So, to start off with..

I’M IN PORTLAND!

Yeah, a LOT has happened since I last posted- how much your life can change in the space of 30 minutes, the fulfillment of a high school dream, and leaving an old life on the other side of the country, walking into a new place with barely anything but ideas.

I’ve been in Portland for nearly 3 weeks now, and I STILL am not entirely sure how to write down everything that has happened and might happen next, but I’m damn well gonna try.

It all started with a phone call…
A while back, my girlfriend had applied for a job here in Portland. It was a very promising job, and she was a very promising candidate. We looked forward to moving, and started making some cursory plans… but then the job went to someone else.
We were both disappointed of course, but resolved to get on with our lives and make things happen our own way. My good friend Chef Joe Muldoon offered a part-time position as his dessert chef and the opportunity to write a new dessert menu, and my girlfriend took on more teaching hours.
Then, one weekend last month, we were both just about to go our separate ways and head to work. 
Then Emily saw that she had a voicemail waiting.

The next day, we gave our respective bosses two weeks notice… because to get her out here in time, that’s all we had.

Two weeks later…
We had given away, sold, or stored half of our belongings, and the rest was packed into my Jeep and a U-Haul trailer. In the wee hours of Labor Day morning, Em and I started our four-day cross country trip.

Movin’ Right Along…
​A cross-country road trip had been a dream of mine since high school, when I first read Kerouac’s On The Road and The Dharma Bums. We picked a straight-shot trucking route that sent us shooting straight through the upper middle of America.

We drove roughly 15 hours a day, switching every time we had to fill the tank, and stopping only for fuel, food, and sleep. My only regret is our deadline- we didn’t really have time to stop anywhere and sightsee, although there were incredible things all the way along. Perhaps later on, if you guys are interested, I’ll write a bit more about the trip, but for an entry already running long, that’s enough.

Em and I have a little apartment in southeast Portland, near the town of Beaverton.
Em works and loves her new job teaching piano, and I am still looking for employment. In the meantime, I am being Suzy Homemaker- baking, cooking, and doing household work.

Once I have gotten the hang of the city and it’s culture a bit more, I’ll write about it. I’m in no hurry though- there is a LOT to see and try.

“What’s to become of the Black Hat Bakery?” That’s another big question that has been on my mind… but I’m sure I’ll come up with an answer I- and a lot of other folks- will enjoy.

In the meantime, I’m still here. I still have stuff to talk about, and a lot more…
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Stay Classy,
BHB