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It right now at portland. ccfm um thank you so much for listening thank you so much for checking us out every day and Claudia I’ll get out of here and let you get back to your interview with Eden you know planning any type of birthday celebration can feel like a lot
Of work there’s pressure to make sure everyone’s accommodated options to comeb through budgets to consider often times the person celebrating doesn’t even end up having the best time and in a city like Portland where we seemingly have an endless array of food options activities and natural spaces it can be hard to pin
Down a what and a where so today on City cast Portland we’re bringing in the author of both the Portland and Seattle book of dates co-host of the we can’t print this podcast and our resident fun expert Eden Dawn she’s laying out some of the best birthday options whether
You’re looking for a chill Gathering or a giant blowout it’s Monday February 26th I’m Claudia Mesa and this is what Portland’s talking about well before we jump in will you settle a debate uh a few friends and I have been having and I think it comes up
Often are we too old for birthday parties no you’re never too old for a birthday party firm firm belief in that you’re talking to a Leo though so like we are famous for our birthday celebr celebrations but no in fact I feel like the older you get the more you should be
Allowed to celebrate because really you’ve done more work turning two not hard turning 99 that you you deserve accolades oh my God you’re so right Eden I know yeah and here’s the deal everyone should get to celebrate birthdays not everybody gets married not everybody has baby showers not everybody has graduations like the
Celebratory reasons in society don’t always apply to everyone but everyone has a birthday so take that opportunity to celebrate well do you have a favorite birthday memory as an adult yeah it’s out of control it was so overwhelming for my 35th birthday my husband ashad who was a sweetheart and a very good
Planner he did an entire surprise where I did not know where I was going got on a plane with him flew to Asheville North Carolina to meet my old friend from college and then we drove to Dollywood and then along the way more friends from Portland kept surprising like like we
Were like let’s pick up this hitchhiker drove up to a ditch and there is one of my best friends from Portland who was hiding in a ditch in North Carolina that’s so impressive I was so overwhelmed and then I get to Dollywood which is already like a place of pure
Joy right like it’s just Dolly Parton and butterflies and like the roller coasters are shaped like boobs like everything is so fun and people were walking out at rides to me from Portland like just continuously surprising me to a point where I kind of shut down I was so
Overwhelmed that friends are like are you happy to see us and I was like yes I’m very happy this is a lovely experience but it was just so much surprise so much yeah I mean it’s unbeatable it’s unbeatable he won he won our marriage and now there’s nothing I
Can ever do oh man I mean that is incredible it was really good okay so let’s talk about some ideas for people who want to celebrate their birthday but don’t really want to make a big deal of it okay well first of all get over it
Make a big deal about it that’s my first believe but let’s say I get it like maybe you don’t want to do the people bringing you a care and singing in public you just want to do something nice with a couple of friends one thing
That I love to do for any kind of Celebration really is to go to the little spot that’s at Edgefield and if you go and get any service if you know get a pedicure get a massage go with like two friends and then you get into
The soaking tub there you get access to it for the the hotel guests have you ever been to that soaking tub out at Edgefield no okay H I’ve never been to Edgefield okay well get out Claudia just get out get out of our online chat right now do I’ve been
Here for so long it is so delightful I don’t know why there’s just never been a reason and I like music you never been to a concert you never I have friend like I friend I don’t know well this is a great thing to do with a couple of
People or even like four people but so the soaking tub out there is really cool it’s out outside and it kind of meanders in like a bit of a path and it has palm trees and it just feels very fun and have a bar out there so you could have a
Margarita but if you get a spa service you get into the tub so you can go you know pamper a little bit get a massage get a margarita go in the soaking tub with your friends it’s just a nice day it’s just like a nice way to celebrate
Without having to have a full take and like you know the hollow blue well I’m looking at it now and I didn’t realize that existed it’s beautiful it’s huge it’s almost like as wide as the entire building you know I really highly recommend it it’s one of my favorite
Soaking tubs and places to go um it’s such a lovely one another one thing that I really love to do which I think you can do at all ages is roller skating at Oaks Park oh yeah like it’s just such a fun thing and yes it’s the same thing I
Did for my birthday party when I turned nine but 100% I would do it to turn 49 can I tell you something else Aiden you’ve never been roller skating no no I’ve been roller skating I just don’t know how oh you don’t how much do you
Not know how like can you get out there I mean I can stand up and I can like move slowly but I’m like I look like one of those awkward four-year-olds learning like I’m just like whoa whoa whoa and if anyone does too much fancy stuff around
Me I fall just because of their like the wind or the fear that I’m going to hit them yeah the good thing about Oaks Park is it has the little like beginner straight Lanes down at one end so you could just kind of do that till you warm
