We're painting the roses red.

It was quite a successful weekend if I do say so myself! I was able to accomplish another “Portland Must” to knock off my list of things to do here, too!

Friday night, I went with three of my coworkers to see The Avengers for the THIRD time since it came out in early May (and I’m not ashamed of it). I think the movie only keeps getting better each time I see it. I’m going to buy in on DVD that day it’s released in stores, and probably watch it as soon as I get home. :P

Saturday was much more eventful though. I went out to an early breakfast with my manager and a coworker in the Eaton graduate program called the Leadership Development Program, or LDP for short. We went to The Original Pancake House, and I MEAN the original, that was built in 1953. Portland is famous for being home to this restaurant before it became a chain, and it definitely still has that atmosphere. The waitresses are all dressed in pink skirts and aprons with their hair up in ponytails, and many of the framed pictures and artwork are from it’s original days. It’s a very quaint breakfast/brunch area, and the food was delicious! I would highly suggest it to anyone visiting Portland. After breakfast, we went to the Rose Festival Parade, which was very much like any other parade I’ve been to, but it was still fun to see the crowds of people and the floats. We wandered around the city for a while after, walking in and out of stores we thought looked neat, and then got lunch at a local bar and grill. Then we walked to the famous International Rose Test Gardens, since it was such a beautiful day out (and that’s pretty rare here!). Since Portland is dubbed “The City of Roses” it only made sense to create a rose garden, which is now home to over 7,000 flower beds in over 550 varieties. Some of the roses hadn’t bloomed yet, but there were still plenty to look at and smell. Here’s a few of my favorites:

This purple one is my favorite. It's called "Rhapsody in Blue" which is a beautiful song composed by Gershwin :)

I was pretty worn out after such a long day walking around the city, so I went home, watched the Stanley Cup playoff game, and went to bed early.

Sunday was a little less eventful, but the weather was superb. It felt like Michigan weather, which I’ve missed more than anything here in rainy Oregon, so I laid outside in the sun almost all day long, read a book, and took a nap. Personally, I think it was the best day yet. :P