108/365 Secrety Society Lounge

Eric and I have our old standbys...restaurants and bars we love to go to and know we'll always feel at home and the food and drinks are guarnanteed to be great.  Every once in awhile we try a new place out.  Very few ever make it to our "good old standby" list...but we The Secret Society Lounge did.  Located on NE Russell in Portland, it's housed on the second floor an old Prince Hall Mason's Lodge.  The walls of the staircase leading to the lounge are lined with photos of former Masons...greats such as Duke Ellington, Nat King Cole, and Booker T. Washington.  The lounge is small and clubby with dark wood paneling and rich red walls.  Bookshelves are lined with Mason memorbilia and classical tomes.  The service was friendly, but not cloying, and the crowd was eclectic, but skewed to the 30+ range.  Comfortable, cozy, and just a bit naughty, we'll be making The Secret Society Lounge a regular stop.

The Secret Society doesn't serve a full menu, but their heavy hors d'ourves are plenty enough to satisfy.  We ordered a cheese board (great!), steak bites (not so great) and parmesean and black pepper popcorn (spectacular)!

With a large list of formerly outlawed absinthe drinks and pages of other cocktail options, choosing your spirit for the evening can be daunting.

107/365 Commercial shoot

Spent a day in a rented studio down in the Pearl  filming five new television commercials for Columbia Credit Union.  Our shooter used a Canon 5D and a Canon 7D as the primary cameras...they produce some pretty amazing footage.  The actors were great...spot on...and with the direction of Daniel Thorpe we came away with some commercials that I love!  They'll be showing in mid-July on network news and cable and then in August will be showing at movie theaters in the Vancouver area.

Cheri was full of smiles, laughter, and high energy.

Justin reminded me of a younger kid brother of Steve Carrell and had great facial expressions.  I think I'm going to like his spot the best.

Post shoot, the amazing team of Boom Creative relaxing after a very productive, but exhausting day.

Director and good friend, Daniel Thorpe.  Quirky, cool, talented, and  hyper-creative, watching Daniel work is always inspiring.

106/365 The face I love

My husband Eric is immensly patient with my love of photography.  He encourages me to bring my camera when we go out, and often accompanies me on shoots, hauling my equipment for me.  A few weeks ago after a really hectic few months, we finally got the chance to go on a date, just us two.  And, of course, I schlepped my camera along, and he didn't fuss a bit. Sitting across from the table from me he silently watched me take a few photos, and then I turned the camera on him. This is a face I love.

105/365 Tequila factory tour

Gilbert gave us a tour of his families small tequila factory.  The Leyva family has been making tequila for over 100 years.  He's standing in front of a pile of freshly harvested agave plants.

After cooking the plants in an underground pit filled with hot lava rocks for seven days, the plants are removed and chopped up...ready for fermentation. 

Gilbert pours samples for the tour guests.  They had a chocolate tequila that was soooo good and soooo dangerous.

Salud!

104/365 Catholic icons

Like the Italians, Mexicans take their Catholic faith seriously.  On our first Sunday in Puerto Vallarta we passed a church having mass.  I was surprised to see there were so many people at the mass that they were spilling out on to the steps and street outside the church...that rarely happens here...maybe Christmas Eve.  One day Piper and I visited several small farming and ranching communities.  We stopped at the town square of one of them and ventured inside the Catholic church.  Parts of it were ornate...the statues, the alter, the crucifix, the stained glass windows. Other parts were simple, from the terra cotta floors to the the rough wooden benches.



A statue of a crucified Jesus lay on a red velvet cushion in a glass coffin. Had I seen this as a 6-year old young Catholic on my way to first confession, I may have never set foot in a Catholic church again...I definitely would have had nightmares.



Simple, yet beautiful stained glass windows.

A rough wooden bench for parishoners.  My poor mother with her bad knees never would have been able to get up after kneeling on this.

103/365 Puerto Vallarta architecture

Steeple of Our Lady of Guadalupe cathedral. The top is a replica of the crown of Queen Carlotta.  The three beautifully crafted old steeples were an interesting contrast with the cell tower...old world meets new world.

The crown of Carlotta reflected in the windows of a nearby building.

