potential scabies, but if for some reason you want to be close to our kitty and Cousin Andrew, this is an option.
1889 SW 4th Avenue
Portland, OR, US, 97201

3. The Jupiter Hotel
$114 standard to $150 with kitchenette



Trendy (but overpriced, sheesh!) little boutique hotel on the east side of the river. A 10 minute trip on the bus or a 3-5 minute drive will take you right downtown and to our doorstep.
800 E. Burnside
Portland, OR 97214
877-800-0004

4. McMedamins Kennedy School



My personal favorite, although it's farther away than the rest. About 10-15 minutes from downtown by car. It's accessible by bus, but car would make it much easier. This is the most awesome, unique yet NON PRETENTIOUS hotel in Portland. It's an old elementary school building converted into a hotel/restaurant/theater/pub. There's great artwork all over the building, and the restaurant is fantastic. The converted auditorium is a theater that shows $3 movies with pizza and locally famous McMenamins beer on comfy couches.


There's a giant enclosed hot tub/soaking pool in the old teachers lounge and a few small classrooms have been converted into the Detention Bar, the Honors Bar, and a cigar bar- the name of which escapes me now.

It's a super cool place to visit all in itself. I hear the rooms still have chalkboards in them. I highly, highly reccommend this place if you don't have to be right downtown.
$99-160, includes complimentary admission to the awesome movie theater and use of the soaking pool. Book early.
5736 N.E. 33rd Ave.
Portland, OR 97211
(888) 249-3983

5. Hotel Monaco
Another cool hotel, this one is right downtown. It's got a private art collection and a "pet concierge" and lots of other froofy stuff like that.




$160 to $245
506 S.W. Washington,
Portland, Oregon 97204
888-207-2201

***Okay, after this point I've only got names and links to hotels in the immediate area. I will update soon with more information- pictures, guest reviews, prices, proximity to points of interest, contact info, etc. I think I'm going to stop here or add a couple more price-conscious choices and focus on filling everything out with pertinent information. Let me just say: this is a lot of work!

6. The River Place Hotel


7. The Westin

8. The Marriott

9. Hotel Vintage Plaza

10. The Embassy Suites


11. The Doubletree Hotel Amenities include one dapper businessman to dial your telephone.


12. The Benson Hotel


13. The Mark Spencer Hotel Apartment-style. About $135 per night, also offers discounted weekly rates.
"Studio room with Queen bed and full size bathroom. Fully equipped kitchen with stovetop and oven, full-sized refrigerator, glassware and dishes, silverware, pots and pans, toaster and coffee maker. Spacious closet. Keyless lock system. Iron and ironing board. Hairdryer. Air conditioning. Cable TV. Voicemail, High Speed wireless Internet access and data ports. Also included are complimentary continental breakfast, afternoon tea and cookies."


14. The Paramount Hotel


15. The Ace Hotel




16. The Avalon Hotel


17. The Governor Hotel


18. The Heathman Hotel
Guests can borrow from a library featuring 4,000 first edition books.


19. Hotel Deluxe


20. Hotel Fifty


21. Hotel Lucia

Stay at a bona fide art gallery with works by local artists.


22. Travelodge Hotel City Center