Up because I only go every few years so I need a warm up I can barely go but I can go enough that it’s fun you know and it’s like a stupid thing that you do with your friends and it just feels very like 90s and reminiscent of our youth
And at one point we’re going to all be too old and break bones so I I think it’s a nice thing to do I love it what’s another one what’s another place uh okay so if you want to be lazy about it and a reason to spend a little money I have
Not done this one yet but I am doing it soon and that is the the yacht tubs the hot tub boats down on the waterfront okay here’s my concern two things one is it too cold is it hot enough like are we good there with temps you haven’t done
It yet right I haven’t done it yet but I know people who’ve done it and they’re like no it’s toasty I mean you can sit in a hot tub when it’s snowing out and be very very comfortable I don’t see why you wouldn’t be able to do it I I think
It seems like a delightful way to be on the water second is you know W lamit is a working Waterway MH um it has a main Channel like where do you stay cuz I’m just afraid of getting like somehow drifted into the main Channel and in
Comes a barge and I’m just like oh I’m in my little tub no the wamit is quite wide though I go out on with friends who have little boats all the time in the summer and you just kind of stick to the edges and toodle around and they likely
Have a limit to the area of which you can go you don’t have to have a boat license to Pilot those which usually means they go quite slow and you kind of stick to the sides and you don’t try to be you know challenging the stern
Wheeler to a race or anything yeah but I think it’s going to be real lowii and it’s a nice way to have a hot tub for two hours no it’s awesome I’ve once taken those electric boats out which again is like they’re so slow um and
That was so much fun it’s so much fun but most water activities obviously we have to wait for our like three months of really nice weather and this seems like a nice way that you could do it and and get outside and remember that the outdoors exist in the winter that is a
Really good idea well what about when you want to throw a full-on Leo Birthday Bash but don’t have the space to host like do you have ideas of where people can go and this is actually just so you know this whole deal this whole episode was inspired because I asked this
Question for a friend a friend was asking me like hey 20 plus where should we go and so I just threw it out and you know in our production chat so like what are your ideas people want to know where to go and I actually think I mean I can
Throw a killer house party but there’s a lot of work to House Parties cuz you’re cleaning and PR in before during your house you’re taking care of everybody and then because my friends are a bunch of Jackal afterwards I’m cleaning up for days like finding wine glasses you know
Hidden under a staircase and various things like that so good to have party rooms one of my favorite ones is at Cafe ali um you know which is a delightful place on MLK and so the back it has its own beautiful back room um I still kind
Of know up from the nedl days but that back room is beautiful and it can fit a good amount of people I have been to private parties there for at least 20 or 30 and probably more and the thing I like about it is like it’s really Cozy
Cafe Ali’s food is so good it’s basically the super adult bougie version of having a pizza party when you’re a kid which we all had and loved and now this is like the fancy Woodfired Pizza um but but it also has this huge garage door so in this summer or nice weather
You can open it up and it can kind of spill out there but that’s a really good one and then also it’s such a central location if you have people coming from all over so another one uh that I think is really great for a private and this
Is kind of different Vibes but kachka has this kind of it’s below their little mezzanine area so it is this back cozy Red Room you know everybody’s talking about mob wife aesthetic right now that is that in a room where it is cozy and small and it’s lined and I just went
There for my friend’s uh big 50th birthday and it was so fun because you can fit 40 people in there they’re constantly bringing you all those teeny little glasses at vodka it gets so loud and Rowdy in that room they have like some kind of acoustic paneling on the
Ceiling it doesn’t matter but it’s a really nice place that you can fit a bunch of people and I think they’ll work with you to what you want your menu to be for everyone you know you can say there’s a limit on drinks or put it all
Towards appetizers um but I think that kachka is another really good option for that that’s awesome uh I love their horseradish Vodka it’s the best so good it is such a delight and I’m not even a big vodka person but that horse radish vodka is just so freaking good that with
Like some potato anything ooh so good there are potato cheese dumplings I mean I’m a vegetarian so kachka can be a little bit rough for me because it just means that I’m eating so much cheese dumplings in vodka okay can I give you two other suggestions for party rooms please do I
Asked this question you know a few weeks ago and um one of the people that I reached out to was a brook Jackson gliden We Love Brook we love Brook We Stand Brook yeah editor at Eder Portland and uh I mean it was pretty much all your suggestions uh but she also
Mentioned Bar West oh I have heard about Bar West I have not been in that space but they’re so cute and I’ve had nothing but great experiences when I’ve been to Bar West so I would imagine you would have a great birthday party there yeah it’s Northwest it’s I’ve been there for
Brunch but I didn’t know that you could run out of room and it’s so it’s super cute in there MH okay the other one I was going to mention is a place I actually just went to which is a Firehouse restaurant they have this upstairs room and it was so chill and
