Modo is Designer Resale Boutique in Portland specializing in Upscale Consignment Clothing.  The fun thing about Modo is that you never know what you are going to find, but you can count on quality at great prices.  The Portland Boutique is located in Southeast Portland and offers Women’s Clothing from brands such as Nicolle Miller and Juicy Couture.  So next time you are in the neighborhood, stop in for some great Designer Resale in Portland, it might just become a habit to check in every day for the latest new find.  Or if your dialed in to Twitter you can follow Modo - @themodo.

On the flip side for Portland Clothing Consignment make sure Modo is your first stop (that is if you want your garment to sell quickly).

Retro Ruffle Tankini by Popina Swim is a darling Halter Tankini Swimwear style.  The Ruffle Tankini  is a two piece halter style Tankini Bathing Suit top that has a fun flowing front ruffle.  The Ruffle Tankini top features a tie around the neck for sizing adjustment. Tankinis are the perfect suit for the woman who loves two piece suits but likes the idea of a little more coverage and is not quite ready for a one piece.  The Ruffle Tankini suit has three front panels with a ruffle on the plunging neck line.  The Retro Tankini comes with removable soft cups. Below are a couple examples in the Ropes and Valentine print. 

For 2010 look out for one of many of our new prints Pop Art Daisy is below

Best NE Portland Breakfast? Just might be Pambiche.  If you have lived in Portland particularly on the east side of the Willamette it is hard to imagine you have not tried Pambiche at least once.  Also, hard to imagine if you have eaten at Pambiche that you would only be able to go one time.

With that said with their awesome signage you may have considered about doing breakfast at Pambiche and maybe not done it yet.  Well that was the case for me and Pam.  Recently a friend shared their “weekend recap” which included breakfast at Pambiche and how did she like it?  Well it is Pambiche after all, she of course thought it was great.  But of course she did, consider your experiences at Pambiche and it will occur to you of course they would do an amazing job with breakfast because everything you have ever had there is UNREAL.

I had the Huevos Habanero which is two eggs your style (I had over easy) over two mini ham steaks complete with ham bone, rice, beans and plantain.  How awesome is it to have rice with breakfast to mop up your eggs over easy?  Very awesome, first time I had done that before.  Pam had plantains and an avocado salad which go unreal together, luckily the portion was generous enough that I could try some of that too and bring some home for later.  I can not wait to go back and work my way through the breakfast menu just like I have the dinner menu.

Just a quick word on the decor of Pambiche, we absolutely love it.  Particularly as owners of Portland Swimwear Boutique Popina, we are  considering how to create a fun, tropical atmosphere, Pambiche has completely nailed what I would imagine to be a Cuban feel, very Caribbean-Latino.  Every time I go to Pambiche I am inspired by their decor and ask myself what can we do to emulate some of this amazing feel into our boutique.  Who knows when you think of Cuba does Retro Swimwear come to mind?

The thing that I find particularly inspiring about Pambiche is that they no doubt could find a larger location, expand and do a larger amount of business, it seems at least from the outside that the owners have said, this is enough for us, lets keep it simple.  Alternatively, through their clever signage internally at the shop they look to leverage as much out of their location as possibly by working to convert the “Beans and Rice” dinner customer into a happy hour or breakfast customer.

 Ok, get hungry and go to Pambiche now.

Portland Frelance Copywriter, Tom Vandel of Les Overhead is Portland, Oregon’s Don Draper.  When I have a good experience with a professional I like to share it.  Tom makes the creative process fun, which it should be.  From soup to nuts Tom can do it all and has a deep portfolio to prove it. 

Tom has had his business for over 20 years and has worked for a wide range of accounts from Dentists to Lawyers to Catholic Radio stations to the City of Portland  and Metro.  If you are looking for a down to earth, relatable and affordable brilliance look no further for your Portland Copywriter and creative needs in general for brochures, billboards, direct mail, print ads or even invitations.

Tom is an integral part of our creative team at Popina.  So if you are looking for a fresh approach and or ideas to marketing consider giving Tom Vandel a call.