Love that little balcony with the rocking chair.  It looked comfortably worn and I imagined an elderly woman sitting there with a cat on her lap watching the world go by below.

102/365 Rockstacker

Walking along the Malecon in Puerto Vallarta one evening we saw this man balancing rocks on the beach. The rocks were seemingly impossibly stacked which at first made me think he was using some sort of adhesive to keep them together. But as we watched, we saw it was patience, strength and an understanding of physics that he used to stack the rocks into sentinal like creatures looking out to sea.

101/365 Felino

Felino lives at Vallarta Torre, the resort we stayed at in Puerto Vallarta.  He was a stray (there are plenty of those in Mexico) who the housecleaning staff took under their wing when he was just a kitten.  Now, Felino thinks he pretty much runs the place.  He lounges in the shady courtyard on hot days, sleeps in the warm laundry room on cool days, and according to the staff, rides the elevator to inspect what's happening on the upper floors of the resort.  He never comes when called, but if you're lucky he might grant you the pleasure of one (no more) stroke on his head as you pass by.

100/365 The people of Mexico

I truly enjoyed watching the people of Mexico in their daily lives.  It seemed as though they lived at a much less hurried pace than we do in America.  Families strolled the streets in the evening, the adults visiting with each other while the children played and ate popsicles.  They stopped and chatted with each other when they went about their daily routines of buying groceries or running errands.  And..they smiled a lot.  They were so friendly, that I found myself over and over wishing I spoke Spanish so I could join in on the conversation and feel more a part of this community of happy souls.

This little girl was playing in the town square with several other little girls.  I passed her and she called out to me.  She wanted me to take her picture.  When I pointed the camera at her, all her little friends ran away, but this bold little girl looked right into the camera.  After I took her photo she thanked me, waved, and scurried off to be with her friends.

While visiting a small farming community I passed this fruit stand.  The guy in the purple shirt owns the store and saw me taking photos of the tomatoes.  He kind of chuckled at me and then I  stepped back and pointed my camera at him.  He nodded and let me take his photo and laughed again.  I think he thought it funny that I would find his fruit stand so interesting.





There were several of these little outdoor shoeshine stands in the town square and they did a brisk business. 

Piper and I visited Rancho Grande Los Pinos about 30 miles outside of Puerto Vallarta.  Rosario was doing a little cooking demonstration for our group and stopped for a moment to pose with our bus driver Andrew (who was a crack up!)

99/365 The art of Spanish Coffee

I've always loved watching a talented bartender put on a show making a Spanish coffee. Eric ordered one at Daquiri Dick's in Puerto Vallarta where they take the art of Spanish coffee to a whole new level.

Carmelizing the sugared rim.

"Fire from the sky"

The flames were tossed back into a hot spoon and then re-poured into the mug.

Sprinkles of sugar create a confetti of sparks.



The entire glass is then set on fire before serving.



98/365 El perro

We saw a lot of dogs in Mexico. No distinguishable breeds, there were mutts of all sorts. And although it did appear that the owners had an affection for their dogs, they were far from the pampered pooches we Americans keep.  Most were lean, if not downright skinny.  Many just roamed the streets, and those who were leashed tended to be on uncomfortable looking ropes, often tied to a tree or pole. Being the softy I am, if I saw a skinny looking dog on the street as we were going to eat, I'd save some food in a napkin to bring out to it later.  I think the Mexican's view their dogs a bit differently than American's do.  To a Mexican, a dog is an animal, a pet...whereas many Americans (me included) project human characteristics and emotions on our dogs, thinking of them as members of the family, not just a pet.  Yes, our American dogs have it pretty good.




This sad little fellow was tied to a shed by the flea market.  Thankfully he was in the shade as it was brutally hot.  No water dish for him.



We had to chuckle at this little dog tied up outside a beauty salon.  The "no dogs" sign on the door looked like it was meant only for him.

97/365 It's the real thing

Coca-cola has quite the following in Mexico.  Pepsi...not so much.

96/365 Father/Daughter

Took this photo of Eric and Piper at Daquiri Dick's restaurant in Puerto Vallarta.  The restaurant sits right on the beach.  This photo was taken as the sun was setting.  The lighting was gorgeous...and well..so are the subjects.