You get your own bartender what yeah that’s where my friend had his 38th and it was so much fun and he had like a ton of friends cuz he’s really popular wow I know and so it was just like a bunch of people from his life cuz that’s another
Thing about birthday parties you’re just joining all of your friend circles which can be kind of scary oh absolutely nerve-wracking always so nerve-wracking combining combining the people’s I love firehouse and I’ve been there I’ve had really nice birthday celebrations there um I took my for my dad’s birthday last
Year but not upstairs we just had like a little family dinner downstairs and they were so sweet and it was I mean from what I heard it was it’s pretty affordable like I feel like you can do it all right I mean because they have pizza too and we’re always back to the
Adult pizza party yeah they all of their little appetizers it was very pleasant all right well let’s take a quick break here and when we return ideas for larger parties that don’t need much planning or Reservations let’s move on to places that don’t require a reservation for large groups because all of this like you need to plan ahead you’re not going to just be like oh next Friday um so I’m thinking like dive bars I suppose or just other friendly restaurants because
I feel like if you walk in with 10 or 15 to most restaurants they’re just like you you know what I mean without notice yeah that’s hard yeah especially a birthday party don’t do that people by the way if you’re listening and you’re like there’s nine of us don’t do that
Yeah it’s annoying call ahead call ahead make a plan for sure call ahead because that is not like a table size that they typically have out for one it is good to have a spot of where you can be the Dive Bar for sure there’s always room like
Some of the ones that come to mind are and I think we’ve talked about our joint love of dots before I love dots you can roll into dots I feel like there’s always room another one is spare room on 42nd oh yeah there’s always room in spare room there’s always spare room and
Spare room there’s always spare room in spare room and if you want to do something that is a spare room Bingo that’s like a nice fun thing to do as well that like an activity um but dive bars low BR Lounge I’ve had some impromptu birthday
Gatherings at lowbrow uh in the in the late Ops particularly um I mean I think those are kind of nice ones because dive bars work you can stand you don’t have to go in and worry about getting a table size you’re like we can kind of crowd in here
And just sort of be in a corner uh oh you know what other one is nice especially summer is vetta oh yeah cuz it has that really nice outdoor area and plus there’s pool tables and like that game you know with a with a disc shuffle board hey there we go I think
All of those are ones that you can do the thing where you’re like hey it’s my birthday Thursday night at 8:00 pm I’m in a setup camp at you know at spare room roll through when you can I feel like those are places that you can still
Do that I have to agree and dots is is particularly kind of in a really cool space so if you guys are just like we’re dotted out you can go see a movie you can go grab some wine you know you could there’s just that’s such a nice little
Area right there that little corner they made it really special or you know what some good places too would be if you like Google where all the pods are cuz sometimes pods have like these almost like cafeteria style um indoor seating where it’s just a bunch of tables like I
Can say chill and Phill you know if it’s not like a Friday or Saturday night there’s usually room and you can take over a table or two and then you have like all your food carts and stuff but you know what I’m talking about like I think there’s one called the blast off
Somewhere and it’s just like kind of a really nice you know quick this is what we’re doing today yeah that’s smart that’s smart well how about some ideas for celebrating that aren’t just like eating and drinking like where would you go for activity ities it’s true I do
Like I like a celebration with an activity like I am a summer birthday so I often have like River day parties or things like that because it’s it’s nice to have something extra to do um I am not Reinventing the Wheel by saying this by any means but you know voice box
That’s a good time and that one in southeast I always just feel like is so easy for everyone to get to and you can rent a good siiz room and then every has something to do and if people aren’t drinkers they’re having fun if they are drinkers they’re louder on the
Microphone but you get that disco ball going and the lights like it just it’s just stupid fun and I’m all about on your birthday having childish fun I’ve had really good birthdays there for sure and I’ve been to super good birthdays there as well you know I’m not even a
Big karaoke person but all my friends are so it’s just fun to see them perform I mean that’s it I’m not a great singer either um and people really love baby ketton is another one in southeast so I think that karaoke is a good way to go
It is something you have to reserve but like it’s a fun activity if nobody wants to sing if you want to be more chill a thing I have had on my list to do is movie madness has their miniplex do you know about this I have where you can
Kind of rent it out or something like that you can rent it out so movie madness has their own little obviously movie Madness and Hollywood Theater are attached and they have their little Minx Theater which they have you know thousands of movies you can choose from
But it fits up to 18 seats and the the rates are really reasonable I think it’s like 300 or 350 to rent it which comes out to less than 20 bucks a person you know and going to the movie already cost nearly that anyways but this one just
