Picnic Project. Northwest.

The Picnic Project.
Established 2006.

Each year, Patricia chooses five parks in Portland—one from each section of Portland: N, NE, NW, SE & SW. She plans food and invites people for a picnic, then records the festivities. By 2027 she will have picnicked in every park in Portland.
Date: August 5, 2007
Park: Wallace Park
Present: Matt, Linda, Patricia & Mary.
Food: Delights from Elephants Delicatessen.
Activities: Eating our very yummy food. Taking a walk around the edge of the park. Letting our mothers have time to socialize.
Comments: Because Matt's mother Linda was visiting, we thought it would be great if we had a Moms picnic. So my mother and I picked up Matt and his mother after church. First we went to the Elephants on NW 22nd. It is my favorite place to go when I want good food and don't care if I spend an arm and a leg to get it. After we sacrificed a few limbs for our feast ("No more picnics that cost more than if we went to a sit-down restaurant." I told Matt) we headed to Wallace Park. This park is famous for being next to Chapman school, where the swifts roost in the chimney each year during their migration. The swifts are a sight to behold, and if you are ever in Portland during September, I suggest you pack a picnic and tromp up to the school to see this magnificent spectacle.
We were there in early August , and during the day. So we chatted, shivered under the gray August sky (horrible summer here, just horrible) and hoped it wouldn't rain. Eventually the sun came out and our walk around the edge of the park was lovely.

New couch! And more!

Matt's mom Linda came to visit and she offered to get us a new couch as a housewarming gift. We looked at a few used furniture places, but ended up braving the crowds at our brand-new Ikea. There we found not only a fancy new couch, but also a chaise lounge.

There were a million people (this is only a slight exaggeration) at the Ikea. We had to park our Flexcar (a Scion this time) waaaaaay at the other end of the parking lot and hike down to the store. The Ikea is right on a Max stop (Cascades Station), and people were arriving by train, but they were a small percentage of the people arriving by car.

Once inside we found the couch area and began sitting. After much, "Nope," "Nope," "Too hard," "this one wasn't made for short people," this Ektorp sofa in Idemo dark blue was the winner. Here, Linda and Matt wait for the nice, but very busy sales woman to help us. I fell in love with this chaise lounge and we got that too! We ended up going with Bleking white for the cover, but I think we might be switching over to Toftaholm blue in the future. My clumsiness and white covers don't go together very well.

We've picked out our couch and our coverings, we've loaded the couch and cover onto a dolly, we've picked up the smaller chaise lounge and cover at the pick up area, Linda has paid, and now we are waiting for home delivery.
Delivery. Things are being assembled.
The lounge really wasn't this hard to assemble.
Matt and Linda relax on our new furniture. Our old furniture has been shoved behind the new, creating two circles of sitting arrangements. The white chase lounge makes me want to paint that wall behind it, but all in good time.
Thanks Linda!