A symphonic celebration in Arbor Lodge

When we announced 11 years ago that we were moving to North Portland, quite a few friends and associates thought we were crazy. At the time, our Arbor Lodge neighborhood was just starting to experience the revival being shared by many Portland inner-city areas.

A lot has happened since we moved from Portland's Pearl District. The adidas U.S. headquarters being built about eight blocks from our house was a major change. Coffee houses and restaurants, such as Di Prima Dolci, Roux, Sagittarius, Sal's Famous Italian Kitchen, Mio Sushi and others began to appear. The light-rail system MAX built the Yellow Line nearby. After a vigorous community email and postcard campaign, New Seasons Market opened the nearby Arbor Lodge store. A wide variety of new and relocating businesses have new homes in the area. The University of Portland, another eight blocks from where we live, continues to build a national reputation as an academic and athletic power. (My partner Ed will begin his MBA program there this winter.)

One past issue of Portland Monthly magazine named Arbor Lodge as one of the most desirable neighborhoods in the city - illustrating the point with a photo of a house three away from our own home. Mike Darcy even filmed an episode of his In The Garden television show from our garden. Residences and yards throughout the area are being renovated and improved on a daily basis, and homes are still selling for seemingly unrealistic prices within a matter of days. North Portland is constantly becoming an even more desirable community for businesses and residents. From my home-based studio, the area has been a vital part of my own design business.

Saturday evening seemed like a celebration of our North Portland neighborhood. Under a beautiful sunset, the Oregon Symphony held an incredible outdoor concert, to a very appreciative audience of hundreds, one block from our house in Arbor Lodge Park. It was part of the organization's annual Oregon Symphony in the Neighborhoods program. I don't think many were even bothered by the cold and wind as the symphony played a selection of pieces from opera, television, ballet, movies, Broadway shows and the catalog of Irving Berlin. I appreciated the cheers and applause when the theme from the show The West Wing was played. Bats flying over the crowd seemed to be soaring in time to the music of Swan Lake.

Being an advertising geek, I was also excited that the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile was at the park, as part of the earlier Fun Afternoon Festival.

Ed and I attracted a bit of attention in our reclining Lafuma lounge chairs. People were commenting and asking questions about them. If you are enjoying the symphony, in a beautiful park one block from your home, you may as well be very comfortable.

On the short walk home, following the concert, we shared pride in what a strong and vibrant community North Portland has become in recent years. We made a great decision to buy a home here, and enjoy being part of a neighborhood were everyone knows, and watches out for, their neighbors.

A big "thank you" to the Oregon Symphony and all who made this great event possible.

© 2007 Jeff Fisher Logomotives.

Good as Gold (+ Williams)

We've got an electic collection of furniture in our home - family pieces, antiques collected over the years, art pieces, things literally found on the side of the road, and even a dining room set that I designed and had built. Then there are the "investment" items that we've purchased or had custom-made, spending more than we probably should have, that will last for years. One of those is our leather recliner that doesn't look like a recliner.

Ed wanted a recliner. I had visions of the two matching, clunky, blue velour, monstrosities a neighbor lady had on her front porch when we first moved into our North Portland neighborhood. My directive to Ed was simple: "you can have a recliner if it's small and doesn't look like a recliner." A few years ago, while he was working out of his firm's San Francisco office, I came across the chair that would work. The next day I took him to the store, he sat in the chair, and a look of complete bliss came over his face as he pushed himself back into a reclined position. I smiled and said, "OK, now look at the price tag." Investment furniture.

That particular chair was designed and produced by, what was then, a company named Mitchell Gold. Since then the company name has changed to Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams. What originally attracted me to the company were the simple and beautiful print ad campaigns. (There's an archive of past ads on the firm's website.) Then there's the simple, beautiful and well-built furniture.

This past week I got an email asking me to RSVP for an event, held at the Portland retail store, to celebrate the release of book Let's Get Comfortable, written by the duo with Gold's sister-in-law Mindy Drucker. Last night at the event there was champagne, white wine, tasty "poo poos," and sugar cookies featuring the cover of the new book. Mitchell Gold and Bob Williams could not have been nicer and more down-to-earth - and then they gave me a copy of the book, which they personalized to "The Fishinghams" (a nickname given to my partner and I, formed by combining my last name and his name Cunningham).

The book is a great resource for insiration in "how to furnish and decorate a welcoming home." It offers many photographed suggestions for a variety of home styles - complete with photos and possible room layouts. It's kind of a beautiful "coffee table" book about how and where to place your coffee table.

In conjuction with the book release MG+BW has also launched the online "magazine" Comfort mag.net. The introductory "issue" contains an interesting interview with playwright/activist Eve Ensler - the writer of The Vagina Monologues (that's the first time I've used the word "vagina" in a bLog-oMotives entry) and a piece on furnishing Second Homes.

I encourage readers to spend some time poking around the MG+BW website. You'll find the incredible photography of Tipper Gore (yes, that Tipper Gore) being sold to raise funds for The Climate Project. There's also the adventures of company mascot - and sometimes spokesdog - Lulu. Of course, the MG+BW furniture and accessories are also on display.

Photos courtesy of Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams

© 2007 Jeff Fisher LogoMotives