PORTLAND, finally!!!

Blogger is speaking to me again ... YEAH!!!

Last weekend, my wonderful neighbors Mitch & Mary invited me to go to Portland (twist my arm) with them. The main reason was to go see Susan Werner. Susan is a fabulous musician, singer, writer, etc. She is also from Manchester, Iowa the midwest hotbed of artistic talent (and only 9 miles away from The Field of Dreams). Isn't that were Mary Boone grew up? I do believe that Mary & Susan were high school classmates.



The other great reason was to meet the famous Debbie and Steve from Portland. It seems that Mitch and Mary have actual friends. Of course they live in a different state, probably why they get along so well. Debbie and Steve are fabulous people, fun, easy going and very intelligent (did I mention that they are regular readers of this blog???)






Susan is an amazing musician. If you haven't heard her, go listen right now to her song My Strange Nation, her alternative national anthem. Make sure that you listen to clips of her other albums. Or just run out an buy her brand new album The Gospel Truth. It is very smart and honest and maybe not at all what you would expect from a gospel album. But I am sure you will really enjoy it.



After the concert we went next door to Mississippi Station for dinner & some quality time with the star. We enjoyed Susan so much, I can't tell you. She was very easy to talk to (must be that Iowa in her) and very fun (probably thanks to some her fabulous travels post Iowa). And when she talked about going to India, I thought Katie was going to jump on the tour bus and leave with her. Thank you Mitch and Mary for a great experience.



And thank you Debbie for some truly awesome chocolate. Lucky for us, Debbie gave up chocolate for Lent. Which means that she gets her chocolate fix by going to her favorite chocolate emporium, breathing deeply and buying gifts for friends. Oh we are soooooo fortunate to be her friends. Anyone been to Puddin' River? Well, ya gotta go if you love chocolate. If you just like chocolate, go to Puddin' River and you will love chocolate. I would instruct you to start licking your computer screen right now, but just wouldn't be the same. So trust me, if you have never bought anything on line ever, chocolates from Puddin' River would be a great start. If you are a regular online shopper, throw some Puddin' River Chocolate into the mix & you will never regret it.