In the spirit of everyone loves an underdog, I would like to offer the unveiling of the NE 42nd Avenue Business Association’s new logo.  Our street is starting from ground zero in many ways, starting up a new group particularly of people with business interests is not too dissimilar from starting a business.  When we started our Portland Swimwear Shop Popina we had many of the same immediate issues to deal with such as developing a logo/identity and getting on the map. 

Our board has been meeting regularly for the last year getting administrative matters in order such as bylaws, etc.  We quickly put our focus on taking down the old, tired banners that were flapping in the wind and not giving the proper face our street deserved.  After interviewing a few graphic designers we chose Jen Kilcoyne, a great local graphic designer.  The final logo was a great collaboration between our great board group of NE 42nd Avenue and Jen. 

I love to participate in creative processes with professional creative people.  I was a bit nervous going into a design process with a committee (a working group of 10 people weighing in on the direction of the logo).  Jen did a great job of drawing out ideas from the group then developing our new identity from our input.  Personally I love the street banners with the open for business.  For me it acknoledges the current tough business environment and pokes fun at our selves a little for being the underdog.

The logo has three iterations, one to be used for window decals for businesses:

This logo below will be used on street banners.  We are applying for a grant to the APNBA for funds to hopefully install these new banners in the spring!

And this logo will be used for letterhead:

So wish us good luck on the grant, I can not wait to see the new banners up it will really spice up the street, and if you have been thinking about opening a business or have a friend who is looking, come to NE 42nd Avenue.  We have very affordable commercial rents and great location!

Water Aerobics Swimwear Portland Popina Swim is your place.  Water Aerobics in Portland continues to gain in popularity if you are looking to get involved in a class below is a short listing of places around Portland to give a try (in no particular order).

YWCA Downtown

Portland Parks and Recreation (various locations)

Providence Health (two locations in NE and SW)

Middleman Community Center

North East Community Center (NECC)

YMCA (Beaverton and Vancouver)

24 Hour Fitness (Various Locations)

Bally’s (Various Locations)

Cascade Athletic Club

Do you love to travel, do you like bargains, most importantly do you LOVE Popina?  Popina has introduced Club Maillot (French for Bathing Suit, pronounced like Cinco de “Mayo”).  You can register for Club Maillot at checkout; all we need is your e-mail address.  Every quarter we will be giving away a free weekend stay at an awesome Northwest Destination at our Portland Swimwear Boutique.  Last Quarter a lucky Club Maillot member won a weekend stay at McMenamin’s Grand Lodge, just in time for the fall Grape Crush.  This quarter we are giving away a weekend stay plus one massage at beautiful Skamainia Lodge, an easy weekend escape with an AMAZING pool and spa!  Other benefits of Club Maillot include advance notice of sales, receiving our sweet quarterly newsletter and notification of special events.  Get a suit win a trip!

Grand Lodge Pool

   Skamania Lodge Pool

Retro Swimwear is hot again for 2010 and Popina’s designer and owner Pamela Levenson keeps rolling out fresh new styles.  One of the many new styles for 2010 include the Grace Swimsuit.

The Grace is flattering and fun inspired by 1940’s Swimwear and 1950’s Swimwear Styles.  Key design points include the front “privacy” skirt, wide tie around the neck straps and the simple but cute front bow.

You can get a Grace for yourself on line at Popina or at our Portland Swimwear Store.

Water Aerobics is a great way to exercise in Portland, Oregon in the wintertime.  Water Fitness gives you a great low impact workout and it is very sociable!  Popina is very excited to announce an expansion of our Water Aerobics offerings in our Portland Swimwear Boutique.  We now offer the largest selection of Water Aerobics Swimwear Portland!

Because Water Aerobics takes place in Chlorinated Water, it is typically recommended that swimsuits of polyester fabric are used.  In our Swimwear Shop in Portland we offer fashionable polyester swim suits by Penbrooke and Speedo.  Below is a small sampling of our flattering and fun Water Aerobic Bathing Suits by Speedo.  Penbrooke is also very popular and has a great Retro Swimwear style.

Michael Franti and Spearhead will be coming to Portland Thursday September 10.  I am very excited to see him perform, it is been a bit too long since I saw him last.  I am actually very fortunate because I am going to see him in Boise at the Idaho Botanical Garden on September 22 as well - at that show will be outside!

