hello. so since portland is a relatively new place to me, i'm probably going to update often about the new places i find (ie. grocery stores, shops, places to sit). so, for today, two places:

BUI'S NATURAL TOFU

520 NE 76th Ave, Portland, OR

This place is pretty awesome! They make, from scratch, tofu. There are lots of tofu flavors, like green onion or mushroom. There are also tofu meats - not to be confused with fake tofu meats. Also, hella cheap soy milk & other vietnamese foods, like spring rolls or sticky rice. Everything is relatively cheap/affordable. The spring rolls have shrimp, tofu, basil, & vermicelli noodles and are dipped into a peanut sauce. Quiet delicious.I'm not a huge fan of the soy milk yet, because it's not fortified with any vitamins and it sorta tastes like tofu. They have a sweetened one, so I'll try it next. Excited to try all the tofu flavors. It's relatively close to my apartment too and almost right across from the laundro-mat. Good place.

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KNITTIN' KITTENS

7530 NE Glisan St, Portland, OR

Everything in the store is vintage. Which is cool because it means someone bought it, didn't use it, & you get to buy it for a lot less. Also, awesome because it's the first place I've been that has colored elastic! Sooo cool. You could make belts, suspenders, waists to skirts, bookmarks, or bento belts for your lunchbox. I went there to find knitting stuff, and the circular needles are really cheap - $3 and they're wooden. I also go 200 g of "high quality" wool to knit myself leg warmers (oh yea, it finally got cold & rainy out here). I originally wanted to do burgundy to add color to my other wise neutrally colored wardrobe, but there wasn't enough & I didn't want to do stripes. So yes, I picked a heathered grey. I will probably be going to this store a lot.

Yesterday I did yoga at TABORSPACE. Another really cool, new place to me.

5441 SE Belmont St. Portland, OR

It's run as a non-profit community space. It's a coffee shop in a church & the menu is priced on a sliding scale. It's really beautiful inside with tons of big comfy chairs & tables for everyone! There's also rentable community space for conferences, art, yoga, etc. It's $10 an hour for some of the rooms! I'm pretty impressed by how truly affordable they make things.