Gets to be your friends taking over an entire room and I feel like that’s such a fun thing that you could all go to dinner or like go to the movie Madness Minx watch a movie together then go Hit The Slammer or something else uh but
That’s it’s just like a fun I I feel like all of my ideas just basically relate back to birthdays I had when I was 10 I’m realizing maybe this is something to cover in therapy this week I don’t know movie you’re like movie party pizza party roller skating you know swimming
Uh yeah why do kids get to have all the fun I want to have the fun too yeah for reals okay well I had a friend who once rented a viewing room at Hollywood Theater so I wonder if they do that as well but I remember that was pretty
Special too you can rent out my understanding is you can rent out one of the upstairs theaters they’re just a lot bigger room so you have to have more friends yeah you have to have more of a budget or more friends uh more friend did you guys hear that more friend more
Friend um but absolutely you know that is the thing to look into whereas I thought the the miniplex 18 people feels you know a little a little easier well any other Hot Tips or honorable mentions that didn’t fall into the categories that I asked about yes my thing that I
Always tell people when they are not familiar with our parks department it I sound like Lesly NOP I’m getting very parks and here but you can reserve a picnic spot that’s just for you so you can set up and know like this cool area and you can scope them out in advance
Like go to the park in your neighborhood and be like ooh I want this one that’s kind of near the bathrooms and you know has like the best tables and the best view so you can go and reserve it so that’s yours and you can get an alcohol
Permit as long as you’re not spelling alcohol or like having a bar if you’re just pouring beer and wine with your friends and so you can have a killer outdoor party where and I used to do this for years up a mountain paper and we just pot locked it and everybody
Brought stuff and we had this area reserved and we would have this like 4-Hour parties and people would bring their dogs and Frisbee and kids and it was so fun and no one had to clean their house or like you know do anything to G
It was very easy breezy and I think it is such a nice way to have a party in the summer so put in the extra effort you have to you know fill out the permit it’s I it’s been a while since I’ve done
It so I don’t want to say it but I’m I’m pretty sure it was under 50 bucks M that’s EXC that’s also uh a perfect children’s party it is a perfect children’s party just saying maybe kids just haven’t figured out when it comes to birthdays and we should be you know
Taking some advice from them but I really like this park thing that you brought up because we’re at an age where everyone has kids or they have loud dogs and I feel like this is a good place where kids could scream and it’s not going to be annoying I said it it’s
Annoying when your child screams um and it’s in a park so it’s just like go over there have fun you know it’s true in a cavernous room holy moly it you need to take breaks it’s a lot it it’s true and this is the place that they that kids
Can go over and do their thing and hit the playground and scream and be their wild selves and the dogs can chase the toys and other people consider on chatting like everyone kind of gets to do what they want which is the best party of all yeah okay last question
Yeah when someone says you know no gifts do you bring gifts okay well when it comes to my love language I am horrible at gifts My love language is is Quality Time or acts of service so I probably will not bring a gift because I won’t know what to bring
But what I will do is say like hey can just you and I go get a special lunch together or like can you and I go get a pedicure together I will adhere to the no gifts but I will likely try to find a way that I can do something nice for
That person um but I often also will take plants or flowers because that just feels like I mean always always nice flowers are always nice you know who also does that sort of thing Eden H children they they make these little like vouchers these little packs of like
Good for one foot massage oh the coupon yeah yeah the coupon I feel like you should make coupons like adult well uh it sounds when I say adult coupons but you know adult activities what are you implying Pia what are you I’m just saying I feel like that would if someone
Gave me a little booklet of coupons uh it would be endearing the Portland book of dates and Seattle book of dates are both essentially books of like will you go do this fun thing with me they’re that’s really what they are they’re they’re glorified coupon books which is
Another I mean it’s an all it’s like a child All-Star hit right there that’s it but we’re not going to call them adult adult coupon books because I don’t want to get arrested Eden Don’s adult coupon books I’m going to have my publisher call you well Eden thank you so much for
Hanging out with me and going through some pretty awesome birthday ideas feel like once summer hits everyone’s getting married or having a birthday so hopefully this arms you with some ideas I know a lot of Pisces I feel like we’re about to hit it real fast well Pisces
Get ready well Pisces Mount up it’s your time time is coming get ready to have some fun and invite Claudia and I to your fun birthday party so we can feel important yes please please invite us that’s all for today here on City cast Portland thanks so much for
Listening if you enjoyed the show please share it with a friend rate or leave us a review it really does help us out we’ll be back tomorrow morning with more from around the city until then see you with Liims N
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