I got to meet up with Mariko and Melissa for lunch at Pine State* Biscuits yesterday and… wow. I have to say that as a Southern girl living on the West Coast I miss the delicacies of home, and the luxury of biscuits like these in the adjoining zip code is a huge improvement to my day-to-day quality of life! Now if only I could have an occasional dose of my other favorites (fireflies, thunderstorms, Carolina home games, and hushpuppies, not to mention my family who all live three hours ahead of me), things would be perfect.

But back to the biscuits: they are awesome. I had a scrambled egg and cheese biscuit sandwich with Stumptown coffee and it was perfect for a chilly, rainy day. I was too busy eating to get a picture of my delightful food, but Mariko snapped one of me with about 2/3 of my sandwich left, and even had the willpower to photograph hers before starting in on it. Impressive! As a bonus, I got a bottle of Cheerwine to bring home, along with a biscuit for Andrew. I have not had a drop of Cheerwine in the eleven years I’ve lived out here and it was pretty fantastic… and speaking of Pine State excitement, I can’t wait for the Carolina game this afternoon, and the Davidson game tomorrow!

And on the subject of my adopted state, the always-wonderful Jill Bliss is having dual art openings in Portland tonight. Both shows run from today through April 20, and they’re both on Alberta St. From her announcement:

“the colors of nature” collaborative show with jill bliss, seth neefus and amy ruppel
reception: march 27, 7 – 10 pm
together gallery
2314 ne alberta st. in portland

“califoregon” duo show with jill bliss and brittany powell
reception: march 27, 7 – 10 pm
office pdx shop + gallery
2204 ne alberta st. in portland

Jill says, “brittany’s a native oregonian, i’m a native californian. we met at c.c.a. in san francisco a few years back and have been planning the idea of this show ever since. now that we both live in portland, it’s the perfect time to make it a reality! collaborative drawings and paper cut-outs, gocco screenprints, and postcards — all relating to our favorite things and places in our two favorite states.”

p.s. Just wanted to mention that Kayte of Love Forever is doing a fun contest this week to celebrate the release of Bead Simple: just comment on this post and tell her about your favorite piece of jewelry, and she’ll pick a winner to send a copy of the book to on Friday. Don’t miss her beautiful Lacy Trio Earrings on page 39, too!

*the nickname for my native state, North Carolina.