If there’s one thing that frustrates me more than constant rain, it’s forecasted snow that never arrives! I’m not asking for a lot. It doesn’t have to be the blizzards I experienced in the Midwest. But if you say it’s coming, you better truck it in if you have to.

Assuming the weather people will continue over promise and under deliver, I thought I’d offer up the closest places you’re likely to find the stuff.

1. Trillium Lake – Rent some snowshoes or cross country skis in Portland. About 1.5 hrs.
2. Mirror Lake – Not so far from Trillium. Another good snowshoeing spot. About 1.5 hrs.
3. Summit Tubing Hill (or nearby Snow Bunny) – The name says it all. Old-school snow fun. Especially if the kids are along. About 1.5 hrs.

Safe travels,
Emily

While I’m on the subject of our unquenchable love of all things film around here I don’t think I’ve ever mentioned how that affects even the names of the floors at Hotel deLuxe. Each honors a particular subset of Hollywood with beautiful framed photographs, almost 400 in all.

So when making your reservations, keep the following guide in mind:

2nd floor – The Maestro (Hitchcock)
3rd floor – The Dance and Music Masters (Gene Kelly, Judy Garland, Ginger Rogers, Debra Kerr, Fred Astaire, Cyd Charise and Bing Crosby
4th floor – The Rebels – (Orson Welles, Elia Kazan, Howard Hawks, John Huston and John Ford)
5th floor – The Immigrants (Otto Preminger, Fritz Lang and William Wyler)
6th floor – The Europeans
7th floor – The Exiles (Ernst Lubitsch, Michael Curtis and Erich von Sternberg)
8th floor – The Masters (Frank Capra, Billy Wilder and George Cukor)

I’m a 7th floor girl. Where do you belong?

Cheerio,
Emily

I know it came out almost a year ago. And I know it was an Oprah book. And I know it got more press than global warming. But I’ve been reading Elizabeth Gilbert’s Eat, Pray, Love and I’ll be darned if it isn’t good.

I offer it up because many of our guests are coming to us from elsewhere, and there’s nothing better for getting from elsewhere to here than a good book.

If you missed all that press, Gilbert decides to take stock of her life after an ugly divorce by traveling to three distinctly different “I” countries: Italy, India and Indonesia. I’m just realizing now the whole “I” connection, it being about self-exploration.

Sound dry? Well, it ain’t. It’s witty and smart and fun. And it would make a great traveling companion (especially if you’d rather be stung by bees than watch the in-flight Bee Movie).

Safe travels,
Emily

This is an early warning for another monumental Portland to-do. (Looks like that flu is turning into pneumonia…) It’s just around the corner. If you listen hard enough, and the wind is blowing the right direction, you might already hear the sound of the saxes coming our way.

It’s the Portland Jazz Festival and it’s tuning up. I won’t bore you with a lot of details. But I will tempt you with these ticklish particulars: Ornette Coleman. Ron Carter. Cecil Taylor. Joshua Redman. Maceo Parker.

If you’re a fan of jazz, you’re sitting up straight about now. So do as I did this morning when I checked out this year’s lineup: walk over to your calendar and circle Feb. 15-24. And don’t worry; I’ll remind you again.

Cheerio,
Emily