Foodie City

Moving Up Bucket-list: 7 Things in Portland, Maine

I’m titling this blog post “moving up” because it helps me view moving out as something positive, and a step up toward my goals, instead of away from a place where I am so happy.

On April 29 I will spend my last night in my beautiful apartment on State Street. I’m a little sad, even though I’ll just be temporarily moving twenty minutes up the road to Freeport.

Because of the sad component of the move, my sister suggested I pre-commemorate (is that a word? I thought my first blog post should have at least one made up word) the event by making a list of things in Portland I’d like to do before I move back home for the summer. 7 things, for 7 days.

This move, even though it’s a short distance, has had me all hot and bothered and acting out of character: eating everything all the time, on my phone all the time, online shopping an exorbitant amount… you get it.

I think it might be part I’ll-miss-this-beautiful-place, but mostly it’s-what-this-place-means-to-me. I wake up and can’t believe I get to live some place so homey and beautiful. I. Love. My. Balcony. With the tall paint-peeling glass doors that swing into the house, the views of the West End and the bridge, the big beautiful windows, the hustle and bustle, the bright light. I love the simple beauty of my room. I love the first light in the morning, whether winter, spring, summer or fall; the pink colors on the buildings give me so much peace and joy in starting my day. I love when the fog rolls in, I love the snow on the rooftops, I love looking down at the blooming trees, and the foliage. I love in the morning when the city is quiet and all I can hear are the lobster boats starting and seagulls calling. I love being able to run over the bridge toward Cape Elizabeth and Higgins Beach, and feeling so familiar with a place. I love living somewhere that I love. I even love the homeless people across the street who curse loudly at each other in broad daylight.

I grew into who I want to be more of here, all by myself. It’s the first place I made cinnamon rolls from scratch. It’s the first place I grew a tomato plant and didn’t kill it.

And, while all the above WONDERFUL things are true, I think I should shine some light on the whole truth, so as not to romanticize the situation too much: it’s also a place that requires drag racing to the street parking spots on Monday nights, a five floor commute with grocery bags and recycling boxes, and a place where other people’s iPhones sometimes connect to your Bluetooth speaker in the middle of the night and blast classic rock.

It’s not perfect, but it was/is mine, and I love/loved/always will love it.

So sitting down to face the facts - I’m moving, I’m sad to move - has been helpful, and I wanted to share my thoughts, because I want us to get to know one another better.

In general, trying to do one thing every day that feels special makes being home and my daily life feel like something I don’t need to escape from, it makes it something I love. It puts me in a much better position to give my time and energy to others.

I needed a reminder, as I’ve been so bound to distracting myself lately, so I’m publicly challenging myself with this plan. I challenge anyone who reads this to also face your own reality, and then let’s together put down our phones for a time and make our daily lives a little better through making conscious choices, despite whatever underlying sadness might be lurking.

If by chance you’d like to follow along my seven days of seven “things” in Portland, I will be highlighting them on my professional Instagram stories @anniepaigephoto with much less fanfare than this blog post makes it seem.

  1. Run Portland - my favorite loop that is more of a sight seeing tour is as follows:

    State Street > Danforth Street > Western Prom > Over to Congress > Left onto Washington Avenue > Up to the Eastern Prom > Down to East End Beach > around the Trail along the Water to > Commercial Street > Up Exchange > Middle Street > Monument Square > Left down a side Street all the way back to Commercial > All the way to Becky’s Diner, walk home.

  2. Sunrise trip to Scratch Bakery and Willard Beach

    Need I say more. One salt bagel, one packet of cream cheese. One coffee. Walk to beach, sit in sand, and admire the sunrise and dogs, who we do not deserve. Tear, dip, sip and eat, repeat.

  3. Walk to the Eastern Prom because I can

    I believe there is a 1.5-2 mile distance between the West End and the East End. It’s fun to people watch and window shop along the way. Maybe stop at the Co-op. Maybe stop for dinner along the way. Maybe drag my boyfriend along for the walk. Maybe not, but maybe.

    I did this once in late October in a wind storm and admired the old buildings, the fading white-mauve hydrangeas, and the moon and stars through the street lights and then made soup and was in an utter Maine bliss.

  4. Homemade coffee on the balcony

    Get up early enough before work to brew coffee and sip it on the balcony in my pajamas and slippers. The ultimate luxury.

  5. Walk to Rosemont for bread and fruit

    One time I walked to Rosemont for the fun of it with nothing but a coin purse to see what I could buy and I bought a baguette, then ate half of it on the walk home. Recreate this vision.

  6. Bake something new in my kitchen

    Use up all that baking crap in my cupboards and make something really naughty and delicious for the weekend.

  7. Farmer’s market? Standard Baking Co.? Walk there? Run there?

    Buy eggs for the week. Buy a chocolate croissant and eat it on a bench.

The common theme, I noticed, is walking (and eating), I think because it implies a slower pace, which is what I’m wanting: for time to slow down so I can take it in. I don’t know when or if I’ll ever live in Portland again, and even though I won’t be far, I sense that seasons in life pass sometimes without us noticing and it’s bittersweet. I don’t want to miss ANY thing. I want to notice everything. I want to live my life all the way, which leads me to my next point: failing sometimes along the way happens and being okay when it does, or when things don’t go as I plan. We can’t always live every day in a magical fairy land, and that’s fine. One good thing a day is still good.

I hope being open about my life will inspire you reading this, to feel comfortable opening up about your life to me, and not just that but to seek and create goodness when you need it. We need more non-judgmental spaces in the world. I want my page and my work and who I am to embody acceptance.

I digress.

7 things, 7 days, even if it’s just eating a left over chocolate Easter egg, be kind to yourself, you just have one life, don’t stop trying, you are doing the best that you can.