Portland Meet-Up 2012: Matildaben, Warum & Quarry do The Perfume House

[Quarry]

Guilt Trip
Late last Thursday afternoon, my computer failed to boot up. I located a repair shop and dropped off my Mac Pro minutes before closing time.
Friday morning, my back-up G4 computer proved lifeless.My business was dead, and projects were en route. My original plan was to go to a graduation ceremony Friday night and fly to Portland Saturday. The only way to reduce the stress was to cancel everything so that, if necessary, I would buy a new computer, load software and keep work rolling.

My daughter expected me to accompany her to her Portland half marathon, and I wanted to breathe in the air of that city’s famed Perfume House in the meaningful company of Matildaben and Warum. However, I contacted M and W, and told them I had to cancel. Motherly guilt, selfish pity, and much sobbing punctuated Friday.

Friday afternoon, the boys at Techwise assured me I could return from my trip to a functional Mac (bad DIMM board). I skipped the graduation ceremony in favor of packing. Daughter and I got up at 2:30 a.m. Saturday, and by the afternoon I was in the comforting arms of my BN friends.

Warum, Matildaben and their truly charming husbands walked us to an eatery with great food, but, more importantly, serving alcohol. With M’s guidance, I found the Dew Drop to be worthy of two rounds. Not unlike New Orlean’s Pimm’s Cup, it contains cucumber and gin. Daughter and I went crazy for the sweet potato fries with chipotle mayo.

There’s something you need to know about Portland: Tater tots are something of a rage. We’re talking the same tater tots served in school cafeterias since the 1960s. Strange, no? However, learning of tachos (tater tot nachos), our Wisconsin eyes nearly popped out of our cheese heads. (We’ll be making those at home soon.)
Thanks to my BN friends, I also got to experience Powell’s, our country’s largest independent bookstore.

The Perfume House
I thought, on the chance that owner Chris Tsefelas would be at his shop, I would do just what I ended up doing. Although he was engaged with shoppers, I interrupted, went down on one knee, took his hand, and kissed his ring. Anyone who has thoughtfully brought together such a splendor of goods has earned this sort of veneration. He shared his reverence for the Amouage and Caron lines, generously spritzed cotton balls, and let me hold a one-of-a-kind, diamond-dressed bottle. His pleasure in educating the willing was palpable.

My to-sniff list included a couple CdG incense scents, but I knew I’d be leaving with a bottle of Jaisalmer. (I’ll rave about it later in SotD and a BN review.) Goutal’s La Violette disappeared shortly after communicating that it was not to be my special violet scent. Crown Court Bouquet was lovely, but not extraordinary. I learned that Sabi has been discontinued. (Horror and hoard!)

There were two scents I had to sample in order to understand Kumquat and Larimar: Caron’s French Cancan and Tabac Blond. You know how the optometrist uses his machine to get your eyes to a general focus and then, using micro controls, dials in to your specific prescription? That’s how I perceived Kumquat’s Cancan -- I observed its general character, but I sensed its fine turning and imagined how that precision exactly met K’s desires. Tabac Blond (edp; they were out of parfum) offered a pleasure ride. I smelled the cotton ball. Was warned TB needs to evolve. It seemed skin worthy. It charmed. Now I understand.

Credit Monocle Laurel as the most uncommon and cerebral sniff of the day. (Quarry appreciates a good green.) A pre-reformulation (I think) Opium surprised me as one of the best things on my skin. Gees, did I smell by the time we left -- not just from every inch of arm space but from the cotton balls tucked into my cleavage, each of my four pants pockets and every recess of my purse.

Half Marathon & Gorge Tour
Sunday morning was daughter’s half marathon, and she was excited to see that 2012 Olympic runner Kara Goucher was among the 15,000(!) participants. In the afternoon, a work associate of my daughter’s gave us a ride along the Columbia River Gorge, stopping for Multnomah and lesser falls, the dam and salmon ladders, and up to Timberline Lodge.

Hiccups
Originally, M, W and I were going to shop The Perfume House on Monday, but TPH’s summer hours would go into effect this same week; meaning, they’d be closed on Monday. We had also just missed a visit by Andy Tauer at the TPH. I had hoped to stop at Nordstrom’s on Monday, but daughter’s want-to-do list took precedence. Of course, I didn’t hate stopping for a bacon-topped, maple-glazed bakery treat from Voodoo Doughnut.

The Warums’ friendly faces reflect Monday morning’s after-breakfast spirits.

Other Observations
• It’s true that Portland really is a model city, most notably with regard to mass transit.
• The Modera Hotel, where the Matildabens also stayed, was pleasant. We didn’t take advantage of the attached Nel Centro restaurant, but appreciated its courtyard gas firepits and vertical garden.
• The Kindle Fire proved invaluable. The app YouTubeFree allowed me to capture YouTube videos for later viewing. Blooper reels from sitcoms and Michael Jackson’s “This Is It” made our many transit hours lots of fun.

I’m anxious to see Matildaben’s photos. As she said, upon viewing the photo just taken of her, Warum, and me at the restaurant on Saturday, “We’re adorable!” And we really were!

Here's a minute and a half video I composed for my daughter to commemorate our trip.

[knit at nite]

(((Momma Q)))
Thank you for the fabulous travelogue! So glad you went, and shared with us.

[shadesofbleu]

I'm so glad you didn't have to cancel. It sounds like a lovely trip!

[jujy54]

Thank you Quarry, for filling us in, and for the beautiful photo of the Warums. I love to put a name and a face together.
I have a cousin in Portland—and a long lost friend—to say nothing of about a zillion rail miles on my Amtrak Mastercard. And there's a perfume store in Portland. Hmm...

