Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Blocked Rooms
We have checked out many hotels in the vicinity of our wedding, and here is our summary of offerings. We have booked a block of rooms at Inn at Northrup Station under Wirz/Bernards wedding for a rate of $166 per double queen room. This includes two queen beds, a mini kitchen and a small living area. The hotel is very close to the reception site.
Unfortunately, there are no super cheap hotels in the immediate vicinity. The Silver Cloud Inn is the cheapest we found, but only by a ten spot. There are larger chain hotels outside of the downtown area that may be cheaper, but by and far they are much less convenient (the two that we checked out were cheap but already sold out on our date or not cheap at all). Please investigate local B&Bs, as they are oftentimes cheaper and have much more personality than your average chain hotel. The downtown area has many boutique and fancy-pants hotels where room rates started above $200, so we haven't reviewed them here. But if you are willing to spend the money, there are many interesting hotel options in the area. The best deals downtown are the Ace Hotel ($100 - $300), the Hotel Fifty (about the same as the Inn at Northrup Station without getting the kitchen) and the Modern Hotel (not reviewed yet as it is just now open).
There are two fleabag hotels in downtown that are under $100, but the bullet hotels and lice may make your stay less than amenable.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact either Andy or I.
Unfortunately, there are no super cheap hotels in the immediate vicinity. The Silver Cloud Inn is the cheapest we found, but only by a ten spot. There are larger chain hotels outside of the downtown area that may be cheaper, but by and far they are much less convenient (the two that we checked out were cheap but already sold out on our date or not cheap at all). Please investigate local B&Bs, as they are oftentimes cheaper and have much more personality than your average chain hotel. The downtown area has many boutique and fancy-pants hotels where room rates started above $200, so we haven't reviewed them here. But if you are willing to spend the money, there are many interesting hotel options in the area. The best deals downtown are the Ace Hotel ($100 - $300), the Hotel Fifty (about the same as the Inn at Northrup Station without getting the kitchen) and the Modern Hotel (not reviewed yet as it is just now open).
There are two fleabag hotels in downtown that are under $100, but the bullet hotels and lice may make your stay less than amenable.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact either Andy or I.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Where to stay... Ace Hotel
I am now about to recommend a hotel that is far, far, far too cool for me. This is a young and hip place that makes me feel geeky and deprived of a date to prom simply by walking through the lobby. (Side note, I did have a date to prom, which is good. But he made me buy my own ticket to prom, which was bad!) The Ace Hotel (www.acehotel.com/Portland) is billed as "vintage-mod", "boho grand" and as a "super-cool grass-roots hotel". Hummm... I think I'd go with the former rather than the latter (doesn't the use of the phrase 'super-cool' kinda by definition make it NOT so?). The Ace is actually the second hotel by the Ace group, the first of which is located in Seattle. Inspired by rock and roll bohemia, all 79 rooms at the Ace feature local and national artistry as well as recycled headboards (made from army ponchos, but rest assured they don't look like ponchos) and reclaimed wood desks and furnishings. The retro feel comes, in part, from the historic nature of the building in which it is housed. Built in 1912 (and used as a set while filming Drugstore Cowboy in 1989), the hotel has many vintage touches such as an old fashioned photobooth and vintage refurbished deep-soak bathtubs. And if you book one of the 14 suites, your room comes complete with turntables and crates of vintage vinyl.Did I mention that this place is waaaayyy too cool for me?
The Ace is conveniently located less than a block from Powell's bookstore, and is sandwhiched between downtown and the Pearl district. The downstairs coffee is some of the best in Portland (Stumptown, a local brewer, and their stores use amazing equipment from Italy to brew your daily upper). The street is very busy, and if you want a quiet night this may not be the hotel for you. And if you didn't manage to score a date for prom, I'm not certain they'll let you in the door. OK, that's not true, but if you do want to test out the digs they'll run you 100 (private bath down the hall) to 140 clams for a regular room with suites starting at 175. And that doesn't include the $20 parking fee. After all, being hip in Portland means you ride a bicycle, right?
Monday, July 14, 2008
The world has ended...
