Oh wow, it was a crazy week. I’m only just recovering. And I’m talking about last week, not the one we’re in now. It started off Friday with a bachelor party. Me and some dudes went up to Vancouver BC to send Dustin off with style. It was a good time, we ate, wandered, laughed, drank, and did some obligatory bachelor party things. Good times. Sunday night after the baseball game, I got dropped off at YVR (Vancouver’s airport) where I caught a flight to San Diego (SAN, in case you’re checking).

Continuing on this odd consumption-oriented kick I’ve been on, Trader Joes moved out of their old location and into a new one two blocks away. And it is way better. Truly, seriously an improvement. Trust me when I tell you that even though I’ve not been closer than 100′ from the new location. Because the old location sucked eggs bigtime. It was cramped way beyond cat-swinging range. That many Joe’s shoppers packed that tightly just radiate bad mojo, and I feel it and it makes me want to go outside and sit on the curb and sulk, alone with the package of tamales that I managed to snag, holding it, realizing that I hadn’t paid and that I really really don’t want to wait in that line and do I really want the tamales that bad when I can go get cheaper better ones at Taqueria Don Pancho and so I drift into a pit of nihilistic despair I don’t care about the tamales or the lines or that I’m on Sandy Blvd on my knees beating the paved earth grinding the chicken tamales into my forehead yelling wishing (but not caring!

Okay, this is going to sound like heresy, but I did not attend the beerfest this weekend. At some point I made a hasty promise to the lady that we could hit Ikea on Friday in the afternoon. And I made good, got out of work early, and we cruised over to the massive furniture store. And we had a good time. It was pretty exhausting examining 4 billion pieces of furniture, but I really enjoy Ikea.

No pics. Maybe there’s one, but I don’t have it. Anyway, I was responsible for putting together a bachelor party to happen last Saturday, for my buddy Sean. We opened it up at the Jolly Roger for various booze, fried things, and jello shots, followed by a nice afternoon tubing down the Clack…can’t imagine why we had the river to ourselves…? And then we went out for steaks. Details omitted to honor the guilty and protect the innocent.

Not really, but metroblogging has the dirt on Portland’s Ikea installation. Honestly, I’ve been looking forward to getting an Ikea for quite awhile now, and now that the date is almost here, I’m starting to look at my closets and corners just a bit differently. Long ago I linked to Defective Yeti’s genius Ikea Walkthrough (at The Morning News). Here it is again for the local Portlanders. A bunch of folks seem upset about the new big box store.

Santa Cruz is a pretty sweet city. It’s gorgeous. There’s a beautiful beach, tons of restaurants, shops, and things to do. A few good breweries. Nice views, hikes nearby. It was selected as one of Outside’s most desirable places to live (Portland too!). But after a few days here, I’ve found myself wondering: where is the soul of this city? And I haven’t found it. Time on the beach is great, the sand is pleasant with the sound of the surf and the seagulls, a heavy sun radiating powerfully, beautiful people building sand structures to watch them erode with the tides.

Mississippi is sporting a shiny new Mexican restaurant, with Oaxacan regional cuisine. Actually, I think it’s up where the street is actually Albina, just south of N Alberta. Trebol has a decent little patio, it’s painted a nice shade of green, and overall looks tastefully done. Though, I actually never set foot inside the actual restaurant. We sat outside, it was a gorgeous day. We drank margaritas and mojitos. They were pretty tasty, and somewhat reasonably priced, though the well tequila is pancho.

have to keep the cast on an extra week…I go in Wednesday 8:30am. Yay, cuz it’s starting to get a bit nasty.

plagerized from an email Nader sent me: This Friday & Saturday (June 8th & 9th) Roots Organic Brewing presents the 2007 North American Organic Brewers Festival, at Overlook Park on N. Interstate and Fremont. Similar to many other pdx beer fests, admission is free and tasting cups are just $5 (you can get $1 off if you bring a validated Tri-met pass – handy since this is right on the MAX yellow line, and you don’t want to drive home after tasting a ton of good beers – or a can of food for the Oregon Food Bank); 4oz.