bloop hours

bloop will be closed on Friday, October 15 & Monday, October 18. See you on Tuesday!!!

Aboard Sign Making

I've been wanting to make an aboard sign for bloop pretty much ever since we first opened.  With a barrage of visitors over the summer, and limited time, it took awhile, but this project finally made it off of my idea list last weekend.

Originally, I was planning to commission,  Haley Ann Robinson, to make me one, but in order to save money, I decided to make one myself with help, of course, from the blond fox and his power tools.

I'm documenting the Aboard sign making process on this blog and hope you find it helpful. Feel free to pass this post along to anyone you know who wants to make one for their small business. 

1) If you live in Portland, determine whether you will purchase an aboard permit from the city. I did, but honestly I am not sure if this permit is enforced. My guess is probably not. The cost is $60 a year and you can find a link to the aboard permit form in the City of Portland here.

2) Purchase an Aboard sign (or make one). I happened to already have one, but you can get one at  Mr. Plywood if you live in Portland. Mr. Plywood is an inexpensive lumber store perfect for all sorts of projects whether you are interested in making an Aboard sign or not. If you are interested in recreating the cute letters that Matt and I designed, you can pick up a 4 ft by 4 ft sheet of 1/4 inch birch for around $12.00.

3) Decide on your design. This is where you can be as creative or not creative as you like. Most businesses paint their aboards, but chalkboard paint is another fun option. Once again, if you need an artist to help with your design. I know a good one! I was planning on using stencils for my wood letters, however the dude helping us at Mr. Plywood suggested I just use MS Word to create my own stencils. I recommend the following font: Tw Cen MT Condensed Extra Bold (Size 600).

After cutting out and tracing the letters onto the birch board I purchased, Matt cut out the letters with a jigsaw. For tight turn cuts he used a router, however a jigsaw would work for this too, it is just much easier with a router. While I was really good at cutting out the l's, my o's looked more like ovals, so I sanded the letters down and painted the Aboard sign while he finished cutting out the letters. If you ever need a handy man to help with your projects in Portland or beyond, the blond fox (Matt) is always available and his work is reasonably priced.

4) Determine what materials you will need to finish your aboard. I used an outdoor paint in greybeard gray with a matte finish from Miller Paint.  A great place to find inexpensive materials, if you don't mind buying them used, is the ReStore. Operated by Habitat for Humanity, the ReStore collects leftover paint, stains, and other building supplies and resells these items for super cheap. Matt and I have collected different shades of stain, one of which we used on the letters. We attached the letters using Gorilla Glue.

5) Set up your aboard street side, oh yea. I am so happy how this turned out and will be interested to see if business picks up, as the bloop/ Sonny Bowl cart is hidden behind an urban hedge of coniferous bush.

bloop in the news: part II

The September issue of Portland Monthly did a feature on the 40 top food carts in PDX. The feature included video of the carts (yea, bloop!), an interactive map feature, and an overview of some of the food cart pods located in and around Portland.


Food Cart Favorites: Bloop from Portland Monthly on Vimeo.


Also noteworthy: Portland Food Carts are ranked best in the world according to a survey conducted by Budget Travel's website!!

New Earth

I have been meaning to put this photo up for forever, but over the last two months my home has been full of visitors and I have neglected writing about bloop.

I have been composting most of bloop's food waste in my worm bin and am now harvesting some rich, dark nutrient rich compost for my house plants and veggie garden. Check out my new earth!

bloop is back and resuming normal business hours

Get your body feeling cozy and warm with a bowl of piping hot oatmeal!

Bloop closed Tuesday, June 1 and Wednesday, June 2 due to car trouble

The story of Sy and Sel

Today I had the honor of serving Sy Berkovitz oatmeal. Sy is 87 going on 67 and eats oatmeal every morning. His daily vegan breakfast dish consists of oatmeal cooked with rice milk topped with a sliced, ripe banana. Before serving, he adds one tablespoon of flax meal and one tablespoon of cooked Quinoa to the bottom of the bowl. No sugar necessary- yum. I can't wait to try this.

Sy polished off a cup of bloop's simple oatmeal with apples, bananas and raisins. He said it was good, but he prefers his oatmeal with less "stuff" in it.

We got to talking while he ate his oatmeal. His story is truly beautiful so I thought I would share. Sy is visiting Portland, celebrating his 65th wedding anniversary with his wife Sel. They have celebrated their wedding anniversary in Portland every year for the last 11 years traveling from the Sonoma Valley.

Sy and Sel love jazz and you can find them at the best table in Jimmy Mack's every year during their anniversary week. Sy casually mentions that his wife enjoys visiting Powell's bookstore as she worked for a writer for many years. When asked who she worked for, he replied, without the slightest hint of pomp, "Oh, just this writer, Maya Angelou." Inbetween bites and other banter he discloses that Dr. Angelou's book, "Singin' and Swingin' and Gettin' merry Like Christmas, is dedicated to his wife Sel.

An hour later, after I left for my day job, Matt called me with Sel on the phone. Sy was back at bloop with his wife. With dignified grace, she sat and chatted with Matt giving him business tips for good portion of the morning.