... Andy purchased a suit today!
And two ties!!!
I think I'm about to pass out from shock. Actually, I think this could very easily be a common response on our wedding day. We'll have to provide some brown paper bags to help with the hyperventilation.
In my efforts to look good, I got a makeup consultation yesterday at the NARS counter at Nordstrom. I think I've washed my face four or five times since then and I'm still wiping off foundation and eye makeup. Probably not what I want on my wedding day. I'll have to keep on trying -- after all, I have to try and look as good as Andy on October 18th!
And two ties!!!
I think I'm about to pass out from shock. Actually, I think this could very easily be a common response on our wedding day. We'll have to provide some brown paper bags to help with the hyperventilation.
In my efforts to look good, I got a makeup consultation yesterday at the NARS counter at Nordstrom. I think I've washed my face four or five times since then and I'm still wiping off foundation and eye makeup. Probably not what I want on my wedding day. I'll have to keep on trying -- after all, I have to try and look as good as Andy on October 18th!
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Grr...
We're busily working on making our 'formal' invitations (formal is in quotes because, quite frankly, they aren't all that stuffy. Nary a piece of extraneous tissue in sight!), which means printing more envelopes. The first time round, printing the envelopes was an adventure because the save-the-dates were smallish, which meant that more often than not the printer would spit out a slightly skewed address on the envelope. Luckily the invitations are larger, and the printer can handle it just fine. What was frustrating was tracking down all of the addresses. Again.
The first time round we gathered addresses in waves (his family, my family, stragglers, oddballs) and collected the disparately sized pieces of paper in our save-the-date box. Realizing that more organization will be necessary for future stuff, I finally got off my keester and entered all of the addresses onto the guest list service at theknot.com Normally I wouldn't trust the knot to do much more than display annoying videos of overpriced dresses (check out their webpage - it is horrifying), but their guest tracker service allows my parents (and his) to log in and correct info and tracks a million little details like whether or not their name is to be spelled differently on the inside of the envelope as compared to the outside (none of you will be getting this courtesy, just to let you know). Most of it I won't use, but I decided to give it a whirl. I entered everything manually and saved. I SWEAR that I saved. Then I checked that I saved the document. Then I logged off.
Guess what? It didn't save.
I know, I'm probably the moron here, but I went to theknot.com message boards and found that this isn't an uncommon complaint amongst knotties. Anywho, the long story short is that I couldn't print all of the envelopes while visiting my parents over the 4th of July holiday. Then they lugged the printer up to me this week and I finished printing at 11:30 last night. Thank god we saved all of the scraps of paper upon which addresses were written. The good news is that it is done. The bad news is that I was tired and there are probably typos. So if you receive an invitation for "Witz" instead of "Wirz", just let it slide, OK? Thanks!
The first time round we gathered addresses in waves (his family, my family, stragglers, oddballs) and collected the disparately sized pieces of paper in our save-the-date box. Realizing that more organization will be necessary for future stuff, I finally got off my keester and entered all of the addresses onto the guest list service at theknot.com Normally I wouldn't trust the knot to do much more than display annoying videos of overpriced dresses (check out their webpage - it is horrifying), but their guest tracker service allows my parents (and his) to log in and correct info and tracks a million little details like whether or not their name is to be spelled differently on the inside of the envelope as compared to the outside (none of you will be getting this courtesy, just to let you know). Most of it I won't use, but I decided to give it a whirl. I entered everything manually and saved. I SWEAR that I saved. Then I checked that I saved the document. Then I logged off.
Guess what? It didn't save.
I know, I'm probably the moron here, but I went to theknot.com message boards and found that this isn't an uncommon complaint amongst knotties. Anywho, the long story short is that I couldn't print all of the envelopes while visiting my parents over the 4th of July holiday. Then they lugged the printer up to me this week and I finished printing at 11:30 last night. Thank god we saved all of the scraps of paper upon which addresses were written. The good news is that it is done. The bad news is that I was tired and there are probably typos. So if you receive an invitation for "Witz" instead of "Wirz", just let it slide, OK? Thanks!
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