It is so cool to see that Spearhead has broken the Top 25.  Hopefully this will expose more people to their music.  It has such a positive message and the music is so groovalishious.

Michael’s music inspires me.  The first time I saw Michael and his band play he opened for  Blues Traveler at Red Rocks Amphitheater outside of Denver.  Carl was wearing a shirt with big lettering UNFUCK THE WORLD.  There music was political, spiritual, with great infectious grooves, soulful and poppy and rockin as well.  The set at Red Rocks was shorter but it was enough of a taste for me.  I slowly became a HUGE Spearhead fan.

My two favorite Spearhead shows where Steamboat Springs, Colorado and in Anchorage.

Steamboat was great, first of Steamboat is home to my favorite hot spring Strawberry Hot Springs.  Developing Hot Springs is a tricky proposition.  The best thing about Hot Springs for me is that it is a naturally occurring feature, too often natural hot springs turn into swimming pools.  Strawberry Hot Springs is everything a developed hot spring should be.  Made out of native materials to the area, a minimum of concrete, divided into pools of different temperatures with a nice pebble bottom.

Obviously that is a digression but it was part of what made the weekend so great.  Steamboat is a great mountain, we skiied all day then at night a huge tent was set up for the show.  What an amazing vibe at that show, total love fest.  I hooked up with a new friend Dave who lives in Steamboat and an avid taper, after the show I got an amazing copy of what I just heard.  I just about cried when he did Bob Marley’s “Get Up Stand Up” so damn inspiring and moving.  Here is a link you can download to Spearhead at Steamboat in 2005 unbelievable show.

Second favorite show was in Anchorage.  I basically talked my boss into vising customers (we did some business in Anchorage).  It was very untypical for me to fly first class, but my boss was a frequent flyer and was able to get me upgraded.  First class of course gets seated first, then I saw who I thought was Carl, then I saw Dave - Spearhead was on our flight!  I was waiting in anticipation then finally Michael came through (I forgot to check if he was wearing shoes).  I greeted him excitedly when he came by and told him we were going to see him, he said “Cool, what do you do for a living?”  Perhpas bemused that I was sitting in First Class.  Given that Michael’s music is anti corporate, perhaps anti first class I kind of felt caught with my hands in the cookie jar.  It was interesting, I felt like a deer caught in the headlights.  A bunch of thoughts went through my head, first, I felt like I should give up my seat to Michael, but I was thinking that could be weird, so I opted not to (what about the rest of his band).  So I pondered his loaded question of what my occupation is.  At the time I worked for a financial institution that I did not particularly feel proud about, so I just tried to keep it as neutral as possible and hope he didn’t judge me for working in the “Real Estate Investment Field”.  But his presence inpired me to consider what I was doing professionally and that it did not necessarily reconcile with who I am.  As painful as yet exciting that moment was it was helpful in fertilizing the idea that I needed to get out of that Rat Race.  The Alaska show was great, at a Brew Pub outside of town called the Bear Tooth.  He did two nights there, we saw the first.  The anticipation before that show in the crowd was amazing.  Alaska in the summer is a party time.  The weather like Portland is not great most of the year, but when summer comes it is sublime and in Alaska that means the sun basically does not set.  I got a sense that the croud might have some component of people just wanting to be entertained - good music does not come to Anchorage often.  To my surprise the crowd was full of Spearhead fans it was great milling about before the show talking about how they could not believe Spearhead was in Alaska.  The two Alaska shows became a live album for Spearhead.  The one painful downside was that we had a flight back to Portland at midnight - it is typical flying to/from Alaska that you need to take a Red Eye one way or the other.  So we had to leave the show early.  I believe we left at 11pm, it was still twilight out.  Of course when we got to the airport our flight was delayed an hour!  We could have seen the rest of the show!!  That was painful, I was having such a great time when we had to leave.  I now always check for flight status before I leave.

I do wonder now that Michael is in the top 25 - maybe he flies first class as well………..

Post your favorite Spearhead stories if you have one.  If you are going to the Portland or Boise Show I will buy you a beer before the show.  Hope your able to make it - Are you ready for Spearhead!!?