[Larimar]

Oh wow, Quarry! What a whirlwind trip and days!!! I am so glad you made it and had a fabulous time. I am delighted to hear you found an alcoholic treat you liked . Also, it gives me so much relief that you .now. understand me. Will you please allow me to send you a Tabac Blond sample?!

[seattlelight]

Quarry - we missed eachother by a matter of hours on Saturday! Late last week, I was in Portland and left the perfume house Saturday about 12:30 pm to return to Seattle. It's always a fun experience, but meeting all of you would have made it extra special! Glad you had a great time!

[Quarry]

Quarry - we missed eachother by a matter of hours on Saturday! Late last week, I was in Portland and left the perfume house Saturday about 12:30 pm to return to Seattle. It's always a fun experience, but meeting all of you would have made it extra special! Glad you had a great time!

Oh, blurgh! Missed Andy Tauer AND you? Well, as dear husband says, “It could be worse; it could be raining.” ... oh, wait, it's Portland, it WAS raining all day Monday.

Jujy, a fellow Amtrak Mastercard holder? Neat. All aboard that Empire Builder!

Hey, L, when Matildaben posts the adorable threesome photo, know that instead of saying “cheese,” we were actually saying “Larimar” (BN’s favorite mixologist).

[Mimi Gardenia]

What a gorgeous bunch of photos and thanks for the video too . Great trip Quarry !
Loved the picture of the Warums .
Voodoo Doughnuts ! Great name .

[PerfumedLady]

Oh, my gosh, look at those cutie-pie Warums!

As always, a brilliant travelogue, Quarry. The video is really a treat! Thank you!

Looks like a fantastic time, very happy for you, gang!

[knit at nite]

Ok now I really have to look into the AMTRAK Mastercard!!

[gandhajala]

What a brilliant report, Q !
Sounds like it was quite an adventure. Thanks so much for sharing

[matildaben]

I'll try to get those photos up this weekend. I haven't had a moment to sit still in several days.

[Quarry]

If anyone wants good views of the interior of The Perfume House, use this Google map link to swing around and move through the shop using panoramic photos.

[knit at nite]

Quarry those photos just killed any desire to get out and accomplish anything today. I could just sit and look at them all day.

[Leesee]

Oh, I am so jealous of y'all! I live three hours from Portland and I would have loved to have joined in on the adventure. I need to keep up with things better, because I can see I am missing out on fun and fairly local doings, big time!

I'm very glad everyone had a good time, though. That Perfume House is quite the place, isn't it?

[Quarry]

I really regret not PMing you, Leesee. Shame on me for assuming you'd seen our jibber-jabber about this meet-up.

Yes, TPH is special. In a world of chain stores, there are few true perfume temples.

[Leesee]

Quarry, don't give it another thought. But you are sweet, indeed. And -- Happy Belated Birthday, too! I hope you had a great one!

[hedonist222]

Sounds like fun!

Thanks for sharing and I'm glad you all had a great time.

The Warums look so friendly!

[Guest 3]

That looks like so much fun. The cucumber drink sounds nice! Can't wait to see more pics when Matildaben gets a breather. She is a talented photographer. ♥

[Evangeline]

Thanks for sharing, Quarry - it's quite apparent y'all had a fantastic time! Wonderful reporting and pics, as usual. But lilybelle's right, we're still waiting for more images from matildaben...isn't that right?

[kumquat]

That looks like one fantastic trip! I still maintain there is a huge difference in the juice from the Paris Urns. I hope you weren't too disappointed.

[arwen_elf]

I feel very happy when I know Basenoters have met and had fun.

Love it!

[30 Roses]

Your meet-up sounded like a lot of fun!
Now if Scotty could only beam me over to The Perfume House....

[Denovo]

Glad you enjoyed Portland. Great writing- it was a fun read.

[Quarry]

Thanks for sharing, Quarry - it's quite apparent y'all had a fantastic time! Wonderful reporting and pics, as usual. But lilybelle's right, we're still waiting for more images from matildaben...isn't that right?

Yes! Tapping my pretty little toe anxiously. I hope she's got info/pix from the subsequent Seattle shopping.

I hope, too, that Warum finds time to post after she tends to work demands. I'm wondering how the Jasmine Hunter (suggested new moniker for her) liked the Donna Karan sample I left her.

That looks like one fantastic trip! I still maintain there is a huge difference in the juice from the Paris Urns. I hope you weren't too disappointed.

I thought I'd read somewhere that Chris Tsefalas imported his products directly from Europe as much as possible. I should have asked about this.

The thing about sampling while on your feet, away from home, with others around, and in smelling a ridiculous number of scents, is that one expects to get only a cursory impression. So, no disappointments. There's nothing like being home and setting aside some priority sniffing time to really experience, as opposed to just sampling, a fragrance.

The benefit of Tabac Blond being so distinctive and drawn out in its development was that I could give it more focus whilst sitting in the back seat of the Matildabens' car and riding through a nifty residential district. The change in surroundings gave that sniffing experience more texture and helped to set it apart from the flurry of smells in the dizzyingly stocked TPH.

Thanks, Denovo, and welcome to Basenotes!

[Quarry]

I'm excited to update this thread and share photos recently procured from Matildaben’s camera.



Here we girls are, getting happy with our beverages. Left to right: Quarry, Matildaben, and Warum.

Opposite us sat Mr. M and Mr. W (and just out of sight: Q junior).


My brush with greatness: meeting the legendary Chris Tsefelas.

[Guest 3]

Those are nice! You're all beaming! I love the quality of the light in those pics. Is Portland lovely? Well, you all look lovely.

[Quarry]

The quality of the light in the pix is due to M's use of flash. But, yes, Portland has a glow all its own.

[Evangeline]

Great to finally see these, Quarry - y'all obviously had a wonderful time!

[knit at nite]

that's a fab shot of you gals with your libations!!