Portland Confessions #1

Our under-counter compost bin makes me feel happy, responsible and, yes, just a little smug.

Portland Composts!

Portland Moment #2: Portland Recycles!

It's no secret Portland is a "green" city. So much so that, every week, we have 3 different bins to take to the curb.

Oh, except for every other week, when we have FOUR.

WHY?! Green for compost, Blue for recycling (cardboard, metal, plastic), Black for other garbage - every other week - and Yellow for recycling (glass).

Add to this that Oregon is a deposit state, so we separately collect soda cans and beer bottles inside and take them for refunds separate from our weekly trash ritual.

And, of course, Portlandia nails it:  http://www.ifc.com/portlandia/videos/portlandia-sanitation-twins

Portland Moment #1: Hipster-in-Training

When we were looking for a place to rent back in January, we met with the owner of a house in Southeast Portland, very close to a street rapidly becoming known as a dining hot-spot. As he showed us the house, we talked about the neighborhood, and he remarked on how much it was changing. I asked "more yuppie than when you moved in"?  He replied, "More like more hipster." Then he gave Jason a long look and said, "But that's OK, you look like a hipster."

"Hipster" Jason, enjoying his non-fat soy latte organic drip coffee.

Our Move to Portlandia

In early January, we moved to Portland. If you're not familiar, this will help.

Since neither of us is currently employed at a full-time, reasonably well paying job, our travel budget is a little thin so we won't have many travels to write about. We will, however, begin sharing our own Portland(ia) moments here.  There have been many already. Stay tuned...