PDX part one: early morning eats

I think it's fair to say that in a marriage you're expected to trust your spouse on a lot of things. But seeing as how I'm the self-appointed chair of the "let's move to Portland" committee, Mr.Mr. put a hefty bit of faith in me when he agreed to rent an apartment, sight unseen (to both of us) based on a conversation I had with the landlord and some photos sent via email. Fortunately, we arrived safe and sound to our new apartment Thursday night around 9:30pm and Mr.Mr. was really pleased. We both oohed and aahed about the extra closet space, the new carpet and most importantly, the lack of street noise outside... a stark contrast to our Capital Hill digs.

So the place is great.... the neighborhood is better. It's a straight shot to downtown in an area with several little shops, a number of diverse restaurants and two bus lines with regular schedules. And, we found Costello's Travel Caffe. With WiFi and a full kitchen, friendly baristi and regulars willing to share a table, I think we've found our first favorite coffee shop. Mr.Mr. gave their lattes a thumbs up and I'm already a fan of their cinnamon scones, monster cookies (they're vegan and I still like them!), and hot chocolates. You can bet we'll be spending a lot of time there and who knows... maybe we'll even brush up on our Italian at one of their many foreign language conversation groups? If nothing else, checking out their globally-themed live music or movie offerings will definitely help amp us up for the big anniversary trip in May. Bring on the pots du creme!