Beautiful Buildings in Salem, Oregon

I was walking in downtown Salem last night, admiring the twilight sky and the spring green trees when I started to notice something. Little ol' Salem has some beautiful buildings if you take the time to look up at the rooflines. Down here on the ground, they can look just as ordinary as the brick building next to it. But look up...and see the real beauty of our town. We may not have skyscrapers, but we have quite a skyline anyway.

Here's one example:

The Elsinore Theater

From:  http://salemphotodiary.blogspot.com/

In Honor of Earth Day

I have decided to celebrate Earth Day 2010 by investing in outdoor solar lights for my container garden. When I say "invest," I mean picking up five solar lights from Target for $3 each and planting them in my containers with my other flowers. I feel like it is a very good investment and should last for years. I was pleasantly surprised by how quickly they get recharged and how twinkly they are in the yard.

Dirt and Flower Day at Fred Meyer

The Fred Meyer flower sale (where they fill up your pots with dirt for FREE!!) is happening on Saturday, so all you container gardeners, get out there and get your dirt! Maybe I'll see you there. My neighbor is making me get up and start gardening at 7 AM!

Spring Break, Part 2

Spring Break was just all around a good week for me. I felt productive, but I also got in a lot of fun and socializing. I finished my taxes and dropped state taxes off at the Revenue office downtown, saving myself a stamp. I dropped off a huge bag of stuff at Goodwill, and sold some books at The Book Bin, resulting in a nice little credit for future book buying. I spent a lovely, rainy evening at f/stop Fitzgerald playing trivia and drinking Wandering Aengus cider with friends.

Then I took off to Seattle for a weekend getaway with some girlfriends. We stayed at the beautiful Alexis Hotel in downtown Seattle right down the street from Pike's Place Market. The weather gods blessed us with beautiful weather and we wandered the market, had lunch at Pike's Brewery, and generally enjoyed the sunny day. In the evening, the four of us girls decided it would be fun to have a few cocktails on the town, so we hailed a taxi and made our way to The Chapel on Capitol Hill for happy hour martinis. We had a great time and ended up at a little pizza joint in Belltown on 1st Ave. I can't for the life of me remember the name of the place (Hmmm. Perhaps one martini too many??), but it was delicious and made a great nightcap slice before we headed back to the hotel.

The First Half of my Salem Staycation

Since I just took a long weekend at the beginning of the month I decided to stay around Salem and vicinity for Spring Break.
My staycation so far: Pub crawl through downtown with friends old and new, Saturday morning walk with my nephew and a cup of coffee at the Beanery, a side trip to Portland for a manicure and dinner at Pambiche (awesome Cuban tapas!), lunch with friends at Sushi Kyo, a night at my personal hotel in Willamina with my good college friend, breakfast at the Casino and whale watching in Depoe Bay, Happy Hour at Boon's with friends, housecleaning which resulted in a giant bag of donations for Goodwill, and today I'm working on taxes.
Whew! I think I need a nap now.

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

A Neighborhood Harvest in Salem

I was contacted recently through the neighborhood association about a new project called Neighborhood Harvest of Salem. I think this sounds so cool!

Basically, people sign up their fruit trees or gardens if they have more than they can harvest, and then volunteers organize a harvest party to pick the fruit. Much of the harvest is donated to Marion-Polk Food Share and the rest is split among the volunteers.

What a great way to have fresh, local fruits and veggies at the food bank! Plus, all those extra cherries on that tree in your backyard can be split among people in the community. And you won't end up with a tummy ache. Win-win, I say.

Look What I Won!

I was so excited to hear that I won this necklace on the salemites.com contest! I love Jessica's designs and I was excited to get one with our own gold man on it.

Boon's: My Local Bar

Boon's Treasury on odd little corner of High and Liberty has a lot going for it. It's got the best patio in town, good happy hour, yummy microbrews, and a wood stove for cold evenings.

But there are some other things that make Boon's a great hangout too. I have discovered that they have free Wi-fi and on less busy days, like Monday nights, they are happy to let you sit and work on homework for hours while sipping a beer and munching on some Cajun tots. At the end of a long term, coffee shops can start to feel a little redundant and since Boon's is walking distance from my house, it has become a my new favorite alternative.

And, miracle of miracles, I actually finished my homework before the midnight deadline! I think the beer really helped.

New Decor at Love Love Teriyaki

Love Love got a makeover! I stopped by the Love Love Teriyaki (near the Fred Meyer North) yesterday and saw that they have new booths. They still have mostly tables and chairs, but now they have added booths along the one wall. It looks really cozy and nice. They also had new menus on the wall behind the counter and a giant flat screen TV scrolling through pictures of their food items. It looks really nice and classy. AND...they still have the same great food. Mmm, I love love me some Love Love!

I would have taken pictures, but I locked my camera in my car along with my keys, so I was more worried about getting that taken care of than my photographic responsibilities. Sorry!

Is Salem Really "So Lame"?

