Whew!  Busy day!  I had the day off from work (the husband did not), so took advantage of the opportunity to get some stuff done.  I started my morning with a trip to the gym.  It was my first workout of any substance since chucking myself down the stairs on NYD.  I’m on the mend!

Then I stopped by the grocery store and ran a couple of additional errands purchasing supplies for a new cat tent.  You remember the cat tent?  My whonky Pinterest project? That Colby Jack loves?  It finally bit the dust.  It sustained too many cat dives and general whumping on.  He flattened it.  So, I built a larger, stronger version (15 gauge wire, doubled up and wrapped with electrical tape) that will hopefully survive Hurricane CJ.  He watched me build it and promptly dove in when it was done.

I also swept, vacuumed, did some laundry.  Filled the hummingbird feeder, put out more seed for the other birds.  Made tomato, basil, orzo soup.  And banana oat muffins. Actually, it’s time to start dinner, but I’m going to share the Inn at Northrup Station before I do that.

As I mentioned in posts from yesterday, the husband and I spent the weekend in Portland for his birthday.  We love that city.  More than Seattle.  Great vibe, good public transportation, great bars and restaurants.  We elected to return to the Alphabet District, which we first explored last January.  And, after poking around, it seemed that the boutique hotel we stayed at last year remained the best option.

This year we entered Portland with light hearts.  Last year we went down right after the new year.  We had lost our cat, Slater, right before Christmas.  Our hearts were heavy and we needed a weekend away.  We had fun, but it was tempered a bit by our sorrow.  This year, we toasted Slater and celebrated her greatness.

The Inn at Northrup Station is named as such because it sits right on the trolley line on Northrup Street.  The hotel actually provides passes upon request, which is a nice touch. The service is always good, the rooms clean and the decor?  Well, the decor looks like Dr. Suess gone wild.  Lime green and lemon yellow are prevalent everywhere, along with blaze pink and orange.  There is no getting used to it.  But, it’s fun.

There are a few things that I really appreciate about the hotel:

• Continental breakfast.  Yes, it’s the waffle, bagel and cereal variety, but they don’t run out of food and they also offer Tillamook yogurt, Nutrigrain bars and individually wrapped pieces of Tillamook cheese.
• Huge vases of candy in the lobby.  Last year they were filled with sub-standard salt water taffy.  This year they had taffy and….Starburst.  I’m a sucker for Starburst.  I grabbed a handful every time I went through.  I’ll be eating Starburst for a while.
• Some rooms offer full kitchens.  Full. Kitchens.  We were going to go out to dinner on Friday night, but by the time we got out of town we were tired, so we stopped and picked up a u-bake pizza.  Cooked it in the oven in the room and uncorked a bottle of wine.  Oven, full-sized refrigerator, dishwasher and dishes.  You could cook a meal in the room.
• Proximity.  To a lot of stuff.  Easy walking all over the Alphabet District, or grab the trolley and head to other parts of the city.

That’s my review!  So, if you’re in Portland and are looking for a cool place to stay…now you know!