Hey speaking about the Ecotrust building, Hotel deLuxe is doing a new package that I think is really cool. (The hotel has a bunch of different special deals. If you haven’t seen them, check out Special Offers.)

This one is a “green” package. I don’t know who came up with the idea but it’s smart I think. It starts with you leaving your car and getting free valet (that’d be me). Then you get two all-day Tri-Met passes, which work on buses, Max light rail and the streetcar around Portland.

Then the hotel provides a reusable tote bag for your shopping convenience, the “Easy Being Green Handbook,” which is full of stuff on sustainability, and a $10 gift certificate to World Cup Coffee in the Ecotrust Building. Which I guess is the first historic building in the city to get LEED certification. There ya go.

Later,
Keith

You know, I think I wrote about this one last year, too. From the sublime to the sweet. I’m talking about the Northwest Chocolate Festival. If it’s about chocolate you’re likely to find it at the Ecotrust Building Sept. 12-14.

I’m not kidding. It really is a literal chocolatopia over there. There’s chocolate-making classes, keynote addresses on chocolate, chocolate pairings with wine and beer, chocolate workshops and tastings aplenty. There’s even something called “Healthy Living with Chocolate.” Hmm…

So I’d recommend checking out some of the TBA stuff going on and then find your way to NW 9th for dessert. And bring the kids. I hear they go crazy for the stuff.

See ya,
Emily

I can’t believe I’m writing again about TBA — where the heck did the year go? It’s astonishing to me sometimes how quickly time flies by. You put your head down in May and lift it up and it’s September. The upside is it doesn’t seem like we had to wait all that long for one of my favorite events to come back around.

They call it the Time-Based Art Festival but I don’t think “festival” quite captures it. It has more of an organic feeling to me than that. And it’s just so eclectic. There’s theatre, dance, music, film and all kinds of different exhibitions, all from local and international artists. I can’t think of another event like it anywhere.

It runs from Sept. 5 through Sept. 14 all over town. Check the website for what’s happening and where.

See ya,
Emily