I took my students on a field trip around downtown Salem last week. It was a beautiful day and we got to walk around and through the streets and alleys, take some pictures, and see what was going on. Afterwards when the students wrote about their little jaunt around town, I noticed something very interesting. Those teens who had grown up in Salem had the "So lame" attitude, while the 4 or 5 students who had recently moved to Salem thought it was a really cool place with pretty buildings, lots to do, and cool shops.

So, where are the kids who live here getting this idea that Salem isn't fun or interesting? Is it just because they know it too well and have grown up around here and don't appreciate it? Or are they hearing it from their parents or older siblings?

Now, I grew up in Salem, and I'm well aware of its issues and shortcomings, but compared to the way it was when I was a teenager, Salem is downright cool. But that's another story and I'll have to save those musings for another post.

An Experiment

I've decided to try posting something remotely from my BlackBerry by using the mobile technology Blogger offers. You may think this is because I am technologically savvy and am a member of a highly evolved species in the blogosphere. Well, maybe.

But mostly I just don't have internet at home currently and at work they actually want me to do my job ( I know, I know. What are they thinking, right?). I guess I could break down and get internet but that not only requires work, but money.

Just imagine. I would have to call Comcast and set up a time for them to come over. Then I'd have to be here to let them in. I'd have to get a wireless router (because some dimwit installed the outlet next to the front door. Who sits next to the door while surfing the net? Hackers who need a quick exit?). Then I'd have to remember to add the new bill onto my bill pay system AND I'd have to spend all my coffee money on the bill each month.

So there you have it. Mostly this experiment is done out of pure laziness. A little financial consideration, but mostly laziness. Hope it works, but if not I have my plan all lined out above. How handy.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Are YOU in the Know?

Do you know what's going on around Salem this weekend? Here are a couple that I'm excited about.

Pub Crawl
Downtown Salem
Mardi Gras theme
More info: http://salemdowntown.net/

Rocky Horror Picture Show - Interactive
High Street Cinema (the old Salem Cinema)
Four showings throughout the weekend
More Info: http://www.salemcinema.com/highstreetcinema.html

I'm sure there are plenty of other things to fit all kinds of entertainment needs. Check out the Salem Pipeline site for some more ideas and then go out and have fun, Salem!

Community Events

There are a couple of things coming up that have gotten a lot of interest from the community. I thought I would pass the information along on this blog in case people hadn't heard about either of these events.

Railroad Quiet Zone Meeting and Demo
The city has started meetings that will try to establish a quiet zone for trains within Salem. Some community members have been working for this for quite awhile, and this is a great step in that direction. There will also be a demonstration of a quieter style whistle for trains that could be a possible solution to a Quiet(er) Zone. If you are interested in a Railroad Quiet Zone for your property values, sleep patterns, etc, please feel free to attend either event. They are open to the public.

Meeting:
Thursday, February 18, 2010
6:30-8:30 PM
Center 50+ (on the corner of Silverton and Portland Rds)

Demo:
Saturday, February 20, 2010
10 AM
Railroad Crossing at D St. near North H.S.
Parking available at the school

Crime Prevention Meeting with Salem Police
This is an open community meeting which will give the public a chance to interact with the police and learn about an online crime statistics site for Salem. There will also be information about how businesses are granted liquor licenses. Unfortunately, this meeting is the same time as the Railroad Quiet Zone meeting.

Meeting:
Thursday, February 18, 2010
6:30 PM
Waldo Middle School (2805 Lansing Ave, off Silverton Rd)

For more info on the Crime Prevention Meeting go to http://www.flashalert.net/news.html?id=1095.

Newport, Yurts, and Beer

I went over to Newport this weekend to stay in a yurt with my friend at South Beach State Park. The yurt was warm and cozy and I realized I've never actually been to Newport except for a quick visit in the dark a few years ago.

Sunday was beautifully sunny and we spent the day wandering around the old town and chatting with some talkative sea lions. We wandered down to Mo's where I had a crab sandwich special with chowder. I must admit that I don't love Mo's chowder. I did, however, love their crab sandwich. Mmmm.

We also headed up to the Rogue Brewery for a tour and some tastings. It was a really interesting free tour that they do every day at 3 PM. You really should check it out sometime when you're over at the coast.

My First Fondue

I tried to make fondue this weekend for a party. Well, okay, I actually did make it, but it was quite an adventure. The chocolate fondue turned out great! The cheese fondue...well, it tasted good. Apparently, it's quite difficult to get the consistency right. It was difficult for me anyway.

The first part of my fondue adventure was finding the right cheese. I wanted to try making it from scratch. I tried the Fred Meyer in Keizer, but their cheese selection was sadly lacking, although they did have a fondue mix. Then I headed over to the Roth's in West Salem, and they had not only the correct cheeses for fondue, but they also have chocolate fondue mix in case you don't want to do it from scratch (chocolate was actually really easy though).

I think the problem with my cheese fondue was that it was electric and we lost power for a few minutes in the middle (old houses don't like microwaves!) so it wasn't a consistent heat. Oh well. The good thing is that I have good friends who enjoyed it anyway and we all had a fun time! And that's what really counts.