To Market, To Market ...

On our travels, we took in the Portland Saturday Market. In general, I am a big fan of markets -- people get to walk, look at handmade stuff, eat street food, and generally enjoy the day. The Portland Saturday Market, being in Portland, also contains more than its fair share of locally-grown foods, locally-brewed ales, and organic-crunchy-hippie stuff. And I am, as the folks at work described me once "a cute little hippie girl" (though where they came up with "little" I have no idea), so I'm down with the whole market concept -- note giant henna sign in the photo above.

Upcycling is big at the market right now. I mean - BIG. You can't even spit without hitting something made from something else. That's pretty awesome as far as I'm concerned, because we could probably go the next ten years without making anything new, and everyone would still have way more stuff than necessary.

Sara and I liked the artwork of Theo Ellsworth (Check out his website: Art Capacity). He was sketching away at his booth (at least, I assume it was him) and wasn't particularly chatty, but we both admired his prints and books, many of which had themes of nature and mythology -- two of my favorite things. We both took a card to perhaps buy some prints in the future.

The market is located at the Tom McCall Waterfront Park, and I can't believe how much both the park and the market have grown and changed in the last few years. With its "Keep Portland Weird" attitude (yes, I know, Austin, that was your line first) and enviro-hipster mindset, Portland is becoming the place to be for all those with lumberjack beards, retro bicycles, skinny jeans, and iPods filled with Swedish garage-punk-hip-hop that you haven't even imagined possible. Although I occasionally the city might reject me, like a heart from an incompatible donor, for not being hip enough, it's actually a lovely place with leafy vistas, cool old buildings, good food, and lots of interesting nooks and crannies.