It has been mad around here. When Jazz Fest got started, I kept hoping Ornette Coleman would pull up, you know? He’s got to stay somewhere. But no luck. And I didn’t get to see him either because we were at the coast for something I couldn’t get out of.

Actually, it was a friend’s birthday, and it did get me to this awesome store over on east Burnside called Stand Up Comedy that I’d never been to before. That’s the name of the place and I don’t even think I can really describe it. You just have to go.

It’s got some wild fashions (men and women), accessory stuff like bags, really cool books or what I’d call print art. Really quirky, unusual stuff. They even sell a guitar effects pedal. I don’t know. Oh, and they have in-store performances, too.

You gotta love Portland.

Later,
Keith

Yo, peoples! OK, so you’ve been through most of your holiday shopping. You’re now a shopping bag tree and have covered more ground than Lewis and Clark. Time to put a Hotel deLuxe package on your list. Or maybe just treat yourself. Here are two:

1. Eat, Sleep and Shop
This overnighter includes a meal — and a martini — and a $50 gift certificate for that last person on your belated shopping list. I say spend it on yourself. No one needs to know.

2. Babes on Broadway
It’s ladies night… Enjoy an overnight stay (including me parking your car for free), a martini for you and a friend, complimentary gift wrapping and a foot treatment from Footbar in the Pearl ($40 gift certificate). And then we coffee you up the next morning to get you back out there.

Happy holidays,
Keith

Stop number three takes you to Pioneer Place, which is really upscale shopping Portland style. It couldn’t be more in the center of downtown (and within easy striking distance of no fewer than four Starbucks).

There are all kinds of stores in Pioneer Place, including familiar spots like Ann Taylor, Victoria’s Secret and Saks. But I want to direct you to two slightly less familiar places; Twist and Moonstruck Chocolates.

Twist is a unique gallery/store that offers a cool array of handmade functional art for your home. Think glassware, dishes, furniture and some incredible jewelry.

Moonstruck Chocolates offers works of art too but of the delectably edible variety. Truffles are always the right gift in my book.

Happy hunting,
Emily

Welcome to the hustle-bustle heart of holiday commerce. That’s right, ’tis the season to be shopping. So this week we’re all about where to go to wield your mighty credit card.

Stop one on your holiday shopping extravaganza has got to be Finnegan’s Toys. It’s the best toy store downtown (and barely a yo yo’s distance from Hotel deLuxe). It tends to focus on classics (Cooties, anyone?) and well-made educational items and games.

Make Powell’s Books stop number two. I know we’ve covered this ground before, but it’s a City of Books, for goodness sake. There’s something for everyone from your Harry Potterhead of a little sister to conspiracy-spouting Uncle Mort.

Check back tomorrow for stop number three…

Have fun,
Emily

Here’s something to give thanks about — Macy’s in downtown is finally back! After closing their doors for renovation in 2006, the store reopened on Oct. 26, and just in time for holiday shopping.

Yes, it’s true, I liked the old Meier & Frank store, which Macy’s took over in 2006. It was a Portland shopping landmark. (I always felt like I was entering a Frank Capra movie when I went in there.) But it was time for a change, and I think this will be a good one for downtown.

The new Macy’s promises to be a great addition to our Portland shopping options. The 15-story building is modern and elegant, but still manages to be cozy. Best of all, they kept some of Meier & Frank’s great old art deco elevator designs. Bravo, Macy’s.

Cheers,
Emily

This morning I had a guest ask me about the best place to pick up a gift for friends at home, and I thought I’d share my answer. I told him what I always tell people when I get this question: Get something you couldn’t find at home.

To me, that often means art. (If you’ve been to my house, you know.) And Hotel deLuxe just happens to sit a few blocks from a string of galleries with everything from lithographs to sculpture. The Froelick and Elizabeth Leach are good bets. But look around. The Art Institute is also right in the neighborhood.

The best way to find something is to stroll the Pearl District, and the best time to stroll the Pearl is the First Thursday of each month. Why? Because few things go better with art than free wine.

Happy hunting,

Emily

That’s a really good question, the what should you buy for people back home thing. I’ll tell you what, you know what’s great for that? The Portland Farmers Market. Seriously. I got some Jalapeño Jelly there last time I was there, and you’re not going to tell me that it isn’t art!

It really is a great place to pick up an unusual gift. Plus, it’s not a bad place for lunch if you’re out and about. Do your shopping downtown at Nordstrom or wherever, and then just walk up the park blocks for something really fresh to eat. It’s like a great buffet. Get a juicy pear at this stand and then some cheese at that other stand, and then a scone at this other stand. Go there hungry is my point.

It’s also pretty cool that they have 4 locations throughout the week downtown, the Pearl District, Portland State University and on the East bank, no matter where you are in Portland, a farmer’s market is not far.

Have fun,

Zach

P.S. Jalapeño jelly. I’m just saying…

People call it “Trendy-third” likes that’s a bad thing. OK, so it’s not Hawthorne or Mississippi. But I was reminded this past weekend that there are worse ways to spend a day than shoe shopping on NW 23^rd and then admiring your purchases in one of the neighborhood’s many great restaurants.

I had Gaby and her husband in town last week from Beverly Hills, and they went mad for it. The husband is a music fanatic and found a Horace Silver album at Music Millennium he didn’t even know existed. (On a separate note, I am extremely sad to hear that Music Millennium on NW 23rd is closing yet another sign that CD’s are going the way of records, soon to become collectibles.)

Gabs is a college friend of mine and couldn’t agree more that Zelda’s may in fact be the best shoe store in the world.

Dessert at Papa Haydn wasn’t half bad either. Unfortunately, I had to tell my friends that it rains all the time here. I love them, but that would be two more competitors for the pumpkin gingerbread torte *sigh*…

Till later,

Emily

Hi, everyone. Emily here. Happy post fourth. I hope you all had a nice holiday. It has actually been as hot as a firecracker around here lately. Luckily I’m a warm weather bird, so this past week has been absolutely heavenly for me.

However, I have been noticing other locals and some of our guests wilting under the heat. So, my recommendation on beating the heat in Portland, escape to Powell’s Books. It is a city of books, after all. (There’s even a map so you don’t get lost among the countless stacks.) You name it, they have it. Even a $8500 first edition of Steinbeck’s In Dubious Battle. I’m saving up.

Best of all, you don’t need a heat wave to go. It’s really as much of a Portland landmark as Mt. Hood or the bridges. And what luck, it’s only a paperback’s throw from Hotel deLuxe!

See you in the Purple Room,

Emily

Don’t know if I mentioned it in an earlier blog but the Hotel deLuxe Sunday movies are almost every third Sunday. That’s important. Otherwise, you’ll do like I did and show up on the wrong day. Bonnie and I came over to the deLuxe on the 10^th, on my day off, for A Thing of Wonder. (If you haven’t been paying attention, the movie was on the 17^th).

Everyone got a good laugh out of that. Nyuk, nyuk. We just went and had some tacos and saw Knocked Up instead down at the Pioneer Place Regal Theaters, I definitely recommend the movie. I read some critic somewhere say that Judd Apatow (the director) is this generation’s John Hughes. A pretty fair assessment, says me. Also, I forget how close Pioneer Place is to the Hotel deluxe – just hop on the MAX and head 2 stops into downtown Portland – there is some good Portland shopping at Pioneer Place.

Anyway, every third Sunday is Movie Night at Hotel deLuxe, however the next one is on July 22^nd – technically the 4th Sunday…. so don’t let that confuse you. The next film will be From One Rose, the documentary about Portland’s Rose Festival, how appropriate with the event lingering in such recent memory.

See ya,

Lance