Portland: Polka Dots, Nudity, and Roses

I went to Portland. Not last weekend but the weekend before. It was sweet.
Before I went I painted my nails lavender with dark purple polka dots using my birthday present Sephora dotting tool.

The lavender is OPI's "Do You Lilac It?" and the dots are Nicole by OPI's "The Grape Debate."
The whole thing chipped like hell in about five minutes. I don't know if it's because I was flying and running around Portland with my family, or if it's just chippy nail polish, but I used OPI base and top coats, so it shouldn't have chipped so badly.

Portland! Land of the hipster and vintageness and six kinds of organic and really good food and coffee and cute shops and craftiness. If Etsy wasn't headquartered in Brooklyn, it would be in Portland.
My entire immediate family (parents, sister, brother, and I) met up for my sister's graduation from grad school. She is now a Master. Congratulations, sister! Her apartment is amazing. It's a converted vintage office building with amazing old hardware and sconces and things. I'd have taken photos for blog inclusion but she would have killed me, so use your imagination.

We took a side trip to the ocean at Cannon Beach and the Haystack Rocks where we watched a man get down on one knee and propose to a woman who clearly said yes as she cried and they embraced.

We went to the Saturday Market. There was a lot of food.

We ate a very small percentage of it and still ended up stuffed.

Saturday night I witnessed the Portland World Naked Bike Ride. People dressed in costumes and painted their bodies. One woman painted a bike on her chest with each of her breasts as a wheel. I did not get any photos of the Portland World Naked Bike Ride. Just imagine thousands of penises and multi-colored breasts flying past, all attached to happy people trying to hi-five the bystanders while a semi-impromptu band played along the side. Or, check out some of the great photos other people got here: http://bikeportland.org/2012/06/17/lots-of-smiles-and-flesh-for-miles-the-2012-world-naked-bike-ride-photos-73404

Monday, before going to the airport, my parents and I went to the rose gardens in Washington Park. I'm a big fan of roses.

We'd had beautiful weather the entire trip, but that day it was overcast and raining on and off, which wasn't great for existing but was great for taking pictures. 

Perfect droplety roses everywhere and lush green and the Portland skyline in the background. Not bad.

After the gardens we had just enough time to run through Powell's Bookstore. I bought something but I can't say what because it is a gift for someone that I haven't given yet.

The end.

About

My "About" section is done with the exception of my shop photos. Check it out:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/jillhannah/about/
I still haven't hung my shelves or organized my physical Etsy existence, so I'm not taking pictures yet.

I'm going to Portland, Oregon tomorrow very early morning with my family! My sister is graduating social work school and I'm proud to go support her and finally see her Portland life. I did my nails in purple polka dots for the occasion, but they got a bit messed up before I even got a top coat on. I'll still take photos today and post them later.

To Do: Paint Nails, Find Muse, Hang Shelves

My nails have been naked for many days in a row because I have been so busy.

Etsy has a brand new "About" section. Read all about it here:
http://www.etsy.com/blog/news/2012/introducing-an-about-page-for-your-shop/

I haven't filled mine out yet. My Etsy life was born of my migraines. Friends recommended I check it out when I was at my absolute worst, back near the beginning of the 20 Months Of Uninterrupted Pain. Just as I was recognizing that this headache was different, was not going to end, I could do very little day after day beyond sit in a pitch-black room and stare at the beautiful items sold on Etsy through half-closed eyes. As time went on, I started making my own goofy and snarky greeting cards and selling them in my own little shop. It was just the occasional card, but it thrilled me to be selling directly to customers (unlike when I worked at a major greeting card company, a job I also loved but you didn't actually get your name on your work or personal interaction with the buyer). I started feeling better little by little, and taking advantage of my good days, I grew and expanded my business to eventually include wallpaper envelopes. I learned how to take better photos of my products and improved my packaging, customer service, and advertising. I started this blog. I created the (still going though I'm no longer a part of it) Jewish Etsy Team "EtsyChai." Etsy was all the good parts of my life, the parts not mired in pain.

I want to do that justice. I don't want to gloss over migraines, the pain, or how much Etsy meant to me for so long. I also don't want to scare people or to be overly negative. Or long-winded.

I consider myself a writer. I should be able to do this.


The other half of my "About" section I need to work on is my photos, but I'm about to put up these five giant shelves for all of the Stuff, and I imagine once everything is up and organized it will look much nicer than if I take pictures of the current mess of merchandise.

Oh, "About" section, so much work you have created for me!